[Ham-Computers] Help With Diagnosis

[johngadd at comcast.net]

Duane It sounds like your machine is getting constipated and needs software maintence. Where do you live. I would be glad to help you if you lived near me. John Gadd-Denver CO

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Duane Fischer, W8DBF" <dfischer at usol.com> 

> 
> 
> Hello All, 
> 
> I have a Compaq Prosario 233 MHZ P1 machine running under MS Windows 95b. It 
> does "everything" that I need to do, being totally blind, and works with all 
> of my adaptive speech and scanning technology. I have never had a problem 
> with her, but I sense I am about to. 
> 
> Since I use the MS DOS mode about 90% of the time on this machine, I use a 
> 3.5 inch boot disk. When the machine first boots up into DOS at the C:\ 
> prompt all is well. When I load the word processing program sometimes I hear 
> a high pitched steady tone. When it stops, the program loads. Everything 
> works as it should. 
> 
> Sometimes the word processing program loads fine, but the file I then try to 
> load inti it causes the HD to make the high pitched steady tone. The file 
> does load, the tone stops. 
> 
> This generally happens only during the first five minutes of operation. It 
> generally only occurs once. 
> 
> Is what I am hearing a warning sign of an impending failure of the hard 
> drive? Or is it something I need to do to the HD, such as run 'scandsk' or 
> whatever? I have never run any HD cleaning or defragmentation program on 
> this system! 
> 
> Since Windows and DOS both have a defrag program by the same name, the 
> machine has run the wrong file while in DOS! Wiped out a machine for me 
> once! I have never run any of those programs again. 
> 
> It does not get used on the Internet, except on rare occasions now. Then 
> only to FTP a file to the HHI web site. 
> 
> The new machines after Windows 98 SE will NOT run the adaptive software I 
> have, they do not have the ISA or PCI slots for the thousand dollar speech 
> card to plug into etc. None of them support the last version of Quicken to 
> work with a screen reading program, Version 8.0 in DOS Screen reader support 
> after that version does not exist for some reason. If I lose my ability to 
> run Quicken 8.0 in DOS, I can no longer print checks. 
> 
> So gentlemen, what is your best guess here? Should I have somebody copy 
> everything on the 6 GIG HD to a DVD now? Take her to a qualified tech for a 
> diagnosis? 
> 
> Thanks. 
> 
> 
> 
> Duane Fischer, W8DBF/WPE8CXO 
> dfischer at usol.com 
> HHI: Halligan's Hallicrafters International 
> http://www.w9wze.net 
> HHRP: Historic Halligan Radio Project 
> hhrp.w9wze.net 
> 
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