 

                              COMPUTER TUTORIAL


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       This tutorial discusses minimum basic DOS commands, DOS shells, 
       disk subdirectory structure, start up boot sequence and file 
       names/file handling. 

       DOS stands for disk operating system. DOS is the software 
       program which controls the primary input and output of your 
       computer while you use an application program such as your word 
       processor or database. Learning about DOS isn't that difficult 
       after all. It seems that beginners live in fear of DOS. 
       
       A better way to do things is to imagine that DOS is a kitchen of 
       cooking tools and helpful chefs waiting for your instructions on 
       what to fix for lunch. Here's the point of the analogy: you've 
       got to be a little comfortable in the kitchen to live (no food - 
       no you!) 

       Same thing with DOS. Learn just a little and you can survive. 
       But just as with the kitchen, a steady diet of peanut butter 
       sandwiches may keep you alive (i.e., passing familiarity with 
       only 4 or 5 DOS commands), life is more flavorful eating a 
       variety of things like seafood, salad and dessert (i.e., a 
       richer diet of DOS commands.) 

       DOS or the disk operating system controls the flow of data to 
       and from the screen, keyboard, disk drives, printers and of 
       course the integrated circuit RAM (random access memory) chips 
       wherein data is stored and processed. In as sense, DOS is the 
       "verbal interpreter" through which your program (e.g., word 
       processor) talks to the raw hardware. Somewhat like a person in 
       a foreign land who needs a language interpreter. 

       Over the years DOS has been produced in a variety of versions. 
       New commands and capabilities have been added with different 
       versions for a variety of machines. You might bump into a 
       version of DOS for a true IBM machine and a version of DOS for a 
       machine manufactured by Tandy. PC-DOS is a version of the more 
       general MS-DOS developed for 16-bit computers using the Intel-
       manufactured line of CPU microprocessor chips. 

       DOS is a software program having MANY parts! It consists of one 
       (or more) disk(s) having an input/output system, a command 
       processor, and many utilities. Don't worry about all of this 
       right now, just be aware that DOS has many parts. 
       
       DOS utilities are small software program files which are found 
       on your DOS disk. These utility files perform helpful tasks such 
       as formatting a disk or checking it for errors. Since they are a 
       part of DOS, they live on the same disk but are not needed all 
       of the time (e.g., you may need to format disks only once or 
       twice a week and thus occasionally use FORMAT.COM which lives on 
       your DOS disk.) Thus these EXTERNAL disk-based utility programs 
       live in the computer's RAM (random access memory) chips 
       TEMPORARILLY while in use and usually are kept on the disk until 
       needed. They are EXTERNAL commands. 
       
       Other commands live inside RAM memory because they are used 
       frequently and are INTERNAL DOS commands. The file FORMAT.COM is 
       an example of an EXTERNAL COMMAND. An example of an INTERNAL 
       COMMAND would be DIR. 
              
       Keep in mind that there are two basic types of DOS commands 
       which will become more apparent as we delve into DOS magic. 

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          DOS THE EASY WAY - DOS SHELLS AREN'T FOUND AT THE SEASHORE
       
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       Before we start our main DOS tutorial a brief alternative:
       
       There is always an easier way to do anything - given enough 
       time and ingenuity. If DOS commands and structure are not 
       interesting or you don't have the time to learn DOS, there exist 
       programs called DOS SHELLS which essentially provide DOS access 
       for routine things like moving and copying files; these menu 
       programs hide the DOS commands behind a series of "point and 
       select" choices and options. 
       
       The typical DOS shell is a package which surrounds DOS (like a 
       shell, hence the name) and allows you to perform the most common 
       DOS functions by pressing only one or two keys or moving a 
       highlighted arrow. Very appealing for beginners! This may be
       all the DOS control most people need . . .

       This is a bit like using a cash machine at the bank. If you need 
       to take money out of the machine, you insert your card, key in a 
       password and press a few different choice buttons. DOS SHELLS 
       provide a screen of DOS command CHOICES, allowing you to point 
       the arrow or cursor at the task you want done. You see a menu of 
       choices instead of a cryptic C> prompt. 

       The tradeoff is that you may miss out some of the more subtle 
       operations that direct contact with DOS can provide, but then 
       sometimes it is easier to get the task accomplished without 
       fancy sidetracking and confusion. 
  
       There are two flavors of DOS shells: memory resident which stay put 
       in the computer memory and are always available whether the 
       DOS shell disk is in the machine or not. The second type, non-
       resident shells, live on the disk and must be present in the disk 
       drive to be used. Non-resident DOS shells do not use active RAM 
       memory continuously and thus free more memory space for your 
       main program. 

       Some DOS shells also have added features: security passwords and 
       macros - the capability to cause one key or key combination to 
       instantly type a long string of commands. DOS shells are a good 
       "beginners crutch" to let you work with the computer and its DOS 
       operating system without having to learn the DOS commands and 
       their somewhat arcane syntax. 

       Some practical and easy DOS shell packages include: Still River 
       Shell, DOS2ools, PC Tools, Powermenu, Automenu, Dirmagic and 
       Directory Freedom. If you are beginner and don't want to be 
       troubled learning DOS, then a shell program is the easiest way 
       to use the PC. DOS version 5.0 contains its own shell system.

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                        USING DOS - THE NUTS AND BOLTS 

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       Next let's jump into our main DOS tutorial, for those interested.

       Remember, there are TWO ways to use DOS. Directly at the prompt 
       using what is termed a COMMAND LINE. This is the detailed method 
       we will study in a paragraph or so. A second way is to use a DOS 
       SHELL to manage files and other data, as we discussed previously. 

       The following examples are best practiced at the DOS prompt A> 
       or C> rather than within this tutorial. You might wish to print 
       this tutorial and then practice the examples with your computer 
       displaying a true DOS prompt such as  C>

       To print this tutorial, press P to print.

       Now let's begin the tutorial: 

       When you first turn on the computer with only the DOS disk in 
       place, assuming some automatic startup software or menu program 
       has not been installed, you will see the lonesome A> prompt or 
       maybe C> prompt if you have a hard drive. 

       The DEFAULT drive is the disk drive in which DOS will search for 
       a program or file if no other specification to another drive is 
       given. The prompt tells you which drive is the default drive at 
       the moment. DOS can specify up to 63 drive names (not just a, b 
       and c!) 

