Zip Drive Enables Pc Owners To Add Extra Storage Space

You gotta love a company that uses the word “stuff” in its ads.

“Zip disks can hold all your stuff. Work stuff, home stuff and play stuff.” So goes the description on the box of the Zip drive from Utah-based Iomega. John Madden would make a perfect pitchman for it.

“Now, you see how the Zip drive is attached to the back of the computer?” Madden would say, drawing feverishly on his electronic chalkboard. “That gives you more room to store your stuff! Your hard drive is already full of stuff, but you don’t care, ‘cause you’ve got the Zip. You save your data to the Zip cartridge and, BOOM! You got more stuff!”

Even without Madden’s adrenaline rush, the new Zip drive and a similar product from Fremont-based SyQuest Technology have generated considerable excitement. They are being called the first practical and affordable portable machines that add extra storage space for that information in your computer. And they’re selling like crazy, badly outstripping supply. The Zip goes for $199, the SyQuest EZ135 for $239.

Iomega began selling Zip drives in March. SyQuest’s EZ135 began shipping in August.

Sales are being driven by a growing need for increased storage capacity. With Windows 95 and other new applications hogging space, many PC users are finding their hard disk drives are no longer adequate.

That is particularly the case for owners of notebook PCs, whose hard drives generally are not as large as ones that come with desktop machines.

The new drives offer an alternative to the daunting task of replacing an internal hard drive, or adding an additional one. They simply plug into a parallel or SCSI port in the back of an IBM-compatible PC or Macintosh. No fuss, no muss, although you might need an optional adapter cable to hook up to an SCSI port.

The drives, which are about the size of a portable CD player, feature removable cartridges that hold as much as an average hard drive did just a few years ago. Individual high-capacity cartridges (100MB for the Zip, 135MB for the EZ135) cost $19.95.

Virus strikes Microsoft software

Microsoft Corp. said four versions of its Microsoft Word software program are the target of a virus and it is making the remedy available to customers over the Internet.

The software programs that can be affected are Word 6.0 for Windows 3.1, Word for Macintosh, Word for Windows NT and Word for Windows 95.

The virus is contracted when users open or swap files from an outsider’s Word program. It isn’t in the packaged Word software program users buy from the stores, Microsoft said.

Microsoft, the world’s biggest personal computer software maker, characterized the virus as an “annoyance,” noting it doesn’t cause data loss or any serious damage.

The virus has been floating about for the last two or three weeks, said Richard Ford, director of research at the National Computer Security Association in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The industry wanted to make sure that a cure was available before alerting the public, Ford said.

Microsoft didn’t indicate where the virus started. The NCSA said it is investigating the case.

“Somebody somewhere created a Word document with a self-replicating code,” said Ford. “We’ve seen it in a number of different countries. We’re still trying to find out more about how it’s spread.” A scanning tool to remedy the problem can be downloaded from the Microsoft World Wide Web site or through the Microsoft Network. The tool is also available through on other on-line services including CompuServe and America OnLine.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., said that it is creating another software tool that would detect similar viruses and alert users before the virus infects their files. The tool could be available as early as next week, it said.

Here’s a way to store family info

Have trouble keeping track of the children’s doctor’s appointments or your sister-in-law’s birthday?

FamilyInfo for Microsoft Windows reduces to simply answering a few questions on-screen the process of keeping track of such familial information.

Behind the scenes is a robust database designed to keep track of the minutiae of family life, and then use a computer’s power to search out information and sort it to simplify running a family or just being a member of one.

Once running, the program uses informal cartoon-type graphics to guide people through building their customized family database. As a parent enters the name of each child, the software pops up a cartoon-like screen in which the parent is asked for the child’s vital statistics, such as birthday, height, weight, pending medical appointments, etc.

The questioning leads through things such as names of doctors and dentists, sports participation, immunization types and dates, achievements, teachers, dental history and even a category called “hangouts” for each child.

The resulting lode of information at one’s fingertips will, at the least, make the enormously complex job of parenting a bit easier.

FamilyInfo sells for $20. For more information call FamilyWare Products Inc., 800-313-7333.