Moving Premier Power To A New Computer

[Kevin Bachelder]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to help someone move their Premier Power 3.1 install to a new computer and we're having some problems. Let me give you a quick recap of the situation.

I do computer support work and back in 2006 one of my clients wanted to move her Premier Power to a new computer. Once I got a handle on the way this program works we decided to use VMWare on her Windows XP system so that we could create a Windows 98 virtual machine for Premier Power. That migration went very smoothly and she's still using that setup today.

Recently this woman referred a new client to me who wants to do the same thing. We setup a new computer running Windows XP with a VMWare virutation machine running Windows 98. We migrated his Premier Power files over but when we attempt to run Premier Power it almost immediately 'crashes' back to the DOS prompt. We get an error message that flashes very quickly but I think I was able to transcribe it correctly. I believe it says...

runtime error: r6003
integer divide by 0

That error message will come up probably 3 out of 4 times that we try to run the program. On the other 1 out of 4 times we will get the login screen but once we log in and get to the Premier Power menu screen the keyboard is non responsive. We can't do anything and have to restart the machine.

I've tried running the program under Windows, under DOS and under MS-DOS mode but with no luck.

From reading the other threads here I see that this setup is a bit of a dinosaur and there are lots of possible issues so any help or advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks very much,

Kevin

[Kevin Bachelder]

One of the solutions mentioned here on the forums was the MoSlo software and I see on their website that one of their products, MoSlo Deluxe, helps with R6003 errors. Maybe that's the missing piece of the puzzle that I need.

Have others used that product to solve these errors?


Thanks,

Kevin

[Michael Smith]

Hi Kevin,

We've attempted using VMWare to install Win98 on computers before to run DOS-based software. Unfortunately the results varied greatly with every computer. For starters, most security devices from that time era have a limitation of about 266MHz in processor speed. If your computer is faster then this, then you run a high risk of the program not working.

If the processor speed is the issue, then a program such as MoSlo or KillCPU may help. Results from both of these software programs vary greatly as well, so there is no guarantee. There should be a version of MoSlo out there somewhere that is free as well so try that first.

Your autoexec.bat and config.sys files can also affect how Premier Power performs. Stenograph should have some install instructions for Premier Power on their website. I would ensure you are using proper settings within those files (although they may need to be adjusted for your specific configuration).

The type of processor may also affect how Premier Power works. I'd recommend sticking with an Intel-based chip. Processors that best resemble a Pentium 1 would be best.

Due to the many factors involved in running Win98 within VMWare, we do not recommend using VMWare at all. Again, the results vary too greatly to ensure a reliable machine. You can try installing just Windows 98 and see how that works, however without proper Windows 98 drivers, your customer won't be able to do much other then Premier Power.

[Kevin Bachelder]

Thanks very much Michael for all your feedback.

Obviously it would be great to be able to use a virtual machine setup for Premier Power so my client can still use the PC for normal activities. However, the most important thing is to get Premier Power running on a new PC so if none of the CPU slowdown methods work I many need to try just installing Windows 98 on that PC instead. My biggest concern doing that has to do with the parallel port since we had to use a PCI port card since the motherboards don't come with parallel ports anymore.

Any other thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated.


Take care,

Kevin

[Michael Smith]

Hi Kevin,

The parallel port should have the following settings under the Win98 device manager:

LPT1
Interrupt Request: 7
I/O Range: 0378-037F

Don't bother messing with any parallel adapters (e.g. USB Parallel Adapter) either as I have yet to find one that works with any software (new or old).

Hope that helps!

[Kevin Bachelder]

Thanks for those parallel port details. I've already got my client's computer setup with those settings.

My next step is to try using Mo'Slo with the P166 emulation to see if that will get us past the R6003 error we're getting.


Thanks again,

Kevin

[Kevin Bachelder]

I couldn't get the VMWare version of Windows 98 to work even though the parallel port is setup as suggested. I tried MoSlo but that didn't seem to help.

I also tried using an older PC that was came from 2002. It's running Windows 98 with a standard parallel port but Premier Power just crashes back to DOS after the splash screen.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get my client a replacement PC?


Many thanks,

Kevin

[Michael Smith]

Hi Kevin,

Stenograph is the manufacturer of Premier Power. If you go to Stenographs website, go to the Help Desk, choose Premier Power as your filter and search for the word "install", the first result should be entitled "Premier Power On A New Computer". That should give you some general guidelines on providing a computer.

If you are still having trouble, we do provide computers for Premier Power. They come with free installation, file transfer, specialized setup and testing, loaner program, trade-in program, Premier Power support, and extended warranty options for up to three years.

[Kevin Bachelder]

Thank you very much for the referral to that support doc from Stenograph. I got several ideas from reading that and if none of that works I'm sure we'll be in touch with you Michael.

Thanks again for helping to shed some light on this.


Kevin