Installation

Installation requirements
Download the package
Unzip the download
Review the documentation
Where things belong
Setting up a shortcut on the desktop
Adding the Virtual H-8 to your Start Menu

Installation requirements

To install the Virtual H-8 you must be able to execute Intel code and download files of approximately 1 MB size from the Web. Your computer must have sufficient free disk space to hold the download file (blah KB) and to hold the uncompressed files extracted from it (bletch MB). The downloadable file has been compressed using ZIP compression technology and contains multiple files and encodes a directory structure. You will need PKZIP for Windows or WINZIP to extract the project.

To usefully install the package, your system must be running Windows NT, version 4.0, Workstation or Windows 2000 Professional. You must have at least 5 MB of free space on drive C:. Your computer must be at least as fast as a Pentium II running at 233 MHz and have at least 64 MB of installed RAM (96 MB for Windows 2000 Professional); preferably more. Your video display must be capable of (and set to) not less than 1024x768 pixels and 256 colors. These are the system requirements for executing the code.

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Download the package

Begin by creating the directory "c:\h8" on your computer. Then download the ZIP file from the website into that directory. The file is most conveniently unzipped if placed there, though if you are comfortable with your unzipping tool, you can actually place the file anywhere. I don't recommend extracting during downloading; it will save bandwidth if you keep a local copy of the ZIP file.

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Unzip the download

The download is not a self-extracting file. You will need to open it using your unzipping utility. Set your options to extract all files, including those in subdirectories, to the "c:\h8" directory you created (which is probably your working directory if you're following these instructions). Be sure your extract options include preserving the relative pathing for the files.

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Review the documentation

First, open "RELEASE_NOTES.TXT" which should now be present in the h8 directory. This file contains last-minute documentation changes and a "packing list" which specifies what files have just been extracted and where they belong.

Compare the packing list to the contents of your h8 directory. Is everything as expected? If not, you probably did not have the correct extract options set. (You'll have to delete files until your h8 directory is back to containing just the ZIP file and try again.)

Otherwise, set your browser to point to the file "c:\h8\documentation\start_here.htm" -- that will be the same documentation as is present on the website, but with higher-resolution images and possible last-minute additions or corrections. The contents of the RELEASE_NOTES.TXT file should be used to correct any errors in these documents; the documents on the website are probably earlier that the ones from the ZIP file, so use them only for orientation purposes until you have extracted the ZIP.

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Where things belong

Again, I refer you to the "packing list" in RELEASE_NOTES.TXT for exact details. But in general, the Virtual H-8 package "lives" in the directoru "c:\h8" and in subdirectory structure under that. The structure is organized into three sections: the structure necessary to execute the programs, the structure necessary to re-compile the code and the documentation. The execute tree consists of the h8 directory itself, plus the subdirectories "media" and "firmware". The compilation structure is contained in the subdirectory "code". Documentation is in "documentation", of course. The remaining directory, "etc", contains ancillary material that does not fit well into any of the above categories. Here, for example, you will find the source code for a program which if compiled and executed on a real H-8 will dump the PAM-37 ROM content in the format needed by the Virtual H-8.

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Setting up a shortcut on the desktop

Windows NT

Perform the following steps:

  1. Use Windows Explorer to locate the file "c:\h8\virtual_h8.exe".
  2. Drag this to the desktop (without holding down either SHIFT or CTRL, please!).
  3. Right click on the shortcut icon just produced.
  4. Select "rename..." from the menu and re-name the shortcut to something more appropriate than "shortcut to virtual_h8".

All done.

Windows 2000

Perform the following steps:

  1. Use Windows Explorer to locate the file "c:\h8\virtual_h8.exe".
  2. Drag this to the desktop while holding down the ALT key.
  3. Right click on the shortcut icon just produced.
  4. Select "rename..." from the menu and re-name the shortcut to something more appropriate than "shortcut to virtual_h8".

All done.

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Adding the Virtual H-8 to your Start Menu

Windows NT

Perform the following steps:

  1. From the start menu, select settings>taskbar.
  2. On the resulting dialog, select the "start menu programs tab".
  3. Click "advanced". An explorer window will open.
  4. Use this window to locate the file "c:\h8\virtual_h8.exe".
  5. Drag this to the desktop (without holding down either SHIFT or CTRL, please!).
  6. Now position the explorer window to your profile's start menu settings (usually x:\winnt\Profiles\you\start menu.)
  7. Drag the shortcut you just put on the desktop to this directory, holding the SHIFT key down as you do so. This will move the shortcut off of the desktop and into your start menu.
  8. Use the explorer window to select the shortcut you just moved and right click on it.
  9. Select "rename..." from the menu and re-name the shortcut to something more appropriate than "shortcut to virtual_h8".
  10. Close the explorer window.
  11. Click OK on the taskbar properties dialog.

Done! You should now see your Virtual H8 icon in the start menu.

Windows 2000

Perform the following steps:

  1. Use Windows Explorer to locate the file "c:\h8\virtual_h8.exe".
  2. Drag this to the Start button on the taskbar (without holding down a key).

Done! You should now see your Virtual H8 icon in the start menu.

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Copyright (c) 2001 - 2003 by David A. Wallace