       If A> is on the screen it is the DOS prompt and in this case the 
       A: drive is the DEFAULT floppy drive which will be searched for 
       information if you issue a command and ask DOS to execute it. 

       You can CHANGE the default drive simply. Let's try switching 
       drives.  

       If you see   A>     try the following example: 

       (Example)     b:    <press enter or return key> 

       The result on screen is now     B> 

       The computer now pays attention to b: (b drive). Hopefully there 
       is a disk in b: drive or DOS gets confused and will give you an 
       error message. 

       If you have a hard drive (which is usually the C: drive,) you 
       can try switching back and forth between your A: drive and C: in 
       a similar manner. Try switching around between drives, go back 
       and forth a few times. Switching drives is a VERY IMPORTANT 
       SKILL, since DOS pays attention to the default drive whose 
       letter is displayed on your screen.

       Let's try some other simple DOS commands. Type the short 
       command (such as VER) when you see a DOS prompt. You can use 
       either upper or lower case letters to type DOS commands.
       
       Try these examples . . . 

       (Example)                      A>ver   <then press enter key> 
       (Example)                      A>time  <then press enter key> 
       (Example)                      A>date  <then press enter key> 

       In the above examples, you first asked DOS to tell you what 
       version of DOS you are using then a request to tell you the time 
       and date. Get the idea? Type in a word or phrase and something 
       happens. But just what are the words and phrases? Let's delve 
       more deeply . . .

       (Example)                      A>dir/p   <enter> 
  
       You get a listing of files in the drive (hopefully a disk is in 
       the drive.) Notice that we added  /p to the end of a command. P 
       is shorthand for "pause after each screenful."  The DIR command 
       means "directory" (a list of files or programs on the disk.) You 
       can modify a basic DOS command like DIR with additional COMMAND 
       SWITCHES, PARAMETERS and ARGUMENTS (e.g., /p) which simply 
       implies modifications to a basic DOS command. The following 
       examples show DOS commands with modifying switches or 
       parameters.

       Try this . . . 

       (Example)        A>dir/w    <enter>   /w means "wide screen" 
       (Example)        A>dir a:   <enter>   list a: drive contents 
       (Example)        A>dir b:   <enter>   list b: drive contents 
                                                                           
       You will notice that the DOS prompt stays with or in the default 
       drive you started from but can examine another drive directory 
       then COME BACK to the default drive from where you started. 
       Another way of explaining this is that you can switch back and 
       forth between drives (typing a: or b:) and ask for directories 
       OR you can stay in a drive and ask DOS to look at either a: or 
       b: independently of the default drive. Flexibility! 

       A REMINDER: DOS is a computer operating system. Many of its 
       commands once loaded stay inside the machine. As long as the 
       power is on, these commands stay resident (stay put) and are 
       called INTERNAL commands. DIR is an example of an INTERNAL 
       COMMAND - it lives inside the computer once DOS is loaded. 
       EXTERNAL COMMANDS only live on the DOS disk and can be copied to 
       other disks (example: SORT.COM). They load TEMPORARILY into the 
       computer memory, do their job and then are gone. EXTERNAL DOS 
       COMMANDS MUST HAVE A DOS DISK (OR COPY) of that command in a 
       disk drive when you need them. 

       While we are concentrating on DOS at the moment it is important 
       to understand that DOS is only an operating system. DOS is the 
       first step. The second step for most people is to use more 
       useful APPLICATION programs such as word processors, accounting 
       systems, databases or other software to accomplish real work. 

       These higher level APPLICATION programs are started by entering 
       a simple word or instruction at the DOS prompt. For example, if 
       you purchased a word processing disk it might instruct you to 
       insert that special disk into the computer and type:      
       A>start    (then press enter key) 
       
       The point is that DOS is a program which itself allows other 
       useful programs to be loaded into the PC and operated. 

       TIME TO JUMP TO LIGHTSPEED! 

       The listing which follows is a portion of the most useful DOS 
       commands with examples and clarification tips. Your DOS manual 
       contains many more.
                                      
       -- DIR -- (Internal command) lists a table of disk file 
       contents. Use this command to view a disk volume label, all 
       filenames, sizes of files in bytes, the date, time of file 
       creation and amount of space left for storage on the disk. A 
       disk for IBM PCs clones hold about 360,000 bytes or computer 
       "words." DIR/W lists columns in "wide screen mode" DIR/P lists 
       in "pause" mode (one screen at a time). You can also locate or 
       find certain files. Example: A>dir letter.bak   Example: C>dir 
       rll.wks. You can switch and view another directory.  
       
       Example:  C>dir b: 
       
       Example  A>dir c:   
       
       When you issue the DIR command your screen will produce a 
       listing similar to this assuming you have a disk in the
       floppy drive: 

                    COMMAND  COM    16037   2-15-84   3:55p   
                    ANSI     SYS     1632   6-26-84   5:15p
                    ASSIGN   EXE     1386   5-22-84   3:42p
                    AUTOEXEC BAT       40   3-26-87   6:32a
                    BACKUP   COM    11855  12-11-84   1:02p
                    CHKDSK   COM     6468  10-19-83   7:51p
                    DEBUG    COM    12223  10-19-83   7:52p
                    DEVCNFG  COM     4621   9-18-85   7:01p
                    DISKCOMP COM     2088   9-12-85   4:41p
                    DISKCOPY COM     1409  10-19-83   7:51p
                    DISKSHIP EXE     2376   8-29-85  11:08a

       In the above partial screen listing, the first word in each line 
       is the filename. The second word is the file extension. 
       (Example: the first file is actually named COMMAND.COM not  
       COMMAND   COM ). The next number is the byte count or file size 
       (i.e., how many computer words or bytes make up the file). The 
       next item is the date of file creation. The final item is the 
       time of file creation. This is very useful as you start to build 
       up a collection of files! Which one is the latest and when did I 
       write that financial report are common questions and good 
       reasons why a date and time of file creation is important to 
       both DOS and you. 

       Tip: FILE HANDLING with the DIR command and DOS. On the screen a 
       directory listing might show a file as    LEARN    WKS But 
       the true filename syntax is always LEARN.WKS The point is 
       that you need a dot between the filename (first part) and the 
       extension of the file (second part) or DOS cannot handle the 
       file properly. 

