[Coco] CER-COMP software

[Andrew]

All,

I have been playing a little bit with my Cer-Comp software (mainly 
Window Master and CBASIC III for the CoCo 3). I have been trying to get 
it to run on David Keil's CoCo 3 emulator, one of the 128K versions (for 
some reason, the 512K version I have is rebooting my machine).

Anyhow - CBASIC III and Window Master each come on a floppy. In the 
manual, it states to back up the software (using BACKUP), but only use 
the original to load and run the software (interestingly, the CBASIC 
manual mentions that if the original floppy is damaged, CER-COMP will 
replace it, while the Window Master manual doesn't say anything about this).

Trying to use the backup (of either) on my real CoCo 3 results in errors 
(though Window Master seems to load much further than CBASIC). Loading 
the original works fine.

Using RETRIEVE to make a DSK image of either original floppy results in 
problems - the CBASIC software causes a reboot of the emulator, while 
the Window Master software loads up partially, then hitting ESC (to 
BREAK) drops you to the "console" of WM, but you can't type anything 
(like it is "frozen") - interestingly, this is what happens on a real 
CoCo 3 with the WM backup (if you try running it).

This is telling me "copy protection" - in a prior email I asked about 
these programs, where CER-COMP and Bill Vergona was, and the stance on 
whether CER-COMP software can be distributed as "abandonware" to the 
community (basically, does it have his blessing, or does he care). 
However, if the program won't even load in an emulator...

Thoughts?

Andrew Ayers