Path: utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!scs!spl1!laidbak!att!pacbell!ames!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!ut-sally!utastro!werner From: werner@utastro.UUCP (Werner Uhrig) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: MacZap's about as useful as a crashed hard disk Message-ID: <2734@utastro.UUCP> Date: 3 Jun 88 11:41:02 GMT Article-I.D.: utastro.2734 References: <107@mace.cc.purdue.edu> Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX Lines: 125 Summary: "Learning Resource Center"? is there any "learning" going on there? or do you feed "instant wisdom" there ..... I can't help myself, but this is the dummest piece of product bashing I've seen in a long time. Apple really has done a disservice to some people, making them expect that "anything is easy and user-friendly" on a MAC. why do you think that noone else has even attempted to come out with a competing product to MacZAP? Why haven't I seen anything even remotely like it on other machines? This program is a bargain at the price (there are years of work in that program) - too bad Les is only an excellent hacker and not also a good faith-healer..... why don't you flame Apple for not providing you with better recovery utilities - or, just maybe, at least a few extra pages in their "revolutionary" thin manual which helps the "naive" user in the hour of need and data-loss sure to come. > The documentation is absolutely horrid well, yes, I have seen better; but I've seen Les learn and work with Apple's "Inside Macintosh" for many years now. something must have rubbed off, I guess, and it wasn't very "user-friendly". > and the MacZap utilities are not only incredibly un-user friendly now, now; have you ever before worked on the low machine-level that disk-repairs unavoidably have to take you ...??!! > but they actually bomb right and left! it's not the authors fault that outfits like MacConnection sell you a version that has long since been upgraded; even though, I do not remember ZAP programs "bombing left and right" (or vice-versa) in version 5.0...... > After at least 3 hours of coercing the software > I had absolutely no success with the floppy and I was only able > to salvage ONE file (a MacWrite file) off the hard disk. that may reflect on you as well as on the difficulty of the problem. often, setting just one switch or data value different can make all the difference; soemtimes a situation is hopeless. > I seriously think that the software saved that one file for me by accident! "in spite of you" may be more like it .... > This is not the kind of behavior I'd expect from a product labeled > "version 5.0"! you must be one of those silly ninkompoops that plays lot of games. let's see now... there was the original 128k Mac with Finder 1.0 and 1.1g, then we got HFS, 512K, new ROMs, Mac+, SE, Mac2, Systems 3.0 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, SCSI ....not to forget 400k and 800k floppies, hard disks of 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 65, 80, 90, .... MBytes, networked machines, file-servers, ...... what kind of version-numbering system would take care of this in only 5 versions? > I've given up. The hard disk backups are four days old, so I won't lose > too many files. Now I wish that MacConnection had a money-back guarantee, > so that I could recommend returning the entire MacZap package ... :-( I see, you showed off being a "recovery expert" and when you could not recover once the program arrived, you blame the program... right! I wonder what "knowledge" you had to recommend to someone to go out and buy ZAP? did you actually "see" someone using it before, or did you just "know" of someone that has used it before..... I have bad news for you in both cases: what you, probably, didn't realize is that, every time, there was a hapless disk-owner standing next to the recovery-whizard PRAYING INTENSELY!! Next time, you may want to recommend "intense praying" as a recovery technique ..:-| > Finder (booted from floppy) now wants to > initialize the whole "damaged" hard disk. Any suggestions? Tell me quick, > 'cause the hard disk's about to be re-initialized! normally, I go out of my way and (practically) drop everything and try to come to the assistance of a fellow-netter. but in this case I think I'll let you "rot in the sun, a little" ... -------------------------------------------------------------- so, what's really the problem? well, years ago I recommended to Les that he write a little game called MacMASH, a detective game where the player is presented with fictitious Macintosh defects which he has to repair to be able to free the bewitched princess (or regain access to his little black electronic address-book which contains the number of his Swiss bank-account) Thus, users could buy and play the game, and, when disaster really strikes, they could simply call MicroAnalyst, and for a few dollars more, Les could then give them the magic password that would turn the game into a repair program - the user would already have acquired the experience of how to "play the game" ....and would not have to wait for 5 days or pay for UPS-RED shipping .... or get frustrated when not being able to "magically" acquire the insights needed to deal with a complicated problem. You think I am kidding? You don't know me ... reminds me of that "expensive" upgrade on some IBM-mainframes in the early seventies. You'd fork over megabacks, an IBM tech would come visit the installation and throw a switch - presto!! Seriously now, when lightning strikes and puts your Mac on the blink, you don't mail-order a tool-kit and manuals for colour-TV repair. you should have similar respect for software-procedures!! If nothing else, don't judge the quality of the tools by the results of your first repair-experiment. And if you don't have what it takes to "learn" before "needing to know" (foresight, time and/or ....) don't be surprised when waving the shrink-wrapped package at the problem doesn't produce the desired result. So THERE - I needed that! ---Werner Disclaimer: I speak as a "deliriously happy" user of MacZAP and customer of MicroAnalyst Inc, which is an outfit with capable and friendly people, which I have learnt to appreciate. PS: > Now I wish that MacConnection had a money-back guarantee, > so that I could recommend returning the entire MacZap package ... :-( why don't you offer to sell it for what you seem to think that it is worth to you and you may be surprised.....