Category : Tutorials + Patches
Archive   : ZIP-5-1.ZIP
Filename : ZIP-5-1.MAG

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³ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» ³
³ ±±±±±±±±± Editor: º Volume 5 Issue 1 º ³
³ ±± Terry West º January 1992 º ³
³ ±± ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ³
³ ±± ³
³ ±±± Heres A Peek At What's Inside! ³
³ ±± ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³
³ ±± ³
³ ±± Editor's Corner ............ 2 ³
³ ±±±±±±±±± ³
³ HS/Link .................... 3 ³
³ ±±±±±±±±±± ³
³ ±± PCBDesc .................... 5 ³
³ ±± ³
³ ±± Jumbo 250 Tape Drive ...... 6 ³
³ ±± ³
³ ±± Virus Shield 85 ............ 8 ³
³ ±± ³
³ ±± DF450.ZIP Review ........... 10 ³
³ ±±±±±±±±±± ³
³ Zip vs ARJ Comparison ...... 13 ³
³ ±±±±±±±±± ³
³ ±± ±± ³
³ ±± ±± ³
³ ±± ±± ³
³ ±±±±±±±±± ³
³ ±± ³
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³ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³
³ "For Home MS-DOS users" ³
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ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 2





þþ Editors Corner þþ

How does one possibly pick up where Bill Lambdin left off?

Beginning with Volume 5 Issue 1, I've been promoted to the
position of editor. I sincerely hope that I can maintain the
level of quality for the magazine that Bill and Ron have
established over the past few years. It's not going to be an
easy task, but I'm willing to give it my best shot.

About your new editor.

For those of you out there that don't know me (and I imagine
there's plenty of you), I'm the sysop of a modest 2 node BBS
located in Pikeville, Ky. called the Strawberry Patch. The
system has been online for a little over 5 years and has USR
HST's on both nodes. I'm 33 years old and have been employed
by Ky. WVa. Gas Company for the past 11 years. My job is not
computer related. My hobbies include Amateur Radio (WB4F)
and computers. This is my first attempt at being an editor
(which will no doubt show).


Any suggestions, comments, etc. regarding Zip Magazine can
be left to me on my BBS in the Zip Magazine conference (32).
The BBS number is (606) 432-0879. First time users will be
verified via a callback door. This number should also be
used to submit articles for inclusion in Zip Magazine.


New release dates:

In the past, Zip Magazine has been published 6 times per
year, but will now be published quarterly. Issues will be
made available around the middle of January, April, July,
and October. Articles submitted should be sent no later than
the first day of the month in question.


Distribution:

SysOp's wanting their BBS to be a distribution point should
should get in touch with me via my BBS. Leaving a comment in
the Zip Magazine conference with your BBS info and a valid
logon for me will suffice. Zip Magazine will be uploaded to
distribution sites at least 1 day in advance of the actual
release date. There's a limit to just how many systems I'll
be able to call for economic reasons, so first come, first
serve.


In the next issue:

Tom Croley will be returning with Tom's Tidbit's and I also
hope to have a couple other authors doing some interesting
articles in the near future.







ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 3


þþ HS/Link v1.0á þþ
by: Terry West


On October 22, 1991, Samuel H. Smith of the ToolShop BBS and
of ProDoor fame introduced a revolutionary new bidirectional
protocol called HS/Link. A few days later while "making my
rounds" I found it available on his BBS. I downloaded it and
went about setting it up in both Telix and PCBoard. It was a
snap to set up (about 5 minutes for each) using the HS-INST
file that I also downloaded. Now to see how it worked!


My initial test was to call from one node of my BBS to the
other. (I test a lot of things this way, so it wasn't all
that unusual.) I first tryed at 2400 baud as this is the
rate most of my callers use and it worked perfectly. Doing a
bidirectional transfer I got in the high 230's (cps) both
sending and receiving. This was truly wonderful! Now to try
it at 9600 baud. Well, if I'd been able to do a complete
transfer maybe I wouldn't have been so disappointed! All I
managed to get was constant "overrun errors". Ah, so maybe
HS/Link wasn't so great after all! Not being one to give up
without at least assuming I could be doing something wrong,
I proceded to read and re-read the documentation. Still no
success. I made a quick voice call to Jim Draughn (another
local sysop) and explained my situation and asked that he
install the protocol on his system. He did and it worked
perfectly (at any speed). I then called the Tool Shop BBS
and explained the situation to Sam in a message. Now to wait
and perhaps stumble upon the problem by trial and error. Of
course I had no luck. The next day I called Sam's board and
found a response asking for more information about my setup
and a couple of tips to try. After a couple of exchanges Sam
determined the problem was video related and asked that I
try ANSI.COM instead of ANSI.SYS. While it seemed to help a
little, it by no means corrected the problem. Then I decided
to switch the VGA display and adapter from one of my other
machines and see what happened. The results were almost
beyond belief. HS/Link worked perfectly. I called Sam's BBS
back and informed him of what I had done and the results. A
few changes to the HS/Link code resulted and it now works
great on all my machines. Sam's support of HS/Link (as well
as his other programs) is first class. Needless to say, I've
already registered and my serial number is 00059.


