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Total Hardware 1999 FULL Available

kishy

Veteran Member
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Windsor, ON Canada
Now, I imagine most people here are familiar with Total Hardware 1999. I'd be very, very surprised if anyone has not heard of it actually.

This is the nearly impossible to find full version, all 18 thousand-some devices.
If you worked on TH99 and would like the link removed just contact me, away it will go, but I've tried ENDLESSLY to contact the makers and there is simply no way. I tried to do it the honest way and ask for permission to distribute it, but to be fair, nowhere in it does it say you aren't allowed to...

Code:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/ag4c798/n/th99full_rar

Please use link with care, please distribute with care. My recommendation: put expanded content onto a CD-R, as the multitude of tiny files will dramatically slow down hard drive defrags, virus scans, and the like.

Recommendation 2 / request: Please reupload to any filehosting sites you can think of, this is an immensely handy resource that will be treasured in the years to come when sites currently hosting it cease to.
 
There is also an online version at the following link, though you have to fight the spam scum to actually see the real page--just go into history at the main page and look for the most recent "spam smashing" entry and make that the current page. JD doesn't look at the page much and could eliminate the problem by forcing users to have an account to make an entry, but he has not yet done so (and I have suggested that to him). More folks accessing the page for legitimate purposes might energize him a bit. . .

http://jdelliott.org/wiki/index.php5?title=Main_Page
 
There is also an online version at the following link, though you have to fight the spam scum to actually see the real page--just go into history at the main page and look for the most recent "spam smashing" entry and make that the current page. JD doesn't look at the page much and could eliminate the problem by forcing users to have an account to make an entry, but he has not yet done so (and I have suggested that to him). More folks accessing the page for legitimate purposes might energize him a bit. . .

http://jdelliott.org/wiki/index.php5?title=Main_Page

That is a BRILLIANT idea...turning TH99 into a searchable wiki-type site. Thanks for the link, messy or not.

However, I do still think the unbeatable solution is having the full copy available on a flash drive or CDROM...assuming you, like me, take a laptop with you on "old computer doesn't work, HELP!" calls like I seem to get ever so frequently.
 
What's the legal status of TH99? Who is the author, and is this legal to be distributing?

I realize that everybody here has used it and having a personal copy is appealing. But if there is still a commercial interest in it then this thread might bring unwanted interest.


Mike
 
"No available free slots at this time"
Wow, this is a hot download.

I'm working on getting it distributed - but like I've said will take it down the instant someone can confirm it's not legal to distribute.

What's the legal status of TH99? Who is the author, and is this legal to be distributing?

I realize that everybody here has used it and having a personal copy is appealing. But if there is still a commercial interest in it then this thread might bring unwanted interest.


Mike

At one time the full version was sold on CD-ROM by mail order of some kind. The incomplete version (which btw is included inside this as a ZIP) has always been a free-for-download package since day 1 as I understand it. However, there is no way to do that now (buying CD)...inspecting the pages of TH99 reveals no obvious owners and since the information contained within it is, if anything, property of the hardware manufacturers, it's very difficult to say one owns the rights to it.

I researched significantly, with no luck, trying to find out who compiled it. It may have been a product of some other research project and was itself never the main goal of anything, which would help explain why nobody takes credit for it.

I'm more than happy to comply with a cease and desist notice if one comes...but I'd hope it wouldn't come to that, a friendly request from one of the people responsible for it with some reasonable proof of their involvement would be it all it would take. That said, I imagine they would want this info (the contents of TH99) shared.

Please note: I have NOTHING to do with the one and only torrent of TH99 (that currently has seeds), therefore requests to stop providing it which are sent to me will NOT affect the torrent.
 
Kishy,

I don't think we are going to ask you to stop distributing it until we are clear that there is an owner, who the owner is, and that permission to distribute it was not given. However, this is a grey area .. please be careful.

Mike
 
Kishy,

I don't think we are going to ask you to stop distributing it until we are clear that there is an owner, who the owner is, and that permission to distribute it was not given. However, this is a grey area .. please be careful.

Mike

Certainly...and I appreciate your concern.
I had a little debate with myself about putting it out there...the ethical and legal implications surrounding the act...and ethically, it doesn't make sense to keep this inaccessible (and moreover doesn't seem, at least to me, disrespectful to the owner if one exists). Legally...well...like you said, it's a gray area.
 
I'm lost. I would be interested in the file in question, but what real world "download" is being talked about? Using Google or Pirate Bay, all I can find are a couple of dead torrents. The jdelliot.org site appears broken, and the filefactory.com site appears to be some kind of hard core advertising for a service which I didn't understand. I usually don't go to places that look like that so forgive me for not being educated, but perhaps someone would be kind enough to clue me in. :)
 
The images used in TH99 are copies from the MicroHouse Technical Library (which I have). And the accompanying data appears to be identical too. MicroHouse Technical Library was a product of MicroHouse International.

