Don’t link to Windows ATM fonts
The tip about sharing a single collection of fonts between Windows and BeOS is great, unless you’re using Adobe Type Manager 4 Deluxe in Windows. This software creates shortcuts in the C:windowsfonts...
View ArticleRun ScanDisk before installing
[Editor’s note: Scott Brawner’s experience here is extremely rare — I’ve only ever heard of two instances of this happening. In additon, note that the problems encountered are a result of some...
View ArticleCommand-line queries include the Trash
If you run BeOS queries from the command line, be aware that they will include the Trash. The GUI query applet does not do this unless you specifically tell it to, but it can be a problem from the...
View ArticleScreenSaver security issues
Some operating systems disable the CTRL-ALT-DEL sequence when a password protected screen saver is in use. Using CTRL-ALT-DEL twice on a BeOS password protected screen saver will reboot the system....
View ArticleDon’t lose attributes when moving files from Terminal
As of release 3.2, if you use the mv command to move a file or batch of files from one directory to another, everything works hunky dory. But if you move those files to another partition on your...
View ArticleDon’t taunt the “domain” setting
The Network preferences panel includes two little text boxes marked “Host name” and “Domain name.” The host name box lets you give your machine a friendly name so your box can be accessed by others on...
View ArticleDon’t hit Alt+PrntScrn
Update: In BeOS 5, Alt+PrintScrn no longer drops you into the debugger, so this tip isn’t much of a warning anymore. If you do want to drop into the debugger, hit Alt+PrntScrn+D. If you’re coming from...
View ArticleDelete unused swap space
If you have multiple BFS volumes on your system, and if you’ve changed your primary boot volume at some point, you probably have a giant swap file hanging out on the old boot volume(s) that’s no longer...
View ArticleDon’t remove /boot/home
Even though the contents of /boot/home are yours and aren’t touched by BeOS during installation, it’s important that you don’t remove this folder entirely. For instance, if you have BeOS installed on...
View ArticleIndex each volume
If you’re creating new indices to enable searching on additional or custom attributes and you have more than one BFS volume on your system, remember that you must create the index on the volume on...
View ArticleUse string attributes, not ASCII
If you’re creating custom filetypes and and want to be able to edit their attributes in the Tracker, be sure to establish them with a datatype of “String.” Don’t be tempted to use the “ASCII” datatype....
View ArticleDon’t overwrite existing folders
Windows and BeOS have very different behaviors when copying a folder to a location that already contains a folder of the same name. Both systems will offer a “Replace?” dialog, but saying yes to this...
View ArticleBinary overwrite protection
In BeOS 5, Be makes it much more difficult to accidentally delete important system files from the Tracker. Try deleting anything under the /boot/beos hierarchy and you’ll get a warning dialog requiring...
View ArticleKeep background images on boot drive
If you typically store your image collection on a disk volume other than /boot, and then try to use one of those images for your Desktop background, you’ll find that the image is no longer your...
View ArticleDon’t use EZBios
If you have a motherboard running an older BIOS and a Western Digital hard drive, you probably have the WD EZBios utility running to enable use of large hard drives. The presence of EZBios will make it...
View ArticleDon’t bother with WinModems
Update: BeOS 5 now supports some software modems, specifically those based on the PCTel and Lucent softmodem chipsets. You should be able to get these working without difficulty. Other softmodems...
View ArticleMake sure drives are seen by BIOS
If you purchase one of those gargantuan new IDE drives but have an older BIOS, you may find that the BIOS does not see the drive. But BeOS only needs BIOS support for boot drives, not storage drives....
View ArticleBFS partitions and FAT slowdown
Planning on making a BFS partition or larger image file for BeOS to reside on? Or perhaps you’ve already made one, and now have a new, intermittent problem, which makes your computer’s FAT file system...
View ArticleWON passwords aren’t secure
If you’re security-minded, note that WON passwords are stored in /boot/home/config/settings/da_hood_pwd in plain text. Anybody with access to your machine who knows where to look will be able to read...
View ArticleStoring BeOS files on other file systems
As you know, attributes associated with files are very important to many BeOS applications and functions. Without attributes, your e-mail messages have no subject or sender, your bookmarks have nothing...
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