Technical Support FAQ
This page contains answers to technical questions that we receive frequently,
as well as brief descriptions of how to configure your particular system for use
with TransferPro.
These links take you to specific sections of this page.
This section answers questions which are common to TransferPro running on all
platforms. Many answers refer you to sections in the TransferPro User Guide.
NOTE: The UserDevs feature, mentioned several times below, is available on
UNIX computers only. Windows 3.x and 95 computers use a somewhat different
mechanism for ignoring SCSI devices. The feature utilized is outlined in the Windows
section of this FAQ. Windows NT versions do not have the ability to completely
ignore SCSI devices; instead, TransferPro utilizes a command that allows the
user to prevent formatting of specific devices. Please see the Windows
NT section below.
Q - The UserDevs feature of TransferPro, which prevents accidental spinning
down or formatting of system hard disk drives, does not seem to work. These
drives still appear in the TransferPro drive list. What is wrong?
A - The UserDevs feature of TransferPro is described in Chapter 1 in the
"System Configuration Instructions" section. In order for the UserDevs
feature to work, TransferPro must be able to find the UserDevs file, which is
located in the TransferPro installation directory. Make sure that the
TransferPro installation directory is in the user’s UNIX search path, and the
UserDevs feature will work properly. Read the section in Appendix C entitled
"Modifying your UNIX computer’s program search path".
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Q - When I try to start up TransferPro I get the error message "Sorry,
Unlicensed!". How can I get TransferPro to start up?
A - If you have not yet obtained a password and entered it using the "install_license"
program as described in Chapter 1 of the TransferPro User Guide, then perform
the steps in Chapter 1 in the section titled "Licensing and configuration
instructions".
Make sure when entering the password, that the dash character (-) separates each
group of four numbers. If you have entered spaces instead of dashes, the
password will be interpreted incorrectly.
If you have run the install_license program as described in Chapter 1, and
properly entered the password, the usual cause of the "Sorry,
Unlicensed!" message is that you are trying to launch the wrong version of
TransferPro. Most release media now include both the command-line version of
TransferPro and the Graphical User Interface version. Make sure you are starting
the version you have purchased. The executable names of the UNIX versions of
TransferPro are as follows:
- tprom - The Motif graphical user interface version on all platforms except
for Solaris 1 and 2. This version will also run under the Common Desktop
Environment (CDE) used by AIX on R/S6000 and Apple Network Server systems.
- tpro - the command line version for all platforms except the SPARC Sun OS
4.x (Solaris 1)
- tproc - the command line version for the SPARC running Sun OS 4.x (Solaris
1)
- tpros - the OpenWindows GUI version for the SPARC running Solaris 2.x.
This version will also run under the Solaris 2 version of the Common Desktop
Environment (CDE) and the standard Solaris Motif graphical windows managers.
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Q - Sometimes I am unable to read Iomega Jaz cartridges. What is the problem?
A - TransferPro does not support the software password protection on Jaz or
Zip drives. Sometimes, if you insert a password-protected cartridge, it will
cause TransferPro to crash (segmentation fault; be sure to remove the resulting
core file(s), as they can often be several megabytes in size). Make sure that
when people send you cartridges, they do not use the password protection feature
of the Iomega Jaz and Zip drives. The next major release of TransferPro (R4)
will support the software write-protect and password protection features of
these drives. Customers who have purchased TransferPro maintenance agreements
will receive this version automatically.
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Q - After copying files to a Macintosh formatted disk using TransferPro, when
I take the disk to a Mac, the file icons are wrong - they look like text files.
Why does the wrong icon show up on the Mac?
A - The icons shown by files on a Macintosh are determined by a part of the
file normally hidden from the user called the Resource Fork. This portion of the
file contains the File Type and Creator information. When copying files from a
UNIX machine or a PC running Windows using TransferPro, you must tell
TransferPro what Type and Creator to give to the files. If you are using the
SPARC version of TransferPro, refer to section titled "File Import/Export
Notes" in Chapter 3 of the Sun SPARC User Guide for a detailed description
of the mechanism used to handle the Macintosh Type and Creator. If you are using
the Motif versions of TransferPro, refer to the Motif Version User Guide,
Appendix B - File Import/Export Notes. If you are using any Windows version of
TransferPro, refer to the section titled "Associate Window" in Chapter
2 and also Appendix B "File Import/Export Notes" of the Windows
Version User Guide.
