Tom's Diary

Dear [C],

For the hard drive information. In the Properties window , on the General tab. On my machine, there is an edit box at the top of the window called “Label” This is the volume name of the drive.

Beneath that, there is the word “Type” and to the right of that is the file system type (probably FAT32 in Mike’s case).

Then, under that, there are “Used Space” and “Free Space” labels and to the right of each of those, there is a number. At least, that’s how it is on mine.

Then, about the computer information. In the System Information window, just underneath the place where it says Windows 98, there is additional information that describes the type of CPU and amount of memory. It is possible that Mike’s doesn’t display this, especially if his BIOS is very old. Windows 98 gets this information from the BIOS, but if the BIOS does not advertise the information the way Windows 98 expects, it may not display.

You may want to get someone sighted to look at the screen. It is also possible that JAWS isn’t reading the data in the window for some reason.

Tom

Dear [C],

To find the size of the hard drive, go to Windows Explorer. Go to the Folders pane. Right-click the drive you’re interested in knowing about, and choose Properties from the shortcut menu that comes up. The resulting window tells you the drive statistics, including how big it is, how much free space it has, how much used space it has, and so on.

To find out the computer statistics, including how much main memory it has, go to
Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->System Information

The Microsoft System Information window appears. The right-hand half of this window tells you about the computer – the memory, type and speed of the CPU, and so on.

Tom Hesley

Dear Dean,

Some computer BIOS packages allow you to reassign drive letters. I’m not familiar with BIOS on your particular computer, and this software is different for each motherboard. Thus, it comes in hundreds of flavors these days. So, You’ll need to check that out and see if such a function exists in yours.

Barring that, in order to get the system to assign letter D to your local drive, you can reconfigure the jumper settings on the disk drive you repartitioned, making sure you put it as a SLAVE drive in the primary IDE channel, while the drive you want to be drive C is set up as the MASTER in the same IDE channel. This might mean moving the data connectors around for some of your other devices in the computer to the secondary IDE channel. The cables for each IDE channel are typically marked on the motherboard as PRI and SEC IDE. Unless you feel really confident about doing this, I’d suggest that you take the system to a computer technician. They could probably set it up for you so that your newly formatted drive becomes drive D.

Tom

Dear Dean,

Yes, I enjoyed the visit too. I’ll let you know the next time I come to Dayton, and we can do it again. Perhaps we can start a tradition.

Here are some major points about re partitioning your hard drive.

• To repartition your hard drive, you need to boot up in DOS, and run the FDISK command. I boot from a Windows 98 startup disk. FDISK is a program for managing partitions on the hard drives in your computer – unless of course you’re running Partition Magic, or some other third party program like that.
• At any rate, FDISK displays a menu upon startup that gives you an opportunity to delete all partitions on a drive. You’ll need to know the drive number (0, 1, 2, … Etc.) that the system has assigned the drive that you want to re partition. You can learn this information by choosing the display drive information option in the FDISK main menu, then looking at the drive model numbers it displays for each of your drives. These codes usually incorporate a few letters of the manufacturer’s name or its initials, and the size of the drive.
• Once you know the drive number FDISK has assigned to the drive you want to repartition, you need to first delete all partitions from that drive. Follow the menu items to do this. They’re pretty clear. After this is done, when you display the drive information, it will tell you that the drive has no partitions. Note however that if your drive has any logical DOS partitions on it, you’ll need to delete those first before you remove the primary partitions.
• Next you want to create the new, single partition on that drive. When asked, say that you want to use all free space on this drive for the new partition.
• After the new partition is created, you’ll need to reboot your machine.
• After the reboot (again into DOS), run FDISK again and verify that the new partition has been created by using the display drive information option again. This screen should tell you the drive letter assigned to the new partition. Note this, because you’ll need to know this in order to format the new partition in the next step. Exit FDISK and get back to the DOS command prompt.
• You’ll need to format the new partition on the new drive. To do this, run the FORMAT command, which should also be on the bootable DOS disk. Follow its instructions. Depending on the size of the partition being formatted, the format operation can take the better part of an hour. So be prepared.
• Once the format is complete, you’ll need to install an operating system on that partition if it is your C drive. But I think you already know how to do that.

Good luck.

You have to make sure when you delete the partitions, that you remove ALL partitions from the drive, so that FDISK reports that the drive has no partitions. Then, when you make the new single partition, you must tell FDISK to utilize ALL the available space on the drive. Try that and see what happens.

