Welcome to Sidekick for Windows 2.0
README File
===================================
This file contains important information--please read all of it.
All information here supersedes information in the printed
documentation and online Help.
Table of Contents
------------------
1. Installation
2. Upgrading from a previous version of Sidekick
3. Changing the working directory
4. Sample files
5. Using Sidekick with PC Tools and Norton Desktop for Windows
6. Printing
7. YourWay users upgrading to Sidekick
8. Uninstalling Sidekick for Windows
1. Installation
----------------
Sidekick requires a minimum of 5 MB of hard disk space to
install, 1 MB of which must be on the same drive as your
Windows directory, and a 386 processor or higher. After
installation, however, Sidekick itself uses only 3 MB of
hard disk space and requires a minimum of 500 KB free disk
space for working with data files.
NOTE: If you are upgrading from a previous version of Sidekick,
make sure you read Section 5 of this README file: "Upgrading from
a previous version of SKW."
On some older machines, the available disk space is
inaccurately reported to the installation program. If you
have less than 10 MB of available disk space, and the
program either will not install or the install unpack is
aborted for no apparent reason, make 10 MB of hard disk
space available and install again.
Install will ask for your initials (up to 4 letters) to
create your default calendar name. Install then creates:
o a directory called 'SKW2' on the C: drive (or whatever
directory and drive you specified in the Install screen)
and copies the program files into that directory.
o a directory under 'SKW2' called 'DATA', which contains
various data files used by Sidekick.
o a directory under 'SKW2' called 'USERDATA', which will contain
your personal Cardfile, Calendar and Notes data files.
o a SIDEKICK.INI file in your computer's Windows directory
o a Sidekick for Windows program group in your Program Manager
To install Sidekick for Windows:
1. Start Windows.
2. Choose File|Run from the Program Manager.
3. Place the Sidekick disk in the appropriate disk drive.
4. Type A:INSTALL (or B:INSTALL if you're using Drive B)
and choose OK.
5. Follow the directions on the screen.
6. To start Sidekick, open the Sidekick for Windows group
in Program Manager and double-click the Sidekick icon.
Note: The install looks for the SIDEKICK.INI on your system
to determine if a copy of Sidekick for Windows was
already installed. If you are reinstalling Sidekick,
you may want to back up any personal data files you've
created in the Sidekick 'USERDATA' directory.
2. Upgrading from a previous version of Sidekick
-------------------------------------------------------------
Make sure to close Sidekick 1.x and the Quick Menu before
installing version 2.0. To remove the Quick Menu, choose the
Remove command from its menu.
Users of previous versions of Sidekick should note that, by
default, Sidekick 2.0 installs into a new directory named 'SKW2'.
Also, personal data files are no longer kept in the same
directory as other program data. All new user files for the
Cardfile, Calendar, and Notes are installed to a directory under
'SKW2' called 'USERDATA'.
The Sidekick installation program automatically detects whether
or not you have a previous version of the program installed. If
you have a previous version, and you have installed Sidekick 2.0
into the default directory 'SKW2', none of the files in your
'SKW' directory will be overwritten. However, Sidekick 2.0 will
not open your old data files the first time you run it. To use
your existing data, open each of your calendars, cardfiles, and
notefilesin 'SKW\DATA', and save them into your 'SKW2\USERDATA'
directory. When you open the files, Sidekick automatically
converts them to the Sidekick 2.0 format.
When Sidekick 2.0 opens your version 1.x calendar files for
the first time, it will convert the calendar to the new
format, and save a copy of the version 1.x calendar under the
extension .SKB. Similarly, Sidekick 2.0 converts your
1.x cardfiles to the new format and saves a backup copy with the
extension .SK1. In the Calendar conversion process, to ensure
data integrity, any inconsistencies detected in your files will
be corrected for you, which may in some cases result in loss of
some Calendar activities.
If there is an error in opening the old data files, you may want
to refer to your original Sidekick 1.x files for comparison. In
that case, use the procedure below to run Sidekick 1.x.
Note: For a complete list of files included with Sidekick and
their use refer to online Help. Choose Help|Search from within
Sidekick and search for the keyword "Files."
1. Close Sidekick and the Quick Menu.
2. Using the Notepad, open the file SIDEKICK.INI in the WINDOWS
directory.
3. Insert a semicolon in front of the line containing the text
"DATA=C:\SKW2\DATA". Add a line below it that reads
"DATA=C:\SKW\DATA".
4. Save the file and close the Notepad.
5. Open the File Manager. Navigate to the SKW directory (or
wherever you installed Sidekick 1.x).
