DIALOGLINK AND NORTON UTILITIES:
        CLEANING UP AFTER COPY-PROTECTED SOFTWARE


Peter Brueggeman, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Library, Univ. of Calif. San Diego, La Jolla CA 92093


Copy-protected software like the first version of Dialoglink
usually create hidden file(s) on your hard disc as part of
the copy protection scheme; you cannot see these files using
the DOS DIRectory command.  DOS also places two hidden files
of its own on your hard disc, named IBMBIO.COM and
IBMDOS.COM.  Hidden files are unerasable/undeletable and may
become permanent residents on your hard disc after
deinstallation or erasure of copy-protected software.  Thus
you could be accumulating and losing some disc space to
unwanted hitchhiker files.

Several software are capable of displaying a directory of all
the files on your hard disc including the hidden files and
then manipulating or erasing them.  Software of a category
called "DOS shell" usually provide this capability e.g.
Keeptrack Plus and One-Dir Plus.  DOS "utility" software
usually can do this e.g.  Norton Utilities.  Norton Utilities
is an inexpensive software compendium with a variety of disc
maintenance software.  Norton Utilities is famous for its
ability to find files that you accidentally erased.  When a
file is erased, it remains on your disc and only the location
pointer to it was erased; with Norton Utilities, you can find
this erased file.  Norton Utilities has software to assist
hard disc users hunting for hidden files.  One feature, "File
Attributes", can identify and change a file from hidden file
status to normal status for subsequent erasure.  "File
Attributes" can also be used to change a normal file to a
read-only status to protect against accidental erasure; this
is a nice feature to protect software from accidental erasure
by clumsy users.  Another feature, "Wipefile", can also erase
hidden files.  Read the manual carefully before attempting
these activities.

The first release of Dialoglink was copy-protected and
created a hidden file on your disc's root directory called
BBCBDADB.RO; it may still be there taking up 128 bytes of
disc space even though you are now using the unprotected
version of Dialoglink.  Other copy-protected software that
you have removed may have left ghosts behind.  Obviously you
should not be erasing hidden files unless you are sure how
they arrived.  Norton Utilities should be used for disc
directory inspection before and after software installation
or deinstallation, particularly of copy protected software;
you need to monitor what files are being copied to or removed
from your disc.  Regular disc directory inspection will avoid
future frustration with mystery files on your hard disc.
BQ:

COMMENT FROM PETER BRUEGGEMAN RE: DIALOGLINK

DIALOGLINK's features work well for most general
telecommunications needs with one major deficiency.
DIALOGLINK's uploading feature is designed specifically for
database searching; it uploads files/search strategies line-
by-line to systems with a consistent system prompt like
Dialog's question mark, STN's arrow, or BRS', SDC's and
NLM's colon.  How about the additional capability to upload
files in their entirety (not line-by-line) so that Dialoglink
could be used for file transfer needs like microcomputer-to-
mainframe communication?  DIALOGLINK should expand and
generalize its mission and provide more general
telecommunications capabilities.  Why learn two
telecommunications software when one could do it all and
better?