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Q. Where can I find a WPDOS 5.1 printer driver for my new
printer?
A. See the WPDOS 5.1 printer driver page, and
read the frequently-asked questions near the top of the page.
Q. Where can I find a WPDOS 6.0, 6.1, or 6.2 printer driver for my new
printer?
A. See the WPDOS 6.x printer driver page, and
read the frequently-asked questions near the top of the page.
Q. I can't get WPDOS to work correctly under Windows XP.
Can you help?
A. See this site's Windows XP
compatibility page, and be prepared to spend an hour or more in studying its
recommendations.
Q. I can't get WPDOS to work correctly under Windows Vista.
Can you help?
A. See this site's Windows
Vista page, and be prepared to spend an hour or more in studying its
recommendations.
Q. I can't get WPDOS to work correctly under Windows 7.
Can you help?
A. See this site's Windows
7 page, and be prepared to spend an hour or more in studying its
recommendations.
Q. I have a problem running WPDOS that this page
doesn't help me to solve.
A.
Please see the troubleshooting guide
on another page.
Q. How do I send you feedback about this site?
A. By visiting the
feedback page.
Q. Your pages about printer drivers explain that some new printers
print smoothly from WordPerfect with one of your printer drivers, but that other
printers can only print from WordPerfect if I do some
fancy setup that requires more steps than I can even count. Can't you just
send me a driver that will let me print without reading and doing all that stuff?
A. No. If you want to avoid the complicated, fancy setup, take your
printer back to the shop and buy a printer that works with one of my drivers.
(But keep in mind that if you have Windows 2000, XP, Vista, or Windows 7, you can use this site's
automated installation which performs that complicated,
fancy setup for you.)
Q. I am a medical transcriptionist (or court reporter) and I
need help setting up my abbreviation-expander to use with WPDOS under
Windows.
A. Please see the medical transcriptionists'
survival guide on this site. I have written that page with the help of many
other medical transcriptionists and court reporters, and I hope it will provide
the answers that you need. Please feel free to write to me again if you find any
errors or omissions on that page, or if you need any further assistance setting
up WordPerfect for DOS for use by a medical transcriptionist or court reporter.
Q. I have an old version of WordPerfect. Is there an
updater that will give me a new version? Even better, could you simply
send me a copy of WordPerfect for DOS, either by e-mail, or on a CD?
A. To obtain a copy of WordPerfect with a newer version
number than the one you already have, you must buy a copy of the newer version.
No
updater programs exist for updating 5.0 to 5.1 or 5.1+ or for updating 6.0 to 6.1 or
6.1 to 6.2. In other
words, if you have a copy of 5.0 or 5.1,and you want 5.1 or 5.1+, you
must buy a copy of 5.1 or 5.1+. If you have a copy of 6.0, and you want
6.1 or 6.2, you must buy a copy of 6.1 or 6.2. See
this link for further information on obtaining WordPerfect for DOS.
Q. What is your opinion of the WPDOS 5.1 compatibility mode
included in recent versions of WordPerfect for Windows?
A. I think it is pointless and worthless, because it uses the
WPDOS keystrokes inconsistently; after you press a function key (or Alt-, Ctrl-,
or Shift-function key), the program does not open a WPDOS-style menu, but
instead opens the standard WordPerfect for Windows
dialog box that performs the function that you want to perform (footnote, font, format,
etc.). Other people seem to like it. If you want to know
more about it, download the WordPerfect for Windows Trial Edition from the
downloads page on Corel's web
site and try it yourself.
Q. Why don't you recommend the
DOSBox emulation software as a platform for running WPDOS?
I am absolutely certain that DOSBox is a far better solution than anything else you
describe on your site, even though I've never actually used WPDOS under
DOSBox
and have absolutely no experience with this wonderful and perfect solution (or:
even though I've never used DOSBox at all, but I think I remember reading good
things about it). Why are you so stubborn, withholding, and
unhelpful?
A. Please see my answer to this
question elsewhere on this site.
Q. I have a truly great idea about a way to run
WordPerfect on my cell phone (or: on my cable TV, iPod, PlayStation, microwave
oven, or other non-Windows
hardware or software). I know my idea is wonderful, but I won't test it myself
because but I'm a "big-picture" kind of guy, and I don't want to waste my
valuable time working out all the details. Your time obviously isn't worth as
much as mine, so will you please figure out how to put my idea into practice,
test it extensively, and then post all the details on your site?
A. No.
Q. In the
WPDOS forum at wpuniverse.com you posted a link to some instructions on
this site. You said that those instructions would solve the problem that I
have been having on my new computer with WordPerfect. Without even trying
those instructions, I just know they won't work. Give me different
advice instead, and make sure to send it to me as soon as possible.
