D I S C N E W S ! (tm)

Communication In The Computer Age


NOTE:

The graphics and animation in this dowloadable issue of
DiscNews! have been streamlined in order to decrease the
file size of this issue, therefore shortening download
time. If you would like to receive this copy of DiscNews!
by mail on disk, send a check or money order for $4.00 in
U.S. funds to Systemax Computer Graphics at the address
below. The disk-based version of DiscNews! contains more
graphics and animation in addition to sample electronic
publications from The Disktop Publishing Assoc. The disk
was custom manufactured for DiscNews! by Creative Disc, Inc.
Quantities are limited. Available on 5-1/4" double-sided,
high-density floppy diskette ONLY. Allow 2-4 weeks for
delivery (longer if mailed outside of U.S.). Int'l checks
and money orders must be drawn on a U.S. bank. Please do
not send cash through the mail.

* * *

Welcome to DiscNews!, a new and unique electronic
newsletter from Systemax Computer Graphics, creators of
professional computer presentations and demo disks. We
welcome article contributions and news releases. We are
also compiling a list of BBSs that are carrying DiscNews!
to be published in the next issue. Fill out the form at
the end of this document to have your BBS included. Send
article contributions, press releases and BBS Forms to...

Systemax Computer Graphics
201 East 87th Street, Suite 24E
New York, NY 10128-3218

Phone Fax CompuServe
212/348-8756 212/369-3103 71511,1375



COPYRIGHT / TRADEMARK

DiscNews! is a Trademark and is Copyright (c) 1992 by
Systemax Computer Graphics, All Rights Reserved. The
material within DiscNews! may not be reproduced in any
form without permission from Systemax. DiscNews! may be
freely copied and distributed under the conditions that
it is not altered in any way, is distributed in it's
original entirety, and not sold.

DISCLAIMER

DiscNews! is provided as is and free of charge. Systemax
cannot be held responsible or liable for any damages,
including any lost profits, lost savings or other
incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of this electronic publication.



USING DISCNEWS!

DiscNews! "Cover"

To open and read DiscNews!, type START at the DOS prompt.
DiscNews! starts with an introductory section, sort of
the "cover" of the newsletter. You may bypass this
opening introductory section and jump directly to the
Table of Contents screen by pressing the ESCAPE key.

Table Of Contents Screen

You access all of the Articles and Departments of
DiscNews! from the Table of Contents screen. If you are
using a mouse and the mouse driver is properly installed,
you will see a circular mouse cursor on your screen.
Click on an Article button on the screen to open it and
read it.

All of the buttons in DiscNews! have keyboard equivalents
which are printed right on the buttons. To press a
button, just press the key on your keyboard that is
indicated on the screen.

Article Screens

The control panel at the bottom of each Article screen
holds five buttons and provide the following functions:
move ahead one page, move back one page, jump to
beginning of article, jump to end of article, and escape
to the Table of Contents screen.

The Page Counter is on the far right of the Article
control panel and indicates what page you are currently
reading of the selected article and how many total pages
there are. You will see a small icon that looks like a
hollow stop sign with an X in the center in the lower
right hand portion of the article screen when you reach
the last page of the article.

Help

You can access a Help screen from the Table of Contents
screen by clicking on the HELP button or by pressing the
F1 key on your keyboard. The Help section will give you
detailed information about DiscNews!'s basic functions.

Publisher Information Screen

The Publisher Information screen, accessible from the
Table of Contents screen, allows you to print an
information sheet on your printer. Should you choose to
print this information, a Printer Port menu will appear
prompting you to select the printer port your printer is
connected to.

The text that appears on the menu once you select a
printer port simply advises you that you should only see
that text for a few seconds. If you see it longer and
your printer is not responding, you probably selected the
wrong printer port. In that case, you'll need to re-boot
your computer by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete.

Exiting DiscNews!

You can exit DiscNews! by choosing the EXIT button or by
pressing ESCAPE from the Table of Contents screen. To
start DiscNews! again, type START from the DOS prompt.


PROBLEMS, ERRORS, SOLUTIONS

"I Received a Memory Error Upon Startup"

If you don't have enough RAM available for DiscNews!
(approx. 420k), you will receive a memory error upon
startup. Remove any TSRs and other RAM-Resident
utilities to free up more memory. Use DOS's CHKDSK
command to verify the amount of free RAM.

"I Received a Video Error Upon Startup"

DiscNews! requires at least an EGA color adapter to run.
You will receive an "Invalid Video Mode" error upon
startup if you do not have an EGA or VGA color adapter.

"When I Type START, My Screen Goes Blank"

There may be a conflict between one of your RAM-Resident
utilities and DiscNews!. EMM386.SYS has been known to,
on rare occasions, cause this to happen. Try rebooting
your PC without any TSRs and start DiscNews! again. If
the problem persists, there may be a conflict with your
video card that DiscNews! cannot catch with it's error-
trapping routines.

"I Have a Mouse, But, I Don't See a Mouse Cursor"

Be sure you have a Microsoft-compatible mouse driver
loaded. If you do and the mouse cursor still doesn't
show up, you may have an incompatible mouse driver.
Also, mouse drivers loaded into expanded or upper memory
may not be detected by DiscNews!. In this case, load
your mouse driver in standard memory (below the 640k DOS
barrier).

"Garbage Comes Out of My Printer When I Try to Print the
Publisher Information"

The text being sent to your printer is plain ASCII text.
PostScript printers won't be able to print this in
PostScript mode. However, almost all PostScript printers
can be switched to emulate a Hewlett-Packard or Epson
Printer which will print out the Publisher Information
correctly.

"My Computer Freezes When I Try to Print the Publisher
Information"

Your printer is either, 1) not connected to the printer
port you selected from the Print Menu, 2) turned off, or
3) not online.

If the problem is #2, turn your printer on. If it's #3,
place your printer Online to unfreeze your computer. If
you selected the wrong printer port (#1), you will have
to reboot your computer with Ctrl-Alt-Delete.


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BBS LISTING FORM

If you are the SysOp of a BBS that is carrying DiscNews!,
please let us know about you by filling out the form
below. We will be publishing a list of sponsoring BBSs
in an upcoming issue of DiscNews!


_____________________________________(_____)_____________
Name of BBS BBS Phone Number

_________________________________________________________
Your Name

_________________________________________________________
Address

_________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip/Country

_________________________________________________________
Focus of BBS

_________________________________________________________
Hours of Operation Baud Rates Supported


Membership Required? [ ] Yes [ ] No

If Yes, How Much is Membership? $_________/_____________

What is Your Function? [ ] Sysop [ ] Other ____________

How Long Has Your BBS Been Running? _____________________

List any other important information about your BBS or
additional comments below:

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

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