According to http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CGN/is_1999_March_24/ai_54197473/ , in 1999, MicroHouse International was acquired by Internet service provider EarthWeb Inc.

The 2001 dated EarthWeb document at http://www.techtransform.com/process/EarthWeb/IntraWare_Eval_9905101ax.pdf includes, "Support Source was a leading content subscription service for tech support professionals, which came with EarthWeb’s acquisition of Micro House International in 1999."

The story at http://prnwire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-28-1999/0000991214&EDATE= collaborates that. It covers EarthWeb's rollout of SupportSource, and includes, "SupportSource 2000 is the new web-access point for EarthWeb Support On Site(TM) Hardware, Applications and Networks and Micro House(R) Technical Library products".

SupportSource was hosted at www.supportsource.com

A post at http://www.computing.net/answers/windows-95/need-info-microhouse/91182.html , includes "Note: "On July 21, 2000 EarthWeb Inc. announced that it discontinued the CD-Rom based SupportSource knowledge base product line. This includes all subscription products under the SupportSource, Support-on-Site, and Micro House brand names. No further updates of SupportSource will be issued. "

According to http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2001_June_13/ai_75497099/, in 2001, EarthWeb Inc. became Dice Inc.

According to http://www.business.com/directory/computers_and_software/employment/dice_inc/profile/ , "Dice Inc. Formerly known as Earthweb Inc.. The Group's principal activity is to provide online technology recruiting and career development services. The services of the Group are offered through dice.com, a leading online technology jobs board and through MeasureUp, a leading online provider of technology certification tests preparation products."

So what's the scenario:
* Dice Inc. / EarthWeb Inc. sold off the MicroHouse information to ????
* Dice Inc. / EarthWeb Inc. licenced the MicroHouse information to ????
* Dice Inc. / EarthWeb Inc. have never sold/licenced MicroHouse information.

I think Dice Inc. will have the answer.
 
I'm lost. I would be interested in the file in question, but what real world "download" is being talked about? Using Google or Pirate Bay, all I can find are a couple of dead torrents. The jdelliot.org site appears broken, and the filefactory.com site appears to be some kind of hard core advertising for a service which I didn't understand. I usually don't go to places that look like that so forgive me for not being educated, but perhaps someone would be kind enough to clue me in. :)

The filefactory.com link provided in the first post is indeed a download link, but since you are not a subscriber to FileFactory's services (that is, essentially, storage space on their server and bandwidth through their network), you do need to put up with ads.

1 - go to the page specified in the first post
2 - scroll down, find "Download Now with FileFactory Basic"
3 - scroll down to same location again, wait approx 30 seconds, and download

Almost exactly the same procedure as for Rapidshare downloads, but less waiting time and faster more consistent transfer speed.

Cheers


Indeed, but as you can see I didn't make TOO much progress there and as a result started using "the google" for further research before giving up and uploading the file. The information in the next quote is the second time I'm hearing that specific possibility so...maybe?

MicroHouse Technical Library...
So what's the scenario:
* Dice Inc. / EarthWeb Inc. sold off the MicroHouse information to ????
* Dice Inc. / EarthWeb Inc. licenced the MicroHouse information to ????
* Dice Inc. / EarthWeb Inc. have never sold/licenced MicroHouse information.

I think Dice Inc. will have the answer.

Second time I'm hearing the MicroHouse info, so that very well could be it. Thanks for your research. I think I'll try to get in contact with this "Dice Inc"...it's possible they won't know what I'm talking about but it's, to me, my obligation.

While the people here now know my intentions, just to reiterate one more time for outside visitors: I am trying to figure out who owns the rights to it, and trying to find out if it is legal to distribute TH99. I will comply with the wishes of the owner if it becomes clear who they are.
 
I've been in contact with Scott Mueller (yes, that one) about a PDF of one of his books, and as it happens he was involved with Micro House and TH99. TH99 itself appears to have never "existed" in the sense that it was released, it is definitely pirated entirely. 1999 is a significant year in the history of Micro House; I don't have the email from Scott in front of me at the moment but I remember it having something to do with the dissolving of Micro House or merging it or a buyout or something like that. As a result, it's the last time the TH99 collection was sold (leading to the name TH99).

Scott has given me some contact info to follow up on but it doesn't look terribly promising as of now...we'll see though.

