comp.archives.msdos.{announce,d} FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Timo Salmi
Garbo-archive-name: ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/camfaq.zip
Last-modified: Tue 26-Apr-2005 12:49
Copyright (c) 1993-2005 by Timo Salmi
All rights reserved
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P L E A S E R E A D T H I S B E F O R E A S K I N G
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Frequently Asked Questions of the Usenet newsgroups
comp.archives.msdos.announce and comp.archives.msdos.d
======================================================
1) What is the purpose of comp.archives.msdos.announce newsgroup?
2) What is the purpose of comp.archives.msdos.d newsgroup?
3) What is Garbo?
4) How do I obtain the announced files from the MS-DOS archive sites?
5) "Hands on!" A newbie's quick start to get you going. An example
6) Something is wrong with the .zip (.zoo) etc package I downloaded
7) What if the FTP site is busy most of the time?
8) How do I submit programs to the MS-DOS archives?
9) What is the SimTel situation?
10) I don't have FTP capability. Where are the mail servers?
11) What if I do not get any response from a mail server?
12) Where can I find program package xxxxx.zip?
13) What is tar.Z? Where can I find tar for MS-DOS? What about
uudecode, compress?
14) How do I get it from a mirror site? And which directory?
15) Would someone uuencode and email me the program I want?
16) Please email the information directly to me!
17) Me too!
18) Where do I get the Zoo, the Zip or the other unarchivers?
19) Where do I find games? Where do I find GIFs?
20) What if the announced file is not at the archive site?
21) Are the back issues of comp.archives.msdos.announce available?
22) Where to ask Windows FTP archives related questions?
23) Where should I post or look if my topic does not belong here?
24) What if my question is not covered in this FAQ?
25) What has changed in this FAQ since the last time?
26) Acknowledgments for contributions for my FAQ maintenance
....................................................................
1. *****
Q: What is the purpose of comp.archives.msdos.announce newsgroup?
A: The CAM.announce newsgroup was created the 15th of December
1992. It has the following clarified charter which gives it purpose.
This moderated newsgroup is for the upload announcements and
related information from MS-DOS archive sites (also called FTP
sites) with Public Domain, Freeware and Shareware material. The
subjects include the upload announcements via the MS-DOS FTP site
moderators, the MS-DOS sites' periodical summaries, potential policy
statements and downtime warnings, and the MS-DOS FTP site
moderators' reports about the connectivity problems with their
archive sites. Unix announcements conform only if they directly
relate to transferring or handling the MS-DOS material from the
MS-DOS FTP sites.
Principal Moderator: Keith Petersen (w8...@uploadcentral.com)
Co-Moderator: Timo Salmi (t...@uwasa.fi) + FAQ maintenance
Joined Moderators: David Kirschbaum (kir...@Simtel.Net)
Ari Hovila (Currently otherwise engaged)
Further clarification:
The purpose of news:comp.archives.msdos.announce is to be a ONE-WAY
channel for MS-DOS upload announcements which the moderators handle,
and other one-way, occasional information relating to MS-DOS archive
sites. The moderators will therefore not be handling users'
discussion material, questions, and replies. The unmoderated
news:comp.archives.msdos.d newsgroup (see below) will cover that
aspect.
All submissions to comp.archives.msdos.announce originating from those
not authorized as Co-Moderators or Joined Moderators should be mailed to
the "Article submission address" given below, where they will be
reviewed and posted by the Principal Moderator of this newsgroup.
Administrative contact address: ms-news...@uploadcentral.com
Article submission address: ms-news...@uploadcentral.com
Articles from the administrators of all major FTP servers are
welcome.
Official one line description:
Announcements about MS-DOS archives. (Moderated)
2. *****
Q: What is the purpose of comp.archives.msdos.d newsgroup?
A: The news:comp.archives.msdos.d newsgroup was created the 15th of
December 1992. The clarified charter is given below. (CAM.d
officially replaced the expired comp.binaries.ibm.pc.archives
newsgroup, which should thus no longer be used, if your site is for
some strange reason still receiving it.)
