Windows???

[Government007]

Every time I start up my computer it goes through this stacker thing first of all that takes about 5 minutes and is very anoying, how can I get that off first of all. And Secondly, every time I enter windows after boot-up my computer says "C:\WINDOWS2\APPLICAC.GRP is invalid or damaged. Recreate the group. What should I do. I got this computer from a friend and have no disks. Please HELP!

Thank You.

[Government007]

Here is exactly what my computer says on that stacker thing I was talking about. "Stacker 4.00 for Windows & DOS (c) 1990-94 Stac Electronics, Carlsbad, CA F: = C:STACVOL.DSK Updating Stacker allocation map . . . (01% complele).

What can I do to get that off?

PLEASE HELP

Thank You

[garybeafl]

Call your "friend".

[thxmanu]

Are you comfortable with editing your autoexec.bat and your config.sys? If you are, within Windows, click Start->Run sysedit. This will open all your system files (win.ini, sys.ini, autoexec.bat, etc.). Look in the autoexec.bat and config.sys and find anything that says Stacker. Type rem in front of them (with a space), save and reboot. As for the group thing, I'm noticing that it's "Windows2" directory. How many Windows directories are there? Keep us posted.

[howste]

Your hard drive is compressed using Stacker software. I used that a long time ago, and it never seemed to take very long to boot up. I think the largest HD I used it on was about 500MB. Probably the only way to get rid of it is to uncompress the hard drive. Or, Stacker may have some utility to check the integrity and correct the compressed volume. How big is your hard drive? If you do uncompress it, you'll have to have at least enough physical space to fit the compressed data that's on it.

What OS are you using? I think you only need the APPLICAC.GRP if you are running Window 3.11 or earlier.

Steve

-- edit --
It looks like Thxmanu replied while I was typing. If you disable the Stacker software, all you will see is a few files. One of them will be a huge file called STACVOL.DSK that fills most of your HD. This is where all of your data is. You won't be able to access anything. I don't recommend disabling it unless you are planning to reformat/reinstall everything.

[This message has been edited by howste (edited 09-21-2000).]

[thxmanu]

Good call Steve. I thought Stacker sounded familiar. My suggestion would not be the way to go. Sounds like a rebuild is in order.

[Government007]

How do I change the stacker or delete it?

[howste]

I think I have a Stacker manual at home. I'll see if I can find it. How big is your hard drive? Do you have a big enough hard drive to uncompress everything on it? Check to see how much free space Windows says you have. If you don't have at least 50% free you might have to move some data and/or programs somewhere else first.

Steve

[Government007]

I took off my slave hard drive and that solved the problem, but if I were to put it back on again, then how would I fix that stacker problem? THANKS

[howste]

Boy, you're busy today!!!!!!

Sounds like your 2nd hard drive is the one that's compressed then. I'll look for that manual and get back to you.

Steve

[Government007]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Sorry if I ask several questions, but I enjoy it. It gives me a chance to learn things several new things, as long as teaching others at the same time. I want to persue a career in computers and I think this really helps me. I have taken apart two computers and am learning how they work, as long as reading several books and posting in this chat room. If you could answer this question too it would be great. What is the highest paying career in computers. Such as technical work, networking. Please go more specific than that, name the exact job and salary if possible. Thanks

SORRY IF I WASTE YOUR TIME

but thank you VERY much!!!

[howste]

Bill Gate has the highest paying position in computers right now. I'm not sure the exact pay. LOL http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif Actually I don't even work in computers for my day job (well, sort of). Somebody else could better answer that one. I just couldn't resist a smart remark...

Steve

[howste]

Well, the version of Stacker I had was 2.0 so it's older than the 4.0 version you have there. The manual I found wasn't helpful about removing the compression. I guess they assumed you'd never want to uninstall it. See if there is a program file called STAC.EXE or STAC.COM. This gives you a menu of options you can do with Stacker. There is an SREMOVE command that removes Stacked drives, but all it does is delete them and destroys all data.

I'd say your best bet is to copy any data you want from the drive to somewhere else, then just wipe the drive clean.

Steve

[Win_98]

Why use stacker when it slow down your computer to a turtle & make your cpu work much harder then usual. You be better off using pkzip to compress files manually yourself, that you normally don't use and delete the subdirectory of it saving you plenty of time freeing your computer to do other task.