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Q - When I select the drive letter for the CD-ROM in TransferPro, and there
is no CD in the drive, TransferPro seems to hang. What is the problem?
A - Some CD-ROM drives cause TransferPro to take a very long time to bypass
them if they are selected in the drive list but there is no CD in the drive.
Inserting a CD will release TransferPro from trying to access the empty drive.
If you wait several minutes, the program will eventually bypass the empty drive
and allow another selection.
If you do not need to access CD-ROM drives with TransferPro, you can add the
drive to the UserDevs list of drives to be ignored and you will not be annoyed
by selecting an empty CD drive. See the "System Configuration
Instructions" section in Chapter 1 of the User Guide for instructions on
how to use the UserDevs function of TransferPro.
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Q - What kind of Macintosh and DOS media are supported by TransferPro?
A - TransferPro will read and write to any SCSI drive which meets the
following specifications:
- Macintosh drives
- Single-partition Macintosh SCSI disks up to 4GB. If the disk has multiple
partitions, only the first partition will be available on UNIX platforms.
TransferPro for Windows NT supports multiple-partition Mac disks up to 4GB
per partition. Supported drives include all of the SyQuest drives (44MB not
supported on SPARC), Iomega Bernoulli, Zip and Jaz drives, popular
magneto-optical drives (including 2.6GB), and hard disk drives which meet
the above specifications. Macintosh 3.5" HD (1.44MB) floppy disks are
supported on all platforms except the Data General AViiON Intel.
- MS-DOS drives
- Single primary partition DOS FAT drives are supported up to 600MB in size.
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Q - I want to create graphics files on my computer and take them to a
colleague who has a Macintosh. How can I do this with TransferPro?
A - When copying files from one type of computer system to another, there are
two things to consider. The first is how to read and write to Macintosh or DOS
formatted disks. This part of the problem is solved by TransferPro. The second
thing which must be considered is the document format itself. You must have a
software program on both systems which can understand the type of document you
are copying. The best way to do this is to have the same software application on
both systems. For example, if you are copying Adobe Photocopy files between Sun
computers, Macintosh computers and PCs, it is best to have Adobe Photoshop for
each of the different platforms. In addition to having the same application, you
must make sure you each are running a version of the application which is
compatible with the others. Sometimes, if one person has a much newer version of
software, the older versions will have trouble reading the new version formats.
If you have questions about whether different versions of an application are
compatible or if an application can import a particular type of document, please
contact the technical support hotline of the company which sells the application
in question, or refer to the application’s documentation.
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Q - I want to create graphics files on my computer and take them to a
Mac-based service bureau for printing. How can I do this with TransferPro?
A - You can either copy the original Macintosh document if the service bureau
has the same software application on their Mac which you used (see last Q&A
above) or you can generate a PostScript file and just take the PostScript file
to the service bureau. When you send PostScript files, the service bureau does
not need the application which created the document. When sending PostScript
files, be sure to furnish the printer with a list of ALL the fonts you used in
the document. If you specify fonts which are not loaded in the printer’s RIP,
you will get a default font which is usually very ugly and will ruin the output.
As an alternative, most applications have the ability to embed the fonts in the
PostScript file when generating it. This increases the file size a lot, but
ensures that the printed output will look right.
When copying PostScript or Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files, make sure that
all all TransferPro filters are turned off.
To generate a PostScript file, you usually specify a PostScript printer for
output and instruct the output to be sent to a file instead of directly to a
printer. See your system documentation for information on how to do this.
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Q - We have different types of UNIX computers, as well as Macintoshes and PCs
in our company. How can we move files among these systems using high speed hard
disks or SCSI removable-media drives?
A - The easiest way to accomplish this is to use TransferPro on all of the
different UNIX computers, as well as on your PCs, and standardize on Macintosh
disks. This allows you to have just one type of formatted disk, and still move
files around, while retaining long file names.