"This unmoderated newsgroup is the discussion subgroup of the
moderated news:comp.archives.msdos.announce newsgroup. The newsgroup
covers users' reports, questions and discussions about the Public
Domain and shareware programs at the MS-DOS archive sites (also
called FTP sites), and the users' questions about the MS-DOS FTP
sites such as the users' connectivity problem reports. The group is
also for posting requests/replies concerning where to find such
programs as are stored at the MS-DOS FTP sites. However, users are
expected to refer to the FTP site file indexes before posting such
requests. The newsgroup does not cover any discussions of fully
commercial programs or programs for other operating systems like
OS/2. (These programs have Usenet newsgroups of their own)."
If you have a relevant MS-Windows related questions to pose, please
use the newsgroup news:comp.archives.ms-windows.discuss "Discussing
Microsoft Windows archives". For more, please see the item "Where to
ask Windows FTP archives related questions?"
Official one line description:
Discussion of materials available in MS-DOS archives.
3. *****
Q: What is Garbo?
A: The newsgroup news:comp.archives.msdos.announce is meant for all
MS-DOS archive site maintainers with public domain, freeware and
shareware programs and other material. However, this FAQ is generic.
With the exception of the example site Garbo the FAQ does not cover
information about individual MS-DOS FTP sites. Please direct all
your queries concerning specific MS-DOS sites the maintainers of the
relevant sites or to news:comp.archives.msdos.d, not to the FAQ
maintainer.
Garbo: Garbo.uwasa.fi (193.166.120.5, WWW for Garbo information:
http://garbo.uwasa.fi/ and WWW for direct access to the MS-DOS
section: http://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/) is provided by the Computer
Centre together with the Department of Accounting and Business
Finance of the University of Vaasa, Finland. Garbo specializes in
areas like quality MS-DOS maintenance utilities, educational
material and Turbo Pascal programming. Scientific working papers are
a new particular interest. Contributions are invited. Garbo's
general mission as a university site is the promotion of rational
knowledge and the enhancement of the users' interest in science.
See http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/garbo.html#faq for a Garbo FAQ.
4. *****
Q: How do I obtain the announced files from the MS-DOS archive sites?
A: If you are not familiar with using anonymous FTP or mail servers
for downloading material from the MS-DOS archive sites, you should
contact the maintainer of the relevant site for the instructions.
Take a look at the instructions (given below in the second section
"A2" of this answer) on how to order for example the garbo.uwasa.fi
instructions from Timo Salmi (mailto:t...@uwasa.fi).
Please note that you should not email the moderator(s) of an FTP
site for advice on another FTP site. Although the moderators often
cooperate, the individualized queries should always go directly to
the right place.
Likewise you should pose the questions concerning a mirror site
to the mirroring site's moderator, not to the moderator of the site
being mirrored. Although mirroring is very welcome and the sites
cooperate, the mirroring is an independent operation by the site
that does the mirroring.
If you are uncertain whom to ask, post your question to
news:comp.archives.msdos.d.
A2: Even if this relates to a specific site (Garbo), much of the
information in the referred instructions is generic:
"If you do not know how to go about getting material from Garbo,
users are welcome to email mailto:t...@uwasa.fi for the prerecorded
garbo.uwasa.fi instructions (long, about 29Kb). The overseas users
can also use the various Garbo mirrors. The mirrors may lag or might
not have all the Garbo files. If you do not receive my reply within
five days, please ask your own site's system manager to construct a
returnable mail path for you".
5. *****
Q: "Hands on!" A newbie's quick start to get you going. An example
A: Here is a quick start to show you an example how to get
(download) by ftp (file transfer program) the file index, PKZIP and
a news file from one of the MS-DOS archive sites to your host.
ftp garbo.uwasa.fi #Connect to Garbo with ftp
anonymous #Use this name to get temporary privileges
Type (at least) the first part of your email address as your password
bin #Use the binary mode for most file transfers
cd /pc #Go to the MS-DOS main directory
get INDEX.ZIP #Get the annotated list of files
cd /pc/arcers #Go to the relevant directory
ls -CF #See the directory contents
get pkz204g.exe #Get the file to your default directory
cd /pc/pd2 #Go to Garbo's general information directory
ascii #Use the ascii mode for text file transfers
get news_pd2.txt #Get the selective Garbo news file
close #Close the connection to Garbo
quit #Quit the ftp program
A2: Once you have gotten this material to your host, usually you
must still transfer the packages from your host to your PC. How to
do this depends on your configuration and the transfer programs you
have. Giving advice with this part is beyond the scope of this text
and beyond the tasks of MS-DOS archive site maintainers. If you have
problems in this respect, you should try to get help from your local
support person.
