I had run Scan Disk several times to no avail over a period of a couple of weeks. F still could not be defragged, and I began to get a bit worried that a hard drive problem was developing. So I ran SpinRite (see the November 1999 newsletter for a review) to check the drive for surface errors. After a three-hour check, SpinRite declared that F was in perfect shape. Of course, SpinRite doesn't check the logical file structure of the drive.

Time to turn to http://search.microsoft.com. I typed in the first eight or so words of the error message and did a search. I was rewarded with an article stating the following:

It then instructed me to find the folder, select all entries in the folder and delete them. After doing this I was able to successfully run defrag on the F drive. Now, how long do you think that it would have taken me to figure this out without Microsoft's help? Forever! What would be the normal response of a computer technician or help desk person to the question? I think they would probably tell you to either live with not being able to defrag the drive or to do their favorite fix--reformatting the drive and starting over. But this would not have solved anything, since the problem was on the C drive.

A few days later Scan Disk gave me trouble on the C drive. I received a message from Windows concerning incorrect file information on the C drive. Windows said to run Scan Disk and have it repair the error. The only problem was that Scan Disk would hang and never finish with the drive. I solved this problem myself without any help from the Internet by dropping to DOS and running the DOS version of Scan Disk. It found a discrepancy in the amount of free disk space being reported on the C drive and corrected it.

Scuzzies and More Since I don't have enough computer problems of my own, I help others solve theirs. My most recent such endeavor was setting up a client's new Dell computer: Moving data from the old computer; installing all the old programs on the new computer; setting up printers, a tape drive and a scanner; importing the old Windows address book, mail messages, Internet Explorer Favorites, etc. There is a lot more to do than you would think—that is, until you actually start to do it. Once you start the process, you see how much is to be done--and some of it doesn't go smoothly. Added to the list above, there is still the Internet connection to configure, the email program to configure, and many other simple but necessary tasks. Then you need to check that all the programs you have reinstalled work correctly with their data. There are always minor problems to be worked out: You forget to bring over the data for a particular program, or, one you wouldn't think of, a particular document needs a special font that the new computer setup doesn't have. So it's back to the old computer to collect some of those old fonts.

With all this going back and forth it is nice to have a network setup. Of course with the Road Runner cable modem connected to the network card in the new computer, each time I want to set up a network connection to the old computer, I need to change the network settings, shut down, disconnect from the cable modem, connect to the other computer and boot up again. Then I can find the old computer on the network and transfer the necessary files. To keep from doing the above again when I needed a particular directory I had missed getting from the old computer, I decided to do a Direct Cable Connection between the two computers parallel ports. First, I had to install the Direct Cable connection feature on the new machine. It seems no computer manufacture ever enables this Windows feature. Doing such a connection is never a sure thing in my experience. Sometimes I have had to reach into my bag of tricks and spend some time with the network settings to get it to work, but this time the two computers found each other fine. What I noticed, though, was how slow the Direct Cable Connection between parallel ports was when compared with a network connection between network cards.

Well, I had saved what I dreaded until toward the end--installing the HP 3c scanner. Moving an older SCSI scanner to a new Windows 98 computer can be difficult. You have two problems right off. You need new software and you need a new SCSI interface card, since the old Deskscan II software will not work in Win 98 and the old ISA HP SCSI card must be replaced by a PCI plug and play SCSI card. I knew this because HP tells you this at their site. When I installed Win 98 on my computer some time back, I had to pay for the new software for my HP ScanJet IIcx, but now you can download it for free.

What I didn't realize was the difficulty I was going to have in getting the new computer to give the SCSI card an IRQ with no conflicts. I installed the SCSI card, booted the computer, and when I opened up the Windows Device Manager, my heart sank. The Adaptec SCSI adapter had the dreaded yellow tag next to it. A check showed that it was sharing IRQ 3 with several other devices. Now, IRQ 5 appeared to be free, so why was the computer assigning IRQ 3 to the Adaptec card? A check of the BIOS showed that IRQ 5 was reserved for legacy devices and was not available. I changed the setting, making it available, and assumed that when I rebooted everything would be fine. It wasn't. The SCSI card had indeed jumped to IRQ5, but so had the sound card, and the SCSI card still had its yellow tag.

I tried the usual trick of switching the PCI cards in the computer to different slots to no avail. Next, I disabled COM 1, freeing IRQ 4, but for some reason none of the devices would use this interrupt. And there is no way in the BIOS of this computer to make them. Time to call Dell, where, after a 30 plus minute wait, I was advised that, since they didn’t sell or install the SCSI card, they couldn’t help me. Well, I asked, couldn’t they then tell me how to make a card—any card—use a free IRQ. No, not really was the answer, since the computer determined all of that. So much for Dell’s help. I was on my own. So I called Merle Nicholson, our hardware expert. He had some suggestions, some of which I had already tried, and one that I hadn’t. He suggested switching from a PS2 mouse to a serial mouse, freeing IRQ 12. Since I didn’t have such a mouse available at the moment, I continued with my efforts.

