Compute's technical support is changing. (column)
by Joyce Sides

If you've called the technical support department during our transition period, we'd like to thank you for your patience. It's been pretty hectic around here, but the rough spots should be smoothing out now. We're trying a different approach to technical support. We'll return calls from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If you can't take a call between these hours, specify the day of the week and a time during that day when you can be reached.

You can still call between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday at (919) 275-9809 to leave a message. Please state the nature of the problem when you call. We'll make two attempts to return your call.

Be sure to send in your completed disk survey form included in the Information and Extras menu option offered when you run CMOS (COMPUTE's Menu Operating System).

We'd like to hear from you, even if your comments are critical. The survey forms help us decide what types of programs to include on the disk. This is your chance to let your voice be heard.

Before you fill out the form, however, spend some time with the program. Please don't judge any program too severely until you've had sufficient time to work with it. Sometimes first impressions can be deceiving; try a program several times before making your decision about whether it's worthwhile or not. We take your comments very seriously, but we want you to give a fair assessment on the disk survey forms.

Notice that there's a request for your name and address located near the bottom of the current survey form. Some of you have complained of a problem but haven't included a return address or phone number. We can't help you solve your problem if we don't know how to get in touch with you.

For those of you who'd like to expand your disk library, we offer several special disk products. Available now are COMPUTE's Best PC Games Disk, a collection of some of our favorite previously published arcade and educational games; the Mean 18 Course Disk, six originally designed golf courses to add to your Mean 18 collection; and COMPUTE's SharePak Disk, a thematic disk containing 3-5 large application packages released as shareware. This disk can be ordered from each issue, or you can subscribe to it.

Coming soon is a disk filled with 38 different utility programs ranging from a directory killer, which removes a directory without having to delete the individual files and directories below it, to a batch file menu creator, which includes full mouse support. To order any of our disk products, write to us at 324 West Wendover Avenue, Suite 200, Greensboro, North Carolina 27408.

Viruscan and Sine Variables

If you've had problems running Viruscan (March 1990) or Sine (May 1990) from CMOS, you may have entered the parameters incorrectly.

Anytime CMOS offers the Run option for a program and allows you to enter one or more parameters, don't enter the program name. Only enter the parameters needed to run the program. For instance, to run Viruscan, enter the drive letter (followed by a colon) when asked for parameters.

Some systems won't run Sine from the menu because of memory limitations, especially when you're using hi-res modes. If you receive a runtime error message, you should install the program, exit the menu, and run it from DOS by typing SINE at the prompt.

What's in a Filename?

The filename of the executable file to SetRAM (May 1990) was misspelled in the documentation file SETRAM. DOC. The correct spelling of the filename is SETRAM.EXE.

Chex It Out

For those of you who own monochrome systems and can't read the Chex data screen, here are a few tips on how to customize the screen so you can read it better.

First, install the program from CMOS, switch to the disk or directory where the installed files reside, and load the program by typing CHEX at the DOS prompt.

Press F8 and then C to bring up the Custom Options menu. The cursor is located on the first line beside Headings and Line Color. Enter 112 at the cursor position and in the next column. Press Enter after you've typed each number.

After you've pressed Enter the second time, the cursor will be located on the second line, Detail Color. Enter 15 twice, pressing Enter after each number. If you'd like, you can also change the Window Color to 15 in both columns. Now press Esc and Y to return to the data screen.

You should be able to see the column headings; the first line, which contains Balance Forward; and the bottom two lines with function-key equivalent information. If the display still is not satisfactory, return to the Custom Options menu and try a different number. The choices range from 0 to 128.