Press-Telegram, Long Beach, Calif., Shareware Column.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 23 -- HERE'S MACNOAH TO THE RESCUE! Is your Power Mac giving you a frowning face? Is the Big Question Mark blinking on your screen at bootup? Fear not, MacNoah is coming to the rescue. This collection of utilities on CD-ROM, called MacNoah to the Rescue, will help you solve system conflicts, back up critical files, adjust your video display, tell you all you need to know about what's installed on your Mac, and more. Here's a sampling of the dozens of programs, designed mostly for Power Macs (including iMacs) running System 7 or 8:

More About This Macintosh expands the About This Computer to include information about memory, processor speeds and more. GURU advises you how to upgrade system and video memory and gives you a thorough report on what hardware is installed on your Mac.

Clockometer tells you how fast your Mac really is. MacSlack helps you regain wasted space on your hard drive and figures out how much space you can save by re-partitioning your hard drive. The demo version of MacMedic helps you back up your hard drive, repair files that have gone haywire and suggests ways to improve performance. Apple Error Codes tell you what those mysterious numbers mean when your system crashes or misbehaves.

Mac Restart re-boots your computer at a specific time, closing all running applications first. Mac OS Installer Helper will help you customize your system each time you upgrade or do a clean install. Hi's Universal Saver works in the background to back up your work at intervals you specify. Extension Overload has a database of more than 1,000 extensions and control panels that may be causing conflicts.

Drive Monitor tells you which volumes are mounted on your desktop and how much space you have on each. Apple System Profiler tells you what's running on your Mac. Multi-Resolutions demo lets you change the resolution on our video card on the fly. Mt. Everything lets you mount or unmount any SCSI device on your Mac. Version 8.2 of Disk First Aid helps repair problems caused by commercial repair programs!

Conflict Catcher (demo version) identifies which of a possible 3,600 extensions, control panels, startup programs, plug-ins and filters are causing your Mac to crash.

Increasing the cache size on your Mac will speed things up, but what if you crash before the data is saved? CacheSaver saves your cache information at intervals, or you can save your data on the fly.

Autoclock calls the Naval Observatory to get the most accurate time. AutoBoot restarts your Mac after it crashes, which is handy if you aren't around, and your Mac needs to be active.

TechTool, an essential diagnostic tool, checks the integrity of your files and helps you fix problems before they get out of hand. Desktop Resetter helps you bring order to the icons on your desktop. DragThing is another desktop maintenance tool that allows you to store related icons in folders. TattleTech gives you the lowdown on both hardware and software installed on your Mac.

Backing up is essential, and DragNBack makes it simple: Just drag files to the DragNBack icon, and you're set.

Version Tracker keeps tabs on all your applications, then seeks out updates for you on the Internet. RAMometer is a freeware utility that tell you whether your RAM is operating properly. Slot Info tells you what cards are installed on your motherboard. And Yank helps you get rid of files and programs you no longer need.

This week's column reviews shareware programs for Power Macintosh and iMac computers. The programs are available from the Internet at sites such as www.download.com and on CD-ROM from this column. Users try them, then pay a fee to register if they decide to use them regularly. For copies of the MacNoah to the Rescue CD-ROM for Power Macs and iMacs, send $20, plus tax for Californians, to Shareware, P.O. Box 17356, Long Beach, CA 90807. Credit card orders: (800) 395-7797. Fax (800) 842-7731. E-mail: share@mindspring.com.

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