6. Double-click the file SIDEKICK.EXE. Sidekick 1.x launches.
7. Sidekick 1.x may try to open the files that have now been
converted to Sidekick 2.0 format. Click OK if Sidekick
tells you that the various files are not valid files.
8. Open your original Sidekick 1.x files in the SKW\DATA
directory.
9. Write down any data that did not get correctly transferred
into your Sidekick 2.0 data files.
10. Close Sidekick 1.x without saving.
11. Using the Notepad, open the file SIDEKICK.INI in the
WINDOWS directory.
12. Remove the semicolon in front of the line
";DATA=C:\SKW2\DATA". Remove the line that reads
"DATA=C:\SKW\DATA".
13. Save the file and close the Notepad.
14. Open Sidekick 2.0 as normal, and make sure to open the 2.0
versions of your files if necessary.
15. Enter the changes you noted from your 1.x files.
16. Choose File|Save All, and close Sidekick.
* Installing into your old SKW directory
If you choose to install Sidekick 2.0 into your 'SKW' directory,
overwriting your previous copy of Sidekick, any personal files
(cardfiles, calendars, and notes) located in the 'DATA'
directory will not be affected by the install. However,
program-specific data files, such as SpeedBar settings and print
templates cannot be retained due to changes to the files.
To install into your 'SKW' directory, over a previous version of
Sidekick:
1. Install Sidekick. (See Section 1 for steps to follow, but
modify the install location to your 'SKW' directory.)
2. After installation, if you want to consolidate your data
in the same directory, move your existing personal data
files from the 'DATA' directory into 'USERDATA'.
Personal files may include any of the following:
- Cardfiles having the extension .SDB and .TDB
- Notes files with the extension .FDR, .HDR, and .SKN
- Calendar files beginning with your initials and having the
extension .SKW
- Other files not stamped with the same date and time as
Sidekick
3. Delete the old cardfile print template files from the DATA
directory:
SKWLBPRM.SKW
SKWPHPRM.SKW
Deleting files is described in your Windows or operating
system manual.
3. Changing the working directory
----------------------------------
By default C:\SKW2 is set as the working directory for Sidekick
2.0 and the Import and Export tools. However, you can change the
working directory to the same location as your data files
(in C:\SKW2\USERDATA), or to any other directory you want.
To change the working directory to the location of your data
files, follow the instructions outlined below:
1. Switch to Program Manager.
2. Select the icon labeled "Sidekick."
3. Choose File|Properties from the Program Manager.
4. Change the working directory in the Properties dialog box
from C:\SKW2 to C:\SKW2\USERDATA (or to the USERDATA
directory of the path you specified during installation).
You can change the working directories for the Import and Export
tools in a similar manner as outlined above.
4. Sample files
----------------
The following sample files are included with Sidekick:
In the SKW2\SAMPLES directory:
Sample cardfiles
800NMBRS.SDB AT&T 800 numbers for airlines, hotels, etc.
SOFTWARE.SDB Descriptions of Starfish software
VIDEOS.SDB Information on videos and learning aids
WINELIST.SDB Catalog of wines
Sample Reports
WINELIST.RPT Report on wines
In the SKW2\USERDATA directory:
Sample cardfiles
BUSINESS.SDB Sample business address book (default)
PERSONAL.SDB Sample personal address book
Sample notefiles (Notes module)
Sidekick Several tips and ideas for using Sidekick
Template Sample form letters for mail merge
5. Using Sidekick with PC Tools and Norton Desktop for Windows
---------------------------------------------------------------
With some configurations of PC Tools for Windows, when you switch
between desktops while Sidekick is open, a "docked" SpeedBar or
LaunchBar will move with the active desktop independent of the
main Sidekick window.
To prevent the SpeedBar or LaunchBar from moving with the active
desktop, you can change them to floating palettes by dragging
them with the mouse, or hide them using the Show options on the
Sidekick View menu. They will then remain with the Sidekick
window until the next Windows session.
When installing Sidekick under Norton Desktop 2.0, you may
receive error messages when the Installation program attempts to
automatically create the Sidekick icons. Ignore the error
messages and Sidekick should be installed. You can then create
the icons manually.
5. Printing
-------------
When using a pre-defined template to print cardfiles or
calendars, you may need to adjust the template's margins slightly
for your specific printer. For example, increasing the top
margin slightly, and decreasing the bottom margin by the same
amount will cause the text to print lower on the page.
7. YourWay users upgrading to Sidekick
----------------------------------------
All cardfile and calendar files created in YourWay are
compatible with Sidekick. Report files are not. Cardfile
extensions are now .SDB and the calendar file extensions are
now .SKW. YourWay files can be renamed to the correct extension
and then simply opened in Sidekick.