I discovered that if I took the sound card out, the SCSI card and scanner installed fine, with the SCSI card using IRQ 5. But put the sound card back, and the yellow tag came back to the SCSI card. Somehow, the sound card got preference. But that gave me an idea: Create two hardware profiles, one in which you had a scanner but no sound and the other in which you had sound but no scanner. I did that, and it worked. When you booted the computer, you were given a choice as to which profile you were going to operate under. You could either listen to sounds or you could scan in photographs and documents. My client didn’t think much of my solution. And, really, I didn’t either. It was just a temporary solution until I could produce the real one.

A good night’s sleep and a bit of Internet research produced the fact that of the several sound components listed in the Windows Device Manager, the one called "Sound Blaster 16 Emulation" was only used for sound in DOS programs. Well, I could do away with that. So the next morning, I went into the Scanner only Hardware Profile and added back all the sound components except the Sound Blaster 16 Emulation one. And to my relief, I now had both sound and a scanner working. Both the SCSI card and the sound card were happily sharing IRQ 5. I then removed the other profile and renamed the remaining one "Original Configuration". To test things out, I scanned a few photographs and put in a DVD disk and listened to a surround-sound sound track. Yes, this computer has a surround-sound system. And I didn’t have to try the serial mouse that I had brought along at Merle’s suggestion.

Now, why couldn't that Dell fellow have suggested that I disable SoundBlaster 16 Emulation? IRQ conflicts must be a common problem they encounter all the time.

There was one major hurdle left--moving the HP Colorado 8 GB tape drive from the old computer to Dell. Of course, physically removing the drive from the old computer and installing it in the new computer is no problem. You just make sure that the CD drive on the new computer is set to master and the tape drive is set to slave, since the IDE tape drive is attached to the empty connection on the secondary IDE controller cable where the CD drive is already attached. The tape drive appeared in the computer's BIOS and in the Windows Device Manager (although it might have been only identified as tape drive there). You are then supposed to run a little HP utility that determines if the installation is correct—at least that is what you did in Win 95. It said no deal--the drive was not installed. Well, I knew that it was and that all the cables were connected and the jumpers were set correctly. So after checking everything again, I went ahead and installed the Colorado Backup software. Well, it ran but could find no tape drive to work with. Time to call HP.

From HP, I received excellent service--at no charge--on this year old drive. There were two problems. First, the drive needed a firmware update, which I was instructed to download from the HP web site and to run. I did that, and the downloaded program updated the tape drive's firmware. At one point in the update, you get the warning that you are now past the point of no return. If you stop the process now before it is finished, your drive will probably be rendered useless. I didn't plan on stopping the process, but what about Tampa Electric. Just the day before, the power had flicked off momentarily, causing the computer to reboot while I was luckily doing nothing crucial with it. These are the times you wish you had a battery backup system.

Second, with the firmware update finished, I was instructed to uninstall the HP Colorado Backup Software since it wouldn't work correctly in Windows 98. The new software could not be downloaded via the Internet but would have to be ordered from HP at a total cost of around $30. The technician transferred me to the software order person, where I was informed that the software was on back order. So until the new software arrives, the tape drive will be useless.

Dell versus Gateway In the past month I have had an opportunity of dealing with both a new computer from Dell and one from Gateway. Which computer or company is better? I really can’t answer that. The answer probably depends on the problems an individual encounters in using the new computer—and the way we use our computers is quite varied. You may never encounter the problems that I might run into the first day. You would then be happier with your choice than I.

I bought my new computer from Gateway since I have been very happy with them since 1991. Their machines are a good value and the support is good. They also have a store in Tampa where I can bring my machine for service if needed. However, this last item proved to be a stumbling block for the individual who bought the Dell. She said that in the Gateway warranty was a clause to the effect that if you lived near a Gateway store, you might be required to bring the computer in to the store for service during the usual first year of on site service. That, along with a perceived better price on the Dell computer, pushed her to Dell. (It is not that easy to compare two systems from different manufacturers, since they don’t offer the exact same setups.)

You will not go wrong buying from either Dell or Gateway. Of course, you will not get the best possible price, either. There will always be better bargains elsewhere.

As to phone help, I have to give Gateway the nod. You usually have a technician on the phone within five minutes who will do their best to help you. In two calls made to Dell, a technician was never available in less than 30 minutes. And, as indicated above, one of them refused to help with the SCSI card installation since the card wasn’t bought from Dell. I suppose they expect you to buy new scanners and other peripherals from them when you buy your computer. The second technician at Dell was quite willing to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to make the Dell supplied modem hang up after a specific interval of inactivity. There is usually a setting for this in the modem setting in Control Panel, but for this modem it was grayed out. After about an hour we agreed that this modem probably didn’t support this feature.

Regarding the Gateway technicians, with whom I have had much more contact over time, I have found some of the them very thin on knowledge about my particular problem. In fact, some simply gave incorrect information. Of course, there are those among them who know the solution right off the bat. What I have never found with a Gateway helper, though, is the refusal to help you on a problem.

Second in importance to phone help is online help at the company’s web site. And here I have to give the nod to Dell. Their support site seems better than Gateway’s. For a new computer, when you go there for the first time and enter the identification of your computer, you can look at all the specifications of your computer at the site. When you return to the site, they recognize you (by a cookie, I suppose) and take you directly to your machine’s information. Additionally there are many documents on how to solve various problems. u