smart office from the 80's

[Micom 2000]

You can check any or all the IBM/MSDOS system version in the known world but none of them will boot using an .app extension.

Lawrence

[jack]

I am not wanting pcdos to boot the .app...I want to formatt the hd to boot the machine with the smart system disk..

what I really want is information about the package..it is obviously an office suite from the 80's and designed to run on something...I was hopeing to get it to run on the dx as it is the oldest machine available at the moment..

when I boot with non formatted drive useing the smart system disk I get a non system disk error.

[carlsson]

What makes you think the "system disk" in a word processor package is bootable? I'd bet a virtual peanut on that you should re-partition the hard disk you just removed a partition from, format it and install MS-DOS, DR-DOS or something else. Then from the prompt access the floppy drive (A or B) and run INSTALL.EXE (which likely is the full name of the file Windows refers to as an "app").

[jack]

well da..thats exactly what I want to do but what version of dos and how do I copy it to the hd...I can take out the 5 1/4 and put in a 3.5 temp to install and then change to the 5' to do the smart install but all I know is that the suite smartware was created by innovative software in the 80's.. I do not know what dos was used to format the drive and how to copy it to the drive

is that not what I have been asking...what dos and how to

In 1988, Informix purchased Innovative Software, makers of a DOS and Unix-based office system called SmartWare and WingZ, an innovative spreadsheet program for the Apple Macintosh.

The only time Informix diverted from its database-centric strategy was in 1988, when it merged with Innovative Software, adding the SmartWare desktop applications suite to its database-centric product line. This product acquisition, together with that of the Wingz graphical spreadsheet, followed a pattern similar to Novell's later acquisition of WordPerfect's desktop business. Both companies, Informix and Novell, moved into businesses that they did not understand and eventually divested the products they acquired. Also, just as the WordPerfect acquisition triggered the departure of Novell founder Ray Noorda, the SmartWare acquisition triggered the departure of Roger Sippl from Informix

this is all I can find so far..was looking for help with this software..was rather pricey at the time...700 bucks...

[DimensionDude]

On your Windows machine, go to the Folder Options/View screen and untick the "hide extensions" option. Now Windows Explorer will show the extensions (.exe, .com, .mp3 etc) and you can see what each file really is. It won't otherwise affect the operation of Windows.

Like the other guys, I'm betting that the .app is really an .exe.

Kent

[jack]

well.evidently no one has heard of smartware from innovative software all those years ago and have no clue what version of dos was used to run it or how to make it run on a dx2 so I will search else ware and note The vintage computer in my blog as not very vintage..thanks

[Terry Yager]

Nearly any version of DOS should serve your purpose. If not the DRDOS

http://www.drdos.net/install/

then try downloading a bootdisk from:

www.bootdisk.com

A complete tutorial on setting up a hard drive, (LLformatting, partitioning, HLformat, DOS installation) is a little beyond the scope of these forums, but again, google is your friend. There are many very detailed tutorials on the web. This one looks as good as any for starters, but there are many others:

http://www.aas.duke.edu/comp/documen..._win_inst.html

Try googling 'dos installation' or similar keywords.

--T

[jack]

Thanks...I have all kinds of boot disks...all the pcdos23456...all the ms dos...novell..drdos..linux..windows..I can create a partition and format a drive..

copy to hd so I can remove the 3.5 is the issue..the boot disks for pcdos do not have a copy function and ask for the sys disk..what I need is a dos that is complete and will copy to the hd via 3.5 so I can replace with the 5 1/4 to install smart...will try the drdos..

what is the purpose of this forum exactly?
what kind of posts are interesting for you?

[Terry Yager]

Every version of PC- or MSDOS have the 'copy' command internal to the OS. It is built-in, inseperable from DOS. Most versions have a couple of other copying options in the form of external commands such as Diskcopy or Xcopy. I don't understand the problem you're having.

After you have partitioned and formatted the hard drive, then the 'SYS' command will install DOS to the hard drive, making it bootable, after which the DOS files may be copy-ed from the floppies to the \dos directory. (If, for some reason, your bootdisk does not contain the SYS command, the same thing can be accomplished by formatting the drive with the /s parameter (Format C: /s)).

--T

[jack]

Thanks...sys command...that may help...

sorry...I have several win and linux machines and some old apple and atari stuff etc that has the 5" blablalba that I got to work..but not so keen on the pcdos or dr-dos to hd obviously..

it is hard to be specific when you are in the process with little idea what you are doing and little time to actually get it done...

but I am interested in the smart office as it predates msoffice and was likely better at the time..word perfect is a good word processor..and lotus123 was around then I think..My dx2 with win95 is still internet ready and has some great freeware that packs small hds with strong basic functionality..the apple is just interesting vintage equipment that still functions for comparison