Maxell Parallel Port Super Disk™ Drive 

Maxell PCMCIA Drive

Maxell Super Disk Media

Maxell Parallel Port Super Disk™ Drive FAQ’s

Q: Is there anything special that I have to know when I'm using the SuperDisk diskettes?

Q: How do I format the SuperDisk diskettes?

Q: Why isn’t my Maxell SuperDisk Port Cable detected, even though I have connected it correctly to the parallel port?

Q: Is there anything special that I have to know when I'm using the SuperDisk diskettes?

A: The SuperDisk diskette is a very sensitive media. Check the correct position of the diskette. Do not expose diskette to direct sunlight and make sure you put it back into the case provided after you have used it.

Q: How do I format the SuperDisk diskettes?

A: Make sure you use the format program supplied by Maxell. In most cases, a quick format will do.

A: Please check the following:

• Make sure the Parallel Port Cable is properly connected to the SuperDisk drive.
• Check the AC adapter connection.
• Is the driver correctly installed (refer to the installation manual)? You may need a new driver. Click here for the latest driver versions.
• Please check the working mode of the parallel port in your system's BIOS. For the best performance, it should be in EPP-mode. You can also try to change the address of the parallel port.

For DOS/Windows 3.1

• Make sure the Maxell driver is in the first line of your config.sys.
• Should you encounter further problems, please add the following line where the Maxell driver is called upon: /m:e-/m:f4. This will change the working mode of the Maxell Parallel Port Cable.
• Should the problem still occur, please restart your computer and while the computer is booting, press F*. Press"Y" (yes) only for the Maxell Driver and press "N" (no) for all other entries in the config.sys. If the Maxell SuperDisk Drive now works, then there is a conflict with another driver which you have loaded on your config.sys.
• Deactivate all the drivers you do not need in your config.sys and autoexec.bat. Please create a boot menu. For more details, type "help" in DOS and then search for "boot menu".
• Deactivate any memory managers like QEMM and MEMMAKER.

For Windows 95/98 and NT4.0

• Configure the driver personally in the Maxell Configuration program. Check the box "Deactivate automatic EPP-detection". Furthermore, change all the values in this program according to your parallel port configuration from your BIOS.
• Remember, other drivers can cause an error when working in cooperation with the Maxell driver. Deinstall all unnecessary drivers.
• Make sure that no Maxell DOS drivers were loaded during the booting process.

Maxell PCMCIA Drive FAQ’s

Q: The SuperDisk Drive makes a grinding sound while operating. Should I be alarmed?

Q: My SuperDisk Drive seems to be operating normally; however, should I install the enhanced drivers on the Device Driver and Utility disk?

Q: I have installed the SuperDisk drive on my laptop computer but now it does not operate.

Q: Why would I want to format a SuperDisk when it comes preformatted from the factory?

Q: The drive letter assignment for the SuperDisk Drive has recently changed to the next higher drive letter. Why?

Q: The SuperDisk Drive runs great from my laptop PC without the AC adapter; however, it will not run from my PC card-equipped desktop computer without an AC adapter. Why?

A: No. This sound is normal when the drive is activated.

A: Not necessarily. You need to install the drivers only if you wish to erase the entire SuperDisk diskette using the format routines in Windows 95 or Windows 98. The enhanced drivers also allow you to change the SuperDisk drive's letter assignment.

A: Your laptop's batteries may be low. Try using the SuperDisk drive's AC adapter.

A: You may want to erase (delete) all of the files on a SuperDisk. To delete each file individually would require a considerable amount of time. By formatting the disk, the deletion process is reduced to less than 2 minutes. The Windows 95 enhanced drivers should be installed when using the format utilities.

A: You have probably installed another device into your computer such as a Flash ram card, hard drive, etc., which replaces the SuperDisk's original drive letter assignment.

A: The PC card slot systems in some desktop PCs do not supply enough electrical power through the PC card slot to power the PC card device correctly.

Maxell Super Disk Media FAQ's

Questions:

Q: Which types of removable media will Maxell Data Compression Software work with?

Q: Which types of networks will Maxell Data Compression Software work with?

Q: Which network software products does Maxell Data Compression Software work with?

Q: Can I sync with a disk on a DOS computer?

Q: How do I know that the synchronization was completed successfully?

Q: Which types of conditions cause synchronization problems to be reported?

Q: How are Read Only, System, and Hidden files handled during a synchronization?

Q: Why are the system clock settings so important?