A3: Many if not most programs on MS-DOS archive sites are in a
zipped format, that is the file names have the extension .zip. To
handle these packages on your PC you'll need to download a program
like PKWare's ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/pkz204g.exe to your PC.
It is very easy to install once you have it. Just type PKZ204G since
it is a self-extracting package. If you need the long-filename
support get the update ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/pk250dos.exe
6. *****
Q: Something is wrong with the .zip (.zoo) etc package I downloaded:
I get a CRC error, a "requires PKUNZIP 3.0 or higher version", a
"zipfile is part of multi-disk archive" message, or whatever when
I try to process the .zip package I downloaded from an MS-DOS FTP
site.
A1: 1) Use a binary transfers at all phases. (Both from the FTP
site to your host and from your host to your PC.)
2) Use a version 2.04G compatible extractor on your MS-DOS PC:
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/unz552x3.exe"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/pkz204g.exe"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/pk250dos.exe"
3) PKZIP 2.04G compatible Unix (actually multi-platform) version
by the Info-ZIP programming group is available as
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/unzip512.tar.Z"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/unzip531.zip"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/unzmake.txt"
Using the old Unix version for testing 2.04G .zip files on
Unix can cause false CRC error messages.
4) Alternatively, depending on your OS, get a suitable unzipper
from a service like
http://www.pkware.com/
http://www.winzip.com/WinZip/download.html
ftp://ftp.freesoftware.com/pub/infozip/Info-ZIP.html
A2: In over 99.9% of cases the allegedly corrupt packages are
caused either by the user's failure to transfer the .zip packages in
the binary mode or using an outdated version of PKUNZIP.
In file transfers there are (usually) two phases:
A) From the FTP site to your host.
B) From your host to your PC.
Failure the transfer in the binary mode can cause quite unexpected
error messages like for example "requires PKUNZIP 2.8 or higher
version".
It is fairly common of the users to claim that they have
transferred in the binary mode, but in fact done so for only one of
the stages! Usually you transfer the zipped file in two stages.
First from the FTP site to your own (most often Unix) host. That
transfer must be made in the binary mode. Second from your host to
your PC. Also this second transfer must be made in the binary mode.
In particular, if you are using the kermit protocol for the
transfer, you must set the transfer to binary mode at _both_ ends of
the transfer.
Failing to set the transfer to the binary mode, and using the old
versions of PKUNZIP has caused innumerable false alarms from the
downloaders to the FTP archive site maintainers. It is not
impossible, but it is extremely rare that a package is actually
corrupt on the FTP archive site.
In some very unusual cases setting the transfer to binary is not
enough because the byte order of your host and the FTP site might
not be the same. That is why most ftp programs have a mode called
TENEX, which tells each end to use binary mode but to sort out the
byte ordering differences between the two machines. If your ftp
program does not have the TENEX command you can make it do the same
thing by issuing these two commands:
ftp> binary
ftp> quote "TYPE L 8"
The double quotes are required.
Some users with .zip problems want to know where to get PKZIPFIX.
It is within the PKZIP distribution package (pkz204g.exe or
pk250dos.exe), but using it will not rectify any of the errors
described in the above.
If you are using a 386 or 486 computer, PKUNZIP may be having
some problems with your machine's BIOS. You can force PKUNZIP to
NOT use 386 instructions by doing SET PKNO386=ON at the DOS command
prompt to put the variable PKNO386 into your DOS environment.
Furthermore, you can put a PKZIP.CFG file into the same directory
where your PKZIP.EXE program is. Below is an example of "cautious"
defaults (the spaces in front are just for FAQ readability).
EMS=disable
XMS=disable
DPMI=disable
NET=disable
COMPRESS=maximum
There also is a Unix version of unzip in case you wish to look at
the package already at your Unix host. See Item #5 for the pointer.
If you do not know how to handle tar.Z files, start by reading
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/ts/tarzfaq.txt for the instructions to
make operative a utility distributed as a tar.Z. (A tar.Z file must
be transferred as binary.)
