Questions tagged [identify-this-software]
Requests to identify retro software, based on an appearance within other media or some other criteria.
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Document format for a DOS word processor where control commands begin with a dot
I successfully achieved the reading of several 5.25″ old floppies. They contain old documents from a retired lawyer.
For the memories, we want to read them correctly, nevertheless, I don't find which ...
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vote
0
answers
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Math and French practice floppies
A long time ago, at school, they used to provide us with some 5.25 inches floppies each year. The teacher used to boot Unisys PCs with some bootable floppies (I do not believe they had hard disks), we ...
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6
votes
1
answer
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Basic page layout program from the PrintMaster 2.0 era
I remember it as "Fantasy" but the lack of results makes me think I may be wrong.
All I know for sure is that it was a single page layout program; it was contemporary with PrintMaster 2.0, ...
- 163
14
votes
1
answer
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Help identifying format of old tape backup
I'm recovering data from old QIC backup tapes for an acquaintance, which I do by dumping the raw data in Linux, and decoding the files from it using my own scripts, which handle several standard ...
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7
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1
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Origin of PALMPC.ZIP "Palm PC emulator"
The program PALMPC.COM, which is available on an old link in the Internet Archive, and also on e.g. S.U.P.E.R., apparently provides graphics emulation, including interrupt 0x5F used by the HP/Lotus ...
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6
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1
answer
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Can you remember the name of a public access Unix system, around 1990/1, Spug or Spud?
Hey I recall accessing a public-access UNIX system in the UK, likely around 1990/91.
I seem to recall it gave you shell access but it might actually have only been Mail or UUCP/usenet client?
I have a ...
- 61
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5
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Was there a way to play an hourly custom sound on Macs circa 1985-1995?
I have a memory of my dad's old Macintosh playing a custom sound every hour. It was his a capella rendition of the Westminster Quarters.
This was decades ago and my memory could be faulty. Was this ...
- 241
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0
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Searching for encryption software for Windows from around year 2000, encrypting files in folders with names starting with @
I am searching for encryption software I was using around the year 2000, probably on Windows 2000. All I know is, it run at background and was automatically encrypting and decrypting files in folders ...
7
votes
1
answer
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Software that emulated VGA high res mode on an EGA board
I have this very faint recollection from my late elementary school days back in the end of 1980s of a very specific piece of MS-DOS software that claimed to do what was an incredible thing to an ...
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5
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0
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Looking for documentation or source for CERN Fortran programming aids
In the 1970s, the CERN Program Library for IBM/CDC included a few FORTRAN source analysis tools. As mentioned in CERN Computer Newsletter 141,
Q. SERVICE OR HOUSEKEEPING-PROGRAMMING AIDS
...
*X ...
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5
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1
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Novell and DOS instant messaging
Long ago, there was a TSR that would allow instant messages to be sent and received between DOS based computers using a Novell network. I think it was called Noteworks.
It had a little airplane that ...
- 153
6
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0
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Atari ST image viewer with unusual zoom
I'm looking for info on an Atari ST (16-color) full-screen image viewer that I once used. When zooming in the edges between colors were smoothly curved (instead of e.g. no smoothing or interpolation ...
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4
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Is this Votan voice assistant from 1984 a real system?
This clip from BBC Archive allegedly shows a computer that can do voice recognition, speaker recognition and speech synthesis with minimal delay in 1984.
I find that hard to believe, they must have ...
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2
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Strange version of Windows 3.1 marked with a "W" logo
I was digging through my storage and came across this old copy of Windows 3.1. It's a strange looking version though and am wondering if anyone has any info on it.
The copyright page only mentions ...
- 261
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1
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Did XEROX 630 and 645 run CP/M?
My late father owned two bulky and havy word processing systems manufactured in the 1980s or early 1990s, a XEROX 630 and a XEROX 645. Both had similar cases featuring an integrated Diablo 630 daisy ...
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4
votes
1
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"GAZE" GUI Organizer program?
In the early-to-mid '90s there was a GUI-based DOS organizer-like program, called GAZE, from which you could launch software and games which had an eyeball in the corner that followed the cursor as ...