Q: When I setup Directory settings, which procedure should I follow?

Q: What happens when synchronizing files with long file names with short file names?

Q: When should files be compressed?

Q: How much more data can be stored on a removable disk using compression?

Q: Why does analyzing and synchronizing compressed files take noticeably longer?

Q: Can I do anything to speed synchronization of compressed files?

Q: Does compression during synchronization work only with removable disks?

Q: What do I do if I want to uncompress the files on my removable disk?

Q: When viewing compressed files on my removable disk, a different type of file extension is seen. What does this mean?

Q: What is the compress/uncompress utility used for?

Q: Is the option "Multi Disk" option available on Windows 3.1?

Q: How do I synchronize the two backups, i.e., the current data in use with the archived data?

Q: Can I synchronize between disks?

Q: Will synchronization work when a laptop is docked into two different networks; say morning and afternoon sessions?

Q: Does Maxell Data Compression Software compress already compressed files?

Q: Maxell Data Compression Software says that I need to add a PC identifier. Where can I find that information (what is it)?

Q: Maxell Data Compression Software recognizes some of my drives, but not others

Q: Is Maxell Data Compression Software compatible with any other removable drives?

Q: While using Maxell Data Compression Software I received error message "messing or corrupted: c:\windows\himem.sys and then got another error message missing or corrupted c:\windows\ifshlp.sys" then my computer locks up. What happened?

Q: Can files backed up on one computer be restored on another?

Q: Can Maxell Data Compression Software uncompress files zipped using PKZip?

Q: What happens if I back up all my files and lose the Maxell Data Compression Software program because of hard disk failure or some other reason?

Q: Why should I use Maxell Data Compression Software when I have WinZip?

Q: PKZip won't unzip the files zipped with Maxell Data Compression Software

Q: I zipped my entire Windows directory. After a reboot, I cannot access my Win 95. What should I do?

Q: Will Maxell Data Compression Software back up more than one drive at a time?

Q: Will Maxell Data Compression Software back up hidden and system files or not?

A: Maxell Data Compression Software works with removable disks such as floppy, Zip and Jaz from Iomega, SyQuest disks, writeable CDs, and removable hard disks. Maxell Data Compression Software also works with non-removable hard disks.

Q: Which types of networks will Maxell Data Compression Software work with?

A: Any network that supports a Windows client and you can see the remote disk mounted on the File Manager or Explorer.

A: NetWare from Novell, WFWG from Microsoft, LANtastic from Artisoft, Windows NT from Microsoft, and UNIX TCP/IP with NFS.

A: Yes, but Maxell Data Compression Software must be installed on a Windows computer, and you must have a network connection and map the disks between the two PCs.

A: When the synchronization is completed Maxell Data Compression Software will display a Match Completed message on the Synchronization Status screen. You should then click on the View Log button to check the Activity Log. If there were any problems experienced during the synchronization, they will be noted in this log.

A: All files to be synchronized must be closed prior to performing the synchronization. Files that are opened or active may prevent the synchronization process from occurring.

Maxell Data Compression Software does not detect floppy diskettes that are write protected.

If you encounter an "Sync not complete" error during synchronization, check your floppy diskette to ensure it is not write protected.

An out-of-space condition will also cause Maxell Data Compression Software to report an error.

A: Maxell Data Compression Software does not copy hidden or system files during synchronization. Maxell Data Compression Software does overwrite Read Only files during synchronization. This is the policy of the program.

A: Since Maxell Data Compression Software is a file synchronization program, the accuracy of the system clock is very important. Maxell Data Compression Software will be verifying and comparing the time and date of your files as set by your internal computer system clock. Make sure your system clocks on all of the PCs you are using are set accurately and to the same time and date.

A: When you are clicking on a directory to highlight it, this selects it and all subdirectories and files within it. This tells Maxell Data Compression Software that when you click on its center button, you want it to apply to all the subdirectories and files within it. If the item is not highlighted, then any center button changes you make apply only to the files within it.

A: If you are synchronizing files with long file names, then you must use Maxell Data Compression Software for Windows 95. However, if all files being synchronized have the DOS standard 8.3 file format, then they can be synchronized using either Maxell Data Compression Software for Windows 3.1 or Maxell Data Compression Software for Windows 95.
It is recommended use of DOS's standard 8.3 file format on all PCs so long as you are using a mix of PCs running Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. This is because the long file name information is not recognized by standard 8.3 file systems, and during normal file operations the long file names may be destroyed. When all of your PCs are running Windows 95 or NT, then long file names can be used.
Caution: Files with long file names that have been compressed and stored on a removable disk using Maxell Data Compression Software for Windows 95 cannot be synchronized by Maxell Data Compression Software for Windows 3.1. You must use Maxell Data Compression Software for Windows 95 to synchronize these files.