Though a lot of this is inferred, it seems like he is really interested in seeing this information remain available to the masses. Whether this (his intentions) would be through the paid commercial distribution channel or by free online distribution is not clear; I suspect he was being careful with his wording to avoid promoting piracy. At the same time he did indicate that there is nobody out there TO actually hunt distributors down, and that (not his words, but by direct consequence) it's a victimless crime.

I am VERY interested in hearing from former Micro House employees, especially people who were involved with this project and/or were in management. It seems to have been a rather small outfit so you people know who you are, and you know who your colleagues are too...it's just a matter of you reading this thread or not.

As always, removal requests will be honoured if substantiated.
 
While there are several sites that come to mind (not sure who a good candidate would be or if a new one would be able to succeed in such a creature) but this is (in general) just a collection of configuration manuals from hundreds of vendor/products correct? Wonder if someone who collects configuration documentation would be interested in the humongous but huge benefit of trying to continue and fill the gaps in this product? I don't see any reason why any vendor would NOT want their configuration data out there for a user who can benefit from their product(s) new or old.

Understandably this would be an insane project but maybe a great wiki idea somewhere. I would just think there would be some candidates out there to grow from vs starting it from scratch. User submited guides or guide text would be a pretty sweet collection of vintage and current info.
 
While there are several sites that come to mind (not sure who a good candidate would be or if a new one would be able to succeed in such a creature) but this is (in general) just a collection of configuration manuals from hundreds of vendor/products correct? Wonder if someone who collects configuration documentation would be interested in the humongous but huge benefit of trying to continue and fill the gaps in this product? I don't see any reason why any vendor would NOT want their configuration data out there for a user who can benefit from their product(s) new or old.

Understandably this would be an insane project but maybe a great wiki idea somewhere. I would just think there would be some candidates out there to grow from vs starting it from scratch. User submited guides or guide text would be a pretty sweet collection of vintage and current info.

Yup, it's basically a uniform-styled (all pages can be expected to be laid out the same) summary of jumper/DIPswitch/etc settings for all sorts of hardware, if I recall correctly not all of it is PC-specific either.

It would be a huge undertaking to continue it, but awesome. Whoever attempted that would have to get clearance from whoever (if anyone) still has rights to it (I'm inclined to believe nobody has the right to it, or maybe some obscure publisher who did the books they were included in)

Someone has, as addressed earlier in this thread, set up somewhat of a wiki version. It's pretty "poopy" as it is now but the potential is DEFINITELY there.
 
oh, beautiful! thanks kishy. i've been looking for this. this would be sweet to host a mirror of on a 286. you know, "for the lulz."

(i was going to say 8088 but then i remembered images are involved)
 
oh, beautiful! thanks kishy. i've been looking for this. this would be sweet to host a mirror of on a 286. you know, "for the lulz."

(i was going to say 8088 but then i remembered images are involved)

You're welcome, but obviously the true thanks go to the people at Micro House who put this together ages ago.

Well, let's keep in mind it is in HTML format, which is peanuts to serve off a 486 or up but a 286 might have difficulty supplying the data at an acceptable rate. Certainly a cool undertaking though!
 
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Hi all,

I am going to be cautious here, as I certainly don't condone 'illegal downloads'. However having read this whole post, there is certainly a fair length of effort to track the owner of TH99, with as of this post , I gather no joy.

I had a full copy years back, just have no idea which media it was archived onto, or for that matter it would still be readable. or if cartridge, if I even have a physical drive.

That being case I thought I would just try a few of the links in this thread. No joy all dead it appears.

So Googled "Total Hardware 1999 FULL" and the second entry came up with

""Jumper settings for 18655 devices: Total Hardware 1999
https://th99.bl4ckb0x.de/
Total Hardware 1999. Jumper settings for 18655 devices.
HERE IS THE FREE ASCII VERSION.
HERE IS THE FULL VERSION.""

So, using my "I dont mind if it gets infected or dies laptop" I took the chance with the link.

Seems like a great full online version, with pic of mother boards included/ OK NOT photos of actual pcb but of a line annotated graphic of board showing jumpers.

Well I tried clicking "here is the full version" under the front page heading text, and yes I got the full 160mb

Avira Pro did not pick up any issue with the .rar. so I opened it. Seems on first glance to be good.

Now the burning question I have is, "can we get TH99 updated to include all that's been made since year 1999 ?

Maybe its time for a Total Hardware 2015 to be compiled ????

Mind you that would be a super mammoth task
 
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Now the burning question I have is, "can we get TH99 updated to include all that's been made since year 1999 ?
Maybe its time for a Total Hardware 2015 to be compiled ????

I imagine (given the amount of new hardware since 1999), that would be a gigantic (probably impossible) undertaking. Thankfully for most of us luddites, pretty much everything we really need is still in TH99.
 
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