Re: Crashes (was Orbis-like program)

["Mervyn E. Bennun" <Merv.Bennun>]

It's a bit sick to have to point this out because it's 
like telling you that you shouldn't have crashed in the 
first place and so it's your fault if you did, but when 
NBWin goes down you >>>>>MUST<<<<< use the RECOVER utility. 
There should be an icon for the purpose in the NBWIN 
subdirectory if you installed properly. It gets rid of 
rogue DLLs, and NBWin will definitely crash repeatedly if 
they remain - as they will do - from a previous session 
that did not end with a proper and orderly QUIT.

This situation is an non-negotiable absolute.

Mervyn

On Thu, 23 Dec 1999 09:47:49 -0600 (CST) Michael Norman 
<mn2> wrote:

> John Haynes' report of multiple problems with NBW is interesting. I just 
> got the program and am testing it (I'm a XyDos user). I too was hoping for 
> an integrated wp, text-retrieval and database program. And I too have been 
> experiencing some freezes and crashes. I've been working only with the wp so 
> far, using very simple test files. First thing I did was get W98 2nd edition, 
> which solved some small problems I was having with W98 but not with NB, which 
> continues to behave irratically. Perhaps John can supply a bit more 
>information 
> -- to wit: What kind of hardware/OS does he use? What kind of information is 
> he getting from NB techincal support? Note: after the problems started, I 
> stopped using my Xy keyboard and am trying to work just using the NB defaults 
> and factory settings.
> Michael Norman     
> 
> At 07:44 AM 12/23/99 -0600, you wrote:
> 
> >My thanks for the suggestions of ask-sam and info-tree.  I'll look at
> >both.  
> >
> >I've used NB since the original version, and found NB DOS
> >near-perfect for my need for dense scholarly writing and archival
> >research in which I need to consult thousands of pages of notes made
> >over many years.  The ability to integrate Orbis and its predecessors
> >closely with the wp function was ideal for my purposes.   I never had
> >serious problems with NB DOS and don't remember ever calling technical
> >support for NB DOS.   I would have been content to stay in NB DOS but
> >with most other people moving to Windows-based systems and so much new
> >material in a non-DOS format, staying in DOS was getting increasingly
> >awkward.  Thus I welcomed NBW.  
> >
> >But the instability has been very difficult.  5.004 is more stable
> >that the original but it is still too unstable.  Not a week goes by
> >without multiple freezes, and some days, such as yesterday, are agony.
> >  Yesterday, spell checking a 35 page draft essay produced more than a
> >dozen crashes.  When a doubled word showed up, and I hit "keep both"
> >one of two things happened.  Either the program went into a continuous
> >loop, dropping back and requestioning the last word questioned before
> >the double, moving to the double, and when "keep both" was hit once
> >more, repeating forever.  Or the program simply announced an error and
> >forced a close.  (Why the difference?  I don't know.)  I had to close
> >the spell checker, move the cursor beyond the doubled words, and
> >restart the spell checker with every doubled word.   Also, not always,
> >but often correcting a spelling error in a footnote produced a error
> >message and then a forced close of the program and a crash of the
> >system.  The spell check, that should have taken less than 5 minutes,
> >consumed an hour.
> >
> >This, alas, was not a singular occurrence.   Freezes and crashes
> >occur with such frequency for no identifiable reason I've got the
> >autosave set for one minute and rarely compose more than a paragraph
> >without saving.  Find and replace also produces a high number of
> >freezes and crashes, so I've developed the habit of saving after every
> >replace action, but that is time-consuming and while data is not lost
> >when a freeze happens, time is lost.  
> >
> >The sound prompt for spelling errors works irregularly.  Currently it
> >doesn't work.  I have no notion why it comes and goes.  
> >
> >With any document that gets long, I can only open a footnote with f3
> >because clicking with the mouse pointer on the note produces a note
> >window with most of the window opaque with gray and only a few words
> >of the note readable.   At irregular intervals the pointer also
> >disappears when it passes over notes, making clicking on a note a
> >matter of guesswork anyway.
> >
> >The spell checker refuses to accept "McCarthy" as an acceptable
> >spelling and insists that only "Mccarthy" will do despite following
> >directions for making "McCarthy" acceptable.
> >
> >Orbis still does the very vital job of keeping control of and quick
> >access to thousands of pages of historical research notes, but the
> >instability and flawed working of the wp program takes up too much
> >time.  I'll stick with NBW for a period, but unless it becomes more
> >stable, at some point I'll have to move to an alternative wp and
> >textbase program. I'll look at the two suggestions, and I'm also going
> >to consider using NBW only for the Orbis function and using Word or
> >WordPerfect for the wp platform.       
> >
> >
> >John Earl Haynes, 20th Century Political Historian
> >Manuscript Division, LM-102
> >Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540-4689
> >Ph: 202-707-1089; fax: 202-707-6336; e-mail: jhay
> 
> 

=====================
Mervyn E. Bennun     email: Merv.Bennun
"Connetts",          Tel: +44 (0)1392 811384
Nadderwater,               ______________                     
Exeter EX4 2LD,        /\ /               \ /\          
Devon, ENGLAND.       /                       \