The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group
First Aid 97
Bernadette Houghton
 bernieh@iaccess.com.au

With a name like First Aid, I probably don't even need to mention that CyberMedia's First Aid 97 aims to diagnose and solve your computer problems. But it does much more than that. As well as improving performance, it actually tries to prevent problems and warn you about those it can't prevent. And if it can't solve a problem, it refers you to local technical support who - hopefully - can.

First Aid uses a "control panel" interface that is easy to navigate. Most features are directly accessible from this panel.

Windows Guardian

The Windows Guardian sits unobtrusively in your system tray, keeping an eye out for situations that threaten your PC's operations (Figure 1). Guardian will

  • Intercept system crashes just before they occur, giving you a chance to save your work (Figure 2)
  • Reactivate applications that have stopped responding so, again, you can save your work
  • Track changes to system files and other nominated files so you can restore old versions if needed
  • Give you advance warning of hard disk problems so you can prepare for a system failure by backing up your hard disk and so on
  • Detect when your computer is running low on memory and free disk space
  • Warn you when applications have missing components.
Guardian uses 2.7 MB of memory, plus another 358 KB if you have crash protection enabled.


Figure 1. Windows Guardian monitors


Figure 2. First Aid intercepting a crash

Check-Up

Check-Up makes sure your hardware and software is in good working order (Figures 3 and 4). It looks for missing program components, file allocation errors, devices working incorrectly, hardware conflicts and so on, and also suggests ways to improve system performance. To correct errors, you can choose to

  • AutoFix, where First Aid corrects the errors without further user intervention
  • Manual Fix, where First Aid tells you step-by-step how to fix them yourself
  • Ignore the error in future
  • Report the problem for later action.
On its maiden run through my system, First Aid found a heart-stoppingly long list of problems, ranging from missing files, a CD-ROM not working properly (I'd installed it twice) and file allocation errors. It also reported that it didn't support my (nonexistent) MPEG card and that my printer and modem were functioning incorrectly. It seems that unless devices attached to your system (or which Check-Up thinks should be attached) are actually present and switched on, Check-Up is likely to report errors with them. Check-Up also reported a lengthy list of missing application files usually stored on CD. However, it was easy enough to tell Check-Up (albeit, file by file, which took a while) to ignore these "errors" in future. You may also find that each time you run Check-Up, new errors are reported, since some errors mask others.


Figure 3. Problem finding by Check-Up

 


Figure 4. Solving problems fond by Check-Up

Advisor

If Check-Up's AutoFix and Manual Fix options don't resolve a problem, you can use Advisor to search for a solution. Click on a graphic of the device you're having a problem with, then choose the scenario matching your problem (Figures 5 and 7). Advisor searches its knowledge base, and may ask you a few questions before coming up with a solution. If no solution is forthcoming, you can use First Aid's Web Searcher (click the globe in Figure 5) as a front-end to search the Internet (Figure 8).

If you don't find a solution to your problem on the Internet, the Tech Support Directory (the yellow book in Figure 5) has a comprehensive listing of Australian technical support service contacts, including Melb PC. If you have an Internet connection, clicking a hypertext link in the Directory opens your browser and takes you directly to a vendor's web site.

Advisor's knowledge base doesn't have a solution for every problem. I tried it out on some real-life problems I've encountered and solved. Advisor performed well on about half of them, but had room for improvement on others, including improving the speed of my modem, printing complex graphics and getting my CD-ROM to work in DOS mode.


Figure 5. Advisor's main screen


Figure 6. Trimming Excel's tutorial with the Application Specialist

The Specialists

Check-Up is usually enough to keep your computer in reasonable condition, but First Aid offers Specialists for more advanced troubleshooting

  • Applications Specialist. As well as verifying that all parts of a program are present and correct, the Applications Specialist enables you to delete or archive unwanted components (Figure 6). So far I've freed up 45 MB by getting rid of tutorials, cue cards, readme files and various program add-ons such as Microsoft WordArt. You may need to run Check-Up again after using this feature, as the Specialist doesn't remove all references to a "trimmed" program, e.g. in WIN.INI.
    First Aid can correct application problems whether or not its knowledge base includes information about the application. However, for those it knows about, it can also identify file structure problems and corrupted Registry data.
  • Multimedia Specialist checks speakers, sound and video cards and CD-ROMs and performs interactive tests.
  • Online/Network Specialist ensures that your online and Internet connections are working effectively and checks modem hardware and network settings.
  • System Specialist checks - among other things - the Registry, system files, shortcuts, file associations, hard disk fragmentation, as well as optimal performance settings and printer functionality.
Other features

First Aid logs all actions unless you specify otherwise, and you can undo almost any action recorded in the log. You can keep First Aid and its knowledge base up-to-date by using the Update button to connect to CyberMedia's web site.


Figure 7. Selecting a problem scenario with the Advisor


Figure 8. Using the Web Searcher to resolve problems

First Aid's disaster prevention features include creating a startup disk and using Microsoft Backup to back up your data. The startup disk will only take you as far as the DOS prompt, so if you need to be able to access your CD-ROM or network, you'll have to copy these drivers across manually. Backtrack (part of the Windows Guardian) and an entry point into Microsoft Backup help you recover from a disaster. A little niggle here - using First Aid, I can't use my preferred alternative to Microsoft Backup (or Scandisk).

The Deluxe version of First Aid includes a useful hard copy of the Tech Support Directory, as well as 2 CD tutorials: CRT Multimedia's EasyTutor Learn Windows 95 and EasyTutor Get Connected - Internet.

Assessment

First Aid is a useful program that could save you from hours of waiting on hold to technical support. The application trim feature is great, the AutoFix saves hassle and First Aid does its utmost to ensure you know the next approach to take to solve your problem. I found First Aid very easy to use, and I'm sure that most computer novices will agree. It isn't a replacement for Norton Utilities, but is a definitely useful supplement. Don't expect it to diagnose or prevent every possible problem, but you can certainly rest a little bit easier with First Aid keeping its eye on things.

Reprinted from the July 1997 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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