Instead of wasting your time with meaningless statistics and
attempting to improve on HS/Link's easy installation guide,
I'll dwell on why anyone would want to use this protocol.
First, it's very easy to set up. In 5 minutes or less, you
can have HS/Link working with most major communications
programs. Remember, in the introduction, I said HS/Link is
a revolutionary new protocol. Why? Simple, with HS/Link, you
can download *and* upload at the same time with no speed
loss! That's right, at 2400 baud, expect 230+ cps both ways!
If you call a BBS that has ratios, no problem. Keep the
ratio up with ease and get something while doing it. You
could very easily cut your online time in half and make
your sysop very happy in the process. Of course, as with any
full duplex protocol, high speed modems such as the HST have
only one high speed channel and a low speed "back channel".




ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 4




So, unless you're using a v.32 or v.32bis high speed modem,
HS/Link won't be all that great on full duplex transfers,
but it'll work just fine as a "regular" protocol.


At the time this article was written, HS/Link was still in
the beta test cycle, but should be available as a release
version by the time you read this. Basic registration is 15
dollars or 25 dollars will get you the latest release on
disk as well as a printed manual. HS/Link can be downloaded
from the Tool Shop or from my BBS as a free download.


Late note: HS/Link was officially released as HSLINK10.ZIP
on 01/14/92 and can be downloaded as such on most BBS's.

















































ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 5



þþ PCBDESC þþ
Article by: Charles Baldridge


During the PCBoard v14.5a beta cycle Clark Development Co.
introduced a new program called PCBDESC that allows PCBoard
to automatically insert the description contained within the
Zipfile. PCBDESC checks the uploaded files for FILE_ID.DIZ
and if it exists it will be used to replace the description
provided by the user. The program can optionally append a
line to the description showing the number of files and the
dates of the oldest and newest files in the zipfile.


The FILE_ID.DIZ file is intended for the program author's
use in providing a coherent description of his/her program.
This will allow the author to be assured that the program
will be properly described when uploaded to a BBS. This file
is NOT to be used for BBS advertising and such use will be
in violation of Clark Development Company's copyright of the
FILE_ID.DIZ file.

The FILE_ID.DIZ file is an ASCII text file and can contain
up to 10 lines of 45 characters each. The first line of the
file is the program name and version. The following lines
should describe the function of the program.


How it works. After completing an upload, PCBoard shells to
a batch file called PCBTEST.BAT. This batch file can test
the newly uploaded file(s) for viruses, zipfile integrity,
etc. The PCBDESC program (once installed in PCBTEST.BAT)
"looks" into the zipfile to see if it contains FILE_ID.DIZ
and if it does, that description is used instead of the one
provided by the user, otherwise, the user's description is
used.


As a SysOp, I know first hand just how aggravating it is to
find uploads with "I forgot what it does" or "A really good
program, try it" as the description. If all authors would
start adding their description via the FILE_ID.DIZ file,
life would be so much easier for both of us.






















ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 6


þþ Colorado Memory Systems Jumbo 250 Tape Drive þþ

Article by: Terry West


Now that large hard drives have become affordable, you'll no
doubt own one in the future if you don't already! When you
do get the "monster" drive you'll also find that doing
backups to floppy disks is no longer practical. Of course
you'll be relieved to know that tape drive prices aren't
what they once were either.

I recently purchased a Jumbo 250 drive (internal model) for
for my bulletin board and it was priced at under $300. I
have over a gigabyte of storage, so I needed the large
drive to make backing up as painless as possible. Having
previously owned a Jumbo 40 drive, I was aware of the
quality and popularity (nice if you want to trade tapes) of
CMS's drives.

