REM REM Introduction: REM ============= REM This is a commented CONFIG.SYS model, intended for users with some REM EDIT experience who wish to optimize a configuration for playing "The 7th REM Guest" you may edit this model with the EDIT command from DOS 5.0 or 6.0, REM and replace the generic information with your system-specific info- REM rmation. Doing so will create a configuration tailored to operation of REM "The 7th Guest". REM REM In order to make use of this model you must be familiar with the EDIT REM program and your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS file structures, although REM users who are unsure of such things may find help by glancing over the REM documentation supplied with their DOS operating system software. REM REM REM REM Legal Disclaimer: REM ================= REM This model is intended as an aid and represents no guarantee that REM Virgin Games, Inc.'s product, The 7th Guest will operate on your REM system at any level of performance. Further, Virgin Games, Inc. will REM not be held responsible for the use or misuse of this model or boot REM disk. The user assumes all risk when modifying or using this boot REM disk with any computer system. REM REM REM REM DOS 6.0 note: REM ============= REM The floppy disk which contains this model is a DOS 5.0 system disk. REM You will not be able to use some DOS 6.0 command parameters in con- REM junction with this boot disk. If you wish to use DOS 6.0 command REM parameters with this model, you will need to copy this model onto REM a DOS 6.0 system disk. If you wish to use DOS 6.0's multiple con- REM figuration capability, you may wish to incorporate this model as REM a menu item. REM REM REM REM Model File Format: REM ================== REM This model is nothing more than a heavily commented CONFIG.SYS file, REM in fact you could theoretically name the file to CONFIG.SYS and boot REM your computer with it, however it will not allow you to run The 7th REM Guest in its current form. REM REM That's where you come in. By filling in the blanks, you can build a REM file which you could rename to CONFIG.SYS and then boot your compu- REM ter system to play The 7th Guest without having to change your cur- REM rent computer configuration. REM REM Each section of the CONFIG.SYS file will provide comments about the REM information needed. You may of course copy your current CONFIG.SYS REM file to the end of this model and then cut and paste the lines REM into the appropriate section rather than typing in such info- REM rmation from a printout listing of your CONFIG.SYS file. REM REM REM REM Copying Your Current Configuration Into This File: REM ================================================== REM To copy your existing CONFIG.SYS file into this model, type the REM following command lines (without the quote marks) from the floppy REM disk drive which contains the update disk: REM REM "COPY CONFIG.TXT+C:\CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.TMP" REM "COPY CONFIG.TMP CONFIG.TXT" REM "DEL CONFIG.TMP" REM "EDIT CONFIG.TXT" REM REM Obviously, you must either print out or write down this command, REM then exit from whatever command was used to view this file, then REM issue the above commands, then use the EDIT utility to resume REM your place in this file. REM REM Once the above line is typed, the current file should have the REM contents of your current CONFIG.SYS file copied to the end of it. REM If you received any errors, you may have mistakenly issued the com- REM mands from the C:> prompt and should instead issue the commands from REM the floppy disk drive. REM REM REM REM Building The Model: REM =================== REM Once you have provided your system specific information in each REM area you should eliminate each line which begins with the "REM" REM (like this one) and save this file as CONFIG.SYS on the floppy REM disk. REM REM REM REM At Last, The Model: REM =================== REM Following this section you will find the actual CONFIG.SYS model REM with comments which appear before each command line entry. REM REM REM REM DEVICE command: REM =============== REM One of the primary purposes for the CONFIG.SYS file is to "expand" REM your computer system by loading software drivers for functions REM which DOS does not directly support. REM REM For example, the current version of DOS does not support any sound REM hardware besides the PC speaker. In order to use your sound card, the REM manufacturer must provide a software driver which will interact REM between DOS and the hardware. REM REM DOS actually provides special drivers, like HIMEM.SYS to provide REM additional services for computers equipped with more than 640k. REM Since nowadays that pretty much includes everybody, HIMEM.SYS is REM a popular driver, along with the companion driver EMM386.EXE. REM REM HIMEM.SYS provides a means to run programs above DOS's 640k limit. REM Using this driver, a user may then load another driver into the REM "High Memory Area", the area between the first 640k and the first REM 1024k. Doing so frees up memory in the "conventional" or "base" REM memory areas -- the only memory area in which large-scale programs REM may run. REM REM Because no driver can be loaded "high" until the HIMEM.SYS driver REM is loaded, this driver usually starts the list