A: More data can be stored on a removable disk by compressing your files. With compression, you can store up to two or more times the data on your removable disk.

A: Different types of files will be compressed by different factors. On average we say that Maxell Data Compression Software will double the amount of data that you can store on a removable disk. However, this could be more or less depending on the mix and size of the file types being compressed. In some cases you may store four times as much data using compression.

A: Compressing your data takes more time, but if you must store more, it is worth it. It will take Maxell Data Compression Software more time to analyze and synchronize your data in compressed form. This is because Maxell Data Compression Software needs additional time to compress and manage your files as they are synchronized to and from your removable disk. The first time that you analyze and synchronize two directories, the process will work slower. The next time you analyze and synchronize the same directories, the process will complete in less time.

A: The best performance from Maxell Data Compression Software is received if the files on your removable disk are either all compressed or all uncompressed.

A: Maxell Data Compression Software will store files in compressed form on the removable disks only (not on the hard drive).

A: If a removable disk contains compressed files and you choose to uncompress them, there must be sufficient space available to hold the resulting uncompressed files. As a rule of thumb, there should be at least three times the amount of space available on the removable disk as was required to hold the files in compressed form. You may have to move some of your directories and files to an empty removable disk, using the hard drive as temporary storage.

A: When Maxell Data Compression Software stores compressed files, it will assign each file a unique file extension of the form .^xx. WARNING: Do not rename a file that has been compressed by Maxell Data Compression Software or by the compress/uncompress utility. Also, in a small percentage of synchronizations, a particular file may not be compressed. This is because another file in the same directory uses the same compressed file name.

A: A compress/uncompress utility comes with Maxell Data Compression Software. You can copy this utility to your removable disk and take it with you in case you want to uncompress your files on a PC that does not have a copy of Maxell Data Compression Software.

A: The multi-disk option is not available with Windows 3.1; this option is available only with Windows 95.

A: To clarify, files were initially backed up on 1.8.97 and then another complete backup (onto another disk) was done on 10.8.97. Some of the files on the 10.8.97 backup were corrupted and lost. The 1.8.97 files were restored and used, but those files, which were not corrupted from the 10.8.97 backup, would like to be restored.

To resolve the conflict between two backups:

1. Maxell Data Compression Software does a synchronized backup and restore. This means that the newer one (based on the file modification date/time) replaces old files. If the files (on disk and backup) have the same date/time, no action is taken.

2. Maxell Data Compression Software does not hide the files on the backup. If you did not use compression, they are on the disk in normal form. If you did use compression, the file is still there, in the same directory structure, but with a new extension (starting with ^). If you don't want to go through the restore process, you can still easily copy any file you want using Windows Explorer, copy, whatever. If you compressed the file, you can use any PKZip-compatible unzipped (PKUNZIP, KeyView, ZipIt, WinZIP), though if you use the Maxell Data Compression Software restore, the unzip is automatic.

A: Maxell Data Compression Software is only designed to synchronize between the hard drive and a removable drive. Unless you have two drives, you cannot synchronize two disks. You can make sure the hard drive has the proper set of files and create a new backup.

A: Maxell Data Compression Software itself will have no problems when running in two different environments. However, saved Autosyncs are tied to a specific computer installation (indicated by use of a PC identifier). If the drive lettering changes on the same computer (as might happen when a different network is attached), then the Autosync might be accessing the wrong drive.

A: To better answer your question, I would like to explain a little about file compression. Compression techniques vary in their ability to compress different types of files, but the idea behind each method of compression is the same. Compression programs remove unused or redundant portions (like repeated characters or colors) of a file, reducing it to its minimum. That is why .BMP files compress so well (every single bit is stored, even for blank spaces) and .JPG files don't compress very much (the format includes color compression).

Once a file has been compressed by any technique, running the file through another compression program will rarely result in increased compression, since the repeated characters, etc. have already been removed from the file. If the second program's compression technique is better, then the file will shrink a bit. However, due to some file header information, a fully compressed file could even grow by a few bytes if compressed again.

