Re: [PROTEL EDA USERS]: help with design rule edit hang

[John Williams <john.williams@alumni.stanford.org>]

Michael Reagan wrote:

> ...Not sure what I want my slower NT system back or just put up with my
> 98 crashes until the next Protel product come out  then change OS again.
> Recommendation to anyone.... stop using 98   and install either NT or 2000.
> Your will be happier with your life and your software.

I would guess that their may be several reasons why Protel users might be hesitant to
install Windows 2000 (or NT) to replace their current Windows 98 OS.

1.  Cost of purchasing the new OS.

The price of Windows NT or 2000 is less than 5% of the current price of Protel itself.


2.  Compatability worries (other software or hardware that is incompatable with Windows
NT/2000).

Be aware that you can install Windows NT or 2000 in addition to and not instead of
Window98.  This is called dual boot mode.  It is an option when installing the new OS.
Everything associated with your WIndows 98 system remains intact.  The new OS is added in
a separate folder (you do not need a separate disk partition) and you are given the choice
of which OS to run each time you start up your computer.
For maximum compatability, I would recommend Windows 2000 since it is really Windows NT
(version 5) with many of the features of Windows 98 added to it (eg. USB support).  The
only reason for using Windows NT 4.0 is if you have hardware which does not yet have
adequate drivers for Windows 2000 or if you have some application that is known to have
problems underWindows 2000.

3.  Time and hassle to install and get working.

Installing the new OS in dual boot mode takes about an hour or so.  You do need to do an
additional fresh install of each application that you intend to run under the new OS.
Installing Protel itself only takes a few minutes.  You might spend a couple of hours to
get everything going if you have a lot of applications.  If something goes wrong, you can
always just go back to your still  intact Windows 98 installation (of course, there is
always the off chance that something goes terribly wrong -- be sure to back up any
critical files on separate media).
Only the applications themselves need to be separately installed for Windows NT/2000.
Assuming that you have your documents (eg. Protel design files) on a mutually compatable
disk partition (eg. FAT or FAT32 and not NTFS), they can be freely shared between Windows
98 and Windows NT/2000.

John Williams