Clearly, we recently upgraded to a new CPU. Our choice was a Micron PC (733 MHz PIII, 166 MHz Bus, 57 Gigs of Ultra DMA 66 hard drives, 366 Megs SDRAM, AGP Level III gForce Graphics, DVD CD-ROM, CD-RW Burner). The time seemed right when our 300 MHz Dell machine reached its limits while editing live music. Even games and educational software were starting to push the limits of our 300 MHz PC. The second consideration is that a 300 MHz Dell machine still has considerable value, but soon it will be below entry-level systems. Yet, with all this new power, we were still compromising on a less than state-of-the-art system because the fastest PCs use the new Intel 802 motherboard and next month there should be an 804 board that is even better. These machines are usually advertised as "business level" or "server" machines and they cost a lot more. Their advantages are space for Gigs of expensive RDRAM, and they can hold more than one Pentium III chip that Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 know how to use when multithreading an application. Yes, the old maxim is true, your PC is obsolete as soon as you open the box.

More importantly, our new PC was loaded with software from Micron, but it contained some useless software and none of our most important applications. You might suggest that we simply load the new system from our Travan backup tape, but that is too simplistic. The first step is to use Control Panel to delete all the software you aren't going to use because once the new applications are installed, unloading the old ones could disable the new ones.

You are now in a position to cleanup all the orphaned files on your old PC by not copying programs from your backup tape. In any case, copying program folders is a tricky job since placing a folder in the new PC usually doesn't accomplish an installation, though it can sometimes get the latest version of the program copied.

The important step is to search the tape and find all your data. These data are copied from the backup to appropriately named folders. Hopefully, you can also copy a folder with numerous sub-folders that contain all the software upgrades you have downloaded since you bought your software. If you have not saved these upgrades, you will have to download them.

Now, you are ready to install your software and as each Setup program is completed, you run the upgrade(s) from the appropriate sub-folder(s). Unfortunately, not all upgrades get stored on your hard drive, especially the self-installing ones from Microsoft, so you will eventually run the Windows updater, and any other updaters that you have to download. Test each program after installation. Be sure to run updates in the correct order.

Assuming that your software is in place, it is time to establish the Internet connection. The Windows help system or your ISP will walk you through the process, but first you will want the latest version of your browser installed. We purchased Netscape Communicator (4.7) on CD-ROM, delivered for $4.95. The disc conveniently includes all the multimedia plug-ins. The bad news is that the browser will wipe out your bookmarks and your address books. You can replace them from your backup by copying the Bookmark.htm and all the files that end in PAB. You can also transfer all your mailboxes if you wish. All these are in the user section under Netscape.

The last steps are optimization steps because the software that you installed probably placed self-starting, memory resident programs on your PC and they can be nearly impossible to find. An excellent place to start is the Ziff Davis Web site listed below. It lists all the things you can do, but it is not strong on how to do it. For procedures, you will need one or more of the complete reference guides to Windows 98 Second Edition. We use the Unauthorized Guide to Windows 98 (second edition) and the equally user-friendly Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Windows 98 SE listed below. These guides are indispensable for finding the many, many places that self-starting programs are hidden. You will even have to edit the Registry (using REGEDIT) to remove the junk. There are numerous places to look in the Registry, but fortunately the three references mentioned below will tell you what to do, and how to test the results. Without this step, your system can be brought to its knees, and the System Resources areas on your PC can fill to an unusable level.

The last steps are simpler. Run SFC.EXE and the Norton Utilities (or a similar program) to check the Registry, FAT table, file allocation, disk drives, etc. And finally, run a disk defragmenter. If all goes well (and it will have a few glitches), you should have a clean system with all the upgrades and multimedia ready to go.

Unauthorized Guide to Windows 98 (Second Edition)
By Paul McFedries
Copyright 1999
Que Corporation, A Macmillian Company
201 West 103rd Street
Indianapolis, IN 46290

Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Windows 98 SE
Sams, a Division of Macmillan Computer Publishing
201 West 103rd Street
Indianapolis, IN 46290
Copyright 1999 by Peter Norton
Library of Congress Number: 99-62344

Ziff Davis Publishing Company
www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/main/0,5594,2390246-2,00.html

Click on thumbnail for full image. (132K)

Starting with the Simcity concept, you are assigned the job to build a thriving colony on an appropriate island in 1602 A.D. The strategy takes on a real life with tons of animations, nasty pirates (who can be bribed), ships to be unloaded, trading with neighbors, fighting with neighbors, negotiating with pirates and your neighbors, starvation and many more of the complexities that pioneers faced.

With over 700 islands (plus map editor), player modes up to four people via modem or network, 90 building types, land and sea battles and unpredictable pirates, the game will grab your attention and keep you up late into the night. No two games are the same. There are three skill levels, plus a training level, and, of course, the multimedia is state-of-the-art. Speech, sound effects, classical music and a hints panel keep you alert to everything that is going on because the animations move very fast. Fortunately, if you seem to be a novice player, the computer senses your lack of skill and adjusts the perils accordingly.

This is a truly great experience, but it is not intuitive. We had to peruse the 72-page strategy book to understand the huge number of game parameters. The book is very good and there is a great chapter on how to get started. Maybe it is a good thing that companies with new ideas and skills are invading us. This edutainment software will force us to compete and that is always good for the consumer.

The software requires at least a Pentium 100, but a 166 is better. The CD loads your hard drive with 85 Megs. The multimedia requires DirectX version 6.0, but it is available on the disk.