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3
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Name of MS-DOS program that shows realtime update of light/dark map of whole planet
Years ago (circa 1996-1997 maybe?) I ran a MS-DOS program that showed a map of the whole earth, updated once a minute with the time, timezones, and light/dark areas of the planet, taking up the whole ...
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votes
1
answer
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Looking for a 90s Macintosh background pattern collection
I've been trying to find a collection of desktop patterns for Macintosh that I had for System 7 back in the day.
I remember it as a specific application that you ran to set the patterns (as opposed to ...
- 295
8
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1
answer
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Which MS-DOS program implemented the "Methinks it is like a weasel" evolutionary algorithm?
In the late 1980s I had a set of 3.5″ floppy disks which contained some games like Sleuth, Centipede, Space War, and Sopwith. Also present was a program that I think was called "weasel", ...
- 181
12
votes
5
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What was this almost-magic Mac data conversion tool?
In the mid 1990s I was working for a large construction/engineering consultancy. We'd often engage the services of an acoustic consultant who used a wonderful piece of software to convert all manner ...
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6
votes
3
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How were "catalog" picture files created? [closed]
Back in the 1990s there were CD-ROMs containing a large collection of pictures split across several folders, where each folder would have a "catalog" file at the top. This file was basically ...
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0
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What was this early 2000s software subscription that had a billboard theme and was about music and bands? [closed]
I cannot remember the name of this music software CDs I used to have. We would get it in the mail every month and it had interviews and song samples in a game style UI with a city/billboard theme. ...
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What is the name of the publishing software used at IBM in the late 80s?
I was a tech writer at IBM in Austin, TX in the late 80s. We were writing documentation for the RS/6000. I loved the publishing software we used and was sorry to see it replaced in the marketplace by ...
- 303
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1
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Which pre-ANSI C compilers allowed a conditional expression as Lvalue?
Soon after learning the C language in the late 80s, before an ANSI C compiler was available on the machines I was using, it occurred to me to check if the following compiles
int a, b, c;
foo() {
(...
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1
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Looking for the source code of a sophisticated Pascal pretty-printing program
I'm trying to find a 70s or very early 80s source code of a Pascal pretty-printing program which is more advanced than the version mentioned on the Prettyprint wiki page which is undated and somewhat ...
- 17.9k
11
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1
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Assembler where output file was executable WHILE including the source code
I seem to remember using an assembler with the following interesting workflow: You'd write an assembly language file and assemble it. The output overwrote your source code by placing the executable ...
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1
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Operating system/hardware used for playing a video during a recorded trial that took place in 2013 [closed]
I am watching a 2013 murder trial on YouTube Jodi Arias Trial : Day 23 : 1 Of 3. There is a considerable amount of evidence involving phones and computers.
The following picture briefly appears on-...
- 1,151
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Network card that came bundled with a space war game
In the 90s, before everything was networked, you had to buy a Network Interface Card as an expansion card for your PC. One brand came with a bundled game where you piloted a space ship and fought ...
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1
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macOS Spaces first appearance under any guise? [closed]
Wikipedia tells me I had to wait until OS X Leopard in 2006 to first use Spaces. It does mention earlier 3rd party structures in an outside reference but the Wayback link quoted doesn't actually ...
- 121
4
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1
answer
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Identifying and recovering programs from tapes
A couple of days ago, I was given some old tapes with programs written on them. However, I am having some trouble with them.
I do not know what computer they were programed for. After recognising the ...
- 141
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1
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Macromedia Flash Desktop API / EXE bundler
Sorry if this is too recent, but back when I was first getting into programming in ~2002-2004, there was some Flash/SWF-to-EXE tool that provided ActionScript bindings to Windows desktop APIs. Does ...
- 141
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1
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What was IBM’s early attempt at an OS/2 office suite?
I definitely remember that sometime after OS/2 was introduced - while it was still in its very early days - after the breakup from Microsoft, long before Warp - IBM announced with great fanfare a ...
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3
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What is this Intel Hexadecimal-like file format in this Tiny BASIC dump?
I am looking at this Tiny BASIC dump which seems to consist of two sections, the first being a list of symbol addresses, and the second one containing Intel Hexadecimal records with a leading space:
...
