With the new year, it's official-- I've been using a laptop for 20 years!
When Toshiba introduced the first J-3100 series computer (with a 10MB hard drive), I didn't care how much it cost... I had to have one. I'd spurned the first IBM laptop (junk), and the Wang laptop (compatibility issues), so my desire was ripe. And my intuition was right-- despite the $7,000 price tag, that laptop changed my life.
October 1987 a friend from Germany introduced me to XTree, a powerful disc maintenance program that allowed all kinds of DOS disc operations. Keep in mind that at the time, the normal process to copy a single file required an exact string "at the C prompt" that looked something like C:\>copy c:\whattheflip a:\*.* /-n
Yes, I've seen a few changes over the years.
But the other day I discovered that my former power-tool still lived! ZTree aced Windows in the same way XTree aced the DOS operating system. The new ZTree delighted me to the point I installed the trial version, but contacted Kim Henkel (khenkel@zedtek.com) and bought it within hours.
Impossible to detail everything ZTree does, but believe me, it's an amazing program-- and even more earth-shattering and necessary than it was 20 years ago. Like you, I hate it when Billy Freakin Gates tells me with goofy popup window, "Whoah little fellah! You can't do that!" ZTree allows me to blow right past normal Windows limitations of all kinds as if I were in control.
What a concept.
For example, in a classic case of "Where'd I put that??" today I had to locate an important file in which I'd written the word "SymbianOS." But I wasn't certain where I'd written it, or under what conditions. So I wasn't sure what to open. The obvious suspects were MSWord documents, Notepad, WordPerfect 5.1 text-based processing files, but I also could have made a note in Excel, my appointment calendar, any of my five databases, as an embedded note in a jpg photograph, or even in the 1980s program TornadoNotes (aka InfoSelect).
It would have taken me hours to open two dozen user programs, and then "search" specific directories for files. In short, I was screwed. But oh yeah! ZTree to the rescue!
In less than three minutes (that's 180 seconds, stupid MicroSloth), I "tagged" 500 to 800 files in two or three suspect directories, and with one command search-examined every file irrespective of formatting, for any occurence of 'Symb' --and found exactly one. The one I sought by three minutes of complete control.
Most Windows sheep cringe when they hear the "ding" and see the little Windows "ERROR!" popup message. Mr. Gates has them cowed. But for those of us with an endlessly enquiring mind, who know something CAN be done, ZTree is not just another new shiny chrome wrench in your toolbox. It's puts a very godlike power in your hand.
Check out ZTree in a sample download at http://www.ztree.com/
My tip is to pay attention to the menu screen at the bottom. Note that the menu selections change when pushing CTRL or ALT. The power of this program might take you a while to master, but keep at it.
Trust me: After 20 years of using it, I can verify that it's worth every moment of your time.
And if you start using it today, by the year 2027 your blog will squeal about it, too.
Cheers!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
funny entry :-) That's a long time to be using a laptop! wow...but in deed, your life has been more organized! It's nice that I can just ask you for a story, or a picture and you can pull it right up.
Love you,
Monika
Post a Comment