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DIABLO BLUE is published monthly by the Diablo Valley PC User's Group,
Walnut Creek, California, an organization open to anyone interested in
IBM PC's and their clones.

Entire  contents  are  copyrighted  by   the  DVPC  except  as  noted.
Permission for  reproduction in whole or  in part is granted  to other
computer user groups for non-profit use, as long as credit is given to
the author(s).  All other reproduction without  the permission of DVPC
is prohibited.

Diablo Valley PC Users Group
P.O. Box 8040 # 117
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Edited by Walt Parsons & Jane Lester
BBS phone [phone]


The following article  appeared in the September 1990  issue of Diablo
Blue.



                         MORE ON WINDOWS 3.0

                         by Richard C. Kent
                           Windows Editor

Microsoft  Windows  3.0  offers  more  than  multitasking  and  memory
management.  It  is  truly  an  integrated  system  manager,  if  used
properly.  My perspective  and opinions  are based  on a  fairly broad
range of programs that run  under Windows, primarily for business, but
also  for professional  and personal  reasons. I  have been an invited
speaker on Windows and am a beta tester for several Window's compliant
products. This discussion applies to a single computer system, and not
to  servers  or  other  aspects  of  networking.  Mr. Walt Parsons has
suggested, and I agreed, that this is the first of several articles on
Windows and related subjects.

Graphics based system managers like Windows 3.0 are not new. They have
been around  since the early  1980's on "personal/desktop"  computers.
What is  new are the  plethora of central  processing units that  have
been  invented to  guide and  control  more  and more  of the  flow of
'information'.  Along  with  the  power  in  CPU's  came the unwitting
sloppiness in  writing programs. Hence,  a cycle is  in place and  the
consumer is caught in the middle.  The cycle is: the more power placed
in a CPU, the less the programmer  must rely upon his artful design of
programs ("let  the CPU+memory handle  it"). Therefore, we  are seeing
programs that not  only take up disk space, but  take up Random Access
Memory as well. We are almost  at the point of the optical-laser drive
being commonplace.  As they grow in  memory capacity, you can  bet the
average programmer  will attempt to take  it away from you.  Hence the
cycle. It is not all bad. The wealth of information at your fingertips
is huge, and you should have  total control of the situation (purchase
compatible equipment).

Why the  spiel on memory?  Well, Windows 3.0  needs lots of  it - both
disk and RAM. Programs written for  Windows take a lot of memory also.
There  are only  a few  international guidelines  on computer industry
standards.  It  is  coming  and  Windows  3.0  takes  a  giant step in
developing  a  basis  for  those  standards.  This  assumes  that Disk
Operating Systems  like Microsoft's will not  totally change, but will
evolve into  something that can  handle unlimited disk  and RAM memory
(be prepared to obtain MSDOS 5.x). As a guide, use Windows 3.0 only on
systems with a minimum memory of  60 MegaBytes on disk and 4 MegaBytes
of  RAM. If  your computer  needs are  for occasional word processing,
spreadsheeting,  maybe a  Christmas  mailing  list in  databasing, and
having fun calling  a BBS, then maybe, just maybe,  Windows 3.0 is not
for you,  except to satisfy your  own curiosity. I am  only discussing
systems  that average  $10,000 or  less  here.  If you  want to  see a
different world in computers, take a tour of the Federal research labs
or a major corporation.

Windows starts  with an opening  title screen, not  for "ego", but  to
show  that  Microsoft  owns   the  copyright.  Computer  software  was
"patched"  into the  Federal laws  on copyrights.  All major  programs
startup this way for their own protection, not yours. Windows also has
extensive on-line help, as most of the better software programs do, to
lead  you into  electronic form,   and away  from having  paper laying
around. Once up  and running, there simply is little  reason to have a
book on Windows except as a general reference when you change hardware
or add new programs. By the way,  for about $325, you can purchase the
Windows  Toolkit and  build your  own programs  for interfacing within
Windows.