       FILENAMES. There is a meaning to life, as they say. The clue as 
       to the use of a file usually resides in its three character file 
       extension. Files can be typed in upper or lower case, DOS 
       doesn't care! Names longer than eight letters will be shortened 
       automatically to eight letters. File extensions longer than 
       three letters will be shortened to three letters. The file name 
       frequently gives a clue as to the nature of the file. The file 
       extension tells WHAT KIND of file it might be. 

       Acceptable characters which can be used to make up a file name 
       are:  A through Z, 0 through 9, and these:  $#&@!()-{}'`_~ 

       Unacceptable characters which CANNOT be used in a filename are:        
       |<>\^+=?/[]";,*  (and also)  Control characters and the space 

       Examples of filenames. LOOK CAREFULLY AT THE THREE DIGIT 
       EXTENSIONS:

       123.EXE             The program 123, an "executable" file. 
                           Think of as a program that can be started 
                           and "run" to do something. 

       GO.BAT              A Batch file (bat). Like an exe file. 
                           Contains plain english DOS commands and can 
                           be viewed with the DOS "type" command. 

       VIEW.COM            Unknown file, but a "command" type, 
                           similar to an exe file.                  

       783.WKS             A worksheet file from lotus 
                           possibly from July of 1983 (7/83) 

       README.TXT          Probably a text file in plain 
                           english. Can be read and viewed with the 
                           DOS command: TYPE (discussed below.)        

       XVC.DBF             Unknown file, but we might guess a dBase 
                           database program database file.

       CONFIG.SYS          A PC system file. Helps "configure" your 
                           computer for specific hookups, and equipment. 

       If you type A>ZIGZAG   (then press enter key) DOS will look for: 
       ZIGZAG.COM or ZIGZAG.EXE or ZIGZAG.BAT. As we illustrated in the 
       directory listing above, the first (ZIZAG.COM) is a COMMAND file 
       or program which can be run to do something. The second is an 
       executable file. And, the third is a batch file (see the batch 
       file tutorial.) COM and EXE files can execute as programs. The 
       difference between the two relates to how memory is allocated. 
       COM files when loaded into memory are exact mirror images of 
       their structure on disk. EXE files are usually larger programs 
       which use extensive chunks of RAM memory and are not exact 
       images of their disk counterpart. An arcane but interesting 
       distinction. 

       A DOS command has a unique command syntax just like we humans 
       have rules of grammar. A DOS command has a mandatory part and 
       some DOS commands have an optional part. 

       For example, DIR C:pathname\filename.ext/w/p is the complete 
       syntax for the DOS DIR command we used above, BUT only DIR is 
       mandatory. We will explain pathnames and directories in a later 
       tutorial. For now, just realize that DOS commands have a central 
       or mandatory command and additional "refinements" or options 
       with little / and \ bars to refine the command. 
       
       / is a slash. \ is called a backslash. 
       
       You don't need to use the refinements, but they help as you grow 
       in proficiency. 

       DOS is quite honest for the most part. When you ask for a 
       directory listing of files on a disk you usually get it. EXCEPT 
       for two small lies! On the main DOS disk are two files which 
       cannot be seen on the directory (hidden) but are there: 
       IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM. These files are the core of the 
       operating system. 
       
       The designers of DOS hid them for two reasons 1) copyright 
       concerns 2) protection from accidental erasure. But the biggest 
       problem is that these two special files will not copy to disks 
       in the normal manner (see our copy discussion below). These two 
       files can only be copied with the SYS command or DISKCOPY 
       command (also below). Without these two files a disk cannot boot 
       or startup the computer. When you copy a DOS disk the COPY 
       command copies almost everything (except IBMBIO and IBMDOS.) The 
       DISKCOPY command copies everything. You only need IBMBIO.COM and 
       IBMDOS.COM to start the computer. IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM do 
       not have to be on every disk - only those disks which start the 
       computer. 

       Tip: STOP! Not a formal DOS command, but if you need to stop 
       something in progress, (copying, listing) do this: If a 
       directory is scrolling endlessly down the screen, hit control 
       key AND the S key held together. This stops things until you 
       want to continue (hit any key). To stop a DOS operation 
       altogether, use control key and C key together. Easy way to 
       remember: control-C means crash. control-S means stop. This will 
       not always work within every program (e.g., inside lotus 1-2-3) 
       but it does work within DOS. 

       -- TYPE -- (Internal)  displays or "types" the contents of a 
       file on your monitor. Use type for a glimpse into files. Only 
       text files (also known as ASCII files) will read in english. 
       Other files (com or exe) will show gibberish since they are in 
       computer code. Hit CTRL-Z to stop (control and Z keys). Hit 
       Ctrl-S (control and S key) to pause and any key to restart. 

       Example: A>type readme.1st        (sends output to screen) 

       Example: B>type readme.1st>prn    (sends output to printer) 

       -- ? and * -- DOS can use "wildcards" in many operations (? *). 
       Simply stated, these wildcards take the place of letters and 
       numbers. Use the question mark as any SINGLE character. Use the 
       * as any GROUP of ANY LENGTH of characters. Think of them as 
       shortcuts to get the job done! Very powerful and useful! 
       Frequently used with the COPY and DEL commands which are 
       discussed in a few paragraphs. 

       Example: C>dir a:*.wks 

       Means provide a directory listing of any files on the a: drive 
       ending in WKS and beginning with ANY characters of ANY length 
       from 1 to eight digits. Files such as MY.WKS or NUMBERS.WKS or 
       NAMES.WKS would fit this description. 
  
       Example: B>copy ???.dat a: 

       Means copy any files to a: drive ending in DAT and having any 
       characters in the filename AND ONLY filenames exactly three 
       digits long. 

       The often used *.* means ANY FILE NAME and ANY extension 
       regardless of length. For instance: 

       Example: C>copy *.* a:   (means copy ALL files from the existing 
                                default c: into the a: drive) 

       Example: C>copy a:*.* b:  (means copy ALL files from a: to b:) 

       Example: A>del finance.*   (delete files from the a: drive which 
                                  begin with finance and have ANY file 
                                  extension size or character type.) 

       -- COPY -- (Internal) copies one or several files to a disk or 
       directory. Copy can duplicate a file onto another disk or into a 
       subdirectory (more on subdirectories later). Copy is the most 
       flexible and powerful of the DOS commands! Use the copy command 
       with the wildcards seen above for even more flexibility. 

