Enter the conundrum:
User has 1 PC which has the only connection to the internet
User also has 1 Mac, no software installed, floppy drive only, no internet connection

Question:
How does User get Stuffit Expander onto Mac?

1. User can't unstuff any files downloaded from the internet because they will become corrupted.
2. User can't copy the .bin/.hqx/.sit files to the Mac because there is no way to unstuff them yet.
3. User can't download a DiskCopy image because (a) no PC image-writing app has ever made a usable disk (if it writes the image at all), and (b) user faces the same problem if he tries to copy the image file itself onto a floppy then mount it on the Mac.

I haven't tried a self-extracting archive of Stuffit Expander because I can't find one anywhere, but I assume a self-extractor would have the same problem as any other Mac application that gets put on a PC.

I come across this almost every week with different users, and so far the only way I've found to get around it is to already have a Mac floppy with the Stuffit Expander installer on it. This works for users who have a Mac or users who have a friend nearby with a Mac, but it is very impractical and inconvenient to have to send a floppy in the mail to someone just so they can get one little program.

There has to be an easier way and I would appreciate it if someone could let me know what it is.

Which pretty much covers everything else.

Expand your MacBinary of Stuffit Expander for Mac
*on the PC using Stuffit Expander for PC*

I'm not seeing why that shouldn't do the job.

quote:

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Expand your MacBinary of Stuffit Expander for Mac
*on the PC using Stuffit Expander for PC*

I'm not seeing why that shouldn't do the job.

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If you expand a Mac application on a PC the resource fork gets deleted which renders the app useless.

The only solutions are in fact: Stuffit Expander on a floppy, CD, ZIP disk, external SCSI hard drive, etc.; or transfer file over LAN from another Mac, or Mac compatible fileserver. Windows NT Server and Windows2000 Server can already handle Mac files with their built-in support for Appletalk protocol and Services For Macintosh. But if your only available PC is running Win 3.x, Win95, Win 98, Win ME, WinNT Workstation, Win2000 Workstation or WinXP Workstation, the only way to handle a Mac file without losing the resource fork is to add a third party solution like PCMacLan from Miramar. There is a free demo download for PCMacLan for Win95 and better, so that might be your ultimate solution. It's worth a shot.

I will provide a quick concise summary for those who do not wish to read the entire post.

Download "stuffit_expander_55.hqx" and "HFVExplorer" onto your PCs HDD.
Format a 3.5", 1.44 MB floppy as a Mac floppy.
Using the PC application "HFVExplorer" transfer the file "stuffit_expander_55.hqx" from your PCs HDD to the Mac formatted floppy. "HFVExplorer" both copies the file and also transforms the file ( if necessary ) when it moves a file from the PC environment over to the Mac formatted floppy. When the copying/transformation is complete, you should have a copy of the "Stuffit" installer "Aladdin Expander 5.5 Installer" on the Mac formated floppy.

Above is an attempt at a simple flow chart but the white space is not being retained ???
*****************************************************************************************
The ( previously posted ) long winded, detailed description follows . . .

download the stuffit expander version 5.5 (it has an *.hqx extension) on to your PC from here . . .
http://www.stuffit.com/cgi-bin/stuffit/stuffit_loginpage.cgi?standardmacexp
"stuffit_expander_55.hqx" (size = 1.018 MB)

download a copy of "HFVExplorer" for PC/M$-Winblows from here . . .
http://gamma.nic.fi/~lpesonen/HFVExplorer/

Decompress and Install HFVExplorer onto your PC.

Format a 3.5", 1.44 MB floppy as a Mac floppy.
( you CAN NOT use a 800 KB floppy with HFVExplorer )

< I am assuming below that your PCs 1.44 MB floppy drive is drive "A"
For those who have never used "HFVExplorer" there are some useful screenshots
with the links below . . .

http://mes.emuunlim.com/macemu/basilisk2/basilisk2help/step6_copying75.htm
http://gamma.nic.fi/~lpesonen/HFVExplorer/HFVExplorerHelp.html >

The PC application "HFVExplorer" looks and works much like the PC/M$-Winblows explorer, with a two paned window. The LEFT pane contains the PC drives/Mac volumes and folders. The RIGHT pane has subfolders and files. You use standard M$-Winblows techniques to navigate through the PC drives/Mac volumes and folders.

With the Mac formatted floppy in Drive "A", start up HFVExplorer.exe on your PC.
The "white" Mac formatted floppy icon should appear on the LEFT handside of the HFVExplorer window.

( if the "white" Mac formatted floppy icon does not appear, try hitting the "F5" function key, if that fails see my "Note (2)" below )

Using standard M$-Winblows techniques navigate to the downloaded copy of "stuffit_expander_55.hqx" on your harddrive, which should then appear on the RIGHT handside of the HFVExplorer window. Highlight by clicking on it and drag it over to and on top of the "white" Mac formatted floppy icon in the left window. A dialog box should then appear providing the choice of . . .

"Automatic, let the program decide" , click the "OK" button below.

There is NO progress window to indicate the time remaining to complete the copying/transformation but be PATIENT.

On the piece of crap PII/PC machine running M$-Winblows ME that I have access to, the
copying/transformation process takes approximately 5 minutes, but it may take longer on other PCs. Monitor your PCs floppy "A" drive light for an indication of when the copying is complete. When the copying/transformation is complete, click on the "white" Mac formatted floppy icon on the left side of the HFVExplorer window and you should see a file named "Aladdin Expander 5.5 Installer" (size = 806 KB) appear on the righthand side of the HFVExplorer window.
Shut down HFVExplorer.exe and remove the Mac formatted floppy from Drive "A". You should now have a copy of the "Stuffit" installer, "Aladdin Expander 5.5 Installer" on the Mac formated floppy.

#########################################################################################

Note (1): That the PC program "HFVExplorer.exe" ver 1.3.1 can be cranky and has bugs, some of which are listed below . . .

http://gamma.nic.fi/~lpesonen/HFVExplorer/HFVExplorerHelp.html#KnownBugs

Note (2): Sometimes things get really screwed up
( I am not sure if it is a hardware or software problem )
and I have found that the best solution is to shut down HFVExplorer.exe,
remove the Mac formatted floppy from Drive "A", put a PC/M$-Winblows formatted floppy in drive "A", using the M$-Winblows explorer click on drive "A" to reset the PC floppy controller. Reformat the Mac floppy or use another Mac floppy, replace the Mac floppy into drive "A", restart HFVExplorer.exe on your PC and START OVER AGAIN at "With the Mac formatted floppy ... " etc.

Note (3): I think one could also use "TransMac" . . . http://www.asy.com/
instead of "HFVExplorer.exe".

For those who can only transfer files via 1.44 MB floppies here is some extremely useful software to aid in the transferring of large files from a PC --> Mac.

"Hjsplit" splits large files on a PC . . .

http://www.freebyte.com/freeware/#hjsplit Hjsplit ver. 2.2

"ChunkJoiner" rejoins files split with "Hjsplit" on a Mac.

http://www.dslextreme.com/users/fabrizioo/cj.html ChunkJoiner ver. 2.2

"Process Explorer" allows one to monitor/shutdown running processes (i.e. HFVExplorer.exe) on a PC.

http://www.sysinternals.com/ Process Explorer ver. 6.03

http://www.macwindows.com/disks2.html

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