Q. I own a NEC PC8201A lap portable with full internal expansion, but banks 1 and 2 don't seem to be on speaking terms.

There's a utility supplied free with the machine to allow you to transfer files from bank to bank, but as it takes up 12K in each, it defeats the point of expansion. What am I doing wrong?

S. Hazelgrave, Leeds

A. Nothing. You've just come up against one of the less lovable features of the NEC. There are three ways to transfer data between RAM banks. You can use XFILES.CO, but that takes a lot of space.

You could use the BA (Bank Accessor) program which allows you to open files for input or output in two separate banks using BNK n: as a drive prefix, e.g.

  OPEN "BNK1:filename" FOR INPUT AS#1
  OPEN "BNK2:filename" FOR OUTPUT AS#2

You'd have to write a simple Basic program to transfer data - not difficult but again, the machine code gobbles a fair amount of RAM.

The most memory-efficient way is to use an external mass-storage device - cassette if you've got plenty of time and patience, larger micro with disk drives (via RS232) for speed and reliability.