       Example: B>copy zip.doc a:  (copy zip.doc from b: drive to a: 
                                   drive.) 

       Example: A>copy c:why.me b: (copy why.com from c: drive to b: 
                                   drive.) 

       Example: C>copy c:fuss.txt b:whine.txt   (copy fuss.txt from c: 
                                                drive to b: drive and 
                                                rename it whine.txt) 

       Copy and /v verifies a good transfer or copy. 

       Example:   A>copy whine.bat b:/v 

       Means copy the disk file whine.bat to the b: drive and then 
       VERIFY this is a good copy. Verify is also an independent DOS 
       command. 

       Copy and the + symbol COMBINES two or more files into one larger 
       file. Useful for combining two wordprocessor files into one 
       larger file. 

       Example: A> copy files.old+files.new files.all   
                          (The NEW file = files.all) 

       Copy can send data to the printer. 

       Example: B>copy files.new prn 

       Example: B>copy files.new>prn. 

       Copy CON (copy from the console or keyboard) can prepare batch 
       files and autoexec.bat files to automate many DOS operations 
       (examples below). In this fashion copy can create a new file and 
       act like a very simple "mini" word processor! 

       Example: 
       
       A>copy con lotus.bat  (press enter) 
       A>123                 (press enter) 
       A>^Z                  (press enter) 

       In the last line ^Z is produced by either pressing F6 (function 
       key 6) or holding down control key and z key together. This file 
       means (first line) create a file named Lotus.bat as typed 
       from the keyboard or con (console). (Second line) execute the 
       program named 123. (Final line) end of my orders from the 
       keyboard - prepare the file Lotus.bat and save it on the disk. 

       -- VERIFY -- (Internal) checks file copying operations to make 
       sure a newly copied file is identical to its companion. It is 
       usually added as a /V command at the end of a copy command, but 
       also is a separate DOS command. Typing verify all by itself 
       simply reports whether verify is currently on or off. 

       Example: C>verify on   (turns on verify function until you turn 
                              it off) 

       Example  B>verify off  (turns off verify function until you turn 
                              it on) 
                                                
       -- DATE and TIME -- (Internal) A calendar and clock exist within 
       DOS. On some computers it automatically is updated and kept 
       current. On other computers (without a clock card or chip 
       installed) you type in the date and time on startup. If you 
       don't type in the date and time manually or have an automatic 
       clock chip which does this, the default values will be 1/1/80 
       and 00:00:00.00 for date and time respectively. You can enter 
       the date with hyphens (-) or slashes (/). Do not enter the day 
       of the week (e.g., Monday) even though it may show on the 
       monitor. The PC will calculate this for you automatically. A two 
       digit year references dates between 1980 and 1999. In 2000 you 
       must use four digits. The time setting references a 24 hour 
       military time clock (e.g., 1300 hours =  1PM). Date and time 
       data is important to DOS since it is attached to all files to 
       keep track of when they were created so you can determine which 
       file is most recent. 

       Example: B>time    

       Example: A>date 

       -- DEL or ERASE -- (Internal) deletes files or groups of files. 
       Use DEL*.* to erase all files from a disk. See our previous 
       mention of wildcards (* and ?). If you make a mistake, certain 
       non-DOS utilities (e.g., Nortons Utilities and PC-Tools) can un-
       delete a deleted file. But DOS cannot do this! Be careful - a 
       typographic mistake can delete an unintended file! Deleting old 
       files is a necessary operation, though, which frees up space on 
       a disk. Hard disk users may prefer to move files to a floppy to 
       free up space yet still retain a backup copy of the file in case 
       of need. 

       Example: A>del whine.txt 

       Example: B>del 784.wks 

       Example: A>del *.wks  (notice the use of the * wildcard we 
                             mentioned earlier!) 

       Example: A>del old.*  (notice the use of the * wildcard we 
                             mentioned earlier!) 

       Example: C>del ??.rxd (notice the use of the ? wildcard we 
                             mentioned earlier!) 

       -- DISKCOPY -- (External) copies entire contents of one floppy 
       to another. Some DOS versions (Ver 2.11) require you to first 
       format the blank disk  while later versions (Ver 3.1 and higher) 
       sense an unformatted disk and first format it then proceed with 
       the diskcopy. Diskcopy is a wise idea since disks wear out after 
       several hundred hours of operation. The /1 argument means copy 
       to side 0 of the disk only. All information on the target disk 
       will be destroyed and over-written with the new information, so 
       be careful! 

       Example: A>diskcopy a: b:      (copy the contents of a: floppy 
                                      to b: floppy) 

       Example: A>diskcopy a: b:/1    (copy the partial contents of a: 
                                      floppy to b: floppy using single 
                                      side of disk only) 

       -- COMP and DISKCOMP -- (External) compare two files or disks. 
       Diskcomp is frequently used after diskcopy operations. These 
       commands ensure identical accuracy of the copied files or disks. 

       Example: A>comp a:fuzz.txt b:thatch.txt    (compares two files) 

       Example: A>diskcomp a: b:                  (compares two entire 
                                                  disks)                 
       
       -- CLS -- (Internal) clears the screen and puts the cursor in 
       the home (upper left) position. Useful. Try it! 

       Example: A>cls 

       -- FORMAT -- (External) Prepares a blank floppy to receive data. 
       Think of a fresh disk as blank paper. DOS prefers graph paper 
       with little boxes drawn on it to receive data. Each little box 
       stores a computer word or "byte." Format erases any old files on 
       a disk - be careful! Format prepares the tracks and sectors 
       which will receive the data. All disks must first be formatted 
       prior to use. 

       Example: B>format a:   (format floppy in a: drive) 

       Example: C>format a:/s (format floppy in a: AND add system 
                               files) 

       Example: A>format      (format the disk in the DEFAULT a: 
                              drive).      

       Full command syntax is: format d:/s/1/8/b/v 

       In the above example, d: tells where the disk is. /s put the 
       system files IBMDOS.COM and IBMBIO.COM on the disk. /1 formats 
       one side of the disk only. /8 formats as 8 sectors for use the 
       older DOS 1.1. /b formats as 8 sectors per track and leaves room 
       for the DOS system files. /v puts a volume label onto the disk 
       for future identification. 

