to be more clear the display screen options were 1 IBM color display adaptor-IBM 100% compatables 2 AT&T 6300 3 IBM pc-3270 with all ports addressable graphics 4 hercules monochrome graphics card 5 compaq 6 IBM portables 7 tandy-2000 8 IBM monocrome 9 IBM ega with standard rgb monitor 10 IBM ega with enhanced monitor 11 IBM ega monochrome 99 other/none the dvr list is similar ie hercules,tandy referances which is why I guessed drivers and also dvr not sure why error refers to no space to copy instead of from A: to C: it was a string of code where C: would be if it is the disks I am done if it is the machine what do I need to find.. thanks you have been very helpfull, it is appreciated

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Well, if 'IBM color display' doesn't work, then I would try EGA rgb or 'enhanced' (16 colours) or else see if there is an option for PGA or MCGA (more or less VGA, 256 colours) Hercules & Tandy were types of monitors, which used a very different signal than do modern VGA/SVGA units - not so much software, as hardware - ie: the actual graphics card It's hard to say exactly what is causing the error - the software may have been written to accommodate an older version of DOS, which may have treated certain operations a little differently than later versions. If the installation is run from a BAT file, possibly it requires editing (work from copies though) - some of those older installations 'expected' a certain drive arrangement or directory structure - it's hard to be more specific We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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Oh,,,post was in while I was typeing..yes it is 80's software and the disks are very old..they cost like 700 bucks new..I think innovative software had a dos office with a unix spreadsheet or something and was taken over by a mainframe database company which basically ended smart office with politics not unlike novell did around the same time.. as you say the error may be due to damage caused by age..I used some of the free space on the tutorial disk to save a text file and opened it..so I can write to it and open the file..maby I have very old expensive blank floppys to save text files to..not much finding an old machine unless it has software again thanks for the response

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happened again..sorry..yes enhanced 16 color may be worth it the headland card did 16 maby less..did not register 256 under win95 which is why I was useing it..thanks for the herc and tandy were monitors.. can try some other versions of dos but very old versions like pcdos3 may not work on the box? and vga monitor may not work? directory structure sounds interesting..the error was no space to copy..it listed the file from A:IBMSCNBW.DVR to @#$%$%^^&&&*&^%@.dvr error anyway no way to really know if the file is damaged except to try copy to the hd on the other machine...if some do and some do not then although scandisk found no error the files that do not copy may be damaged.. there is no way to proceed with the install there is no batch file exactly..there is an install exe and a smart exe...a smart.msg and three others related to the word processor and the printer will play a little more..did not think I would get this far..thanks

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Yes, it does sound like there is a file error - scandisk will repair logical errors on a disk, but sometimes data is lost or corrupted and that may well be the case here Interestingly, the product seems to have survived & evolved We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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yes I am giving in to the idea...thought fat16 may be considered but am at a loss...the error looks to me like corrupt files...was able to copy all files but two which are on the tutorial and database disks.. all is not lost in that I now have some free 5 1/4 floppys for the drives and learned a bit yes seen the newer..think there are a couple of pages...will have a closer look out of curiosity. thanks so much for the response it is much appreciated and I will bookmark the site for the next project.

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Please bear in mind that when using scandisk, chkdisk and diskcopy, erors may be reported that are nothing to worry about, as they are on an unused part of the disc, rather than a file. When copying it would be best to use copy (or xcopy? if directories are present). I would try to read the floppys on various machines as a slower speed of access can sometimes read a suspect file. Also if you have a monitor card, sometimes the software that comes with it, allows you to to emulate old monitors. Good Luck - Keep us posted.

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If the file is corrupt - and it certainly appears that way - it won't matter one metric hoot what you try to copy it with. This particular error occurs during the installation process (or are you reading from a different post?) We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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Jboy - I am sure you are correct when a file is truly corrupt. However a read error, does not necessaritly mean the data itself is corrupt, and can be overcome if one is lucky. e.g. I have cleaned floppies before and then been able to access the data without failure. Also, as advised above, certain copy procedures report on failures on the complete disc, rather than just the data. One is then misled into thinking the data itself is no good. Regards - Mike Good Luck - Keep us posted.

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Jboy's advise regarding write protect stickers is sound and should be taken. You stated CHKDSK advised disks were good, yet failed when attemting to install using drive B: Have you consider tryingf to install using drive A:, as there may be a quirk in the install procedure cuaing the problem. Good Luck - Keep us posted.

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Thanks for the added response. .with regard to drive b:..I removed the drive and put in another box as A: and found another 5 1/4 drive and tried also as A:. .the error occures regardless what options I choose prior to the install asking for the communication disk.. I tried other disks and was prompted that it was the wrong disk....it does start to copy files...it lists the FROM A: correctly but the TO C:(FILE.dvr) is a string of code and the error is something like no room to copy then after three of these read error. I also noticed that sometimes it added a question from the first disk. ie..from a:(file.dvr) to #$%&*^%.dvrinstall to hd Y/N there are a list of y/n questions on the system disk.. one is do you want to install to hd Y/n.. at the end it ask for the communication disk..and begins to copy files ..one may guess based on the answers to the questions this is not consistant(at least not during a few original attempts) but suggests that the sys disk although it appears repaired and runs the setup... is maby left in ram and combineing with the second disk? or maby the first disk is repaired but not correctly.. thus file corruption... Oh..occurs to me that I had the pcdos boot disks only.could not find others in the box..copy was that..maby I needed additional dos files on hd?. I do not have the machine on to post exact errors as I had stored it for later. My guess is still corruption..but may give another try....many thanks

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Dear Beany - please bear in mind that software is often not forward compatible. Sometimes it will not run at all, other times it will start but then fail. There are various reasions for this. e.g. too much memery and/or a large hdd and/or hdd *NOT* formatted to fat16. The object here is to get up and running. Once this has been achieved, then one can move to one of todays pc's and os. I would try installing an old pc such as a 486 first. Good Luck - Keep us posted. Thusa a

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