Direct Scan and newer lap top users

[SixOn66]

Is any one having trouble with Direct Scan and a newer laptop with XP on a NTFS partition? I created a Win98 boot CD with DS on it because my new laptop did not come with a floppy drive. I could run DS but could not save anything. Then I created a second FAT32 partition on my hard drive and put DS on that. I would boot with the CD and could save runs on the FAT Partition. If I forgot to change drive letters in DS it would appear to save the files but would not and would not give any error message.

OK now I just created a Boot USB Flash Drive. It boots lightning fast and has a call to DS in the autoexec.bat file to start the program automatically. With a 128MB flash drive you could save tons of runs on it. Then copy the files over later after you boot to XP.

Would anyone else be interested in a USB Boot Drive? I was thinking of buying some flash drives in bulk and programing them. The only thing is you would have to make sure that your laptops BIOS can boot from the USB port.

 

[Quiky One]

I'm sorry I'm computer illiterate, but could you please explain a little more? Do you still have to use an old windows 95 or 98 laptop or can you use XP?

Thanks Jason

 

[SixOn66]

It could be anything actualy. It really would not matter as long as the BIOS will boot to a USB drive. When it boots to the USB the USB drive will be your C drive and it will be running a version of DOS. That will allow you to access the parallel port that Direct Scan uses to comunicate with the ECM.

 

[Jbenn911]

Excellent Idea !! Certainly easier than the dual boot I made for my old one...Have to check and see if my new one will boost off USB...

:smile:

 

[SixOn66]

Excellent Idea !! Certainly easier than the dual boot I made for my old one...Have to check and see if my new one will boost off USB...

:smile:

You can try putting a USB drive in and hitting F12 at the windows splash screen to see if the drive is available. Other wise go into the BIOS and look under boot order.

 

[SixOn66]

Well I created a FreeDOS boot disk instead of a WIN98 boot disk for licensing purposes. Again if you don't have a fat32 partition you will not be able to save any runs for review after the laptop is turned off.

 

[Jbenn911]

New one will boot of USB...already partitioned half(20 gig) off and dual boot with Partition Magic, for future use....

 

[Quiky One]

lol...wow...you guys lost me right after the USB flash drive. I'll think I'll stick to an old laptop. Sounds like it would work. haha

Jason

 

[MoJoe]

What about PCCard instead of USB?

Would anyone else be interested in a USB Boot Drive? I was thinking of buying some flash drives in bulk and programing them. The only thing is you would have to make sure that your laptops BIOS can boot from the USB port.

My laptop does not support USB boot. How about PCCard/PCMCIA/Compact Flash with PCCard adpater?
-MoJoe

 

[PaCemkr86]

anything would be better then havin to use this laptop thats prolly as old as my car, and having to drive around with the power invertor hooked up cause i cant find batteries for this old laptop