How much memory does Windows require?  On my system, it takes up about
10 MB on  disk. That includes most of the  utilities for Windows, such
as a screen blanker (something that  Microsoft refuses to put in their
programs for  some reason). It  includes a bunch  of pictures since  I
like  different backgrounds  (some people  deplore this  idea), system
screen font  drivers, help files,  and PIF's. My  physical hard drives
are  set up  as several  logical drives.  C: drive  only contains  the
operating system, associated drivers for printing, and a sprinkling of
all  purpose utilities.  I control  that drive  totally with  all file
attributes set  to Read Only.  My DOS Path  environment in minimal  to
give me the  most memory. Only the C: Drive  and the Windows Directory
are  in my  Path statement.  This  serves  as a  security feature  for
programs that try  to change and add to  my C: drive files, and  it is
more difficult for  a virus to change a Command.Com  file that is Read
Only  (although  not  impossible  -  some  do).  Windows  Ramdrive and
Smartdrive are on my C:Drive. When those programmers tell you to place
their program in  the Path Environment by adding  to your Autoexec.Bat
file, don't let them. Create a Batch file of three lines and put it in
C: Drive: include on line 1  the drive where their program is located,
on  line 2  include CD\  and the  directory name,  and in  line 3  the
program name.  Several Bats on your  C: Drive (which is  in your Path)
that use disk  memory are better than putting  program directory names
in volatile memory (RAM) that  can be corrupted with interference from
other programs. And  you can call your BAT  anything your like, making
it easier to remember.

If at  all possible, I  suggest starting a  setup with Windows  from a
fresh hard drive that is formatted with the latest MSDOS (4.01). I get
a lot of argument on this, but it boils down to many who really do not
want to take the time to  backup the entire harddisk before formatting
it with MSDOS FDisk. MSDOS 4.01 takes a look at your existing hardware
and  suggests  numbers  for  it's  SmartDrive  setup.  Any  setting of
Smartdrive below 256K is worthless and below 512 is questionable as to
it's usefulness. If you are really sold on Quarterdecks memory manger,
QEMM  and others,  then it  will just  take longer  to properly  setup
Windows.  It will  take even  longer if  you use  Disk Manager for the
Seagate harddrives to format. This is not a sales pitch for Microsoft.
Compatible is  all important in computer  hard and software, and  as I
mentioned  before, the  computer  industry  is rampant  with literally
worldwide factories creating all kinds  of equipment that seems to run
on your computer (and confuse you).

As you are presented options during  the Windows setup, try to foresee
the growth  of your computer  system as much  as possible by  creating
drivers for more than the one peripheral that you now have attached to
your system. While it is easy  to add drivers through Windows Setup, a
year from now you will have forgotten the details of the Setup program
and if you then make a mistake,  there is a possibility of other files
being  revised at  the same  time. This  could cause  chaos. Your disk
space  may  be  limited  as  to  the  number  of  drivers that you can
initially add. That  is why I suggest purchasing  equipment capable of
handling more than  your wildest dreams. You will not  regret it if it
is high quality.

Windows  will ask  you if  you want  a permanent  SwapFile on the hard
drive. Mine is set at 5 MegaBytes  (more than usual) because I need to
manipulate satellite  images. Windows uses  this Swapfile to  put your
program in, and then reads from  it, rather than hunting all over your
fragmented disk  for pieces of  the program files.  Choose a permanent
SwapFile around  2 MB to  start with, and  change it later  by running
Windows in real  mode from Dos (WIN /r) after  you gain experience. If
you started  with a freshly formatted  disk, there will be  ample room
for Windows  to find the required  contiguous block of disk  space. If
you did not, then you will  be limited to the largest contiguous space
it can  find. Or use a  de-fragmenter to close up  files physically on
the disk and make a larger contiguous space.

I have about  10 MegaBytes of  RAM because of  the graphic programs  I
need to  use. Windows manages that  RAM memory, the base  640 KiloByte
RAM memory  and the Hi RAM  memory from there to  1 MegaByte (256KB of
extended memory). About 22% of the Windows User's Guide and almost all
of the  readme files are  dedicated to optimizing  Windows. Therefore,
this aspect of  setup is no small feat, will  take time, and will take
tweaking as  you go along adding  and deleting programs. There  are no
general  rules. You  must sit  down  and  read, pick  out those  setup
options that  apply to your system,  and try them. I  was lucky with a
system that uses  the 386 Enhanced mode exclusively.  I have no reason
to  run  Windows   in  Standard  or  Real  modes.   If  setup  becomes
overwhelming or too time-consuming, hire  someone, or better yet, call
me (I am a freebee Mentor for Windows in the DVPC).