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Q - I copied files from a Mac disk to UNIX using the u-Share Finder option
mode. When I copy these files back to a Mac disk, they have the default type and
creator of a text file. Why is this happening?
A - The u-Share Mac file server does not use a magic number when storing
files in the .rsrc directory. Therefore, TransferPro cannot automatically
identify these files as u-Share files unless the user has checked the u-Share
Finder Info Options button in the TransferPro Properties panel. If you have one
of the other options selected, click the u-Share button and copy the files
again.
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Q - Why are there no Macintosh or DOS drives in the TransferPro drive list,
even though I have those drives attached?
A - In order for drives to be listed properly in TransferPro's available
drives list, you must set the permissions of the device files. You must also
disable the IRIX media daemon (mediad) from accessing the devices. Read the
"Silicon Graphics Configuration Instructions" section in Chapter 1 of
the TransferPro User Guide for instruction on how to properly configure
TransferPro.
Another cause of this problem is if a UNIX-formatted cartridge or hard drive is
mounted in the NFS file system when TransferPro launches. All UNIX-mounted
drives will be automatically removed from the drive list. Quit TransferPro,
unmount the drive, then start TransferPro again and the drive should now appear
properly.
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Q - Will TransferPro work with IRIX 6.x?
A - The version of TransferPro on the CD in the directory named IRIX5x will
run on either IRIX 5.x or IRIX 6.x. Also, there is now a directory specifically
for IRIX 6.x, down in the SGI directory.
TransferPro R3V1.9 has been tested extensively on IRIX 6.3, and it works quite
well. It is also probable that it also works for IRIX 6.4, but we haven't tested
that yet.
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Q - I am running TransferPro on a Solaris 2.x machine and sometimes the drive
entries for my attached Macintosh and DOS SCSI drives vanish. Why is this
happening and what can I do about it?
A - Starting with Solaris 2.2, the Solaris kernel will automatically unload
dynamically loadable device drivers (such as the TransferPro ff driver) when it
thinks the driver is no longer being used. Unfortunately, the automatic unload
is not done properly or completely, and part of the operating system thinks the
drivers are still loaded. The work around is to manually unload the ff drivers,
and then launch TransferPro again. Manually loading and unloading the drivers is
described in Appendix B, "Software Technical Details".
Starting with R3V1.6 of TransferPro for Solaris 2.x, the TransferPro ff drivers
are now loaded into /kernel/drv instead of /usr/kernel/drv, and the ff drivers
are force-loaded at boot time. The kernel is less likely to unload drivers which
reside in /kernel/drv and the problem occurs much less frequently.
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Q - Part of the main TransferPro window is cut off when displayed on my SPARC.
The vertical scroll lists are cut off at the bottom and some of the text fields
are cut off. How can I get TransferPro to display the complete window?
A - The problem is caused by selecting a larger window display font size in
the workspace properties selections menu. There are two solutions to this
problem:
- Click the Reset to Standard button in the Fonts properties subpanel of the
workspace properties panel.
- There is a command that allows you to start TransferPro with the default
font and size. This can be done with an alias, or from the Programs Menu
window. The proper command is as follows:
tpros -fn LucidaSans 8 &
This tells the shell to start the TransferPro graphical version with the
default font and size, and run in the background. If you have the TransferPro
installation directory in your UNIX path, you can simply type this in from
anywhere. You can also make this an alias so you only have to type a few
characters each time you want to invoke this command. The best way to do this is
to edit your .cshrc file, and add the following line:
alias tpros tpros -fn LucidaSans 8 &
The second field (after the first space) can be any word that you'll remember
easily. The command can also be added to the Programs Menu items. Click the
right mouse button and select Properties. When the Properties window appears,
click the menu on the top and select Programs Menu. You will be given a couple
of lines. The first one is for the name of the command, which will appear in the
menu, and the second one is the actual command that is executed.
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Q - I just upgraded to the latest version of TransferPro for Solaris 2.x.
Whenever I try to run the OpenLook version, I get the following error: ld.so.1:
tpro: fatal: relocation error: symbol not found: set reg_id referenced in tpros
Why am I getting this, and what can I do to keep from getting it?
