Off Topic: Re: Memory issues

[Patricia M Godfrey pmgodfrey@xxxxxxxx]

Jordan, thanks for the comments. The huge footprint didn't bother me,
since I've got a 40 Gig hard drive and don't do anything that creates
large files (actually, only 20 G are partitioned for Windoesn't; planning
to put Linux on the rest). But the wretched thing insists on monitoring
all formatted partitions. I don't need that: I backup individual files
from E: (data) to floppies as needed, D: is DOS apps and hardly ever
changes; and F: (downloads and temporary stuff) gets backed up to CDs
when needed. Under 98, one can backup the registry itself; indeed the
opsys keeps a regular backup of SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT (default is 5
copies, one can set it at more), and I always (well, unless I forget)
drag a copy to F: just before installing anything, just to be sure. I
have also just discovered (BBBG didn't think end users needed to know
this, I guess) that Win98 includes a util called System File Checker
(Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->System
Information->Tools->System File Checker [Good grief! What a way to do
things!]): it can track changes and deletions and keep a log file of
them. There's also a tool called WinDif (part of \tools\RESKIT on the
original CD) that shows the difference between two directories (of
course, we can do that in Xy if we've piped a DIR command to files and
then compare the files).
	As you see I'm still running 98; I absolutely refuse to even consider XP
 (and EVERYONE says ME is a MEss). I'm starting to think about Y2K, since
98 is having problems with some of the newer hardware on my new system (I
had to discard the AMR modem altogether; Win couldn't recognize the
drivers. But no big deal, as I have a spare external modem.) It just
seems like overkill for the stuff I do, not to mention the horror stories
about cursor and screen issues with Xy I've been hearing here.
	About the KVM switch: running the system with the monitor on that, I
attempted to set up the correct monitor (an IBM G72), and Device Manager
kept insisting that wasn't the monitor attached. Shut down, removed the
KVM switch, and plugged the monitor directly into the VGA connector, and
on reboot it recognized it off the bat (Windows has found new hardware
and...). One assumes some communication wasn't taking place.
	Actually, Configsafe was also packaged with some of IBM's desktops; it
was on the CD of my friend's PII system, and I installed it there when I
was setting it up (hand-me-down, and the previous owner utterly hosed it;
had to do a complete reinstall, but I should have anyway).
Patricia