A3: The World Wide Web has added the possibility of getting the
files from the archive sites also with the WWW browser programs. It
appears that (at least with some of the browser versions) in a long
session the browser gets confused and cannot get the files in the
proper format. If you are experiencing such problems, exit your
browser, reload it, and then try to get the target file anew.
A4: Be warned that there are countless bogus PKZIP 1.20, 2.0, 2.02,
3.05 and whatever scams floating around. They usually are hacks of
PKZIP 1.93A beta test version. Some of them are trojans and / or
carry computer viruses. There is one exception, 2.06 for IBM (the
company), but it is equivalent to 2.04g.
A5: The most common error with .zoo is using the old 2.01 version
instead of the current version 2.10. Likewise, for the other
archivers, make sure that you have the most recent version.
7. *****
Q: What if the FTP site is busy most of the time?
A: If you have a BSD Unix host consider automated FTP:
"29520 Nov 23 1992 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/networking/batchftp102.tar.Z"
"batchftp102.tar.Z Get/put files automatically by FTP (a definite must!)"
and
"1875 Jun 20 1995 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/networking/batchftp.txt"
"batchftp.txt Timo's instructions for using batchftp"
This is advisable even if you don't have access problems, since
using batchftp decreases the overhead of being connected. It is very
convenient anyway once you have managed to set it up. Another
alternative is
"5534 Nov 17 1994 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/networking/get20.zip"
"get20.zip Get files from MS-DOS archive site, J.Rice"
One thing _*NOT*_ to do if an FTP site is busy. If you have the
FTP capability don't substitute FTP by mail server requests. The
mail servers cause more load both on the net traffic and the mail
server site's capacity. (Garbo's mail server has been closed.)
8. *****
Q: How do I submit programs to the MS-DOS archives?
A: The answer naturally depends on your target site. You should
contact the maintainer of the relevant site for more information.
For Garbo please get the instructions by downloading the
following two files: "ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/UPLOAD.TXT" and
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/UPTEXT.TXT". Read these files carefully
_*BEFORE*_ you upload to Garbo, so that your own and our time will
not be unnecessarily wasted. Also see for the current upload
situation the URL http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/garbo.html#faq .
9. *****
Q: What is the SimTel situation?
A: With the exception of the example site Garbo this FAQ does not
cover information about individual FTP sites. They publish their own
information which is more current that way than going through an
intermediary. Thus this FAQ is the newsgroups' generic FAQ + a Garbo
FAQ. Please direct all your queries concerning specific sites to the
maintainers of the relevant sites or to news:comp.archives.msdos.d,
not to the FAQ maintainer.
10. *****
Q: I don't have FTP capability. Where are the mail servers?
A: For Garbo archives this item is no more valid. The old
information: (For information on how to use the Garbo mail server
send e-mail to ftp...@garbo.uwasa.fi. You can freely choose a
subject since it is not checked in any way. Put the following
command in the body of the message. Do not attach a signature since
it may confuse servers.
help
For example: (using standard Unix-mail; Subject is prompted - don't
use it in the message body, it won't work)
% mail ftp...@garbo.uwasa.fi
Subject: request
help
^D
%
Garbo's mail server has been closed.)
11. *****
Q: What if I do not get any response from a mail server?
A: Contact your own site's system manager, and ask him/her to look
into it. You must have a returnable mail path in order to use the
mail servers!
One thing _*NOT*_ to do if you haven't ever gotten a response
from the particular mail server, is sending the same request
repeatedly. It may reach the server even if the server cannot send
the request back to you, because of your bouncing address. You'll
just be overloading the mail server. Please do not do that! To put
it mildly, the maintainers of the target site will not be happy if
you do.
If you have been able to get files from a mail server, but don't
get the file you are currently requesting, the same applies. Do
_*NOT*_ send the request over and over again. First assure from the
CURRENT file lists that the file really is there. Some programs get
updated fairly frequently, and there may be other similar reasons
for a temporary unavailability, like the site being down at the
moment.
Summary: Never repeat the same email server request until you
have found out what was wrong.
12. *****
Q: Where can I find program package xxxxx.zip?
