To: All Warpstock Attendees From: Tony Butka, President October 2001

We have a pretty lively group here at The Southern California OS/2 User Group. As a result, there's always somebody trying something new on their computer Ä and sometimes scrambling things up in the process.

That's why we created the OS/2 SCOUG Emergency Folder. We wanted our members to have a place to keep the emergency tips and tricks that you need when your computer is down.

The folder you have in your hands right now isn't complete yet. It has a few of the most-used tips, the ones that our members find work a lot of the time. But we want you to keep adding to it by putting in the new tips you'll find from time to time so it's ready when you need it. (One good source of tips is our web site - www.scoug.com.)

The folder also has a plastic pouch for your emergency CDs and diskettes. It's a good place for your Warp bootup and Utility diskettes, your diskette with the drivers for your particular system, a backup CD copy of Partition Magic, a copy of DFSee, and whatever other utilities you find that you'll need when an emergency strikes. And don't forget your restore software, so you can get your data back onto a new hard drive from your tape backups.

We've included a free copy of SCOUG's CD Of The Month in the emergency pouch. For several years we've created a monthly CD and it contains a lot of good software. Take a look at it and see what you can use.

Other things that should go into your Emergency Folder are the registration codes for all your purchased software so you can reinstall everything quickly, the phone numbers of your local repair shops so you know who can fix your monitor when it dies, and your list of where the discount computer shops are. I tear the pertinent ads out of the free computer magazines that I pick up at weekend computer shows and put them in my folder "just in case".

Have you thought about becoming a SCOUG member? SCOUG is one of the largest world-wide OS/2 user groups. You've probably visited our web site a few times - www.scoug.com - and seen the many OS/2 articles we publish. We have both monthly columnists and special-interest articles; there's something there for everyone. I write a monthly column myself, Ink, which covers printers and scanners. Visit our web site and see the new articles we've added since your last visit.

Whether or not you sign up for a SCOUG membership, send in the enclosed registration form. That way we can send you info on new emergency tips as we add them to our members' Emergency Folders. That service is free.

Next time you're in Southern California, come to one of our free monthly meetings and hear some OS/2 presentations. Everyone is always welcome, members and non-members alike. We'd love to see you there, and of course we'd love to see you become a SCOUG member.

And keep your OS/2 SCOUG Emergency Folder near your machine. We hope you never need it, but we're glad you'll have it nearby in case you do.

SCOUG, Warp Expo West, and Warpfest are trademarks of the Southern California OS/2 User Group. OS/2, Workplace Shell, and IBM are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.