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Date:	Tue, 1 Apr 2003 10:47:25 PST8
From:	Peter Skye <pskye@peterskye.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: Fresh vs. Fixpak (was: installation diskettes)

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Ray Davison wrote:
>
> My experience with fancy GUI OSs is the big problems
> are not things that are missing, rather it is trash and
> mistakes that they accumulate. Steven claims he can
> install OS/2 and run it for years, I have not been able
> to. Yea, maybe if I put the screws in the cover and
> locked them, but what fun would that be.

The machine I brought down to San Diego and that I'm using right now is
my original Warp 4 installation machine. I've added some fixpaks and
Dani's drivers but it's still running. I do run UniMaint Repair,
CheckINI and occasionally CleanINI on it. I keep about 10 levels of INI
file backups "just in case" which has turned out to be a very good idea
since they do get scrambled occasionally. I also back up everything at
least once a day. When I have to restore the INI files I don't bother
with the DOCK* files or the Desktop files, which makes Mr. Know It All's
hair stand on end but it works here.

> I am guessing that eCs says install to a clean partition
> not because it must but because Kim has no way of dealing
> with whatever trash you might already have there.

I've never tried eCS. Someone told me that they changed the OS/2
directory structure a bit so things aren't in the same place any more,
but I've never verified that.

> The whole reason for installing new over old seems to
> be to save the desktop that you have spent six months
> fiddling with. The desktop is our video game and very
> little of the effort produces any productive benefit.

A fresh installation:

-- destroys the OS2*.INI files. A number of programs write to the
OS2.INI file when they install so you would lose that info and have to
reinstall the software.

-- zaps the Startup folder. I have about 40 program shadows in mine.

-- would require that all of the shadows I've carefully placed in my
WarpCenter toolbar would have to be redone. There's probably some Rexx
code that can recreate my WarpCenter toolbar but I've never investigated
what it is.

-- would kill all of the icons I've crafted for the shadows (not the
icons on the originals) of a number of my own programs and folders. I
know these can be saved elsewhere but I haven't done that; in fact, I
don't know how - somebody want to tell me? Most of these shadow icons
are either on my WarpCenter toolbar or in my Startup folder. I know I
can drag & drop an icon onto another to change it and I know you can
have a "collection" of icons but I don't know how to create such an icon
collection. I'm reasonably familiar with the Icon Editor; do I just
create a new folder and then save my custom icons to that folder?

> If you only allow the boot partition to contain
> things put there by the OS installation, and put
> all apps and utilities on other drives,

That's how I do it. :)

> a clean install consists mostly of moving and creating
> some objects and maybe copying a few files that you saved.
> The total effort is often less than trying to clean out
> the old installation, and will probably function better.

Somewhere on Hobbes is a program (can't remember its name) that extracts
an INI file's info and puts it in a text file (in hex format when
necessary) and can also rewrite the info back to the INI file. Some
smart guy could write a program (or a long FIND /V filter) that would
throw away the system info leaving behind all the user-set and
program-set values. Then they could be put into any new INI file.

- Peter

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