A: If you already know fairly accurately what you are looking for,
then before posting you should first look at the file lists of the
major MS-DOS FTP sites, try the Archie server, or use a WWW search
engine. For example the main file lists for Garbo are
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/INDEX.ZIP"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/INDEXTS.ZIP"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/windows/WINDEX.ZIP"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/win95/W95INDEX.ZIP"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/UINDEX.ZIP"
Also see "ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqn.zip" Frequently
Asked Questions if you are looking for utilities like programs to
capture the screen to a file or to the printer, utilities for
directing all printer output to a file, and so on and on.
Likewise should you need programs for your Unix host to transfer
and handle the files, programs like Zmodem and the various
(un)archiving utilities like unzip, scan the said material, and the
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/UINDEX.ZIP" file list.
As for the Archie servers, see tsfaqn.zip again for the pointer.
(But note that the coverage and an up-to-date status of the servers
is not guaranteed).
This item is definitely not to discourage anyone from asking
relevant questions, quite the contrary. Contributions in the form of
news postings from all users are welcome and enjoyed. Asking
appropriate questions in order to find useful PD & shareware MS-DOS
programs _and_ giving informative answers to the relevant questions
is partly what the CAM.d newsgroup is about. However, it is required
that you know these basics before asking away. It is polite towards
the other users to have already taken the trivial preliminary steps.
Do not use posting to news:comp.archives.msdos.d as a substitute for
first browsing the file indexes.
A2: If you are quite a newcomer to all this then you'll need the
utilities to unpack the archived files like the .zip files referred
to in the above. You can get the archive extractors from many sites.
For Garbo the references to .zip extractors are the following. The
self-extracting MS-DOS unzip can be obtained as PKWare's shareware
"202574 Feb 1 1993 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/pkz204g.exe"
"207394 Mar 1 1999 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/pk250dos.exe"
or Info-ZIP programming group's PD
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/unz552x3.exe"
The Unix (and other platforms) unzip can be obtained as
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/unzip512.tar.Z" For the
instructions to make a Unix tar.Z operational see e.g. the ascii
files
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/ts/tarzfaq.txt"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/unzmake.txt"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/gzipmake.txt"
A3: There are some "whereis" questions which tend to recur. Here
are some of them with pointers to further information
:
Subject: Re: Pc read/write Mac-disks... How!
Pointer: ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/tspost17.zip
:
Subject: MS-DOS 6.2 Step Up upgrade, where and why?
Pointer: ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/tspost17.zip
Item: Re: MsDos 6.2 upload rejected at Garbo
:
Subject: Re: Handling different archiver/compression formats
Pointer: ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers /pc/unix and /unix/arcers
Pointer: FAQPROGS.TXT in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqn.zip
Item: I can't run this file I got with a .zip (.arc etc) extension
Pointer: ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/doc-net/faqc9???.zip
:
Subject: Typing tutorials
Pointer: ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/tspost19.zip
Item: Review of typing tutorials/games (by Lee Bailey)
:
Subject: Conversions between Unix and PC text-file end of lines
Pointer: FAQFTP.TXT in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqn.zip
Item: How do I convert Unix text files to PC files, and vice versa?
:
Subject: Turning off the PC's speaker
Pointer: ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/tspost20.zip
Item: Re: Wanted - Speaker turn'er off'er
:
Subject: Printer redirection to a file
Pointer: faqprogs.txt in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqn.zip
:
Subject: Printing all output from screen (text-mode screen capture)
Pointer: faqprogs.txt in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqn.zip
13. *****
Q: What is tar.Z? Where can I find tar for MS-DOS? What about
uudecode, compress?
A: These formats (tar and Z) are (usually) Unix files. The files
with the .Z extension are compressed files which you'll need to
uncompress. Uncompress is available as a standard feature on Unix
systems (try "man uncompress"). You can get it for MS-DOS as well
e.g. as "ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/unix/comp430d.zip". You can also
use ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/unix/gzip124.zip (both for .Z and .gz
files).
Tarred files with the extension of .tar ("tape archives") can be
handled with a tar program on a Unix system, or on MS-DOS with the
utilities like "ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/unix/tar4dos.zoo" or
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/unix/tar320g.zip". On Unix try "man tar".
Also see
3404 Nov 20 1995 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/ts/tarzfaq.txt
tarzfaq.txt What are and how to handle tar.Z and tar.gz files
A2: Uuencoding is a 7-bit format for sending files in ordinary
ascii format. On a Unix system see "man uudecode" and for MS-DOS get
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/decode/uuexe656.zip".
