================================================================================ MICROSOFT WINDOWS/386 VERSION 2.11 ================================================================================ Changes between versions 2.10 and 2.11 ------------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.11 now supports the following hardware: o IBM 8514/a video adapter o additional Toshiba printers (see READMETO.TXT) o additional HPPCL printers (see READMEHP.TXT) o includes a dynamic link library to allow the Postscript driver to work with AppleTalk networks Setting your stacks= line in config.sys: -------------------------------------------------------------- It is possible to run out of stacks running with Windows/386. Users with DOS 3.3 should put the line stacks=0,0 in their config.sys file, or, if they need to use stacks, stacks=9,192 Users with DOS 3.2 should use this second line since they cannot set their stacks to 0. Interaction between windowmemsize and emmsize: -------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to set your windowmemsize= line in win.ini to something other than 640K you must set your emmsize= line to 0. For example if you want to allocate 448K for running Windows and your Windows applications, use the following lines in your win.ini. [win386] windowmemsize=448 emmsize=0 Using share.exe with Windows/386: -------------------------------------------------------------- In order to prevent two applications from modifying the same file, you can run the DOS utility share.exe prior to starting Windows/386. Share.exe should always be run BEFORE running Windows/386 as it will not perform correctly when run from within Windows/386. For further information on how to install share.exe and how it works, consult your DOS manual. Windowmemsize, networks, and device drivers: -------------------------------------------------------------- In the Windows/386 Users Guide, on page 25, in the section headed "Setting the Virtual-Machine Size", the minimum windowmemsize= setting is listed as 384. In general this is true, with the exception that users with a large number of device drivers or who are running with a network installed will need to set this somewhat higher. If running Windows/386 gives you the error message "Not enough memory to run Windows" when you run win386.exe, try setting windowmemsize higher in 20K increments. Running IBM 3270 terminal emulation software under Windows/386: -------------------------------------------------------------- Several users have reported problems running the Entry Level version of the IBM 3270 Terminal Emulation software under Windows/386. There are NO compatibility problems running this under Windows/386. What appears to happen is that the program is loaded and then immediately terminates. The user is returned to Windows with this application running in a full- screen window with the word "Inactive" added to the title of the application. What is happening is that this program is a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) application, or pop-up program, similar to Borland's Side-Kick. Once the program has loaded itself into memory, it issues a DOS terminate command, which is indistinguishable from a normal application exiting. See page 23 of the Windows/386 Users Guide for details on running these types of applications. Basically you shouldn't run this program directly from the MS-DOS executive. Instead you should first run the DOS command interpreter, command.com, by running one of the command?.pif files located in the directory in which you installed Windows/386. A second problem that has been reported is that since Windows/386 uses the alt-escape key combination to switch between applications, this key sequence is not available to versions 2.0 and 3.0 of the IBM 3270 terminal emulator to switch sessions. In order to work around this, an additional set of win.ini settings were added which allow you to disable various Windows/386 key combinations and instead pass them to the applications you are running. See the following section. Disabling Windows/386 key combinations: -------------------------------------------------------------- In your win.ini there is a section that allows you to disable Windows/386 key combinations. This is useful for people with the IBM 3270 Terminal Emulation software (it uses alt-esc), Microsoft Word (it uses alt-esc and alt-space), Microsoft Quick-BASIC (it uses alt-space), and other applications that use the same key combinations as Windows/386. Here is the default win.ini setting: [win386] altescape=on altenter=on altspace=on alttab=on altprintscn=on Changing these entries from on to off will turn off the corresponding Windows/386 keyboard function. For example if you wanted to use alt-escape with the IBM 3270 terminal emulation software you would have this in your win.ini. [win386] altescape=off altenter=on altspace=on alttab=on altprintscn=on You could still switch between applications by using the alt-tab key combination. NOTE: Disabling a key combination is global; if you disable it because you need the key sequence for one of your applications, it is disabled for all of your applications. See your win.ini for additional information on using this feature. Running two copies of the DOS format command simultaneously: -------------------------------------------------------------- You should not try to format two floppy disks at the same time using DOS 3.1. This will work with DOS 3.2 or later. Pifedit.exe location: -------------------------------------------------------------- The Windows Users Guide says that pifedit.exe may be located in the pif subdirectory of the directory into which you installed Windows. It is actually located in the main directory along with the other Windows desktop applications. New font format: -------------------------------------------------------------- Font files have changed from earlier versions of Windows. Several Windows applications are shipped with additional fonts that will need to be converted. For example, PageMaker 1.0A comes with several font files called pmfon?.fon. These fonts are used to draw the toolbox, the page icons, and various additional text sizes. If you run PageMaker and the toolbox has black dots rather than the appropriate icons, you have not converted your fonts from the old, Windows 1.04 format to the new, Windows 2.0 format. There is a utility provided with Windows/386 called newfon.exe which will convert these fonts. It is located on your Fonts Disk. This utility is a non-Windows application. The syntax for converting a font file is - NEWFON [old-font-file-name] So if you were converting the PageMaker font pmfonte.fon to the new format, you would bring up the run dialog in the MS-DOS executive (or type it directly from DOS) and execute newfon pmfonte.fon New paint format: -------------------------------------------------------------- The Windows Paint file format for Windows 2.0 is different from the earlier Windows Paint file format. This means that applications, like PageMaker 1.0A, that could read in paint files (*.msp) from the earlier version can not read in the new files. Use copy and paste to move images from the Windows Paint included with Windows/386 into other Windows applications. Minimize MS-DOS Executive: -------------------------------------------------------------- An option has been added to the MS-DOS Executive File menu Run dialog box. This is a check-box titled "Minimize MS-DOS Executive." If you select this option the MS-DOS Executive will be minimized each time you run an application. This frees up some additional memory and reduces screen clutter. Spooler will remove itself after printing terminates: -------------------------------------------------------------- If the spooler is minimized, it will now exit when printing is finished. If the spooler is not minimized, it will not exit. Running single-drive systems with Windows/386 and accessing drive b: -------------------------------------------------------------- If you have a single floppy drive and you use it both as drive a: and drive b: (for example running the DOS utility diskcopy to copy files from a: to b:), the Windows MS-DOS executive will not show a drive icon for either drive a: or drive b: when b: is the current drive. The work- around is to run command.com, and do a directory of a: (you will be prompted to insert a disk for drive a:). The MS-DOS executive will then display a drive a: icon. 16-bit versus 32-bit memory: -------------------------------------------------------------- Most 80386 based personal computers have the capability of running with memory cards that provide 32-bit access as well as running with AT compatible memory cards that have 16-bit access. Applications that execute from 32-bit memory will run about twice as fast as applications that are executing from 16-bit memory. Under DOS, all of your applications will execute from 32-bit memory, since the 32-bit memory occupies the first 640K of memory out of which DOS executes. Under Windows/386 you can now execute applications that are running out of all of the memory in your machine. This is fortunate, because it allows you to run several applications concurrently, each in their own memory space. This is unfortunate since it means that some of those applications will be running out of 16-bit memory, hence they will be running about half as fast as they would if they were running out of 32- bit memory. Windows/386 will try to use up your 32-bit memory first, but you will either need to accept the performance loss associated with executing out of this slower, 16-bit memory, or you will need to replace any AT compatible memory boards in your machine with additional 32-bit memory. Expanded memory default: -------------------------------------------------------------- In the Windows/386 User's Guide it says that half of all memory is available as expanded memory as a default. This is incorrect. All of memory is available as expanded memory as a default. This can be a problem if you run a DOS application that allocates all of expanded memory when it initializes. Lotus 1-2-3 will use only the expanded memory it needs, so it won't cause a problem. Ashton-Tate's Framework, on the other hand, will take all of the expanded memory available even though it isn't using it for anything. This means that all of the available memory in your machine will be allocated to Framework as expanded memory, which in turn means you won't be able to run any more DOS applications. You can solve this by changing the "emmsize=" setting in your win.ini file to indicate the amount of memory in KB you want available to use as expanded memory. Running DOS applications that use the mouse: -------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to use the mouse in DOS applications such as Microsoft Word or Chart versions 3.0 and greater, you must install the mouse driver software before running Windows/386. See your Microsoft Mouse documentation for details on installing the appropriate device driver. You must also select the Microsoft Mouse option in the Windows/386 setup program (i.e. if you want to use the mouse with your DOS applications, you need to set up Windows/386 itself to use the mouse). Lastly, when an application that uses the mouse is run in a window, the mouse is not available to the application since Windows/386 itself will be using the mouse. You will need to run your DOS applications in full-screen or exclusive modes to allow them to use the mouse. Windows/386 and Graphics Cards that use non-maskable interrupts (NMI's): -------------------------------------------------------------- Non-maskable interrupts are ignored when Windows/386 is running. Auto- switch graphics cards that use NMI to switch won't auto-switch under Windows/386. This is not a problem at all since Windows/386 takes care of all display mode switching. Another example is the Atron break-box won't allow you to break into your debugger. There is no work-around for the second example. Using SMARTDrive -------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix C, "Speeding Up Windows with SMARTDrive" in the Windows User's Guide contains detailed instructions on installing the disk-caching program SMARTDrive provided with Windows/386. The following is updated information on adding SMARTDRV.SYS to your CONFIG.SYS file: - Set the buffers= command line to 20. Setting buffers= to higher values uses memory without additional performance benefits; setting it to a lower value reduces performance benefits. - If you have a Compaq Deskpro and ENHDISK.SYS is listed in your CONFIG.SYS file, and you wish to use SMARTDrive, you must list the SMARTDRV.SYS command line after ENHDISK.SYS. Making a System Diskette Under Future Versions of DOS ----------------------------------------------------- Under future versions of DOS, you may have problems creating a bootable system diskette from the MS-DOS Executive - Special, Make System Disk command. We recommend you exit Windows/386 and use the DOS method for making a bootable system diskette. Please refer to your DOS manual for more information. PCLASER.DRV for the Ricoh PC Laser 6000 -------------------------------------------------------------- This printer driver is located on the 1.2 mb "Write-Applications" disk, and is not located on the 720K 3-1/2" disks. Copy this file onto a 3-1/2" diskette and then use the control panel to install this printer driver on a machine without 5-1/4" disk drives. ================================================================================ END OF README.TXT ================================================================================