Included with the drive are the usual warranty cards and
advertisements for a 1/4" tape cartridge cleaner. My drive
came with Jumbo software version 2.46 (I learned later
that version 2.49 is current) on 5 1/4" media only. I wish
all software came packaged with both sizes of media, but as
usual, this one didn't. Also included were 3 easy to read
manuals covering hardware installation,software installation
and compatibilty and accessories. No data cartridges are
included, so make sure to order at least one DC-2120
cartridge when you order your drive. Also included is a
small note listing the approved tapes that you can use with
the drive. 3M and Carlisle (the latter I've never heard of)
are the only approved tapes. Using any other tapes will
invalidate your warranty.

Installation is relatively simple. If you're using an XT
style case, you'll need to remove the rails from the drive
and use the screws to secure it in one of your floppy disk
bays. Otherwise, with an AT style case just slide it into
place and secure it from the front. The standard setup
requires that you use your floppy drive B: cable. There is a
cable kit available that allows you to use the tape drive as
along with 2 floppy drives.

After installing the tape drive & reassembling your computer
you'll need to install the Jumbo software. The software has
a rather straight forward installation program and you
shouldn't have any major difficulties with it.

You should have the drive & software installed in less than
20 minutes. The next step is formatting your tape(s). I
installed my drive on the 12mhz 80286 machine I use for
personal use. I can also boot it into my LANtastic network
and do backups without having to drop any of the BBS nodes
to DOS. On a 16 bit bus,the tape format tapes just under two
hours.

As you've probably figured out, the Jumbo software will
allow you to access network drives (at least LANtastic), but
it should work equally well with others.






ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 7




CMS advertises the drive to have a data transfer rate of 10
megabytes in 5:29 on an 80386/33 machine without data
compression enabled Since I do my backups through a network
with 2mps (megabits per second) adapters while operating
under a load, I have no method of measuring transfer rates
that would be either accurate or fair.

Speaking of data compression, the 250 megabyte figure is a
bit misleading. Expect no more than 120 megabytes when
backing up compressed files (ZIP, LZH, etc.).

Though I've not had any need (yet) for product support, an
800 number is available. CMS also runs a full time BBS for
support and latest software versions.

If you're in the market for a tape drive, take a serious
look at this one. Shop around, but expect a price in the
neighborhood of $300. DC-2120 tapes are priced in the 22 to
26 dollar range.














































ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 8



McAfee's VSHIELD 85
by W.H. Lambdin (Co-Founder of ZIP Magazine)

Do you often worry about Viruses infecting your system, but
dislike scanning every disk in your posession at least once
to verify that you do not have any viruses running rampant,
then scanning every diskette that comes across your desk.

If this describes the way you feel, you should try McAfee's
Vshield. I like having Vshield running constantly and
checking for viruses instead of taking time out to scan every
diskette.

Here are all of the Vshield parameters

/CERTIFY filename - Enable access control with exception list
/CHKHI - Check memory from 0-1088Kb for viruses
/CONTACT message - Display message when virus is found
/COPY - Check for viruses during COPY operations
/CV - Check validation codes added by VIRUSCAN
/IGNORE d1...d26 - Ignore program loads from drives d1:...d26:
/LH - Load VSHIELD Into High Memory (DOS 5.0 Only)
/LOCK - Halt and freeze system when virus is found
/M - Scan memory for all viruses during install
/NB - Disable boot sector checking
/NOBREAK - Disable Ctrl-C / Ctrl-Brk during installation
/NOMEM - Skip memory checking
/ONLY - Only check program loads from specified drives
/REMOVE - Uninstall VSHIELD from memory
/SWAP pathname - Install VSHIELD kernel as memory-resident
/F pathname - Required parameter for DOS 2.0 or earlier
/WINDOWS - Enable checking of DOS processes under Windows

Here are the parameters I use

/CHKHI - Check Memory from 0-1088Kb for viruses

/COPY - Check for viruses during copy operation.

This doesn't intercept the copy routine from 4DOS, so
I had to write an alias that would use the copy
routine from COMMAND.COM. I also sent the little
alias to McAfee. I hope it will be added in a future
upgrade to the Vshield documentation.

COPY=COMMAND /C COPY

/CV - Check validation codes added by VIRUSCAN

This works in conjunction with Scan's /AV parameter.
Scan /AV will add a 10 byte CRC to every every
executable file on the drive, or a single file at a
time.