14. *****
Q: How do I get it from a mirror site? And which directory?
A: If you have managed to get a pointer to, and the location of a
utility you wish to have, and you would prefer to download it from a
mirror site near you, please consider the following. All the
potential questions concerning the mirroring site are best directed
to the moderator of the site that does the mirroring. Not to the
moderator of the site being mirrored. This is because mirroring is
an independent operation. Naturally, don't go asking the moderators
to find the directory of the utility for you. See the site's file
list(s).
15. *****
Q: Would someone uuencode and email me the program I want?
A: It is not necessary to try to find someone who might be willing
to do it. That is what the mail servers are for. Reread item "I
don't have FTP. Where are the mail servers?" Or watch out for the
periodic information in news:comp.archives.msdos.announce. Or if you
wish to use the garbo.uwasa.fi mail server you are welcome to email
me for the prerecorded instructions (long, about 29Kb) as explained
in the item "How do I obtain the announced files from the MS-DOS FTP
sites?" the A2 part of the answer.
16. *****
Q: Please email the information directly to me!
A: Unless you genuinely intend to post a summary for the benefit of
the other potentially interested readers, that is quite a selfish
attitude, and is not condoned. To prosper the newsgroup needs
everyone to be ready to contribute one way or the other. Please see
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqn.zip" for more thoughts on
asking for emailed replies.
17. *****
Q: Me too!
A: To avoid this is exactly why we need the users to summarize if
they get useful replies by email. Likewise this is one of the
reasons why I almost always post my own pointers, and very seldom
email, even when the user has explicitly expressed such a wish in
his/her posting. Besides, it often pays take a moment to scan the
postings before rushing to anything. There may already be posted
replies to the question. Please do not post "me too's" even if we
understand why some users do this.
Now what to do if someone is clearly planning to hog the answers
to a question that definitely interests you. The answer is not to
send a "me too", but to point out by email to the poster of the
request that you would like him/her to share the information s/he
gets from the gentle users of news:comp.archives.msdos.d.
The real point here is, however, that in order to the newsgroup
to prosper we need all the gentle users to be also prepared to
contribute, not just to exploit.
18. *****
Q: Where do I get the Zoo, the Zip or the other unarchivers?
A: For the UnZip programs see the references in Item #5. You can
get Zoo e.g. as
"73461 Jul 12 1991 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/zoo210.exe"
For more information, and the rest of the unarchivers reread item
"Where can I find program package xxxxx.zip?" and item "How do I get
it from a mirror site? And which directory?" and/or see
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqn.zip" Frequently Asked Questions.
The unarchivers (and many of the archivers) are available also
for Unix, which means that you can (if you wish to) check and handle
the downloaded files already on your Unix host before transferring
the files to your PC. At Garbo the relevant directory is
/unix/arcers.
19. *****
Q: Where do I find games? Where do I find GIFs?
A: Garbo does not carry recreational games, but for example
ftp.uwp.edu have a very good collection. Also sites like
nic.funet.fi and wuarchive.wustl.edu carry games.
As for GIFs, that information is not readily available since the
powers that be do not always look benevolently upon using the
resources for the purpose. Perhaps the best avenue for getting them
is calling BBSes (bulletin boards system). One pointer to an
InterNet site, however, is that wuarchive.wustl.edu carries a large
selection of GIFs in their /graphics/gif directory. (That will be
all from me on this.)
20. *****
Q: What if the announced file is not at the archive site?
A: The very first thing to do is assure that you have to the file
name and the directory right. Especially if the announcement is not
very recent, it is possible that the file has been updated again.
Occasionally some updates come at rapid succession. Check the site's
file lit for the current file name and path (most if not all MS-DOS
archive sites have an index). For Garbo the file lists
are
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/INDEX.ZIP (a binary file)
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/INDEXTS.ZIP
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/UINDEX.ZIP
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/windows/WINDEX.ZIP
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/win95/W95INDEX.ZIP
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/ql/QLINDEX.TXT (a text file)
If the announcement is recent, the file may not be at a mirroring
site.