A. If you already know that my advice will not work, before you have
even tried it, then you clearly know more about WordPerfect than I do, and I can
do nothing more to help.
Q. In the
WPDOS forum at wpuniverse.com you
posted a link to some instructions on this site. Your instructions are clear,
safe, complete, and so idiot-proof that even I will be able to follow them. But
I want people to pay a lot of attention to me, so could you please write again
and tell me whether you really think I should follow those
instructions. And, then, after you tell me that you really think I
should follow those instructions, I'll write to you again to ask whether you
really, really, think I should follow those instructions. Thank you, and
have a nice day.
A. Please follow the
instructions.
Q. In the
WPDOS forum at wpuniverse.com you offered a solution to a problem that I
have been having with WordPerfect, but I simply don't like your solution. It involves more
steps than I want to take and requires more time than I want to spend.
Please give me a simpler solution instead.
A. The solution that I offered is the
only way to solve
the problem without causing other problems. If you don't want to solve the problem,
or if you prefer to create additional problems in addition to the one you are
asking about,
then don't use my solution.
Q. I'm a lot smarter than most people who visit your site, so I
was able to figure out that your instructions imply that I should
perform certain steps that you never explicitly mention. Anyway, I
performed those steps that you clearly implied but never explicitly
stated, and now my WordPerfect setup won't work at all. This is all your
fault! Why did you imply that I should do those things that caused so
much damage? How dare you imply such dangerous things?
A.
You, and you alone, caused the damage, because you insisted on performing steps
that I never told you to perform. My instructions don't imply anything.
They tell you exactly what you need to do - no more, no less. Next time, please
follow the instructions exactly.
Q. Some of your instructions are simple, straightforward,
and really, um, boring. They're, like, linear. Those linear kinds of thing,
like, don't fit my clever, like, holistic personality, so I did
something complicated and, um, like, original instead. Now nothing works. I
can't, like, remember exactly which clever things I did, but I'm sure you can,
like, help
me sort it all out.
A. Please go back and follow the instructions, no matter how
boring and linear they may appear.
Q. I am so charming and lovable that all my friends
and acquaintances are delighted to spend hours doing favors for me! When can you start
giving me advice on how to buy a new computer and install WordPerfect on it?
A. Whenever you like! You sound like a splendidly
appealing person! All you need to do is pay my extremely high fee for
private consulting work! As soon as I receive my enormous retainer from you,
plus my enormous hourly fee (paid in advance) for the first few hours of work,
I will be delighted to start helping you! I don't charge any more than a high-powered
corporate lawyer would charge you for equally valuable legal advice!
Q. [Extracts from an authentic e-mail message,
received from Ann P. on 26 November 2002.] Aren't you a dear for having
this site, but you are faced with a rank amateur ... We are trying to transfer hundreds of files into
[a new] computer. Is there a way to do this? And can you tell
me how in ... normal English?
A. Aren't you a dear for asking me to
provide a private consultation for no charge?
Q. [This is an authentic e-mail message, received from
Simon M. on 1 November 2005,
reproduced exactly as received.] Can you please make it easier to navigate trough your
sitemap. See it took me at LEAST 2 hours to find out that you were talking about
an program word perfect (wich i'm now downloading). can you please send the
program and a how to text to this e-mail. please. my best regards.
A. No.
Some problems with WordPerfect for DOS seem to have either (1) no known solution or (2) no solution that I know about, although someone else may have an answer. These problems include:
Please do not ask me for help with these problems. You may perhaps be able to find help with such problems on the WPDOS forum at WP Universe (free registration required before posting).
If I ask you to "print to a file" and send me the "printfile," here is how to do it.
In WPDOS 5.1, use Shift-F7/Select/Edit/Port/Other and enter a filename (with the full path, as in c:\temp\output.prn or whatever filename you want). (Help! What does a "full path" mean?) Then "print" as you normally do, and the output will be sent to the filename that you specified; then use the same series of menus to change the Port setting back to what it was originally (probably LPT1).
In WPDOS 6.x, use Shift-F7/Select/Edit/Port/Filename and enter a filename (with the full path, as in c:\temp\output.prn or whatever filename you want). (Help! What does a "full path" mean?) Then "print" as you normally do, and the output will be sent to the filename that you specified; then use the same series of menus to change the Port setting back to what it was originally (probably LPT1).
To print to a file in Windows applications, check the "Print to file" box in the Windows Print dialog; select a filename and a location where you can find the file after it is created.