The /CV option temporarily creates a CRC for every
file you load. If the Temporary CRC fails to match
the embedded CRC, Vshield will display a warning,
and fail to load the program. This is one way to
detect unknown strains of viruses. This will not work
on Stealth viruses like variants of the 4096 or other
stealth viruses.




ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 9



Self modifying programs will cause Vshield to throw up
a false alarm. VDE, and DM come to mind. It would be
an easy process to edit a small batch file to remove
the embedded CRC, load and modify the program then to
add the new CRC when you are done, or not add CRC's
to such programs.

/LH - Load VSHIELD Into High Memory (DOS 5.0 Only)

This loads All of Vshield into high memory except for
416 bytes that it stores in conventional RAM. This
will not work unless you use DOS 5.0, and have upper
memory blocks. It doesn't work inder QEMM either.

/M - Scan memory for all viruses during install

This checks for all known viral strains when you boot
up your computer.

You may be wondering about the draw backs.

1. It takes about 6 seconds longer for me to boot up.
2. It takes about 1 second longer to load each program
because it checks for all known strains of viruses and
compares the CRCs.
3. Some programs will not work with the added CRC. Vpic comes
to mind. So I only need to remove the CRC, and the
program works perfectly.

There is no "Perfect Solution" every solution has a down
side.
If there were a perfect solution, I would probably be one of
the first to get in line. I like Vshield. So it is the
solution I choose. You may choose something that works better
for you.

I have heard several complaints that have been leveled at
Vshield.

One of the widest held complaints is.

"It only recognizes viruses by the signitures it has in it's
data bank, and if yor system is infected by an unknown virus.
you are helpless or limited to CRCs."

While this is true, With Vshield I am safe from over 900
different viral strains. Most importantly Vshield is updated
on a regular basis.

Vshield has a lot more parameters I could use if I feel they
are necessary.


Editors Note: VShield 85 can be download from most BBS's as
VSHLD85.ZIP. If the file hasn't been tampered with, it should
contain an "-AV" beside each file as it extracts.









ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 10



SHAREWARE REVIEW

PROGRAM: Directory Freedom, Version 4.50
AUTHOR: Gordon Haff
Bits Mason Consulting
3205 Windsor Ridge Dr.
Westborough, MA 01581
RELEASED: December, 1991
REGISTRATION: $25.00
RESTRICTIONS: None
RATING: 9.4 out of 10
NAME/SIZE: DF450(R).ZIP, 192K

The game of DOS shells is much like its street wise
predecessor. Each person running the game (the author) has
promised that under his shell is a lifetime of easy,
convenient DOS file access and manipulation. Leading to
kitchensinkitis, the authors clearly miss the point that
software can be versatile, functional and affordable in one
roll of the dice, without having to include every feature.

Directory Freedom (DF) has its visual roots in the reliable
PC Magazine programs CO and DR. What began as a simple
enhancement to the program DC, by Peter Esherick, has
blossomed into a full fledged utility. From the screen
layout to the function key assignments, DF follows the path
of efficiency and speed.

DF's documentation appears to be professionally written. I
say "appears," for Gordon Haff confesses to the fact that he
has written the documentation. Laid out in a very organized,
thoughtful manner, the documentation allows you to quickly
get up to speed with DF, while the appendixes act as a
useful reference for subjects like Patching Instructions and
User-Defined Commands. As you read through the documentation,
the inclusion of page numbers and section numbers reassure
you that you are on the right path.

Configuring DF for first time use couldn't be easier.
Included in the archive is a separate set-up program called
DFCONFIG, which allows you to configure almost every aspect
of DF via menu selections. Among the more notable aspects of
configuration are sort and verify defaults. As a side note,
in the ever increasing hysterical world of viruses, DFCONFIG
allows you to make your configuration changes to the DF.COM
file or to a separate text based file.

