Msg: 6627 *Conference*
06-27-96 15:11:57
From: RON WIESEN
To : ROBERT BENSON
Subj: REPLY TO MSG #6604 (RAMPAC DIAGNOSTIC)
Regarding NPL.CO: I use it to backup Rampac content to disk. Years ago I put a warning message here on Club 100 about NPL where .DO file transfers can cause virus-like operation of the laptop that ultimately leads to Cold-start. The NPL shortcoming is that NPL doesn't store .DO files on diskette the same way as disk utilities store them. The difference manifests itself, as I recall, where a .DO stored on disk by NPL is subsequently read from disk by any disk utility - FLOPPY, FLOPPY2, TS-DOS, and so on. But if the disk is subsequently read by NPL, then all is well. Consequently, for each Rampac I maintain two diskettes: one for backup of .BA and .CO files, another for backup of .DO files. The diskette with .BA and .CO files is safe to use with disk utilities - the diskette with .DO files MUST ONLY BE USED WITH NPL! With 202K capacity diskettes being just a bit small for 256K Rampack backup, the two-disk arrangement also makes it unlikely that Rampac file capacity can exceed backup diskette capacity. I haven't seen or heard of James Yi's alternative to RAM100.CO - sounds interesting. Don't do CompuServe so can't help you there Bob. Glad you sent me the message because it reminds me that I promised the Rampac Diagnostic (RD) this week -- and the week's about gone. I best get outta here and call back today and put RD in the Upload area. Bye - see ya' in a while.