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A demoscene production from mid-2000s featuring four seasons animation
I recall seeing a PC demo - meaning an executable program demonstrating various graphics and sound effects - in mid-2000s (does this count as sufficiently retro?) that featured animations of the four ...
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Trying to recall an OS I worked on that was called CPM but was not DR's CP/M
I'm trying to trace a type of system I did a little work on in my first job, which was for a company which no longer exists and I am not in regular touch with most of my former colleagues.
It was a ...
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0
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Has anyone heard of SCHEMA page layout tool?
I've found a text formatting tool, under the name of SCHEMA, which would accept an input language like
*RED
*0STA*NN*RG*1RL*0MCS1 20
*3/
*MDLorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
*MDconsectetur adipiscing elit,
*...
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What was this OS / Application on a 80286?
I was hoping, that someone could help me find the name of the operating system that was originally (I guess) used on the 80286 (the later ones with 12MHz).
Before I eventually installed DOS-5.0 and ...
- 213
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1
answer
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What is the *BEAST* event-recording software grammar?
I recently recovered a data-set my father (a biology professor) recorded at UC Berkeley in the 90s on Stickleback mating behaviors. He says the data was recorded using the "open-source BEAST ...
- 133
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0
answers
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What is this 2000s-era Windows XP or earlier educational computer game? [closed]
So I asked this question a while back asking for help with identifying a retro computer game, and got the answer I was looking for. Thus, I've decided to ask for help identifying another retro game ...
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1
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Identifying late 1990s embedded 486 UNIX-like system
I'm trying to identify the operating system on a Thermo-CRS C500 robot arm controller. From the specifications I know it runs on a 100 MHz 486 processor, and has 4 MB RAM and 2MB of flash/NVRAM ...
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What warning was given on attempting to post to USENET, circa 1990?
I recall a confirmation/warning message that read something like
"this will post to thousands of sites... are you sure?"
What was a typical such message in the days of pay-per-minute dialup access?
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2
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What is this programming language having PROC, DCL, LABEL keywords?
A 1980 paper called "Register Allocation via Coloring" contains something that looks like source code:
P: PROC(MODE);
DCL
MODE BIT(1),
(A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,A10,
B1,B2,B3,...
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1
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Looking for a strange DOS database GUI that ran on 286+
I have recently been getting into older apps from when I was a kid; one of these was this strange DOS shipping(?) database GUI that ran on at least a 286, but looked like Windows 3.1; however when you ...
5
votes
2
answers
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Where did the "LEVI" file selector/runner for the Apple II DOS 3.3 come from?
There's a fairly common BASIC program for DOS 3.3 on the Apple II that clears the screen, prints a catalog of the disk, and allows you to select files by letter to run or do other operations on them. ...
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0
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Oxford C compiler for Commodore 64
I kept one floppy from my Commodore 128 (which I used mostly in C64 mode), labelled ‘Oxford C compiler’. It is a 5.25″ floppy. Don't ask me why I kept just this one; probably because I thought I ...
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2
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Looking for PC graphics demo software from the early 90s called "Unreal"
Back in the early 90's I remember downloading a graphics demo called, I think, "Unreal". This was on DOS on a standard PC and probably downloaded from a BBS.
Identifying information:
It ran for ...
- 3,856
5
votes
2
answers
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Looking for an IBM multimedia demo from the 80s/90s about "Ulysses"
I am trying to identify / find an online copy of a multimedia technology demonstration video. Timeframe: late 1980s / early 90s? Source: IBM. Format: VHS.
The content of this video was a computer ...
- 3,856
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What are the IPSE’s, the ASPE’s, the FRIPSE’s and the GRIPSE’s?
In one of Edsger Dijkstra's most famous essays "By way of introduction" there is this paragraph:
As final example of skirting the programming issue I mention “software engineering”, the IPSE’s, the ...
8
votes
7
answers
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What was this menu application in DOS?
My father's computer in the early 90s (probably 1991, or at the latest 1992) had a piece of software that acted as an application launcher. I think it was simply called "menu".
Its graphics ...
- 283
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1
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Identifying this 6502 Assembler
I found some 6502 assembler code for a Commodore 64 program that uses meta commands like #include "foobar", define the address to be assembled to via *=$1234 and define labels without a colon. ...
- 4,357