Using DF is easier than configuring it! Standard key
configurations apply in DF, such as F1 for help and the
SpaceBar for tagging/untagging files. The screen layout is
simple to understand. Your key assignments are always
available to be seen. An example follows:













ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 11




Dir of P:\REVIEW
Default dest P:\
.. 12-10-91 2:10p ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
BUFSTUF1 ZIP 52075 12-03-91 12:26p º Directory Freedom º
#1PAGA ZIP 310760 11-13-91 2:02a º Version 4.50á5 º
AC150A ZIP 39084 12-07-91 6:00a º Copr.Gordon Haff,1991 º
DF450 ZIP 192197 12-06-91 6:02p ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
DRY_III ZIP 121038 12-07-91 12:36a º F1 Copy º
GET25 ZIP 80195 12-04-91 8:40a º F2 Delete º
MACE120 ZIP 177569 12-07-91 9:30a º F3 Move º
JABR101 ZIP 101618 11-26-91 11:02p º F4 Rename º
LABSUP10 ZIP 150439 11-28-91 8:08p º F5 Clear marks º
ACD200 ZIP 37326 12-01-91 10:51p º F6 Mark remainder º
PETPE282 ZIP 234760 12-16-91 9:38p º F7 Swap Mark/Unmark º
MM630 ZIP 138823 12-01-91 10:37p º F8 Swap Dir/Dest. º
GRABB392 ZIP 113400 12-01-91 8:53a º F9 Change Dir º
ODYSSEY ZIP 312803 12-03-91 8:58a º F10 Change Dest. º
KWS103 ZIP 11007 12-12-91 9:01a º F11 Re-Mark files º
GALIT170 ZIP 347226 12-23-91 10:01a º F12 Secondary Viewer º
WORDQ111 ZIP 41979 12-23-91 10:01a º Alt-Z Help º
ELFE04 ZIP 170812 12-20-91 8:14a º Esc or Alt-Q to Exit º
SEEMEM20 ZIP 17804 12-21-91 8:29a ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
Volume: 319,619,072 bytes free
Destination disk has319,619,072 bytes free
Row 1 of 26. 3,014,656 bytes/ 24 files

---END SCREEN PRINT


The files are laid out in an easy to understand fashion,
with the actions that you can perform on the right. If you
hit the ALT key, a new menu appears on the right displaying
more options. Again, if you hit the CNTRL key more options
appear.

Just what are these options you ask? Well, DF ships with
twenty mainstay commands that range from copying a file to
running a program to swapping a video mode. These options
all run in conjunction with files being tagged and execute
quickly. DF sometimes has trouble reporting adequate error
levels from the disk drive (when a file is in use by another
process, DF doesn't let you know this.)

The strongest area of DFs composite consists of the user's
ability to define no less than ten key assignments,
depending on the keyboard. This means that you can assign
the function of TYPING an ANSI screen to CNTRL-F6, with a
simple entry in DFCONFIG. Your DOS shell literally becomes
an extension of yourself. You no longer have to remember
what switches allow PKZIP to view and then test a file, for
once DF is configured for the action you will have it
forever.

Flexibility is a key feature of DF, with the configuration
of function keys being no exception. Using DFCONFIG, you
control whether a user set-up function pauses after
executing, refreshes the DF file screen or can be run
against more than one file. With this blend of precision and
control, your tedious DOS chores become extremely automated.





ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 12




Convenience is a cornerstone of the DF enterprise. Included
in DFCONFIG is the ability to set-up a drive table for quick
access to the drives you use most often. This feature works
by hitting the cursor keys to move left and right in the
drive table. Suppose your drive table is like so: CDEGH. If
you were to type DF C:\, you would start off in the root
directory of C. If you wanted to quickly go to your H drive
all that you would have to do is hit your left cursor key.
The same filespec is maintained from drive to drive. A handy
feature whose only problem is the inability to configure the
drive table on the fly in case you needed to add a drive.

Another convenience minded feature can be seen via the
ALT-F10 key press. This key press allows you to create an
archive by tagging files, then hitting ALT-F10. DF takes
over the chore of passing filenames to the archive with the
proper switches, etc.

A function where DF misses the convenience mark occurs when
you simply type DF C:\ from the root of C:, which brings DF
up in the root directory of C:. Now, you tag some files to
be copied to A:. DF asks you where you would like to copy
to. You say A:. DF starts copying, but doesn't update the
DESTINATION FREE SPACE field. Understandably, it shouldn't,
because you specified the same destination as source in the
command line. But wouldn't it be nice to see how much space
is left on what you are copying to?

As you get to use Df more and more, you begin to wonder how
your life in the CPROMPT world of complexity ever existed.

Rating Breakdown:
----------------

Performance : DF is quick, accurate and well written. A
9 out of 10 few convenience twists could have been
added.

Documentation : DF's documentation is well written with
5 out of 5 special care taken to explain common terms
to newer users.