Errors in the announced file name or the directory path are very
uncommon, even if the "hand-written" file lists can quite well have
errors. For example Garbo's upload announcement "thank you" notes
are made semi-automatically to prevent the possibility of typing
errors. In case the problem concerns a Garbo file you can make an
additional check by looking at
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/_file.zip Sorted filepath list"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/windows/_filew.zip"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/win95/_filew95.zip"
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/_fileu.zip"
21. *****
Q: Are the back issues of comp.archives.msdos.announce available?
A1: The upload announcements from Garbo are stored in digest format
for about the last ten issues. The format of the file name is
24723 May 5 11:08 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/filelist/v95n025.lst
v95n025.lst Garbo-Ann Digest Vol. 95 Nr. 25
See Garbo's ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/INDEX.ZIP for the currently
available back issues.
A2: In this day and age the best alternative to find old news from
_ANY_ newsgroup is using the extensive http://www.dejanews.com/
service.
22. ******
Q: Where to ask Windows FTP archives related questions? May I
continue to post the relevant Windows related questions to the
news:comp.archives.msdos.d newsgroup?
A: No. The newsgroups news:comp.archives.ms-windows.announce and
news:comp.archives.ms-windows.discuss have been created the 19th of
June 1996 with the specific purpose of reallocating the news load.
Therefore, we should try our best to direct Windows discussions to
news:comp.archives.ms-windows.discuss only, and MS-DOS discussions
to news:comp.archives.msdos.d only.
In particular, please avoid crossposting your questions and
comments. Choose one newsgroup only. The readership is bound to
overlap, anyway.
If you have a question related to the MS-DOS / Windows FTP sites
in general, and can't decide which newsgroup to choose, please pose
your question to news:comp.archives.msdos.d.
If you are not getting the comp.archives.ms-windows.* newsgroups,
please contact your newsadmin for adding the newsgroups for you.
23. *****
Q: Where should I post or look if my topic does not belong here?
A: It is not possible to give fool-proof all-round advice on the
alternatives, but it would seem that fairly often one of the groups
below might turn out to be suitable. The (M) means moderated.
news:comp.answers (Repository for periodic USENET articles) (M)
news:comp.archives.ms-windows.discuss (Discussing MS-Windows archives)
* news:comp.binaries.ibm.pc.wanted (Requests for IBM PC compatible programs)
news:comp.binaries.ms-windows (Binary programs for Microsoft Windows) (M)
news:comp.binaries.os2 (Binaries for use under the OS/2 ABI) (M)
news:comp.compression (Data compression algorithms and theory)
news:comp.dcom.modems (Data communications hardware and software.)
news:comp.editors (Discussion about editors)
news:comp.graphics (Computer graphics, art, animation, image proc.)
news:comp.lang.c (Discussion about C)
news:comp.lang.pascal.borland (Borland's Pascal + Turbo Pascal; not Delphi!)
news:comp.lang.pascal.misc (Pascal in general and ungrouped Pascals.)
news:comp.archives.msdos.announce (Announcements about MSDOS archives. (M)
news:comp.archives.msdos.d (Disc. of materials available in MSDOS archives)
news:comp.os.linux.misc (The free UNIX-clone for the 386/486, LINUX)
news:comp.os.misc (General OS-oriented discussion)
news:comp.os.msdos.4dos (The 4DOS command processor for MS-DOS.)
news:comp.os.msdos.apps (On MsDos applications, also on fully commercial)
* news:comp.os.msdos.misc (Miscellaneous topics about MS-DOS machines)
* news:comp.os.msdos.programmer (Programming MS-DOS machines)
news:comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy (Speculation and debate about MS Windows)
news:comp.os.ms-windows.apps (Applications in the Windows environment)
news:comp.os.ms-windows.misc (General discussions about Windows issues)
news:comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.misc (Programming Microsoft Windows)
news:comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc (Miscellaneous Topics about Windows 95)
news:comp.os.os2.advocacy (Supporting and flaming OS/2)
news:comp.os.os2.apps (Discussions of applications under OS/2)
news:comp.os.os2.misc (Miscellaneous topics about the OS/2 system)
news:comp.os.os2.programmer.misc (Programming OS/2 machines)
news:comp.sources.testers (Finding people to test software)
news:comp.sources.unix (Postings of complete, UNIX-oriented sources (M)
* news:comp.sources.wanted (Requests for software and fixes)
news:comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.* (Games for IBM PCs and compatibles, many groups)
news:comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.misc (Games not covered by other PC games groups)
* news:comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.* (PC hardware topics, many groups)
news:comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc (Discussion about IBM personal computers)
news:comp.sys.ibm.pc.digest (The IBM PC, PC-XT, and PC-AT) (M)
news:comp.sys.laptops (Laptop (portable) computers)
news:comp.sys.mac.apps Discussions of Macintosh applications.
