Enter SWITCH!

Enter SWITCH! Graphic

SWITCH! presents a solution to the above three challenges in one program. It is presently the closest thing available to an all-in-one utility for the HP 95LX.

SWITCH! is a System Manager program, which means it is called up with a hotkey, and you can move between it and the built-in programs with one keystroke.

SWITCH! has these features:

1. All DOS programs stored on your HP 95LX are automatically listed on a menu (up to 48 on each drive). You may run any of these DOS programs without closing your built-in applications first. (You do have to close 1-2-3.) When running, your DOS application "takes over" the HP 95LX which means you cannot use the built-in applications until you exit your DOS program.

When you copy a DOS program (any file ending in .EXE, .COM, .BAT) to your HP 95LX, it automatically appears on the SWITCH! menu. Also, SWITCH! has a menu selection that allows you to drop to the DOS command-line without first closing the built-in applications.

2. SWITCH! displays a menu of all the System Manager programs (programs that end in .EXM) that reside on your A drive (RAM card). SWITCH! can launch up to forty-eight System Manager programs on your A drive. Since SWITCH! will not recognize or launch any System Manager programs that reside on your built-in C drive, all System Manager programs you want to access with SWITCH! should be moved to the A drive.

From the displayed menu of System Manager programs, you can run any of them at the press of a key. Once a System Manager program is loaded by SWITCH!, you can normally move freely between it and the built-in applications. This menu selection feature of SWITCH! means you DO NOT have to first create an APNAME.LST file. Any time you add a System Manager program to your 95LX, it will immediately appear on this menu and be available to run, without further action on your part.

3. SWITCH! allows you to EASILY assign six System Manager Compliant programs to "hot-keys", so they can be run at any time, just like the built-in applications. This saves you from the arcane task of editing the APNAME.LST file. SWITCH! creates APNAME.LST for you automatically and places it on your A drive (RAM card). I personally love this feature because I have never enjoyed editing the APNAME.LST file.
4. A great feature is the ability to create a "Loader" for any DOS program by just pressing a couple of keys! This will allow your DOS programs to pop up over any of the built-in applications (usually with the exception of Lotus 123). After you create a new "Loader" for your DOS program, you can use SWITCH! to assign it to a hot-key so you can run it without having to call SWITCH! first.
5. SWITCH! allows you to view and change important system parameters. A menu at the bottom of the screen shows you which function keys to press to do the following:

Change the default directory for the built-in MEMO, PHONE and APPT programs. Now you can choose which directory these applications will initially search for files in. This is most useful in the MEMO program. Many 95LX users have requested an easy way to do this;
View voltage level of the main and backup batteries;
Turn the serial port on/off;
Set the alarm sound level;
Set the serial port to wired or infrared;
View free system memory with or without SWITCH! loaded;
View the free disk space available on both the A and C drives;
Allows you to erase the HP 95LX password, even if you don't know what it is;
When operating on batteries, the 95LX turns itself off after 3 minutes (newer units). SWITCH! lets you specify the length of time from 0 to 60 minutes;
Turn on/off cursor tracking and alt-key scrolling when DOS applications run.

6. SWITCH! comes with an updated version of SYSMGR.EXE, originally included in the 1992 Subscribers Disk. This version of SYSMGR is almost worth the price of SWITCH! by itself. With SYSMGR installed, the user can run any DOS program from FILER without having to quit the other built-in applications.