Ease of Setup : Using DFCONFIG, setup is as easy as running
5 out of 5 the program. Online help and choice of
setup method is a plus.

Ease of Learning: Standard keys such as F1 for help and
5 out of 5 SpaceBar for tagging/untagging make getting
up to speed easy.

Ease of Use : Can you touch a function key? Enough said.
5 out of 5

Error Handling : Improved immeasurably from the last
4 out of 5 release, still has problems at times.

Mean rating: 33 out of 35 or a 9.4 rating.

(C) 1992 - Patrick Grote, 116 Elm Street, Ballwin, MO 63021





ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 13





Comparison of ZIP versus ARJ
Article by: Jim Draughn



Why?

I'm a Sysop of a Public Bulletin Board System. I am quite
concerned with keeping as many files available on my system
as possible. So I decided to look into some of the best file
Archiving software packages, to see if I could increase my
overall system storage capacity. I am currently storing
around 2 Gigabytes of downloadable files on the BBS's. Of
this 2 Gig. I have around 900 Megabytes on hard disk drives
(the remaining balance are the files on the two CD-ROM
drives). A savings of as little as two percent would save me
as much as eighteen Megabytes of disk space! I can always
come up with a use for the additional disk space. I am also
concerned with the speed of the Archiver. I do not want my
callers who are NICE enough to upload files sitting and
waiting forever on the line (long distance) for an
Archiver to decompress the uploaded file for testing before
they receive credit for their efforts. I also concerned with
the Mail transfers done on ANY BBS. The system must first
compress the messages before the Caller downloads the Mail
packages. Then when the caller uploads his or her messages
they must wait for the BBS to decompress these messages
before posting them to the appropriate areas.


What Programs?

After a quick review of all the file Archiving programs on
my system I found two programs which stood out as clear
leaders. Pkzip by Pkware (Phil Katz) and ARJ by Robert K.
Jung. Of these two programs there were one current release
and a beta release of each program. Pkware's Pkzip v1.10 and
Pkzip 1.93 beta. ARJ also had two releases ARJ v2.20 and ARJ
v2.30 beta. I decided to test these four programs to see
which program had the best overall data compression and
speed.


Where?

I guess it will be my BBS's System considering it is the
only system I have. Here is all the System information:

Processor: AMI Voyager 486 Mother Board 33 Mhz. 80486DX
Memory : 16 Meg. of 70ns. 4 Meg. x 9 Simms
Storage : Adaptec 1542B SCSI Host Adaptor (Internal)
2-670 Meg. Maxtor SCSI Hard Disk Drives.
1-212 Meg. Conner SCSI Hard Disk Drive.
2-680 Meg. Toshiba SCSI CD-Rom Drives.
Archive 250 Meg. 2150S SCSI Tape Drive.
Monitor : Sony 1304 14" Super VGA 1024x768 Color
with Orchid ProDesigner II with (1) Meg.
Modems : US Robotics Dual Std. v.32bis & v.42bis
US Robotics HST 1440 v.42bis
Software: MSDOS 5 - Qemm 6.02, Desqview 2.42,
PCBoard 14.5a/E3.


ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 14




How?

Since I am currently using Pkware's Pkzip v1.10 to store my
BBS files I first removed the set Pktemp and the set temp
statements from my autoexec.bat file. Before I began each
test run I cold booted the system to insure that NO
information was cached in memory from a previous test.


Data used?

Text Files: These are the Four file lists from by BBS.


Name: Size: Description:

Plusbbs.lst 1,170,332 Main Board Master File Listing
Adult.lst 299,487 Adult Conference File Listing
Plusrom1.lst 2,672,751 Rom Disk Conference #2 File List
Plusrom2.lst 2,191,107 Rom Disk Conference #3 File List
------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 6,333,677 Bytes

I think these files will be a good examples of mixed text.
They include the file names, sizes, dates and descriptions
of each file on the BBS.


Mixed Data: Exe, Com, Bat, Sys, Doc, Txt Etc......

I wanted to use a randomly selected a group of mixed file
types, so I went through the first 11 directories on my BBS
and randomly selected 1 archive from each directory. I came
up with 96 files contained in their 11 archives consuming
4,639,631 bytes. I think this should make for a good mix of
file types to test with.


The Results!

Below you will find six small charts representing the
results of the test I ran on each of the four file
Archivers.


