Yup, that's right: The MS Office97 BugFix that Microsoft recently released has its own crop of bugs. Sigh.

Last week, I told you how SR1 requires that SR1 be installed on the system first. SR2 simply won't update any pre-SR1 files, and Microsoft is quite clear on that. That's not the problem.

But it seems that on some systems, the SR1 patches aren't registered correctly. So even if you've downloaded and installed SR1, your system may still think your Office apps are the original, unmodified versions, and won't install.

Last week, Microsoft posted a technical workaround in the online Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q192/8/16.asp) but it's no walk in the park. The simplest thing might be just to uninstall Office and start over. (Ugh.)

More information on SR-1 and -2, including live links to the download sites, is in last weeks LangaList, available at http://www.langa.com/newsletters/Sept-20-98.htm. Incidentally, you can find any past LangaList article via that link---there's a full-text search engine available there to help you, too!

Kudos to "BugNet" for being first on the ball with reports of this problem. BugNet's basic service is free and worthwhile. Check it out at http://www.bugnet.com/alerts/bugalert.html.

Wow! What a response!

In last week's online column for WinMag, I reported how there are many, many ways Win98 can be fooled into replacing newer system files with older versions. I gave a number of explicit examples from my own systems, and guessed that these kinds of version conflicts may be one major reason why some installations of Win98 are unstable: Win98 thinks it has the latest version of some key files, but in fact may be running some obsolete system components.

I asked you to check your own systems, using SFC.EXE and/or VCUI.EXE, two tools probably already on your hard drive. I gave directions on how to set up those tools so they'll compare your current system files to what ships in a brand-new, virginal installation of Win98.

Many of you posted replies. A tiny number of very lucky readers reported that their systems were fine---that their systems were running only the newest versions of all system files.

But the overwhelming majority of you reported that your systems, like mine, contained numerous instances where old files had replaced newer ones. Which begs the question: "OK, so what do we do about it?"

We discussed several approaches in the BBS thread, but there's a good chance you never saw these posts because they were buried among the hundreds of other replies.

So this week, let's bring this to closure. If you haven't checked your system yet, please see last week's column (http://content.techweb.com/winmag//bbs/columns/archives/092098/monday/column.asp?frames=yes) for instructions, and then return here for more info.

What do you do if you find older files installed in place of newer files? While newer is usually better than older, sometimes that's not true: some software and peripherals need very specific versions of system files, and changing to a newer version may cause trouble. Therefore, I don't recommend that you simply start replacing system files at random. In fact, if your system is running fine, your best bet is probably to leave things alone. If everything's working, why risk making things worse?

On the other hand, if you have subtle instabilities you can't correct by other means (such as the fix-it steps detailed in my feature article the October 1998 issue of WinMag and at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//library/1998/1001/Fea0045.htm) then I suggest you use SFC to reinstall the newer versions of files. Concentrate on those files associated with whatever part of your system is causing trouble. For example, if your web browser is flaky, restore the system files associated with browsing.

If you need help identifying what all those mystery DLLs and other system files are, use FILEINFO.EXE , from the \TOOLS\RESKIT\DIAGNOSE directory of your Win98 CD. I run a copy of FILEINFO alongside SFC to try to figure out what's what as I work through SFC's output.

I'd love to hear of what approach you use to keep track of your system files. How do you resolve possible version conflicts? And what do you think of this whole version conflict mess? I, for one, am very disappointed to still have to be doing this level of manual maintenance on my system. How about you?

The discussion will run all week, as always. Please join in via the front page on http://content.techweb.com/winmag/. The action starts about noon (GMT-5) on Monday September 21st, 1998 and runs all week long! Join in anytime!

Last week, I told you about Year 2000 ("Y2K") techno-catastrophists who have left their jobs as programmers or IT professionals and literally headed for the hills: They truly believe civilization will grind to a halt on January 1^st, 2000 as the electric grid, communications systems, transportation network and banking infrastructures break down.

They even have a new piece of jargon for the Y2K effect: TEOTWAWKI. It's pronounced TEE-AWT-WAW-KEY, and it's an acronym for "the end of the world as we know it." I'm not kidding: They are dead serious.

I said I thought they're way overreacting, and offered a number of reasons why. But the TEOTWAWKI extremist can out in force and a major flamewar ensued. Come see the fireworks at http://www.langa.com/badlink.htm, through this Tuesday!

It began 50 years ago as a comic-strip fantasy in Dick Tracy; moved to reality with one-of-a-kind hand-built devices created by tech students; then to low-volume, high-priced industrial units; and now finally is nudging into the mainstream.

"It" is the "wearable PC" and major players including IBM and Seiko have recently rolled out some very interesting hardware.