       Tip:  Only new (empty) formatted disks can receive the system 
       files (IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM). Once you put a few files on 
       the floppy, the system files will not fit since track 0, sector 
       0 have been used. Remember that the system files are designed to 
       start the computer and MUST start on track 0, sector 0, However 
       very few of your floppies NEED the system files: just the one or 
       two which actually start the PC. 

       Tip: Danger! A>format c: wipes out your hard drive! 
               Also C> del *.*  wipes out hard drive. 

       -- REN or RENAME -- (Internal) changes name of a file to another 
       new name. Destroys old name. Usually you will use this when you 
       want to change on old backup file to another name so that it can 
       be used by a program again. Wildcards are allowed but can cause 
       trouble - be careful. If the new file name already exists, the 
       ren command will give you an error message as a safety measure. 

       Example: A>ren old.txt new.txt 

       Tip: Use the copy command instead of rename if you want to KEEP 
       the old file and its old name, and want another copy of that 
       file with a new name. See the THIRD example given in the copy 
       command. 

       -- VER --  Shows the DOS version number. 

       Example: A>ver 

       -- VOL -- Displays a volume label, if one exists on a particular 
       hard or floppy disk. The label is a name you can give the disk 
       when it is first formatted. It can contain names, dates or 
       helpful reminders much like the title on the cover of a book. 
       Some special utilities help you change the volume label AFTER 
       formatting has taken place. 

       Example: C>vol 

       -- SYS -- (External) copies the hidden files (BIO and SYS) to 
       another disk which has been already formatted. This command 
       makes a disk floppy bootable to the computer - you no longer 
       need DOS to start the machine. The newly made disk with the two 
       hidden files will boot (start) the machine by itself. The basic 
       purpose of the SYS and format/s commands are to make a disk 
       self-starting or self booting. 

       The command FORMAT/S first formats a floppy then adds the hidden 
       files. 

       Example: A>sys b: (used when the disk is already formatted) 

       Example: A>format b:/s (does same thing but first formats blank 
                              disk) 

       Example: A>format b:/s/v (verify also used) 
   
       -- CHKDSK -- (External) checks contents of a disk for errors. 
       Chkdsk/f     fixes minor file allocation table (FAT) errors. 
       Chkdsk/v (v means verbose) displays all filenames as it works. 
       Followed by a filename, chkdsk checks only that file. Always use 
       the version of chkdsk which came with your DOS disk. Switching 
       to a different version from another disk can do damage! 

       Below is a sample display produced by running chkdsk on a floppy 
       disk. The first three lines of the report tell about the disk. 
       The last two tell about the RAM memory inside the computer. 

                       C>chkdsk b:   produces following

                         362496 bytes total disk space
                         251904 bytes in 26 user files
                        110592 bytes available on disk

                           655360 bytes total memory
                               234016 bytes free

       
       Example: A>chkdsk b:              (check b: floppy, all files) 

       Example: C>chkdsk c:\*.*          (check for contiguity of files 
                                         in root of c: drive) 

       Example: A>chkdsk b:this.doc/f/v   (check only the file this.doc 
                                          on b:floppy. Give verbose report 
                                          and attempt to fix any errors) 

       -- FDISK -- (External) prepares hard drive for data. First use 
       fdisk then use format c:/s/v for second step. Some hard disks 
       come shipped with fdisk already run and only need final 
       formatting. Running fdisk is also known as partitioning the hard 
       disk. 

       Example: A>fdisk 

       -- LABEL -- (External) attaches volume label or header to a 
       floppy. Like stamping a book with a title. Only in DOS 3.0 and 
       above. Some utilities can add this feature to DOS 2.11 and 
       below. 

       Example: A>label b:expenses.com 

       -- CTRL & PRTSC -- (Internal) aren't really DOS commands but a 
       combination of two keystrokes at the same time which sends all 
       displayed data to the printer until you hit the same two keys to 
       turn the command off. This allows you to print directory 
       listings or files of interest. Remember to turn command off when 
       finished. Press CTRL-PRTSC to toggle the printer on and print 
       anything which goes to the monitor screen, then press CTRL-PRTSC 
       to toggle the printer off when you have all you need printed. 

       -- SHIFT & PRTSC -- (Internal) two key combination which copies 
       only the current screen to your printer. 

       DOS also uses device (equipment) names within commands. For 
       example you can talk to your printer on keyboard by using the 
       proper DOS name. Each name is unique. Examples follow:

       -- CON -- Is the name for the keyboard and monitor. Below is a 
       repeat of a previous example using the con device name. 

       Copy CON ("copy from the console or keyboard) can prepare batch 
       files and autoexec.bat files to automate many DOS operations 
       (examples below). In this fashion copy can create a new file and 
       act like a very simple word processor! 

       Example: A>copy con autoexec.bat  (press enter) 
  
         A>123                    (press enter) 
  
         A>^Z                     (press enter) 

       -- AUX: or COM1 -- Is the first ansynchronous communication port 
       which usually has a modem, serial printer or mouse connected to 
       it. COM2 is the second port. PC's can have up to 4 serial ports.   

       -- PRN  or LPT1 --  Is the first parallel port which is usually 
       used with a printer. LPT2 is the second printer. By the way, a 
       PORT is an electrial socket on the back of the PC where a cable 
       of some type plugs in. 

       -- CAS1 -- Is an antique term still available within DOS which 
       refers to the early PC days when a cassette recorder was used 
       for storing data rather than floppies. This is the cassette 
       recorder port. 

       -- NUL -- Is a test device. Anything sent to nul goes nowhere. 
       However it is useful in testing DOS batch programs or simply 
       sending excess garbage from a screen report to nul (nowhere) 
       thus uncluttering a busy screen. Odd but useful in its own 
       right. 
       
       This free tutorial is part of our LARGER computer 
       training system for beginners. You can obtain a FREE disk 
       containing the COMPLETE TUTORIAL SYSTEM by writing to: The 
       Seattle Scientific Photoraphy Co. 
       Dept F93, PO Box 1506, Mercer Island, WA 98040. 

       To receive free disk, you MUST mention in your letter this 
       authorization code: 1230LP. You will receive an unregistered 
       shareware sample disk. 


  Chapter 2 - Word processing

       
      ---------------------------------------------------------------- 
                         Copyright (c) 1993, Jim Hood
                   WORD PROCESSING - THAT FEELING OF SYNTAX 
       ---------------------------------------------------------------- 

       You'll never forget your first word processing software package. 
       The bond is strong. It is usually the first program a new 
       computer user learns and for many, the most frequent and only 
       package ever used. The time and effort spent learning a quality 
       word processing package is a an investment with instant 
       productivity payoffs and continuing usefulness into the distant 
       future. If personal computers were designed to run only ONE 
       software package, this would rightfully be the choice for most 
       users. 
         
