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smart office from the 80's

Ok...I put the 5 1/4 back in the win95 box it was in and started in dos mode

I can do a dir for drive b: and to clarify as we know it is install.exe via dir

when I change directory to b:\> and type install.exe I get an error

data error reading drive B
abort retry

does this mean the data is no good on the floppy or is it possible the drive needs to be something other than 1.2 to read the data or as I thought requires a different dos and drive
 
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First of all you should realise Windoze is a dumbed-down pointy-click operating system geared to the AOL Hoi-Polloi.

You say you want to use this office suite as it was meant for with DOS. Then use Windoze to check out the files. Possibly without even smarting up the machine by extending it's capabilities to reveal hidden files.

I can't figure out your fixation with 5.25" disks (not 5") as opposed to 3.5. They are just a storage medium, like hard disks, tapes, or the various newer ones like Zip disks or PCCards, SDs etc. You use the storage medium (s) the machine will handle.

As Terry tried to point out to you, you have to have a little knowledge in order to fully use a computer/system.
I can't really accept that you've used Linux, Atari, Apple.
If you want to explore computers and their software it means somewhat more than the current point and click ease that the marketers extoll.

Try following some of the suggestions and you might really learn something instead of parroting buzz-phrases that you don't understand.

Lawrence
 
that does nothing to answer the post above..

never assume..I do not spend all my time playing with computers but have always had one..the one that hooks to the tv and has the two boxed floppys I can still use to create little programs but have lost the other sofware for..that was 20 years ago,,,the apple11 has a pascal disk and will boot but could also use some software...when I got it I could use it but now can boot it..but care less about it..the win machines all work..I have all wins on various machines..dx2 to new..scsi and ide..several laptops..I still actually use a few of the win 95 machines but the rest are just booted from time to time..linux was a bit of a struggle but I have a few machines..I use the dsl box as it is an interesting and easy to use linux..I have boxs of software I never use and found the 5 1/4s as I got a scsi with a 5 1/4 drive and wanted to play with the drive..

with regard to the rude post...I am not a computer nurd and often forget what I learned about them 20 years ago as windose is so popular and used without command line on a daily basis.
like this was worth typeing
 
jack said:
what is the purpose of this forum exactly?
what kind of posts are interesting for you?
Click to expand...

1) Just exactly what the blurb says...discussion of vintage software (which makes this thread 'on-topic', like it or not)...

2) Basically, any kind of thing that allows me to talk about vintage computer issues is of interest to me, including the current thread.

Hope I've been of some help to you...

--T
 
jack said:
when I change directory to b:\> and type install.exe I get an error

data error reading drive B
abort retry

does this mean the data is no good on the floppy or is it possible the drive needs to be something other than 1.2 to read the data or as I thought requires a different dos and drive
Click to expand...
Since you can DIR, all hope can not be out. If the 5.25" HD drive would not be able to read the disk, you should get data errors even when reading the directory. Perhaps you can use chkdsk, scandisk or some other program to see if the floppy can be salvaged. If you have more empty 5.25" floppies, you could look for a program that can duplicate a disk w/ errors and work from that.

Are the other disks readable? Even if you can't install the software due to read errors, there may be other tidbits worth examining or archiving.
 
All 12 disks in the package show files that appear to be associated with the program per disk...I attempted to copy the files to a 3.5 floppy set but was not successful as they refused to copy..was naturally in a hurry so may retry

I have only these 5 1/4 except the ones for the old things in the attic, thought I may clean them up and add another with smart as it should be ..as they are originals..but would settle for just running the program..if that fails I may at least have a few floppys for the 5 1/4 drive..but do not want to do that until I have exausted possibilities for smart...

I had thought that the drive may not be able to read the data as I do not know much about the various format and data reading of 360/720? and1.2
this is a 1.2 drive and the disks do not say size..but are one side dd..maby it does not matter and all 5 1/4 work in all 5 1/4 drives..

scanning for error is a good idea...as age may have corrupted the files but are still readable names..not sure if all are damaged as the first is required to install the rest I assume..

if I seen it I may remember useing it...and what it was on..as a copy I may have left the originals with the machine somewhere or sold it..

being so long ago I had at first thought that the system disk which I noted went in first was includeing some variant of dos in the install called smart.exe..as I googled a bit I changed to the idea of it being an early office suite for early dos
 
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Nonsense. I am not trying to be rude and like most other people on this forum am extremely tolerant of most newbys even when they view a 486 as vintage. A DX2 is a clock doubled 486. Using a TV connected to your computer may explain your mention of Atari. With Atari Basic you may have well made some little programs. I have played with Apple2s for years and have never dared try Pascal on it. And why on earth would you want to when there are so many good programs available. I have enough trouble just with the awkwardness with ProDos.

Mind you I'm a hardware guy and haven't even mastered Basic. I did do some assembler on a 6800 when I was in an electronic course, but readily admit I'm clueless when it comes to programming.
There is at least one poster on the forum who is a teen and trying to master Turbo C. He approaches it with an openness of mind and a willingness to learn.

What on earth is a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) with a 5 1/4 fdd ? SCSI and IDE are interface methods used usually to interface computers with Hard drives. Methinks you are a point and clicker who is not really interested in solving a problem. For 20 years GUI you would also have to be one of the early P&Cs. Possibly spent time with Jobs looking around Palo Alto.