of drivers. REM REM EMM386.EXE allows DOS users to make use of all memory beyond the REM first 1024k. In addition, EMM386.EXE allows the user to include REM certain memory blocks in the first 1024k for its own use. One com- REM mon block is the address range E000-EFFF. This 64k block may be REM available for use on your computer and allow you to load more REM device drivers into the "High Memory Area". REM REM EMM386.EXE also allows the user to specify the memory management REM scheme of preference. The 7th Guest utilizes the Extended Memory REM System scheme rather than the Expanded Memory System scheme. REM The reason for this is the savings of memory blocks in the HMA. REM The "NOEMS" parameter on the EMM386.EXE line informs the program REM that you do not prefer Expanded Memory and EMM386.EXE should use REM the Extended Memory System scheme for all available RAM above the REM first 1024k of memory. REM REM If your system cannot operate with the "NOEMS" parameter, you may REM wish to replace this parameter with "1024 RAM" which configures REM the memory usage to include at least 1 megabyte of Expanded Memory. REM REM The only other device drivers which could benefit The 7th Guest REM are those drivers which are needed for the operation of your REM system (sound drivers, CD-ROM drivers, etc.) You may also wish to REM us a CD-ROM cache. REM REM DOS 5.0 MSCDEX.EXE Trade-off: REM ============================= REM DOS 6.0 users should skip down to the WARNING section. REM REM As strange as it may seem, DOS 5.0 users may have to face a trade- REM off between what combinations of programs will load into the High REM Memory Area. For reasons which we cannot delve into for this model REM it seems that any MSCDEX.EXE version below 2.22 will not usually REM load into high memory unless it is the first device driver to be REM loaded there. REM REM For example, if the line which loads your mouse driver high appears REM before the line which tells MSCDEX.EXE to load high, you may find REM out later using the MEM comand, that MSCDEX.EXE simply did not load REM high, even though if you switch the order these lines it may. REM REM So, one of the only sure-fire ways to load MSCDEX into the HMA is REM to load all other programs preceeding it into conventional memory. REM This problem by itself may be one good reason for CD-ROM owners to REM upgrade to DOS 6.0 because MSCDEX.EXE v2.22 which comes with DOS 6.0 REM is much friendier about sharing the HMA with other programs. REM REM The trade-off for DOS 5.0 owners goes like this: You must discover REM which method will provide more conventional memory, as defined by REM the MEM command's largest executable program size: Loading MSCDEX.EXE REM high, as the first program to load high listed in the AUTOEXEC.BAT REM file, with no device drivers in the CONFIG.SYS file loaded high or REM Loading MSCDEX.EXE low, and everything else high. REM REM This model assumes that MSCDEX.EXE will be configured to provide REM 20 2-k buffers, and so loads the device drivers low and MSCDEX.EXE REM into high memory. REM REM WARNING: REM ======== REM Because this section is different for each and every computer REM depending on the CD-ROM, video, sound and mouse software used, you REM should not for a second assume that leaving these default settings REM will enable you to play The 7th Guest. REM REM YOU MUST REPLACE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WITH YOUR SYSTEM-SPECIFIC REM DEVICE LINES: DEVICE=D:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=D:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE noems i=E000-EFFF DEVICE=E:\PROAUDIO\MVSOUND.SYS d:3 q:3 s:1,220,1,7 m:0 j:0 DEVICE=E:\PROAUDIO\TSLCDR.SYS /d:mvcd001 /w3 REM DOS=HIGH,UMB: REM ============= REM This invaluable statement works in conjunction with the HIMEM.SYS REM driver to free conventional memory from DOS system usage. Without REM this line, you would most likely have approximately 135k less con- REM ventional memory available to run programs like The 7th Guest. DOS=HIGH,UMB REM FILES, BUFFERS, and STACKS: REM =========================== REM Besides "expanding" your system through additional drivers, the REM CONFIG.SYS file allows users to customize the use of system REM resources. With these commands, a user may specify additional REM files, buffers, as well as stack use. This example is conservative REM and would probably not be efficient for daily use, however it is REM sufficient for The 7th Guest and frees some additional memory. FILES=20 BUFFERS=20 STACKS=0,0 REM LASTDRIVE command: REM ================== REM You must specify a last drive which is atleast equal to your CD-ROM REM drive in order to play The 7th Guest, otherwise MSCDEX.EXE may not REM load. For example, if your hard drive consists of drives C: and D: REM you must specify LASTDRIVE=E in order to play the 7th Guest. To avoid REM wasting memory, you should specify a drive letter no greater than the REM CD-ROM drive letter. LASTDRIVE=Z REM OTHER COMMANDS: REM =============== REM The following represents the only other command which might be REM considered advantageous to include. You MUST supply the appropriate REM path for the COMMAND.COM program if located elsewhere on your REM hard drive. SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /E:512 /P