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Frequently-Asked Questions


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Frequently-asked questions

Q. I bought a new Windows 10 (or Windows 8 or 7) computer and WPDOS won't run at all. What can I do?
    A. Go to this page and find the solution. Be prepared to read the page very carefully! (And look at another page for an alternate solution.)

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 32-bit 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 can't get WPDOS to work correctly under 32-bit Windows 10. Can you help?
    A. See this site's Windows 10 page, and be prepared to spend an hour or more in studying its recommendations.

Q. I can't get WPDOS to run at all under my 64-bit version of Windows. Can you help?
    A. See this page for the best solution. You might also look at another page for an alternative solution.

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. Why is your site so #*&!#@$ hard to use? Why don't you just give me a big blue button that says "Download," and not those endless pages of instructions, with the download link buried inside the tenth paragraph?
    A. The retrograde design is intentional. Because the tools and techniques on this site involve ancient MS-DOS software, or other archaic software, they are complicated to set up - although I hope they are effortless to use after they have been set up. People who are too impatient to read instructions will never be able to set up these tools and techniques, and they always waste hours of other people's time by demanding help after they get things wrong. If they're horrified by the length of the instructions, they'll probably go to some other site instead. (Based on a real question by a real visitor who, fortunately, took one look at this site and went somewhere else.)

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 7, 8, or 10, 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. I am happy to provide support to medical transcriptionists or court reporters who want to continue using WordPerfect for DOS. (I am completely serious about this.)

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 WordPerfect 5.1 "classic 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. I have a truly great idea about a way to run WordPerfect on my smartphone (or: on my cable TV, iPod, PlayStation, iPad, microwave oven, or other non-Windows hardware or software). I know my idea is wonderful, but I won't test it myself because 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 to me 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 new problems in addition to the one you are asking about, then don't use my solution.

Q. In the WPDOS forum at wpuniverse.com you posted a link to one specific section of one of the pages on this site. As you intended, my browser opened the page with the heading of that specific section at the very top of my browser window, and I was instantly able to find the answer to my question. However, I am deeply irritated, unhappy, and annoyed, because the page you linked to is a very long page, and other parts of it are cluttered with details that are not relevant to my problem! I want you to give me a link to a page that was written only to answer my specific question, and I'm very annoyed with you for failing to provide one!
    A. My first response was, "Surely you're joking," but apparently you aren't. (Someone really did complain about this. Seriously.)

Q. Your instructions are all wrong! Your software is incompatible with my system! You're careless and incompetent! You've wasted hours of my time! Please sort out all the problems I am having with your system. This is all your fault! - [An hour later.] Uh, wait: I just realized that I mistyped a command. But please tell me how to solve the problems I am still having, because those problems are clearly your fault. - [Another hour later.] Um, wait again: I seem to have misread one of your instructions. But please tell me how to solve the problem I still have, because it is clearly your fault. - [Yet another hour later.] Er, yes, wait again: I skipped over something that you said was essential. Everything is working perfectly now. Never mind!
    A. Thank you for writing.

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, you know, 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'm so charming and quirky and lovable that all my friends and acquaintances just love to spend hours doing favors for me! All I need to do is ask, and they drop everything so they can help! 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. [These are 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.


Other frequently-asked questions on this site

Many additional FAQs may found elsewhere on this site. For example:


Problems that I cannot help you to solve

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).


How to print to a file (if I ask you to send me a printfile)

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). Attach the resulting file to your e-mail message.

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). Attach the resulting file to your e-mail message.

To print to a file in Windows applications, in the Print dialog, add a checkmark to the "Print to file" box; select a filename and a location where you can find the file after it is created. Attach the file to your e-mail message.


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