Installation
1. Where should I put WS_PART1.EXE and WS_PART2.EXE and why?
When you download WordSmith over the Internet your browser will offer you a chance to store WS_PART1.EXE and WS_PART2.EXE wherever you like. I recommend you to put them in a clean directory where there are no other files. The reason is that it will later be very easy to delete the lot to recuperate your valuable hard disk space, with no risk of deleting other files. A suitable place is c:\temp. Use this as a kind of rubbish bin where you keep files which you can later delete without worrying about whether they're important. If c:\temp does not yet exist, I suggest you "Create Directory" (File Manager in Windows 3.1), or "New Folder" (Explorer in Windows 95) now: it'll be useful for lots of purposes.
2. What are WS_PART1.EXE and WS_PART2.EXE and what are they for?
There are about 30 component files in WordSmith Tools, and these in their normal state after the installation process is finished take up about 4 megabytes of disk space. To speed up electronic transmission and reduce risk of files getting missed out, we have put them all into 2 compressed files, WS_PART1.EXE and WS_PART2.EXE, which total about 2 megabytes in size and either of which will fit on one floppy. You simply run these two files and they unpack themselves, creating all the 30-odd component files within them on your hard disk, usually into the same directory that WS_PART1.EXE and WS_PART2.EXE are in at the time. You will have used up about 6 MB of disk space. After installation, once you've checked everything is working properly, you will want to delete all the files in c:\temp to get this space back.
3. Should I keep WS_PART1.EXE and WS_PART2.EXE?
You don't need to keep them unless you really want to, as you can always download a fresh copy, which will usually have improvements, from the website which is visible in WordSmith and specified in the readme.txt file which comes with it.
4. What is SETUP.EXE for? I seem to have loads of SETUP.EXE files all over the place!
You do. Nearly all software comes with an accompanying file called setup.exe or install.exe. These sub-programs manage the installation for you so that the main program you've bought will work smoothly, and will for example create any necessary sub-directories, visible icons and program groups. In many cases running setup.exe will copy files into various parts of your hard disk, often without you being told about changes made to your whole system! In the case of WordSmith Tools, there is a setup.exe program which you should use to manage the installation. It will copy the relevant files to a suitable directory on your hard disk. I suggest c:\wsmith but you can easily set it to a different directory. WordSmith Tools' setup.exe does NOT alter your basic system settings or copy any extra files into hidden places at all.
5. So what should I do now?
After you've downloaded WS_PART1.EXE and WS_PART2.EXE, extracted the component files, and run the setup.exe which WS_PART1.EXE and WS_PART2.EXE will have extracted with the other files, you will have a complete installed copy of WordSmith in the right directory of your hard disk. Now you should run WordSmith itself, in the \wsmith directory. The main controller is called WSHELL.EXE and that's what you should run. If you created an icon, it should automatically run wshell.exe. When you run it, your version will not yet be a full one (you haven't yet given it your name or registration code, so it will "complain" that it's in demo mode and will suggest you Update from Demo.
6. Why don't you just use disks? It'd be a lot easier than all this hassle!
Would it? You would have to wait for the disks to arrive, for a start. Bookshops don't like handling software and cannot give good support, and even big software shops don't stock much specialised software like WordSmith Tools. Customers outside the UK (that is MOST users of WordSmith judging by the feedback I get) might have to wait a long time, depending on 2 postal systems and customs formalities. The cost of WordSmith would be higher. It wouldn't fit onto one floppy; not everybody has a cd-rom drive available. And how would we make the frequent updates available to you? I make an updated version at least twice a month. The Internet is a great way of distributing software, actually; it's not so good for distributing hardware consumer goods like tv sets but is designed for distributing information which is what software is.
7. I have the Oxford University Press registration code; how do I update?
There's a menu item visible in WordSmith Tools, called Update from Demo. This will run UPDATER.EXE which, as its name suggests, allows you to type in your name and registration code, converting WordSmith from demo into full operational use. Make sure you type everything in exactly as specified by OUP. If it's right, you will be told so after you've clicked on OK. And you will no longer see the menu option to update or get bothered by demo mode messages.
8. What if the registration name is wrong?
If OUP have mis-spelled your name (they do try ever so hard not to!) you should register with the mis-spelt name anyway. WordSmith Tools should work okay with the name and code as supplied to you. Then, with a working copy of WordSmith, get back to OUP and ask for a new registration code. Make sure you give them the correct name legibly!
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