This week in my CMPnet column, I'll tell you about three wearable PCs. Two cost no more than some standard laptops. One costs only $330 and is literally worn like a watch---in fact, when you're not using it as a computer, it is a watch.

In the past, wearable PCs have been used only in specialized applications such as aircraft maintenance, where a worker can follow along a complex repair procedure by consulting a CD-ROM tech manual, live, right on the hangar floor or even inside the plane, as he or she is actually making the repair. These special-purpose devices have been very pricey.

But with prices falling to normal laptop levels---or even to the $300 range, in the case of the Seiko computer/watch---I think we're on the leading edge of a trend where wearable PCs will start to enter the mainstream.

Would you use a wearable PC? If not, what would it take to get you to try one? Is the wearable PC the inevitable outcome of the evolution of microelectronics, or is this just a solution in search of a problem? And: do you want one? 8-)

Come read the details of these three interesting new products, and then join in the week-long discussion starting this Wednesday at http://www.langa.com/badlink.htm! Join in anytime!

I've written about Sygate before---it's a small piece of software ($49 and up) you can run on a PC to allow other PCs to share the first machine's internet connection. It's an incredibly simple, easy way to share a single modem among several (or even many) PCs. I bought a $49 copy of Sygate and run it in my office all the time to allow three of my testbed PCs to share one of my modems and phone lines, for example.

Sygate's been upgraded, and Version 2.0 is out. If you're interested in modem-sharing, check out my article in WinMag (at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//library/1998/0701/ana0006.htm) and then visit the Sygate page (http://www.sygate.com/).

Relatedly, Extended Systems sent me an evaluation unit of their "ExtendNet IAS" which is a plug-and-play Internet access sharing (IAS) device. Unlike Sygate, the IAS is hardware---actually a small-footprint Pentium-class PC that's been modified. It has no keyboard or monitor. It just sits on your network and acts as a network address translator, firewall, proxy, email server and web server.

While the all-software Sygate approach is ideal for homes and small offices, the IAS shines in workgroups and medium businesses. It imposes no load on any PC (it has its own CPU and hard drive), and invisibly works in the background to provide shared internet access via a built-in or external modem. It also acts as a local email server, a web server for a local intranet; and caches web pages locally so once someone's visited a page, the next time anyone asks for the same page, it's delivered from the IAS's hard drive, instead of being dribbled in from the Web.

There's lots more to the IAS--I just got it and am still learning it. But it looks pretty cool so far. It's probably overkill for my office setup here (with 7 PCs), but for larger offices, or offices needing a real server and a real firewall, it could be a great choice. It sells for about $1200. You can get additional information from http://www.extendedsystems.com/ .

I've tried competing natural-speech products from time to time, and have always gravitated to Dragon Systems Naturally Speaking, with IBM's ViaVoice coming in second. Using ViaVoice feels like dictation to me---it's meant to help you blast out a lot of words, and then you go back later (or have a secretary go back) and make the inevitable corrections.

NaturallySpeaking feels more like writing: you create and correct your text on an ad hoc basis. You can blast it all out at once if you choose, but you also can stop and start and easily make revisions on the fly.

There's a new version of NaturallySpeaking available now, and it's better than ever. If you're interested in natural speech recognition, it's definitely top of the list. Check out http://www.dragonsys.com/ .

Turns out that Netscape's JavaScript implementation is not Y2k-compliant. Netscape is working on a fix, and I'll be adding Y2K browser tests to BrowserTune soon.

And something odd happened around September 12^th: the number of visits to BrowserTune almost tripled that day!

BrowserTune is a busy site almost all the time---we serve up almost a million free tests every month. But a one-day tripling is fairly unusual. The last time that happened was when USA Today named BrowserTune one of its daily "Hot Site" picks. Man, we got a ton of extra visitors that day!

I dug through the logs and found this "referrer link" that was sending a boatload of visitors to the BT site: http://www.freeware.ru/download.ephtml?ID=395 It's an extremely popular site in Russia. I guess browser problems know no borders. 8-)

Come see what makes Russians (and a million others a month) happy at http://www.browsertune.com/bt98.

The HotSpots page's (http://www.browsertune.com/flanga/hotspots.htm) popularity keeps climbing too. One reason why is that I have some great help: When you visit the page, scroll down a bit to see the names of the generous volunteers who prescreen some of the thousands of HotSpots nominees I get each month!

A reader who goes by the screen name of Steelcharm on AOL wrote this gem after reading about the recall of the fake "Alabama Version of Win98." (Yes, the one that got me into trouble with some thin-skinned Southerners.)

See you next week! 

Best,

Fred

(fred@langa.com)

An easier-to read formatted HTML version is available in the "what's new" section of http://www.langa.com. All past LangaList issues are also available via the same link.