Windows will install what is called "Windows programs". These programs
are specifically programmed to run only in Windows and will not run in
system  (e.g DOS)  mode. They  carry common  features for transferring
information to each  other, including the same menu  items in the same
place. The  Accessories include Write (a  scaled down word processor),
Paintbrush (for drawings),  Terminal (for quickie telecommunications),
Calculator (optionally  scientific), Calendar (with  alarms), Cardfile
(database),  Clock   (optionally  digital),  Notepad   (text  editor),
Recorder (create  automatic functions and write  macros), and PIF (for
non-Windows applications).  What more do  you need? Of  the many, many
computer  applications,  the  average  user  has  a  need in 5 general
categories:  word  processing,  spreadsheet,  database,  drafting, and
telecommunications. From  there, everyone customizes  their system for
their needs. Windows hits 4 of the 5 categories, although Terminal for
telecommunications   and   drawing   fordrafting   are   weak   links.
Telecommunications  should be  done with  a program  having many  more
features and drafting should be done  with a Computer Aided Design and
Drafting (CADD/CAD).

Windows per se is a group  of programs for managing the entire Windows
platform. These  programs are also automatically  created during setup
and include  Program Manager, File  Manager, Control Panel,  and Print
Manager.  All programs  running under  Windows must  flow through  and
yield some  control to, one or  more of these programs.  Some programs
only need Program  Manager to get them started  through a PIF (Program
Information File). Viewing Windows on  a monchrome monitor is possible
but not advisable  except for desktop publishing as  a replacement for
offset printing.

Customize. That's user  friendliness. You are in total  control of how
the computer  handles your situation and  viewing preferences. Windows
will do that  for you with minor limitations.  Keyboard vs mouse, icon
vs typing,  tile vs cascade  vs icons, and  macros at the  push of one
button. This is not a program that  you can run immediately out of the
box. You  must think and  do some planning.  You must learn  the basic
Window commands and menus (it's easy).

Because Windows  sets up a  virtual machine for  me when I  ask it to,
each non-Windows program has it's own disk  and RAM to work with on my
system. That  means no interference  and dedicated RAM  and disk space
for each  program, just as  though I had  10 computers each  running a
separate program. Each setup admittedly takes time to optimize Windows
through revisions of the PIF.

My basic  computer tools under Windows  are Word For Windows  with 167
fonts, Excel, SuperBase 4, The  DeskTop Set, Xtree Gold, Crosstalk For
Windows, JetForm,  TimeSlips III, Quicken,  and Drafix. My  peripheral
programs, also  all running under  Windows, include Harvard  Graphics,
Harvard  Project Manager,  Graphics Transformer,  and Logitech ScanMan
(through  a  Paint  program).  I  have  a  not-so-hot OCR program that
converts scanned images  to electronic text. I have  something like 20
floppies of  Windows utilities laying around  that include the latest.
Some  of  my  programs  are  specialized,  such  as,  developing water
pollution paths and drilling groundwater  wells. I have simply run out
of time  to do any  more programming,  so  it is limited  to the Basic
Language offshoots  included in many  programs like Word  For Windows,
Excel,  and Crosstalk.  I often  need to  customize source  code which
comes with programs  for my work. By the way,  I previously used other
programs  before  I  settled  on  Windows  3.0  and those shown above,
including:  Wordperfect, Lotus  1-2-3, Automenu,  DBase III, Desqview,
Enable,  Fastback Plus,  Procomm, Telix,  Ventura Publisher,  AutoCad,
Wordstar, and so many utilities they don't ring a bell anymore.

If you see the name of a  program for which you need help, please give
me  a call  and I  will do  my best.  Above all,  don't catch yourself
playing with Windows. It is not  a toy (I use Flight Simulator). There
are no returns under copyright (you don't own it). And the computer is
not biodegradable.  It just loses value  while the information becomes
priceless.