[Vwoolf] Woolf CD-ROM

Wed Aug 31 04:15:04 EDT 2016

Dear Brenda and David,

Just to pick up this thread which I think originated way back when I was tearing my hair out that the Woolf CD was no longer being supported at Oxford. The story did have a happy ending though as the CD which originally was thought to be lost turned up, the English Faculty as they could no longer network it, gave it to our IT guys who wonderfully managed to ring up something which worked. I have copied and pasted the nuts and bolts of exactly what they did, see below.

Virginia works!

But it must be installed and run on a 32bit Windows operating system.

This is probably where the problem arose with the Bod (Bodleian Library) – they probably upgraded their systems to 64bit.
The program is a 16bit application which 32bit Windows supports (yeah!) - but 64bit doesn’t support (boo!).

J ** managed to get it running on Windows 10 (32bit) inside a virtual machine.
(It is unlikely that Microsoft will remove 32bit versions of Windows for quite some time.)

Option 1

  *    Runs fine on Windows 10 (32bit) - buy a machine and run it off that

·         Only one person can use it at a time
Option 2 –

  *   Buy a server and run on Server 2008 (release 1 not R2) (32bit)
  *   Setup Terminal Services and publish to users
  *   Server 2008 goes End of Life (i.e. No longer supported) on 14/01/202
  *   Will need to licence Terminal Service
  *   Lots of people would be able to use it at the same time
Option 3  –

  *   Using Server 2012 R2 Remote Desktop Services host Windows 10 32bit VMs (through VDI) and publish to users
  *   Will have to licence Client Operating Systems and possibly Remote Desktop Services
It all sounds hideously tecchy to me, but long and the short of it is that we can get it to work for our needs and more importantly for the research needs of our students.

Beyond this, for me as a Librarian I think it is a crying shame that this massive body of work isn’t more easily available. If anyone can think of anything to encourage the powers that be to reissue this so it can be networked easily rather than with the convoluted arrangements we are all having to put into place.

With kind regards from across the pond,

Tessa

Tessa Shaw
Reader Services Librarian,
The Queen’s College,
Oxford,
OX1 4AW

From: Brenda S. Helt [mailto:helt0010 at umn.edu]
Sent: 31 August 2016 06:42
To: 'Adams, David'
Cc: vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu; Tessa Shaw
Subject: RE: [Vwoolf] Woolf CD-ROM

Ah.  Yes, that’s what my electrical engineer husband just told me was probably the issue.  A few years ago he spent some serious time trying to figure out a way that I could run my copy on my latest computer, but had no success.  But you, David, can still run your own CD-ROM on an older PC or notebook at home, can you not?  It’s not a personal security risk, and is of course not any type of security risk to anyone as long as that computer is not connected to a network and is used only for the CD-Rom.

Brenda

Brenda Helt

Co-editor Queer Bloomsbury
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-queer-bloomsbury.html

Fine artist
http://www.brendahelt.com<http://www.brendahelt.com/>

From: Adams, David [mailto:adams.428 at osu.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2016 10:20 PM
To: Brenda S. Helt
Cc: vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<mailto:vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>; tessa.shaw at queens.ox.ac.uk<mailto:tessa.shaw at queens.ox.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Woolf CD-ROM

Brenda,

The university won't support Windows 98, won't even allow it on campus since it's considered a security risk.  Apparently it's been over a decade since 98 was allowed here.  Years ago I used the CD on a Mac with Bootcamp and Windows 98, but apparently Bootcamp can't run it on a newer Mac.

David

On Aug 31, 2016, at 12:58 AM, Brenda S. Helt <helt0010 at umn.edu<mailto:helt0010 at umn.edu>> wrote:

Why is the first option not viable, David?  I think that’s what we’re all doing.  That works pretty well for me when I use the CD, but then a computer running Windows 98 doesn’t register as “really old” to me—nor do they have yellow letters.  I run mine from a laptop.  The screen looks pretty much the same as what you’re using right now.  It’s Windows.  Your students will have no problem with it. Personally, I’d opt for the easy answer.

Brenda Helt

Co-editor Queer Bloomsbury
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-queer-bloomsbury.html

Fine artist
http://www.brendahelt.com<http://www.brendahelt.com/>

From: Vwoolf [mailto:vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu] On Behalf Of Adams, David
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2016 9:24 PM
To: vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<mailto:vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Cc: tessa.shaw at queens.ox.ac.uk<mailto:tessa.shaw at queens.ox.ac.uk>
Subject: [Vwoolf] Woolf CD-ROM

It's taken me six months but I'm hoping to keep this thread alive with some stateside questions.  A year ago I dusted off two copies of the CD not used in years--mine and my library's--and asked a tech wizard at my institution to get them working.  After installing and downloading and transferring and troubleshooting, the tech person told me I have only two options:  buy a Windows 95 or 98 computer off Ebay for $100 for the sole purpose of running this CD, or transfer the CD's text and image files (which are not encrypted) into a folder on my current computer and use the computer's native search engine and readers rather than the CD's software to access the files.

The first option isn't viable for me or my library/students.  I'm doubtful the second option would work well because so much functionality would be lost--so I haven't tried it yet.  Is anyone out there still using the CD without access to a very old Windows computer or a computer with yellow letters (I'm glad to know the ever-resourceful BL still has the CD running)?  Has anyone tried using the CD's raw files with different applications (the second option suggested by my tech person)--does this really work?  Or has anyone found a way to make the CD functional on a post-2012 computer?

Thanks is advance,

David
On Feb 14, 2016, at 10:37 AM, vwoolf-request at lists.osu.edu<mailto:vwoolf-request at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

From: STUART CLARKE <stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com<mailto:stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com>>
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Woolf CD-ROM
Date: February 13, 2016 at 5:20:00 AM EST
To: <vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<mailto:vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>>
Reply-To: <stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com<mailto:stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com>>

I found a computer with yellow numbers and letters in Humanities 1, and, with a bit of trouble, I was able to call up the VW CD-ROM and it seems to be OK and working fine.

Stuart
----Original message----
From : stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com<mailto:stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com>
Date : 12/02/2016 - 10:18 (GMTST)
To : vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<mailto:vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Subject : Re: [Vwoolf] Woolf CD-ROM

I am in the BL at the moment.  According to one of the standard computers, the VW CD-ROM is still available, but only at special computers (e.g., those with bright yellow keys - I can't see any of those around me).

Stuart
----Original message----
From : mhussey at verizon.net<mailto:mhussey at verizon.net>
Date : 11/02/2016 - 19:33 (GMTST)
To : vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<mailto:vwoolf at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Subject : [Vwoolf] Woolf CD-ROM
I am forwarding this request (plea) on behalf of Tessa Shaw, Reader Services Librarian, The Queen's College,
Oxford.
“I am writing to see whether you are able to give me any advice as to where I might obtain a copy of your ‘Major Authors on CD-ROM: Virginia Woolf. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 1995’.

It used to be networked in the University but isn’t any longer as the CISCO software is no longer supported. It is now therefore unavailable in both the British Library( for the same reason as Oxford) and the Bodleian. It would be of huge use to our students at Queen’s as all those studying English do Woolf and it seems a crying shame that one Library at least in Oxford doesn’t hold a copy. We would also be able to make it available to other students studying English.

I have looked high and low to see whether there is a copy somewhere, to buy, but so far no luck. If you are able to point me in the right direction of this pot of gold I would be very grateful and so would the students at Oxford.”

Tessa is at tessa.shaw at queens.ox.ac.uk<mailto:tessa.shaw at queens.ox.ac.uk>.

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