A - Sun Microsystems made several major changes in Solaris 2.5 having to do
with the libraries needed for graphical programs. TransferPro R3V1.7, later
versions of R3, and R4 were all compiled under Solaris 2.5, so these library
changes are accounted for. Solaris versions previous to Solaris 2.5 will not
even allow TransferPro R3V1.7.X OpenLook to start up, and will instead produce
this error. However, the command-line version should still work properly, since
it does not use any of these graphical libraries.
Also, on the TransferPro CD-ROM, we have included TransferPro R3V1.6. This
version was compiled under Solaris 2.4, and will work under 2.5 if you choose to
upgrade Solaris at a later time. It uses the same password as R3V1.7.X, so there
is no need to request another one.
Basically, you will need to do one of the following:
- Upgrade to Solaris 2.5
- Use R3V1.6, which is located on the TransferPro CD in
/special/Solaris2/R3v1.6.
For more information about this, please contact DIT at support@dit.com.
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Q - I am running TransferPro on a Data General machine and the drive entries
for my attached Macintosh and DOS SCSI drives do not appear in the TransferPro
drive list. Why is this happening and what can I do about it?
A - In order to access Macintosh and MS-DOS SCSI devices with TransferPro,
your kernel must first be configured to make the SCSI device drivers that
TransferPro needs, and the devices themselves must be configured properly using
the DG-UX "sysadm" utility. Refer to the Data General Configuration
Instructions in the TransferPro User Guide at the end of Chapter 1. If you do
not have any device files in your /dev/scsi directory, instructions on how to
build a new DG-UX kernel that has these device drivers can be found in Appendix
C of the User Guide in the section titled "Data General -> Reconfiguring
the Kernel and Making Device Files".
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Q - I can not access Macintosh floppy diskettes on my Data General AViiON
Intel-based machine. What is the problem?
A - TransferPro does not currently include support for the internal floppy
drive. The next major release (R4) will include support for the internal floppy
drive. Customers who have purchased Maintenance Agreements will receive the
upgrade automatically.
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Q - I am running TransferPro on a Data General AViiON Intel machine running
DG-UX for Intel. Sometimes, when copying files to DG-UX-formatted virtual disks,
the files are copied incorrectly, and the files are sometimes written to my root
directory instead of where I selected them to go. What is causing this problem?
A - We have noticed problems with DG-UX 4.11 on Intel platforms with virtual
disks which are created and mounted using the sysadm program. If you experience
similar problems, create and mount the disks using the UNIX command line, not
the sysadm utility.
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Q - How do I find out what version of HP-UX I have?
A - Open a command shell. At the prompt, type uname -a. This will
print out the version of the operating system that is running on your computer.
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Q - OK, I know what version of HP-UX I've got. How do I find out what
processor architecture my computer has?
A - This is a bit more complicated. It begins similarly to the previous
procedure.
- Type uname -m at the prompt (not -a, as in the previous
example). This should print out something like this: 9000/755
- Now type grep results_from_#1 /usr/lib/sched-models.
This will search the sched-models file for the text generated by
the uname -m command. The results_from_#1 should
be the entire line that contains the output from #1.
A return of DAPA_RISC_1.1 indicates a RISC-1 processor. A return of
DAPA_RISC_2 or above indicates a RISC-2 processor.
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Note: Because of hardware limitations, the internal floppy disk drive on PCs
will only read and write Macintosh 1.4MB HD (High-Density) disks. It will not
read 400K or 800K Mac floppies.
Q - The Windows versions of TransferPro allow me to view most types of
graphics files such as TIFF, GIF, etc. Why can I view the files only from a DOS
FAT or NTFS partition?
A - The mechanism that TransferPro uses to view graphics files requires that
the files reside on a partition which is directly accessible by the operating
system. If you want to view graphics files residing on a Macintosh disk, first
copy the file to a DOS FAT or NTFS partition, then view them using the
TransferPro image viewer.
Note: TransferPro for NT DEC Alpha does not include graphics viewers.
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Q - I have the Windows version of TransferPro, but I can not access Macintosh
formatted SyQuest, Bernoulli, Jaz, Zip, or CD’s.