       But the time and effort learning a word processing package can 
       sometimes work against learning additional features already 
       inside the program or causing you to stay with a program when a 
       better alternative or upgrade is available. 

       ---------------------------------------------------------------- 
 
                          WORD PROCESSING PREHISTORY 

       ---------------------------------------------------------------- 

       But let's back up a bit and take a trip down memory lane. 
       Although the manual typewriter existed for many years, serious 
       word processing took shape with the classic IBM selectric which 
       was introduced in July, 1961. The Selectric had changeable ball 
       fonts which allowed better control over typeface size and 
       quickly became the executive and corporate standard. By 1971 
       Wang Labs brought to market the Wang 1200 dedicated word 
       processing system which stored up to 133,000 characters on crude 
       cassette tapes. It was a miracle! Unlike the selectric 
       typewriter, you could format documents and store them on tape 
       for later recall and editing. Wang improved on this model and 
       five years later had expanded document storage to a disk system 
       having 4,000 page capability and additional word processing 
       features. 

       In September of 1976 personal computers were one year old and 
       the original CP/M operating system was introduced which allowed 
       early personal computers to store data and documents on disk. 
       Wordstar for the CP/M operating system, the grandfather of all 
       personal computer word processing programs, appeared in June of 
       1979 from a fledgling company named MicroPro. At about the same 
       time Alan Ashton and Bruce Bastian of the Wordperfect 
       Corporation of Orem, Utah were working to develop a powerful but 
       easy word processing program for the town government. Their 
       original product, the Wordperfect Word processor, ran only on 
       the Data General Minicomputer. Between 1980 and 1981 both Wang 
       Labs and IBM introduced two dedicated word processing systems 
       with the IBM Displaywriter appearing in June of 1980 and the 
       WangWriter in December of 1981. The market was primed. 

       IBM introduced the original desktop PC hoping for modest 
       corporate sales in August of 1981. A relatively simple machine 
       by today's standards, the machine initially held only 64K of RAM 
       and a crude cassette recorder port for data storage. But the PC 
       attracted favorable reviews for its reliable design, exceptional 
       keyboard and quality workmanship. The official and only word 
       processing package for the PC at the time was EasyWriter. In 
       September another package, Volkswriter for the PC, was added. 

       Despite this initial small offering of software packages, most 
       serious word processing continued to be done on dedicated 
       systems and CP/M personal computers with Wordstar as the 
       standard for CP/M hobbyists. One odd solution for some early IBM 
       PC enthusiasts was to retrofit the early IBM PC with a card 
       which could run CPM word processing programs - the so called 
       "Baby Blue" card. 

       However, the momentum was building behind the IBM desktop PC 
       standard and other suppliers were busy re-writing word 
       processing packages from CPM to the IBM standard. Wordstar for 
       the PC was introduced in June of 1982 and was an instant hit. In 
       July of 1982 Wordmate appeared which was a redesign of the 
       popular MultiMate corporate standard word processing package. 

       In April of 1983 Wordstar Version 3.3 was released which brought 
       a robust and full-featured package to the needs of corporate 
       user anxious to do serious word processing on the IBM PC. By 
       then, the desktop PC was becoming an inexpensive option compared 
       with dedicated word processing office equipment. 

       The momentum escalated. One month later a truly easy word 
       processing package PFS: Write emerged to capture the market for 
       home and small office word processing users requiring simplicity 
       and ease of use. 

       Later in the year, Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington 
       became the first to issue a full-featured WYSIWYG word 
       processing package (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) named 
       appropriately Microsoft Word. The new concept of seeing graphics 
       and text on screen was stunning. Unlike the Wordstar image of 
       text and funny control codes representing differing styles of 
       bold and italic type, Microsoft Word showed the actual letters 
       on screen in the same glorious form as they would appear on the 
       printed page. 

       By 1984, word processing packages were proliferating rapidly in 
       features and menu options and the Hewlett-Packard Company 
       released the desktop laser printer which produced print close to 
       typeset in quality. Now text could look great both on screen and 
       on paper. The feeling was addictive. The printed page looked 
       better than ever and the computer and printer now formed a 
       "professional image team" which rivaled professional typesetting 
       at a fraction of the cost. 

       By 1985 the first desktop publishing packages began to appear. 
       Desktop publishing combined typeset quality text with images and 
       layout design concepts. Pagemaker, the first desktop publishing 
       package, appeared for the Apple Macintosh computer and was 
       available for the IBM PC family by 1986. 

       During the remaining years, word processing packages have begun 
       to incorporate features formerly seen in desktop packages - such 
       as graphics images and columnar layout capabilities. Another 
       trend is that packages have become more feature rich offering 
       nearly something for everyone at constantly decreasing prices. 
       Spelling checkers, thesaurus options, footnotes and even style 
       checking have become standard. When you consider the fact that 
       word processing programs are generally more difficult and time 
       consuming to design than spreadsheets and databases, it is 
       surprising how inexpensive the packages have become in such a 
       short time. 

       Today there are hundreds of word processing packages from which 
       to chose. Predictably each package has a somewhat fanatical 
       following. How to chose from the richness at hand? Some initial 
       considerations are primary. What size of documents will you be 
       editing? Is there a particular printer or network the package 
       will not support? Do you require full or partial compatibility 
       with other software or hardware in your office? Are special 
       features such as technical or scientific symbols offered? 

       Generally, word processing software is divided into five broad 
       categories. 

       The first, personal word processors are easy to learn and low in 
       cost but have limited features such as lack of spell checking or 
       limited document length capabilities. Professional packages, the 
       second broad category, are more difficult to learn but have more 
       advanced features which may be needed later. Document length may 
       be limited by disk space, not RAM memory space. All have 
       spelling checkers and a plethora of features. Technical word 
       processing packages are a third option which can perform 
       calculations with onboard mathematics functions. They are used 
       by engineers and scientists and may incorporate math and 
       engineering symbols and the ability to construct special symbols 
       when needed. Foreign language word processing software, a fourth 
       option, provides non-English writing and style capabilities 

       Finally, Desktop Publishing packages allow the operator to 
       convey both text and pictures (graphics) on the printed page. 
       They also incorporate advanced formatting capabilities such as 
       columnar style sheets, the ability to wrap text around images 
       and "flow" text from one column or page to the next. All desktop 
       publishing packages show text as it will appear on the printed 
       page which is highly appealing to the writer who works with the 
       look of printed text as well as its content. 

