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Why does Windows 95 say I have two hard disk drives and what will happen to the data I've stored on the second drive if I need to run the recovery process?

I use an independent telephone service provider and I'm having problems dialing out using my modem.

The answer phone application always records a 3 minute message, even if the call only lasts a few seconds. Why?

Running the Recovery CD on machines with two (logical) drives

Question
Why does Windows 95 say I have two hard disk drives and what will happen to the data I've stored on the second drive if I need to run the recovery process?

Answer
Due to physical limitations with DOS/Windows 95 and large drives, your Apricot MS computer may have its large capacity hard drive partitioned into two logical drives. This means that Windows 95 thinks your computer has two drives, C: and D: (as shown in the picture below).

If a situation arises that you have to run the Recovery pack, be advised that the current version of the Recovery pack floppy disk will format both drives C: and D:, so any data stored on either drive will be lost if not backed up. See the section "Backup & Restore my computer", to find out how to backup your data.

We are working on a version of the Recovery pack floppy disk that will give you the option of not formating drive D:, and will put the update in this area when we have it. Please check back often.

Answer Phone Modem Driver Problems on MS Systems (MM and MF)

Question
The answer phone application always records a 3 minute message, even if the call only lasts a few seconds. Why?

Answer
Two problems have been discovered with the driver software for the Dataflex Voice Surfer modem which is supplied with some Apricot MS series PCs. The problems are exhibited when using the Answer Phone application within Apricot Message Centre and applies to models MMxxxxx-x and MFxxxxx-x.

In order to detect when a call has finished, the modem "listens" for a continuous tone which is normally generated by the telephone exchange when the caller hangs up the phone. Some new telephone exchanges no longer produce this tone and instead, for a short period, play a recorded message saying "The other person has cleared", followed by silence.

The modem is unable to detect this as the close of a call and continues to keep the line active. Eventually, the Apricot Message Centre will reach its predefined message limit of 3 minutes and force the call to close.

A new modem driver is now available which, as well as "listening" for the continuous tone will also detect 5 seconds of silence as a trigger to close the call. Details of how to obtain this new driver may be found at the end of this article.

If a call is interrupted or the caller hangs up while the answer phone greeting message is being played, the modem will not detect that the line has been cleared. In addition, unlike the earlier problem, as the Apricot Message Centre has not started to record, it will not reach its predefined message limit or 3 minutes. The call is therefore never closed and the telephone line will remain engaged to all subsequent calls until the computer is reset. The same modem driver as mentioned earlier addresses this issue and correctly detects when a call has been terminated prior to recording a voice message.

How do I know if I have a Voice Surfer Modem in My PC?

The easiest way to check for this is to look for its driver on your hard disk drive. Here is a simple procedure to follow:-

1. From the Start button select "Find" and the "Files or Folders..."
2. Enter "VPCTCOM.386" in the "Named:" field
3. Set the "Look in:" field to be "Windows 95 (C:)

Click on the "Find Now" button.

If the file finder reports that the driver is present on your computer, as shown below, then, depending upon its version, it may need replacing.

How do I know if the driver on my computer needs to be changed?

After using the method outline above to confirm the presence of the driver, the easiest way to check if it needs to be changed is to look at the file size. The driver that was originally supplied on MS540 (MMxxxxx-x and MFxxxxx-x) computers had a size, reported by the Windows 95 file finder, of 249KB (see the previous diagram). This driver should be upgraded.

The new driver will be reported by Windows 95 file finder as having a size of 264KB. This driver does not require upgrading.

How do I upgrade my modem driver?

We have produced an upgrade which may be downloaded to your computer. By following some simple instructions you will be able to create a boot floppy disk which will perform the upgrade for you.

Follow these steps to download the disk:-

1. Click on the icon below (VSUPDATE.EXE).
2. A message box will appear prompting you to "Open it" or "Save it to Disk".
3. Select "Save to disk" and click on OK
4. Save the file into the WINDOWS directory.
5. Place a blank floppy disk into drive A:
6. Click on the Start button then click on Run.
7. Type in VSUPDATE A: and press RETURN.

VSUPDATE.EXE (438,966 bytes).

This will create a boot floppy disk. Label it as:-

Dataflex Voice Surfer
Modem Driver Update Disk

Version 1.1

Insert the disk into the floppy drive, restart your computer and follow the on screen instructions.

Your Computer and non BT Private Exchanges (e.g. Mercury)

Question
I use an independent telephone service provider and I'm having problems dialing out using my modem, why?

Answer
If you have a non BT private exchange telephone line, you may experience problems using the fax function of your computer. This is due to the private exchange requiring a pause between dialing the number to get a private exchange dial tone and the actual number you are dialing.

To overcome this, when using your computer to dial out, you need to tell your computer to pause between dialing. To do this, you will need to add a number of commas (,) in the dialing properties of the modem.

Note: The @ symbol needs to be replaced by the number you have to dial to get the private exchange dial tone.

The number of commas required depends on the length of time it takes to get the private exchange dial tone. Each comma represents a pause of about half a second. Knowing how many commas are required is mainly trial and error but start off with five and increase if necessary.

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