Wednesday, January 29, 2003

Fixing the problem with thisdirname

Today another person e-mailed me and asked, "Did you ever get an answer about the %thisdirname% problem you were having?"

When %thisdirname% appeared on my WINDOWS98 computer, I was using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0.  Before I downloaded MSIE 5.5, I decided to delete programs and files on my computer that I was no longer using because my computer was sluggish.  Somehow I deleted something important because that's when the %thisdirname% error popped onto my screen.

I had no idea how I caused it or how to fix it.  Since I had deleted a bunch of files, I had no idea which one was the critical file.  I wrote to a message board for Microsoft programs.  I checked back for a couple of days and didn't see an answer.

I ran scandisk and defrag, and neither of these programs fixed the problem.  I was ready to download the updated Microsoft 5.5 browser, so I decided to do it anyway.  I have a very slow Internet connection, so I do my downloading between midnight and 4 a.m. on Monday through Thursday because that seems to be when the least traffic is on the Net here in Alaska.

The download took forever it seemed, and finally I was ready for the update.  When the process was complete, "Voila!" my WINDOWS folders were operating correctly with the subdirectory name in the proper place.  I do not know how or what was corrected by the download, but I was happy to have it fixed.

I do not know if this procedure will work for anyone else.  I've told my story to a couple of other people who've written and asked this same question.  I've asked them to report back to me if it worked.  One of them said they were using MSIE 6.0 when the %thisdirname% problem appeared.  He downloaded the MSIE 6.0 browser again, and the problem was fixed.

If anyone knows what causes this %thisdirname% problem to happen, I'd love to know.

Tuesday, January 28, 2003

Transferring the Data

I called the computer tech this morning and asked her, "Is the data on my old harddrive unrecoverable?"

She said, "No."

"No?" I asked.

"Bring in your tower and I can transfer it, or you can do it."

"I can do it?"  My mind spins in pleasure.  She explains that I can disconnect one of my CD-Rom drives and connect the old harddrive to it.  She cautions me to discharge any static by keeping my elbow against the case.

I nervously remove the screws from the tower cover.  I can't do anything with the cords plugged in, so I disconnect them, too.  I wriggle the outside of the case back and forth until I finally shake it loose.  Then I plug in the cords again and boot up the computer.  "Let's see if it still works before I change anything else," I thought.

The computer booted up fine, and I shut it down again.

After I connect the cables to the old 7.85 GB harddrive, I reboot the computer.  Now I'm happily copying the missing files and folders to my new 74.5GB harddrive.  I'm so pleased with myself.  I've always been so terribly afraid to touch anything inside the box.

Monday, January 27, 2003

Loss of Data

Of all the perils that can come upon a computer, I think loss of data is about the worst thing that can happen.  Last year when I needed to replace my motherboard, I backed up everything before I took the computer to the shop.

Last week when I decided that I couldn't live another day without a larger harddrive, I didn't.  Should I have?  You bet!  Why didn't I?  I trusted that this upgrade would go as smoothly as the last one.  I asked the computer tech to move my old data into a folder just like she did last time.  Except I wanted Windows renamed to something else so I wouldn't have two active Windows folders.  This caused a lot of problems during the last upgrade.

After I got the computer up and running, I notice that several folders are missing.

I know I backed up my website, but only the newly created files, not the whole site.  What a job this will be, recreating the site again!  I could download the site from the online version.  I set up WS_ftp and download one folder.  It takes so long that I go to bed before it's finished.

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

PHP Tutorial

While I'm learning, I'm finding it easier to build php pages from scratch, than it is to re-do an existing page.

I found a very nice, SIMPLE tutorial:  http://www.freewebmasterhelp.com/tutorials/php

[ September 2005 For awhile I put the files online. I was hoping some computer tutor would come along and walk me through this process. Help never came so I am deleting the test files.]

While I was at it, I'm integrating style sheets with the PHP. It works great.

My latest real project is making a disclaimer page for Wheat-free Living.

Sunday, January 19, 2003

Begin Again with PHP

Now that I have half of my site updated to use server-side includes, I've decided to drop that project and change everything to PHP.  I will practice using my includes on our vacation photos.  I had to delete the index.shtml page for the index.php to work without typing it in the URL.

The URL for the same page on Angelfire (that doesn't parse the PHP) is http://www.angelfire.com/ak/faith7/vacation/index.php Without adding the index.php to the URL, Angelfire won't show the page.  You can view source of the Angelfire page to see the PHP that is added to the version that works.

There's something familiar about PHP.  Maybe it should stand for Pamela Has Perils.

Friday, January 17, 2003

Vacation Photos

I have four Smart Media cards full of vacation photos.  The problem is that I don't have enough room on my harddrive to download them for editing and backing up on CDs.  I downloaded the photos from the last 128 MB card that we bought in Las Vegas.  The rest of the photos will have to wait.

Thursday, January 16, 2003

Includes with PHP?

Is there a function with PHP that simulates the include function of SSI?  (sheesh! I can't believe I'm talking like this.)

Invader gave me an example of two ways to use includes with PHP.  I can use absolute URLs!  That solves my problem of having a duplicate of my includes when I make subdomains.

Wednesday, January 15, 2003

Clickish Acronyms

I can't use PHP on an HTML page.  For PHP code to work, the file has to end with .php.

Well diddly fiddly dee dee... that's no help at all!  It's an html file that I want to direct from.  Am I not stating this clearly?  I want a way to redirect people from my old html files to my new shtml files.  I thought I could do it with PHP, but if the file has to be named PHP then I'd need a file to redirect from the html file to the PHP file to redirect to the shtml.  I don't see how that would save me any work.  LOL

I did make my first PHP file on the Net yesterday.  It's a quiz about Alaska.  Are You a Cheechako?

I don't see the benefits of using this format at this point.  Oh, and the whole page is formatted with a style sheet.  I also learned that PHP doesn't recognize SSI. I guess those acronyms are very cliquish.