A - The Windows and Windows 95 versions of TransferPro will access Macintosh
formatted media only on SCSI devices. It will not work with parallel versions of
the Zip, SyQuest, etc., because the DOS drivers used to access these drives are
not compatible with the way that TransferPro accesses these devices. In fact,
the software that comes with the parallel version of the Zip drive can actually
prevent the proper operation of any SCSI device from any program.
TransferPro uses the Windows SCSI ASPI drivers to access the SCSI drives. You
must have either an Adaptec or BusLogic brand of SCSI host adapter, because they
are the only vendors at this time which use the ASPI Windows drivers.
When accessing SCSI drives using the Windows ASPI manager, you will have new
drive letters assigned for Macintosh drives. Use the normal drive letter for
accessing DOS formatted media on these drives, and the new drive letter to
access Macintosh media on the same drives. The drive letters to use can be
determined by clicking the button labeled "SCSI" on the main
TransferPro panel (this button is labeled "Drive Info" on the Windows
95 version).
Note: The Windows NT versions of TransferPro do not have the restriction of
working only with SCSI drives. Any drive that has a software driver which
follows the Windows NT mini-port driver specifications will work with
TransferPro.
Also, we have had reports of problems between TransferPro and Iomega's Zip
drive SCSI adapter card. Although this is actually an Adaptec 1502 adapter, the
driver file used by this card seems to be incompatible with TransferPro's SCSI
calls. We therefore recommend that you use a more recent Adaptec card, such as a
1505/1515, 152x, 154x, or 2940 series. Most cards produced by BusLogic will also
work with TransferPro.
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Q - I have the Windows 95 version of TransferPro, and it will not start up.
When I double-click the icon, I get nothing but a Task Bar button. How can I fix
this?
A - Appendix A in the TransferPro User Manual describes this problem in
detail. Our most common technical support problem with Windows 95 is that 95
doesn't know the difference between SCSI and IDE devices. The result is that you
will have IDE drives, which cannot respond to SCSI commands, having these
commands sent to them. Windows 95 tells our software that there is a SCSI disk
located at a controller ID and SCSI ID, when in fact there is no such SCSI disk;
rather, it is an IDE device. Later commands issued to that ID cause the program
to hang.
You can fix this by adding a line to your tpro.ini file in the [System]
section which causes TransferPro to ignore the "phantom" SCSI devices
at a specific controller number and SCSI ID number.
If you have version 4.0 or later of the Adaptec EZ-SCSI software, the easiest
way to determine which drive is causing the problem is to run the EZ-SCSI
"SCSI Explorer" program. The "phantom" IDE hard drives will
respond to the SCSI Inquiry commands and will show up as SCSI drives in the SCSI
Explorer window. Add an entry in your tpro.ini file which ignores the discovered
phantom SCSI device. For example, if the phantom IDE drive is showing up on
controller 1 SCSI ID 0, add an entry in the tpro.ini file in the [System]
section as follows:
[System]
.
.
.
Ignore_SCSI=1:0
Once you have added an entry which ignores all of the phantom drives seen by
the EZ-SCSI Explorer, TransferPro should start up properly.
If you do not have version 4.0 of Adaptec’s SCSI Explorer, you can try the
"shotgun" approach and instruct TransferPro to ignore all controller
ID/SCSI ID pairs EXCEPT for the IDs where your valid SCSI devices are located,
and which you want to use with TransferPro. We have found thus far that all
problems can be solved by ignoring controllers 0-3. An entry in your tpro.ini
file which ignores ALL SCSI devices on the first four controllers (whether or
not they exist) looks like this:
[System]
.
.
.
Ignore_SCSI=0:0,0:1,0:2,0:3,0:4,0:5,0:6,1:0,1:1,1:2,1:3,1:4,1:5,1:6,2:0,2:1,2:2,2:3,2:4,2:5,2:6,3:0,3:1,3:2,3:3,3:4,3:5,3:6
DO NOT press enter until you have entered all of the items.
You will want to add this line to your tpro.ini file and then delete the numbers
for the real devices you have attached to your system. For example, if you have
a SyQuest drive at 0:4, the line will now look like this:
[System]
.