Charts 1-2

Represents the COMPRESSION ability of each Archiver in RAM
and on Hard DISK. Compressing four TEXT Files totaling
6,333,677 bytes.

Chart 3

Represents the TIME of each Archiver to DECOMPRESS these
four TEXT files in RAM and on Hard Disk.

Charts 4-5

Represents the COMPRESSION ability of each Archiver
Compressing the Ninety Six MIXED Random Files totaling
4,639,631 bytes in RAM and on Hard Disk.



ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 15



Chart 6

Represents the TIME of each Archiver to DECOMPRESS these 96
MIXED Random Files to totaling 4,639,631 Bytes in RAM and
on Hard Disk.

NOTE:
Tests in RAM were done with ALL Data Files, Archivers and
Timer utilities in RAM) ie: NO Hard Disk involved with the
tests at all.





CHART #1
============================================================================
| (Text File Compression 4 files Totaling 6,333,677 Bytes) |
| -=> Sorted By (Size) Smallest to Largest <=- |
============================================================================
| Compression | Compressed | Compression | Time:Hard Disk | Time:Ram Drive |
| Program | Size | Percentage | Elapsed Time | Elapsed Time |
| Used | in Bytes | Total | in Seconds | in Seconds |
============================================================================
| | | | HH:MM:SS. | HH:MM:SS. |
| | | | | |
| Arj v2.30 |1,459,466 R | 76.96% | ---------- | 00:01:33.43 |
| Arj v2.30 |1,459,498 D | 76.96% | 00:02:18.19 | ---------- |
| Pkzip v1.93 |1,474,334 R | 76.72% | ---------- | 00:00:50.91 |
| Pkzip v1.93 |1,474,334 D | 76.72% | 00:01:08.27 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.20 |1,482,566 R | 76.59% | ---------- | 00:01:26.45 |
| Arj v2.20 |1,482,598 D | 76.59% | 00:01:56.33 | ---------- |
| Pkzip v1.10 |1,592,173 R | 74.86% | ---------- | 00:01:08.27 |
| Pkzip v1.10 |1,592,173 D | 74.86% | 00:01:26.01 | ---------- |
| | | | | |
============================================================================


CHART #2
============================================================================
| (Text File Compression 4 files Totaling 6,333,677 Bytes) |
| -=> Sorted By (Time) Fastest to Slowest <=- |
============================================================================
| Compression | Compressed | Compression | Time:Hard Disk | Time:Ram Drive |
| Program | Size | Percentage | Elapsed Time | Elapsed Time |
| Used | in Bytes | Total | in Seconds | in Seconds |
============================================================================
| | | | HH:MM:SS. | HH:MM:SS. |
| | | | | |
| Pkzip v1.93 |1,474,334 R | 76.72% | ---------- | 00:00:50.91 |
| Pkzip v1.93 |1,474,334 D | 76.72% | 00:01:08.27 | ---------- |
| Pkzip v1.10 |1,592,173 R | 74.86% | ---------- | 00:01:08.27 |
| Pkzip v1.10 |1,592,173 D | 74.86% | 00:01:26.01 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.20 |1,482,566 R | 76.59% | ---------- | 00:01:26.45 |
| Arj v2.30 |1,459,466 R | 76.96% | ---------- | 00:01:33.43 |
| Arj v2.20 |1,482,598 D | 76.59% | 00:01:56.33 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.30 |1,459,498 D | 76.96% | 00:02:18.19 | ---------- |
| | | | | |
============================================================================






ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 16



CHART #3
============================================================================
| (Text File DeCompression 4 files Totaling 6,333,677 Bytes) |
| -=> Sorted By (Time) Fastest to Slowest <=- |
============================================================================
| Compression | Compressed | Compression | Time:Hard Disk | Time:Ram Drive |
| Program | Size | Percentage | Elapsed Time | Elapsed Time |
| Used | in Bytes | Total | in Seconds | in Seconds |
============================================================================
| | | | HH:MM:SS. | HH:MM:SS. |
| | | | | |
| Pkzip v1.10 |1,592,173 R | 74.86% | ---------- | 00:00:08.78 |
| Pkzip v1.93 |1,474,334 R | 76.72% | ---------- | 00:00:09.45 |
| Arj v2.30 |1,459,466 R | 76.96% | ---------- | 00:00:13.89 |
| Arj v2.20 |1,482,566 R | 76.59% | ---------- | 00:00:14.33 |
| Pkzip v1.10 |1,592,173 D | 74.86% | 00:00:23.56 | ---------- |
| Pkzip v1.93 |1,474,334 D | 76.72% | 00:00:24.28 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.30 |1,459,498 D | 76.96% | 00:00:40.21 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.20 |1,482,598 D | 76.59% | 00:00:41.68 | ---------- |
| | | | | |
============================================================================


