Garbage characters inserted in Calendar Event entry on XP with SK 98

[bex1210]

I have been running Sidekick 98 on a computer with Windows 98SE for years, with no problems (except for the "normal" incorrect due date). I just bought a new computer with XP Pro SP2, and installed Sidekick 98 from the CD., along with the SKpatch.exe. Everything seems to work, EXCEPT that either "garbarge" characters are inserted in the Calendar event entry, or there is nothing entered when I try to type. Using the drop down Calendar->Events->, the info can be entered just fine. All other items on this page (ToDo and Calls) and the Contacts, Memos, and Expenses pages seem to accept typed entries just fine. The other thing I noticed is that Sidekick loads slower than on my old computer, which I though was strange.

I have been through the forum posts and FAQ here, and found faq807-3130, Posted: 6 Feb 03, which indicated someone else had a similar problem. Rundll32.exe WAS running in the background on my new computer. However, eliminating it had no effect on the garbage character issue.

Has anyone else experience this problem, and if so, how did you overcome it? Like most of you, Sidekick fits my needs perfectly and I don't want to abandon it.

Harry

 

[james33]

Dear bex1210,

The situation is as you have discovered and the only answer is to double click and then enter the appointment.

If you have Active words you can script a new entry and make the alarm sound at the time by using 2 letters and pressing a function key.
Saves all the messing about!

http://www.activewords.com/

Regards Jim
Check the FAQ area of this Forum for answers (If there are any FAQs!) , it could save you a lot of time and effort!

 

[bex1210]

James:

Thanks for the double click suggestion. Works fine. And I also appreciate the link to ActiveWords. I will take a look at it.

But my Sidekick 98 opens VERY slowly in XP, and sometimes it gets hung on the opening screen, and I have to Ctrl-Alt-Del to close it. So I have (relunctantly) been looking at other PIM's, based on some of the messages on this board.

I have no trouble exporting the Sidekick Contacts to something like a .csv file which most PIM's can read, but Sikekick does not seem to give me a way to export my extensive Calendar appointment list data file. Do you know of some way that I can trick Sidekick into letting me translate this file into something readable? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Harry

 

[bex1210]

James:

I forgot to mention that I have been to

"Freezing at Splash/welcome screen + Install Freezes
faq807-5203
Posted: 13 Jun 04 (Edited 14 Oct 07)"

And none of the possible conflict programs mentioned apply in my case.

Harry

 

[james33]

Dear bex1210,

Regarding the slow loading of Sidekick:
Try adjusting the shortcut to run in compatibility mode.
It worked fine for me with XP and now with Vista.

The best suggestion for converting the Calendar is here:
Converting Calendar Data to Outlook2003
faq807-6797

Regards
Jim