A: One of the features of Maxell Data Compression Software is that saved update definitions (also called saved syncs) are identified with the computer they were created on. For whatever computer you are running on, only the saved syncs that were created on that computer will show up on the Autosync screen. This helps prevent you from using the wrong Autosync on the wrong computer. To do this, the first time you try to save an update (or sync) definition, Maxell Data Compression Software asks you for a unique identifier. This can be any set of letters, numbers, and spaces. If you install another copy of Maxell Data Compression Software on another computer, be sure to use a different identifier.

For example, you can use "My Home Computer" and "Desktop at Office" for my two computers. The reasoning behind all of this is best described in an example. In the following case, assume the Computer Identifier for the office computer is "Office" and for the home computer is "Home".

A: Maxell Data Compression Software doesn't do anything unique to find the drives. It just asks Windows what is available. If the drive is recognized under "My Computer" Maxell Data Compression Software will recognize it.

A: Maxell Data Compression Software should find any drive that appears in the "My Computer" list (Win 95) or in File Manager (Win 3.1). Maxell Data Compression Software does no specific drive recognition (exception noted below) and relies to Windows to identify available drives.

Maxell Data Compression Software does use one Iomega-provided .DLL that recognizes when a zip drive is installed. Thus, when an Iomega Zip drive is selected, the text on the screen changes slightly to congratulate the user on having a zip drive (required to get the Iomega Readyware logo).

A: There is absolutely nothing in Maxell Data Compression Software or its' install that could do this. The problem encountered had nothing to do with Maxell Data Compression Software and you should contact Microsoft to correct the corruption with your Windows product.

The himem.sys program handles use of memory above 640K for 16-bit programs only. The ifshlp.sys program is also an integral part of windows and it is no wonder your system locks up. You need to boot under DOS (or maybe even use that boot disk you're supposed to create when you installed Windows 95) and reinstall Windows 95.

A: Files can be restored on any computer not just the one from which the original files were backed up. That's one of the wonderful benefits of Maxell Data Compression Software.

A: Maxell Data Compression Software uses a totally PKZip-compatible compression engine. However, it does not use a .ZIP extension. The extension is "^xx" where xx stands for a letter/number combination ("^Q7" is the default). Both Maxell Data Compression Software and its Compress utility use this special extension to identify files that were created by Maxell Data Compression Software. Regular .ZIP files are not opened or changed by Maxell Data Compression Software.

A: Maxell Data Compression Software is a synchronization and backup utility that uses standard PKZip-compatible compression. It makes it easy to store twice as much information. It makes it easy to transfer 240 Mbytes of information between home and work. It makes it easy to back up 240 Mbytes of data to a single disk. It does all of this while maintaining the portability SuperDisk diskettes are supposed to have, allowing you to share a Maxell Data Compression Software-created backup disk with those who do not have Maxell Data Compression Software. They can use any PKZip-compatible utility to access the files that Maxell Data Compression Software compressed.

A: Maxell Data Compression Software is NOT competition for WinZip or ZipIt. It is NOT intended as a zipping tool. It is a file synchronization tool, which includes the ability to zip files. If we started automatically decompressing .ZIP files, how is a user going to synchronize a backup of their .ZIP files? Maxell Data Compression Software would then incorrectly synchronize based on the contents of user-created .ZIP files. Maxell Data Compression Software DOES synchronize based on the contents of Maxell Data Compression Software-created compressed files, which is the right thing to do.

A: We tested the DOS version of PKunzip on my system and while we got it to recognize file names with extensions other than .zip it took long file names and shortened them to 8 characters in length. This is probably unacceptable as many programs would cease to work; it was questionable if the operating system would work at all. PKUNZIP would not have successfully restored the user's system (mainly because it cannot handle long file names).

A: By zipping up your Windows directory, you have removed your operating system from your computer. It would be fairly difficult to compress the Windows directory using the main Maxell Data Compression Software program. Once users select compression, they are asked which direction to compress in, with the removable drive being the default. Even then, only the files actually transferred by Maxell Data Compression Software are compressed. Those that were there to begin with are not touched. To fully compress the Windows directory would require transferring all the files to another drive/directory, deleting all the files in the Windows directory, and then using Maxell Data Compression Software to copy them back (with compression). You need to find your Windows program disk and reinstall enough of the program to unzip your necessary files to fully run your Windows program.

A: At this time, Maxell Data Compression Software will only back up one hard drive at a time.

A: Hidden and system files are not automatically backed up. However, if you select these files, they are included in the backup.