       ---------------------------------------------------------------- 
 
                      WORD PROCESSING TIPS AND TECHNIQUES 

       ---------------------------------------------------------------- 

       Next let's branch away from features the word processor contains 
       and look at some helpful habits you should cultivate when using 
       a word processing program. 

       When you save a document within a word processor, try to assign 
       a single key or macro to the saving function. It should be easy 
       to reprogram an infrequently used key or key combination to make 
       it possible to frequently save documents every ten or fifteen 
       minutes or if you are otherwise interrupted. Many word 
       processing packages have easy keystrokes for the file saving 
       routine while others are awkward and inconvenient. Use a macro 
       or keyboard reassignment portion of the package to make the file 
       saving keystroke fast and easily remembered. 

       Try to use dates as a part of the file name so that files can be 
       identified for later use and editing. Instead of the cryptic 
       BUDGET.DOC you might name the file LG011589.TXT which might be 
       the bank ledger documentation file written on 01/15/89. 
       Forethought in naming files saves many moments of wasted 
       thrashing about directories trying to find THAT letter from last 
       March. Also consider using the file extension productively. If 
       all of your employee training documents end in .TNG it is easy 
       to find, sort, update or delete them quickly using the DOS 
       wildcards. One system could be a key or token starting the 
       filename. Files containing these symbols could equate as: 
       @=letter, )=initial draft, &=research, !=final version, 
       <=expenses and so on. These internal codes which perhaps start a 
       document filename can save hours later on searching and sorting 
       among similar documents. 

       Paper slipping can be a problem if you are feeding single sheets 
       into a printer without the tractor feed. Try taping some stiff 
       paper to the top of the printer so that the sheet to be printed 
       can only move about 1/2 inch. Line up paper squarely when you 
       begin to print. When all else fails, use the document preview 
       and spell checker to make sure how the final output will look. 
       Nothing is more maddening than having to print a document again 
       when you find a single incorrectly spelled word in an otherwise 
       perfect word processed document. Watch out for platen wear on 
       the printer, also. When you always insert the paper at the same 
       place, the platen will develop a groove or wear line. Insert the 
       paper towards the middle of the platen and change to a wider 
       margin from time to time to minimize platen wear. 

       Experiment with the printer until you find the correct location 
       to insert each piece of paper so that it prints perfectly. Then 
       tape or etch marks on the printer and tractor feed to align 
       future sheets the same way. 

       Sample books are a great idea. Print standard document styles or 
       formats you use and keep them in a binder for future reference 
       with the settings or file names where they are located. Also 
       keep the special symbols and printer setup codes you use 
       frequently in the same binder. 

       Using search and replace creatively. Want to change the 
       justification of a document to flush left instead of every 
       paragraph indented five spaces? Use the search and replace 
       feature to find all occurrences of five blank spaces and then 
       replace that with no spaces. Who says you can't teach an old 
       word processor new tricks? 

       In addition, some communications files downloaded from modems 
       have excess carriage returns or control characters. Try using 
       your word processor's search and replace to quickly find and 
       remove the offending symbols or excess carriage returns. Grab a 
       printed ASCII chart from the back of your DOS manual and locate 
       the 3 digit decimal code. Next enter the code for that character 
       within the search function of your word processor. You can enter 
       any of these by holding down the alt key and hitting the three 
       digit decimal code listed in the ASCII chart. When you release 
       the alt key the ASCII symbol will appear. For instance the ASCII 
       decimal code for { is 123. Try it! 

       More tricks of the trade. When printing envelopes a clever trick 
       is to prepare a special format file for printing to the odd size 
       and space of envelopes. When ready, add this short file to the 
       end of your document and copy or transfer the name and address 
       info from the body of the letter to the envelope template at the 
       bottom. Put a printer pause mark at the end of the letter so 
       that when you print, first the document prints and then pauses 
       at the end of the page for you to unload the sheet and insert an 
       envelope. Hitting continue will print the envelope as the final 
       task! 

       If your package permits, store several templates for the various 
       styles of documents you prepare. Each file hold the special 
       tabs, margins and space plus any macros in a separate, easily 
       recovered file. 

       When you use citations to books and a bibliography or other 
       footnotes, it is a wise idea to repeat them in the body of the 
       text. That way you can use the search function to quickly zoom 
       to the paragraph wherein the book was cited and update as 
       necessary. When you are all done, you can use search to remove 
       the citation(s) in the body of the text just before you print. 

       Saving scraps is essential. If you chop out small or large 
       blocks of text, save them to a file possibly named SCRAPS.TXT. 
       You will be surprised that weeks or months later you may need 
       that crucial deleted scrap for another document! 

       Two are better than one. Sometimes you can't be sure if you 
       should remove or leave a portion of text. Prepare a file for 
       each and save BOTH to disk. Then read each version on screen or 
       paper and then decide, knowing you have recourse to BOTH styles 
       on the disk. 

       Placeholders or bookmarks are useful. If a portion of the text 
       needs more work in a certain area, devise a little bookmark such 
       as <xxx> or other odd symbol. That way you can quickly come back 
       to the section by having the search feature quickly zoom in to 
       find that odd little symbol. Use an assortment of bookmarks for 
       different stages of progress. Maybe a series of different 
       bookmarks have different meanings, but all can be found quickly 
       with the search feature. 

       To save time when spell checking, try reverse checking. This 
       means that if you have already spell-checked the majority of the 
       document and have recently added only a couple of new paragraphs 
       to the end, then move the cursor to the bottom of the document 
       and instruct the spell checker to scan BACKWARDS from the bottom 
       to the top since only the last two paragraphs need to be 
       checked! This can save a considerable amount of time. Likewise 
       you can tell the spell checker to start checking from a point 
       deep within the document if that is all you need. 