CHART #4
============================================================================
| (Mixed File Compression 96 files Totaling 4,639,631 Bytes) |
| -=> Sorted By (Size) Smallest to Largest <=- |
============================================================================
| Compression | Compressed | Compression | Time:Hard Disk | Time:Ram Drive |
| Program | Size | Percentage | Elapsed Time | Elapsed Time |
| Used | in Bytes | Total | in Seconds | in Seconds |
============================================================================
| | | | HH:MM:SS. | HH:MM:SS. |
| | | | | |
| Arj v2.30 |1,922,436 R | 58.56% | ---------- | 00:01:27.60 |
| Arj v2.30 |1,922,436 D | 58.56% | 00:02:25.72 | ---------- |
| Pkzip v1.93 |1,925,601 R | 58.50% | ---------- | 00:00:51.96 |
| Pkzip v1.93 |1,925,601 D | 58.50% | 00:01:11.52 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.20 |1,939,585 R | 58.20% | ---------- | 00:01:19.20 |
| Arj v2.20 |1,939,585 D | 58.20% | 00:02:02.31 | ---------- |
| Pkzip v1.10 |2,069,127 R | 55.40% | ---------- | 00:01:21.29 |
| Pkzip v1.10 |2,069,127 D | 55.40% | 00:01:41.94 | ---------- |
| | | | | |
============================================================================





















ZIP Magazine, for home MS-Dos users. Page 17


CHART #5
============================================================================
| (Mixed File Compression 96 files Totaling 4,639,631 Bytes) |
| -=> Sorted By (Time) Fastest to Slowest <=- |
============================================================================
| Compression | Compressed | Compression | Time:Hard Disk | Time:Ram Drive |
| Program | Size | Percentage | Elapsed Time | Elapsed Time |
| Used | in Bytes | Total | in Seconds | in Seconds |
============================================================================
| | | | HH:MM:SS. | HH:MM:SS. |
| | | | | |
| Pkzip v1.93 | 1925601 R | 58.50% | ---------- | 00:00:51.96 |
| Pkzip v1.93 | 1925601 D | 58.50% | 00:01:11.52 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.20 | 1939585 R | 58.20% | ---------- | 00:01:19.20 |
| Pkzip v1.10 | 2069127 R | 55.40% | ---------- | 00:01:21.29 |
| Arj v2.30 | 1922436 R | 58.56% | ---------- | 00:01:27.60 |
| Pkzip v1.10 | 2069127 D | 55.40% | 00:01:41.94 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.20 | 1939585 D | 58.20% | 00:02:02.31 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.30 | 1922436 D | 58.56% | 00:02:25.72 | ---------- |
| | | | | |
============================================================================


CHART #6
============================================================================
| (Mixed File DeCompression 96 files Totaling 4,639,631 Bytes) |
| -=> Sorted By (Time) Fastest to Slowest <=- |
============================================================================
| Compression | Compressed | Compression | Time:Hard Disk | Time:Ram Drive |
| Program | Size | Percentage | Elapsed Time | Elapsed Time |
| Used | in Bytes | Total | in Seconds | in Seconds |
============================================================================
| | | | HH:MM:SS. | HH:MM:SS. |
| | | | | |
| Pkzip v1.10 |1,592,173 R | 74.86% | ---------- | 00:00:08:68 |
| Pkzip v1.93 |1,474,334 R | 76.72% | ---------- | 00:00:09.99 |
| Arj v2.20 |1,482,566 R | 76.59% | ---------- | 00:00:15.77 |
| Arj v2.30 |1,459,466 R | 76.96% | ---------- | 00:00:17.03 |
| Pkzip v1.93 |1,474,334 D | 76.72% | 00:00:44.38 | ---------- |
| Pkzip v1.10 |1,592,173 D | 74.86% | 00:00:44:66 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.20 |1,482,598 D | 76.59% | 00:01:03.05 | ---------- |
| Arj v2.30 |1,459,498 D | 76.96% | 00:01:05.42 | ---------- |
| | | | | |
============================================================================