I’m heading back to Altoona today. Can’t wait to get back into my own bedroom.

Well, I have to finish packing and buy an extra suitcase at the mall. I bought lots of books and software while here, and all of it will not fit in the suitcase I brought with me.

So take care, and I’ll talk to you later.

Tom Hesley

Dear   [Lynn],

Bought a new computer in June. The brand is Micron and it has a 1.4 Ghz Athelon CPU, 512 MB RAM, a 60 GB hard drive, a DVD player, a CDRW drive, a 250 MB zip drive, a SoundBlaster live card, and it came with Windows 2000 Professional. I’ve already filed the hard drive.

Tom Hesley

Dear Dean,

I got a Dell Latitude laptop last December. 700 Mhz CPU, 128 MB RAM, 10 GB disk drive, 56 KBPS modem, a floppy disk drive, and a CD ROM drive (read only, not a burner). Not sure what the company paid for it. But it has been quite reliable. It runs for 8 hours on a charge, and you can put up to two batteries in it, although I only have one at this time. I’ve also had a couple other Dell machines and none have failed me. So, I’d definitely recommend Dell. They may not be the cheapest. But they’re among the most reliable, customer-friendly machines on the market.

Tom Hesley

Dear Family,

Hello down there!!! Having a great time. The trip up was uneventful. Mom drove me to Martinsburg Friday morning @ around 7:20 AM. The flight left @ 9:14 AM, arrived @ Pittsburgh @ 10:30 AM, left Pittsburgh @ 11:30 AM, arrived in Portland, ME @ 1:01 PM, left Portland @ 2:45 PM, arrived @ Rockland, ME @ 4:20 PM, left Rockland, ME on the ferry @ 4:30 PM, and arrived @ Vinalhaven (island), ME @ 5:45 PM. Made for a long day, but a good one just the same. Weather was very sunny and crisp.

We’ve been taking hikes, watching movies, cooking lobster, working on her computer (which I am on right now with the portable hard drive I was telling you about, hooked up to it), meeting some of her family and friends, and enjoying each other’s company. It’s good to be here.

Well, say hi to the family for me. I will be home Friday evening. Mom is picking me up at Martinsburg @ around 6:00 PM.

Take care, and we’ll see you sometime this weekend.

PS: I had planned to do some work this week for [my employer]. But I really need to be on vacation, completely disconnected from the workplace, except for personal email, of course.

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

Hey there.

Speaking of modems, I got the one in the PII PC going today. Had to call Micron Tech Support to do it. But they were most helpful and taught me a few more worthwhile lessons about Windows. Also, I located usable driver files for this modem last night. I’m writing to you on it right now. Unfortunately, it only does the X2 version of 56K, not the industry standard V.90 56K. And since the work modems are V.90, this modem will not talk to them at 56000 BPS. So I have to settle for 33.6. This modem is obsolete.

Will look into downloading files for your modem and putting them on disks, so when I get there, we can install the correct drivers on the Cheetah.

Nice LONG talk last night. Almost like we were laying together in person, instead of us each laying alone in our respective separate beds. Nice.

Last plant run? Wow, fall is a coming ! ! ! Bur really though, summer isn’t even half over yet. So there’s still much warmth to go.

Don’t forget the printer!!! *grin*

Later.

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

Yes, it does purr a bit as it is initializing. But it’s surprisingly quiet – not even as loud as Tabbo. Really surprising since the disks inside are rotating at over 10000 revolutions per minute (RPM). The only remaining problem is how to hook up the drive-busy light that is on this hard drive enclosure I bought. It seems that the Cheetah doesn’t have any places to hook up an external busy light, that will flicker when the drive is accessed. Will have to call Seagate about that.

I like that work arrangement about me dong the confusers and you doing the outside stuff. You won’t mind if I help you out there occasionally?

Talk to you later, babe.

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

Looks like all the settling-in adjustments are made. All the work software seems to run fine from the Cheetah now. Was a bit worried this afternoon, as I could not open attachment files in Outlook email. That was a head-scratcher and I now have a balled spot. But they work now. I had an incorrect path in my autoexec.bat file. I’ll run this drive during work hours this week, to really give it a work-out and to flush out any still-existing problems. Then, I’ll try plugging it into PC #2.

Hope your mowing and watering and planting today went well.

Chat with you tonight.

Tom