Installing Sidekick
1. Be sure you do not have YourWay or the Quick Menu running
when you install Sidekick. Follow the installation
instructions.
Renaming YourWay's Cardfiles
1. Open the File Manager. Click on the YOURWAY directory so
it is highlighted. (If your data files are stored elsewhere,
click on that directory.)
2. Choose File|Copy.
3. In the Copy dialog box, type "C:\YOURWAY\*.YDB" (don't
type the quotes) into the "From:" text box. Type
"C:\SKW2\USERDATA\*.SDB" into the "To:" text box. (Change
the location for the Sidekick directory if yours is located
on another drive or has a different name.) Click OK. This
will copy and rename all the cardfiles in the YOURWAY
directory to the SKW2 directory. If you do not want to
rename all the cardfiles, select only the ones to rename
before opening the Copy dialog box. (Ctrl-click on each file
name to select it.)
4. Your cardfiles are now ready to be opened in Sidekick.
Close the File Manager and open Sidekick. Choose
File|Open in Sidekick's cardfile to open any of the
renamed cardfiles.
Renaming YourWay's Calendar files
1. Open the File Manager. Click on the YOURWAY directory to
highlight it. (If your data files are stored elsewhere, click
on that directory.)
2. Find all the calendar files. These are all the files in the
YOURWAY directory that begin with your initials and have a
.YWY extension. When you installed YourWay, the program
prompted you for up to four initials to aid in identifying
your personal files. For example, if your initials were ABC,
YourWay would have created ABCTASK.YWY, ABCDATA.YWY,
ABCMAST.YWY, and other similar files.
3. Highlight all these calendar files except one: the *INIT.YWY.
Do not highlight or rename this file.
4. Choose File|Copy.
5. In the Copy dialog box, the files that you've just
chosen should automatically be listed in the "From:"
text box. Type "C:\SKW2\USERDATA\*.SKW" into the "To:" text
box. Click OK.
6. All the calendar files are now in the Sidekick directory
and are ready to be used in Sidekick. Close the File
Manager and open Sidekick. Open the calendar file you
need in Sidekick's calendar by choosing File|Open.
NOTE: Multi-Day events (YourWay called them Conferences)
will have to be edited.
Using Sidekick
Do not have YourWay and Sidekick open at the same time.
IMPORTANT: To ensure that Sidekick runs correctly, you should
also remove the following files from your WINDOWS directory:
MACRODLL.DLL
MEETINGS.DLL
MICRDATE.DLL
MICRFLOA.DLL
QMHOOKS.DLL
YWDLGDLL.DLL
YOURWAY.INI
CMCLIP.YWY
Once you are certain you no longer need backup files, you can
delete the YOURWAY directory and all the YourWay files.
8. Uninstalling Sidekick for Windows
-------------------------------------
Before removing Sidekick from your system, you may want to back
up any personal data files you've created in Sidekick.
To uninstall Sidekick 1.x:
1. Back up any Sidekick data files you want to keep, or move
them to your 'SKW2' directory, if you are removing
Sidekick 1.x to make room for Sidekick 2.0. Make sure to
save your personal data files into C:\SKW2\USERDATA.
Personal files may include any of the following:
- Cardfiles having the extension .SDB and .TDB
- Notes files with the extension .FDR, *.HDR, and *.SKN
- Calendar files beginning with your initials and having the
extension .SKW
- Other files not stamped with the same date and time as
Sidekick
2. Delete the C:\SKW directory and all of the files/directories
it contains.
3. If it exists, delete the file CMCLIP.SKW from your Windows
directory.
4. If necessary, delete the Sidekick 1.x and Quick Menu icons
from the StartUp program group in Windows.
5. If you never registered your copy of Sidekick, open your
WIN.INI file in your WINDOWS directory and remove the line
LOAD=C:\SKW\REMIND.EXE.
To uninstall Sidekick 2.0:
1. After backing up any Sidekick data files you want to keep,
delete the C:\SKW2 directory and all of the files/directories
it contains.
2. Delete the file SIDEKICK.INI from your Windows directory.
3. If it exists, delete the file CMCLIP.SKW from your Windows
directory.
4. If necessary, delete the Sidekick and Quick Menu icons
from the StartUp program group in Windows.
5. If you never registered your copy of Sidekick, open your
WIN.INI file in your WINDOWS directory and remove the line
LOAD=C:\SKW2\REMIND.EXE.
Except for any data files you backed up, Sidekick for Windows
is now completely removed from your system.
The End