news:comp.sys.mac.wanted Postings of "I want XYZ for my Mac."
news:comp.unix.programmer (Q&A for people programming under Unix)
news:comp.unix.questions (UNIX neophytes group)
news:comp.virus (Computer viruses & security) (M)
news:news.answers (Repository for periodic USENET articles) (M)
news:news.admin.misc (General topics of network news administration)
news:news.admin.net-abuse.misc (Discussion about miscellaneous net abuse)
news:news.admin.net-abuse.usenet (Reports and discussion about Usenet abuse)
news:news.admin.net-abuse.email (Discussion of abuse of email systems.)
news:news.groups (Discussions and lists of newsgroups)
news:news.groups.questions (Where can I find talk about topic X?)
news:news.lists (News-related statistics and lists)
news:news.newusers.questions (Q & A for users new to the Usenet, "newbies")
news:misc.books.technical (Discussion of books about technical topics)
news:misc.forsale (Short, tasteful postings about items for sale)
news:misc.forsale.computers.d (Discussion of misc.forsale.computers.*)
news:misc.forsale.computers.modems (Modems for sale and wanted)
news:misc.forsale.computers.other (Selling miscellaneous computer stuff)
news:misc.forsale.computers.pc-specific.software (PC software)
news:misc.forsale.computers.pc-specific.systems (Complete PC systems)
news:misc.forsale.computers.pc-specific.misc (Other PC-specific equipment)
news:misc.legal.computing (Discussing the legal aspects of computing)
news:misc.misc (Discussions not fitting elsewhere)
news:misc.test (For test messages. Gives feedback of propagation)
news:alt.flame (Take it to here)
news:alt.comp.shareware (Shareware authors' discussion forum)
news:alt.religion.computers (Whatever you believe in and preach in computing)
news:alt.test (An alternative newsgroup for your test messages)
A tip:
If you do not know where to ask, news.newusers.questions is the
best bet. If you need the complete list of newsgroups, please see
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/doc-net/newsgrps.zip. Furthermore, there
even is a special newsgroup, news:news.groups.questions, for
enquiring where you can ask where to find talk about topic X?
24. *****
Q: What if my question is not covered in this FAQ?
A: There is a wealth of further relevant information in the the
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqn.zip" Frequently Asked Questions
collection. Furthermore, there is plenty of additional information
and feedback (much but not all related to Garbo) in the
"ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/tspost*.zip" collections. Start by
getting the index ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/tspost00.zip. It
includes the contents lists of all Timo Salmi's FAQs (Frequently
Asked Questions).
A2: Here are some very common additional questions with more
accurate pointers to the location of the information
Subject: Re: FTP dir scroll, or textfile read
Pointer: ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/tspost07.zip
Pointer: FAQFTP.TXT in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqn.zip
25. *****
Q: What has changed in this FAQ since the last time?
A: If you wish to know that, please store the previous version of
this FAQ. Then run it and the new version through any suitable diff
program. (Sorry, I am too pressed for time to provide also such a
service for you).
26. *****
Q: Acknowledgments for positive contributions for my FAQ maintenance
A: The following persons have contributed in one constructive way
or another for this FAQ. In an alphabetical order Colin Douthwaite,
Michael Evans, Greg Franklin, Mikko Hypponen, Jonathan Kamens, John
Marter, Keith Petersen, Kymberleigh Richards, Simon Ritchie, Frank
Slootweg, John Stockton, Henrik Storner, David Sward, Gordon Taylor,
Carlos Teixeira, Doug Tooley, Steve Walters.
All the best, Timo
--
Prof. Timo Salmi mailto:t...@uwasa.fi ftp & http://garbo.uwasa.fi/
Hpage http://www.uwasa.fi/laskentatoimi/english/personnel/salmitimo/
Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Vaasa, Finland
Timo's FAQ materials at http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/tsfaq.html
Dense spam-kill procmail filtering with a public email key in effect