Lawrence
 
who put a quarter in you

if you actually wonder the scsi is a digital decpc with scsi hd and cd and a 3.5 and 5 1/4 fddrives I got at a garage sale for three bucks spoting the 5 1/4 and remembering the floppys I seen in a box..projects I often never have time to get to..ya thats right I'm a point and clicker from the start of it as are millions... but I flert with alternatives..and pascal smascal what ever it is...I just not there...did you expect another quarter..understanding and toleration are two different things..if you do not understand and can not tolerate stop reading and posting..i'm as sincere as time permits interest in desposable hogwash that is the computer industry...my office desk has a royal typerwriter on it...it at least addresses an envelope...you can pay anybody to do data entry BLABLABLA...my quarter expired.
 
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jack said:
this is a 1.2 drive and the disks do not say size..but are one side dd..maby it does not matter and all 5 1/4 work in all 5 1/4 drives..
Click to expand...
If I remember correctly, high density (1.2 MB) drives usually read double density (360 kB) disks, but if you write to them, a double density drive may not successfully read back the data. CHKDSK should report the total disk size if you are unsure which capacity the floppy has.
 
Thanks...I'll do that next..

add...quick scandisk lists 362496 bytes total disk space
0 bad sectors,folders and hidden files...
 
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Just a last comment before I bow out. Atari ST disks can be read by a DOS "dir" command. And even text files. The Atari TOS used the GEM interface which originated with DRDOS. But of course you can't run ST .prg or .app on the non-GEM DOS. The DR GEM was like Win which ran on top of DOS.

My patience has outrun my 2-bits.

L

carlsson said:
Since you can DIR, all hope can not be out. If the 5.25" HD drive would not be able to read the disk, you should get data errors even when reading the directory. Perhaps you can use chkdsk, scandisk or some other program to see if the floppy can be salvaged. If you have more empty 5.25" floppies, you could look for a program that can duplicate a disk w/ errors and work from that.

Are the other disks readable? Even if you can't install the software due to read errors, there may be other tidbits worth examining or archiving.
Click to expand...
 
Speaking of, I saw an interesting 'hand-top' sell on e* today. An (1992) Olivetti Quaderno, which boots to GeoWorks Ensemble from ROM. I was about to bid on it in the last few minutes, but it jumped from $2.25 up to $82.00 in about a minute-or-so.

--T
 
The system & directory tracks are read seperately from the data area, so it is possible to have a disk that contains data errors, even though the directory is still readable.

--T
 
And the operating system (in this case some DOS version) would either crash or report a different error than "data error" if you try to fool it into executing non-executable code. Of course there was a number of systems that used FAT12-like floppy disks. Perhaps on one of those floppies there is a README.TXT or other document Jack can read to determine exactly which hardware this office suite is supposed to run on, if there is incertainity.
 
Ok..well thanks guys for the attemp..micom had the right idea...as much as I would like to fix up the attic room and fill it with vintage computers..starting with what I have..i'm a wannabe at best and that sucks so had a couple of the guys chuck the works includeing the drywall in a dumpster today.

I kept the new point and click laptop and the dsl cd, micom will be happy : )

good forum idea though for gurus to chat about what they found and share ideas..best of luck with that..

adding..I was looking out the window and seen them chuck something odd in the binster..actually climbed up to look...it was an IBM 5100..but the screen got busted..also seen a trs80 and a atari400..the thing was full ..cost more to haul away than the renovation..now that the attic is empty maby I get some of the wifes excess shoes out of the closet....guess this would be better for the blog...bye

jack
 
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cleanup

cleanup

Just cleaning up...wanted to thank carlsson for sticking to topic and understanding an old man wanting to revive his old collection.. this is what folks expect from senior members ..I'll leave it to you young fellows..shame to waste a 5100 but anger got the best of me and I just turfed the lot...deleting link
jack
 
Heh, some of the other participants are about twice my age (and perhaps experience?). I also criticized you in the beginning for focusing on the "app" and thus misleading the thread a bit.

What I don't know is if the alternatives to MS-DOS were non-compatible on application level and whether there were any 3rd party application software written for these alternative OSes with a FAT compatible floppy structure. I also don't know if there were partly FAT compatible floppies, so directories could be read but the other files were stored in a structure that would cause read errors from MS-DOS. Finally, I don't know if other, non-IBM PC compatible systems would use such partly compatible floppies.
 
I remember Smart office suite..

I remember Smart office suite..

I was using it around 1988 at TSB Trust Company in Andover, Hants, UK.

I'm afraid I can't remember very much about how to get it installed. iirc you ended up with a directory C:\SMART\ , and a SMART.EXE in there.. It might simply be a case of copying everything from the floppies into C:\SMART, and adding C:\SMART to PATH. In fact I'm sure that's it, I don't remember an installer..

It came in a largish box, with a really good manual for each component of the suite.

It was certainly run on MS-DOS (possibly 3.2/3.3, that was in the right sort of timeframe), I didn't install Windows until much later on.

I remember it being a pretty capable package, I had databases, spreadsheets, word processing and mail merges all down pat *waaay* before MS office and friends came on the scene.

I can remember the joy of running DirWorks (a colourful text-based file manager) and launching Smart from there. It seemed so amazing at the time.

I'd love to see a screenshot if you get it running.

Best of luck, Graham. :cool:
 
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