.
.
Ignore_SCSI=0:0,0:1,0:2,0:3,0:5,0:6,1:0,1:1,1:2,1:3,1:4,1:5,1:6,2:0,2:1,2:2,2:3,2:4,2:5,2:6,3:0,3:1,3:2,3:3,3:4,3:5,3:6
Note that 0:4 has been removed from the list.
Note: Your ini files are located in your Windows system directory (usually
called WIN95 for Windows 95).
Note: The Ignore_SCSI entry listed above will also work under Windows 3.x; on
either operating system, Ignore_SCSI simply tells TransferPro not to access the
device(s) listed.
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Q - I'm trying to format my floppy disk as Macintosh, but at the end of the
format process, I get an error message that indicates the presence of bad
sectors on my disk. Why is this, and can I avoid it?
A - There is a bug in TransferPro's floppy disk Low-Level Device Format code
that causes this. If you need to format a floppy disk as Macintosh, use only the
Macintosh High-Level Format, not the Low-Level device Format. Also, if you need
to destroy all data on the floppy, let Windows 95 format the disk first using
the full format; that is, without the Quick Format option selected. Then, mount
the floppy in TransferPro, and again perform a Macintosh High-Level Format.
This bug will be fixed in the next major release of TransferPro.
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Q - I'm trying to install TransferPro on my NT machine. When I double-click
the installer icon, however, I immediately get an error message that mentions
"Echdir- Cannot change to specified directory with -s option." What's
causing that, and how can I fix it?
A - This occurs when the directory you're installing TPro from is not in the
NT system path. To fix this, simply do one of the following:
- Put the install files into a directory that is in the
system path, such as C:\
- Add the current directory in the system path
Once one of these has been done, the installer will run properly.
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Q - I try to launch TransferPro for Windows NT, but instead of starting up I
get an error "Licensing directory should have an absolute path". What
is causing this and how can I fix it?
A - This is caused by a turkey in the licensing program where spaces in
machine names are not handled properly. If you are running a nodelock version of
TransferPro, simply open the file tpro_license/tpro_license.dat with
"Notepad" or another text editor and remove the spaces from your
machine's name in the file, then save the change. The machine name is only
important for floating licenses. If you have a floating license and your server
name has a space in the name, contact DIT for a new version of the software
which supports spaces in the server name.
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Q - I would like to prevent TransferPro from formatting certain drives. How
can I do this?
A - The procedure for this is not really outlined in the TransferPro for
Windows User Guide. It is, however, very similar to the procedure for ignoring
SCSI devices under Windows 3.x or 95.
In your Windows system directory (usually Winnt or Winnt35 under NT), there
is a file called tpro.ini. Open this file into Notepad. The very first item you
should see looks like this:
[System]
Down towards the end of this section, and before any other bracketed
headings, you should see an entry that looks like this:
NoFormat=c
If the entry doesn't exist, you can manually create it at the end of the [System]
section of the tpro.ini file. Simply type in the line as shown above.
TransferPro for Windows NT accesses devices differently from TransferPro for
Windows 3.x or 95 in that TPro NT directs inquiries to the drive letter, rather
than to the SCSI ID number. Therefore, the way that you prevent irreversible
damage to important files is somewhat different. When you add an entry to the
tpro.ini file for the Windows NT version, you must use the drive letter that
TransferPro creates for the device. This is convenient in that you do not need
to ignore scanners and the like, since NT doesn't create a drive letter for
them, and neither does TransferPro.
For instance, if you had two drives with FAT or NTFS formats, and another
with a Mac format, NT would create drive letters c and d for the main boot drive
and the second drive. TransferPro would then create e for the Mac-formatted
drive. If you wanted to ignore the two PC drives, the corresponding NoFormat
entry would look like this:
NoFormat=c,d
If you had another Mac drive, but didn't want TransferPro to format it for
some reason, you would first see what drive letter TransferPro would create for
it, and then add that drive letter to the tpro.ini file as outlined above. Note
that you will not actually ignore the device; that is, completely disallow
access from TransferPro. The NoFormat simply prevents TransferPro from
formatting the specified drive(s).
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