This small program WILL speed-up your computer!
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This program was written by following the instructions in the Productivity 
section of PC Magazine (July 1988). What this does is to delay the DRAM 
refresh cycle. Since the DRAM refresh cycle takes precedence over all other 
system activities, delaying the frequency of the refresh will in effect leave 
more time for other activities such as program instructions. This has the 
effect of speeding-up the computer. Another nice thing about speeding-up the 
computer this way is that it does not use any RAM (as does a cache).

I have an AST/286 & got a 8% speed increase. Some other computers could get 
as much as a 20% increase. You can use SPEED-UP.COM as it is, or you could 
experiment with different settings to maximize you computer. You don't have 
to worry about delaying the refresh too long because, if you do, you will 
receive a "PARITY CHECK" error. All this means is that you've waited too long 
to refresh the DRAM. To remedy this, just turn the computer off and then 
repower it.

You should run a speed checking program such as Landmarks' Speedbar.com or 
Nortons' SI before running SPEED-UP.COM. That way, you can see the results of 
your efforts. Make sure to note the results after each test and use the 
MINIMUM values that give you the greatest speed increase. If you use larger 
values than you need, you might reduce the speed of your hard disk. So... 
it's a good idea to check that also (the hard disk speed) with a program like 
Coretest.

Anyway...... if you don't have any speed testing programs or you don't want 
to fool around with debugging script files, stop reading this and run 
SPEED-UP.COM the way it is. It is VERY conservative and should not produce a 
"PARITY CHECK" error on your computer. If it does, don't use it. If it 
doesn't, add it to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you would like to fool around 
with trying to optimize your computers' speed even more, then read on.

Without going into great detail on what all this stuff means (you could 
always go to the library & get a copy of the article), here's the `skinny'.

You need to edit the file SPEED-UP.SCR & then DEBUG it. Here's how:
You'll see the file EXAMPLE.SCR as below.

N SPEED-UP.COM
A 100
MOV AL,74
OUT 43,AL
MOV AL,LL       ;start w/ "LL" = 30 (then increase by increments of 10)
OUT 41,AL
MOV AL,HH       :start w/ "HH" = 02 (then increase by increments of 01)
OUT 41,AL
INT 20

R CX
E
W
Q

In EXAMPLE.SCR the "LL" & "HH" represent the timing frequency of the refresh 
interval. These are NUMBERS in the file SPEED-UP.SCR.
You should edit SPEED-UP.SCR. When debugged, this file will produce          
SPEED-UP.COM which should then be run. Next, the computer should be checked 
for speed increase. 
Replace "LL" with numbers in increments of 10 or so.(start with 30 & work up)
Replace "HH" with numbers in increments of 01.(start with 02)
In its' original state, SPEED-UP.SCR is the script file used to produce 
SPEED-UP.COM that was included in the speed-up.ARC file.

Since SPEED-UP.SCR already has values of "LL"= 30 and "HH"= 02, start 
increasing those values after running SPEED-UP.COM & noting the speed 
increase over your computers default setting. After increasing the "LL" & 
"HH" values, save your new SPEED-UP.SCR file in a PURE ASCII format. Then 
debug it by typing the following:

                            DEBUG < SPEED-UP.SCR

Make sure DEBUG is in your current directory or in a directory included in 
your PATH statement.

When SPEED-UP.SCR is DEBUGGED, it will create the file SPEED-UP.COM. The next 
step is to run speed-up.com by typing SPEED-UP and pressing return. Check the 
computers' speed again ..... and so on. Increasing the "LL" & "HH" values 
each time until you either get no further speed increase or a parity error.

Once again, use the LOWEST "LL" & "HH" values that give you the greatest 
increase (just to be on the safe side).

Now...... when you're satisfied with SPEED-UP.COM, include it in your 
autoexec.bat file.

If you have any questions or would be so kind as to let me know what results 
you got, leave a message for me on this BBS.

Enjoy it!

Lloyd Burt