Hi folks,

About updating from Guide 7 to 8: yes, it might not be a bad
idea if the program were a bit more intelligent about this (a menu
option you could use, for example, which would prompt you to select
the older Guide directory; once you had done so, the files would be
copied from that directory.)

Doing so by hand is not too difficult. You mostly need to worry
about getting .MAR (mark) files, .TDF (user-added dataset) files,
and .UOV (user-created overlay) files copied over. For a start,
just go to the older Guide directory and copy all .MAR files
(except for STARTUP.MAR and FACTORY.MAR) from the older Guide to
the Guide 8 directory.

I say "older Guide" because in reading all three file types,
Guide 8 is backward-compatible to the Stone Age of Guide 6,
almost certainly to Guide 5, and probably Guides 1 through 4.
Quite a few people have upgraded from 6 to 8, and a few have
upgraded from still earlier versions.

If you've created user-added datasets, you should copy the .TDF
and whatever data files you've created over to the Guide 8 directory.
Be a little cautious about copying .TDFs downloaded from the Web site,
though. Most of those datasets now come straight from the CD-ROM.
If you copy, say, the "Globulars in M-31" dataset into the Guide 8
directory, it will appear twice in the "Toggle User Datasets" dialog.
One listing will be from the CD-ROM-based incarnation, the other from
the one you've just copied in. So check these before copying.

Also, if you've made overlays, these will have extension .UOV,
and can be copied over to the Guide 8 directory.

-- Bill