 Chapter 3 - History Of Computers

       
       This free tutorial is part of our LARGER computer 
       training system for beginners. You can obtain a FREE disk 
       containing the COMPLETE TUTORIAL SYSTEM by writing to: The SSP 
       Company, Dept F93, PO Box 1506, Mercer Island, WA 98040. To 
       receive free disk, you MUST mention in your letter this 
       authorization code: 1230LP. You will receive an unregistered 
       shareware sample disk. 
       
       ---------------------------------------------------------------- 
                         Copyright (c) 1993, Jim Hood
                              A LITTLE PC HISTORY 
               WHERE WE'VE BEEN WITH NO IDEA WHERE WE'RE GOING! 
       ---------------------------------------------------------------- 

       In the beginning . . . 

       Computing or calculating by machine began in the middle east 
       with the use of pegs or stones in trays or channels. The 
       Babylonians developed the idea of stone or bead counters into 
       the more modern abacus - modern in the sense that the abacus is 
       still in use today and in the hands of an experienced operator 
       can calculate results faster than a computer!  

       The beauty of the abacus is its simplicity in construction and 
       operation. Inexpensive beads of stone or wood and a simple frame 
       make up the abacus and the uneducated could quickly be trained 
       in its use. 

       In the 8th and 9th centuries we note the rise of the Arabic 
       numeral system which slowly spread through Europe and the then 
       civilized world. Although a superior calculating system, Arabic 
       numerals required the user to understand the more complicated 
       numerical theory associated with the system. 

       By the early 1600's Napier (often associated with the 
       development of logarithms and their practical application) 
       introduced a series of rods which could be used for 
       multiplication - a crude slide rule system. 

       Soon, ever more complicated "calculating engines" or primitive 
       mechanical computing devices appeared. One example is the 
       complex Pascaline invented by Blaise Pascal. 

       By 1791 the stage was set. Babbage, an English mathematician and 
       inventor with the help of Ada Byron (daughter of lord Byron, the 
       famous poet) developed the ideas for two mechanical calculators 
       or "number engines." The Difference Engine was a device to solve 
       polynomial equations by the methods of differences. The 
       Analytical Engine (which was never built)) was designed as a 
       general computing device. Both were mechanical in concept using 
       gears, rods and cams to perform calculations. Unfortunately 
       neither machine was built since the tooling and machining 
       technology of the day was imprecise and could not construct the 
       accurate parts needed. 

       However the models and planning of Babbage and Byron did lead to 
       important preliminary computing concepts still in use today. As 
       an aside, we should note from the work of Babbage and Byron that 
       computing even in its infancy was strongly influenced by BOTH 
       women and men - let's face it, computing is NOT gender specific! 

       Next we jump to the United States. By 1880 a problem had arisen 
       with the United States census. By that time, it took 7 years to 
       process all of the information gathered by the Census Bureau 
       since all tabulation was done by hand on paper. It was assumed 
       that the 1890 census might take 10 to 12 years to tabulate. 
       Clearly a better method was needed to crunch the volume of 
       numbers and data. A public competition was held to produce a 
       better indexing or mechanical system to tabulate future census 
       results. Herman Hollerith, a census employee, handily won by 
       suggesting the use of punch cards and a form of punch card 
       reader which tabulated the results in six weeks. Hollerith, wise 
       in the ways of computing devices and seeing a good opportunity 
       went on to found the Tabulating Machine Company (later changed 
       to IBM). Hollerith might be thus thought of as our first 
       computer entrepreneur! 

       The advent of World War II provided the impetus for the 
       development of more refined computing devices. The Mark I was an 
       electromechanical device using relays. IBM built that computer 
       for the Navy. Later, the Colossus was built for the British and 
       used for wartime code breaking of German radio transmissions. 
       The ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) was constructed at Iowa State 
       and was the first fully electronic digital computer. 

       Admiral Grace Hopper, known as "Amazing Grace" to some, was a 
       naval officer and pioneer in the field of computer programming 
       during the 1940's and 50's. An innovative and fundamental 
       thinker, she recognized that computers could be used for 
       business applications - a pioneering insight beyond the then 
       conventional use of computers for scientific and military 
       applications. Her programming language called "Flowmatic" later 
       evolved into COBOL, the most common and still popular language 
       for programming business software. She died in 1992 and is
       buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 
       
       Computing science continued to evolve rapidly . . . 

       Eniac was the most famous of the early computers and contained 
       18,000 vacuum tubes and was used by the Army for ballistics 
       calculations. 

       Edvac was the first stored memory computing device which did 
       away with rewiring tasks associated with changing computer 
       programs and represented a true computer breakthrough. This 
       first generation of machines running from roughly 1951 through 
       1958 featured computers characterized by the use of radio type 
       vacuum tubes. But the pace was increasing . . . 

       Second generation machines such as the famous Univac were 
       designed as true general or universal purpose machines and could 
       process both alphabetic and numeric problems and data. Punch 
       cards still formed the major input path to the machines of this 
       era and all programming was done in complex low level machine 
       language commands. 

       By 1959 with the invention of the transistor, computers began to 
       shrink in size and cost and operate faster and more dependably 
       than the huge vacuum tube models. Programming languages began to 
       feature English-like instructions rather than cumbersome machine 
       code or assembly language. Fortran and Cobol are two modern 
       "high level" languages developed during this period and still in 
       use today.              

       In many respects, the personal computer industry began in 1974 
       when the Intel corporation introduced a CPU integrated circuit 
       chip named the 8080. It contained 4,500 transistors and could 
       address 64K of memory through a 16 bit data bus. The 8080 was 
       the integrated circuit brain behind the early MITS Altair 
       personal computer which fired popular interest in home and small 
       business computing when it appeared on the July 1975 cover of 
       Popular Electronics Magazine. The first MITS Altair contained no 
       keyboard or monitor, only crude LED lights and tiny flip 
       switches to facilitate programming. 

       Four years later in 1978 Intel released the 8086 chip which had 
       a tenfold increase in performance over the 8080 chip. When IBM 
       began the design phase of the first desktop PC units in 1980 and 
       1981, they chose the cousin of the 8086, the Intel 8088 chip, to 
       power the first PC which was designed for modest corporate use 
       but quickly exploded in popularity due to an excellent design, 
       spectacular keyboard and openess to upgrade by the addition of 
       "plug in" boards and cards. 

       Early IBM PC computers retained a link with the past by allowing 
       the addition of a small "Baby Blue" circuit board which could 
       run software programs based on the then dominant CPM operating 
       system. 
       

       end
       
       
       
