This text file contains both the Windows Magazine CD FAQ and the Wintune 2.0 FAQ. By the time you read this, the information in this file will be a month or more out of date. You can download the latest version from our forums on Compuserve or America Online, or you can send an e-mail message to wmcdfaq@dnai.com and the latest version of this file will be sent back automatically. *** The Windows Magazine CD FAQ *** Frequently Asked Questions Windows Magazine CD wmcd-faq.txt Version 1.14, 4/4/95 *** PURCHASE: Where can I get a copy of the CD-ROM? The quarterly Windows Magazine CD (formerly Windows Magazine Extra CD) is available at many of the same fine retail establishments that sell Windows Magazine. You can also order a four-CD subscription ($39.95) by calling 800-255-8100. We expect to ship the second CD in June. TECHNICAL SUPPORT: How do I get technical support? Due to the low cost of the CD-ROM, we cannot provide one-on-one technical support via e-mail, telephone, or mail. A combination FAQ for the WinMag CD and Wintune 2.0 is available by Internet e-mail answerback. Send a message to wmcdfaq@dnai.com and the latest version will be sent back automatically. Note that the system will send only one copy per day to the same e-mail address. We currently provide direct technical support only through our forums on CompuServe (G WINMAG, message section 14) and America Online (keyword WinMag, then choose Message Exchange, then look in the folder CD_TIPS). Please read through this FAQ completely and browse messages already in the folder *before* posting there. To access Compuserve or AOL, install the software from the CD (click on the Compuserve or America Online icon in Demonstration Software help file). You will need a credit card number to log on. *** ERROR: "Cannot Run Program: No application is associated with this file" when trying to open STARTUP.HLP, SHAREWAR.HLP, TIPS.HLP or WINMAG94.HLP - or - GENERAL: Notepad or Write display garbled nonsense and control characters Windows has lost the association between the .HLP extension and Windows Help. To fix the problem, open the File Manager and select startup.hlp (or any file with the .hlp extension). Choose Associate from the File menu, press Tab to move into the Associate With box, replace whatever is there currently with "winhelp.exe", and click OK. ERROR: "The database could not be initialized. PageKeeper will exit." If you don't let Pagekeeper modify your configuration files, you need to add the following lines to the end of WIN.INI: [PageKeeper] IniFilePath=c:\pagekeep (If you didn't install PageKeeper in c:\pagekeep, replace it with the proper path.) ERROR: "Routine not found" If you get a "routine not found" message, check the properties for the Program Manager icon(s) you created for this CD's Windows Help (.hlp) files, and make sure the working directory points to the root directory of the CD-ROM. ERROR: "FileMaker Pro requires a newer version of CLARIS.DLL. Please reinstall the FileMaker Pro software." The "All the Products" database uses the FileMaker Pro runtime, which will produce this error message if you try to run it on a PC with FileMaker already installed. To fix the problem, edit the program item properties for "All the Products" (select the icon and press Alt-Enter) and change the Command Line entry to "products.fm". *** GENERAL: can't print Most programs print by loading an entire file into memory and printing. Windows Help is unusual in that it reads from the disk (or CD-ROM) as it prints. If your CD-ROM driver shares IRQ7 with the printer port, the result is that you can't print out .HLP files from a CD-ROM. The best fix we currently know of is to open the Control Panel, double-click on Printers, click the Connect button, and check the "Fast Printing Direct To Port" check box. Alternatively, you can copy the .HLP file to your hard disk and print from that copy. SCREENCAM DEMOS: No sound Try turning up the volume using the slider on the ScreenCam tool palette. Sometimes ScreenCam sets it so low that it's inaudible. We've found that some sound boards will not play ScreenCam sound you start TIPS.HLP with a program item whose working directory doesn't point to the TIPS.HLP file. The fix is the same as for "ERROR: Routine Not Found" above. The Ensoniq Soundscape Wavetable Sound Card may need new drivers before the sound will work with ScreenCam. *** Wintune is a registered trademark of CMP Publications, Inc. *********************************************************** *** The Wintune 2.0 FAQ *** Frequently Asked Questions Wintune 2.0 wt20-faq.txt Version 3.00, 4/4/95 Starting with version 3.00, the Wintune FAQ incorporates most of the information that was previously found in Wintune's README.TXT. Wintune is a registered trademark of CMP Publications, Inc. *** Wintune 2.0 is available for download from CompuServe (G WINMAG, library 4), America Online (keyword WinMag), or by ftp (ftp.std.com, directory \pub\winmag). You can also find it elsewhere, but you'll always find the latest version at these officially-supported sites. Wintune is also available commercially as part of the Windows Magazine CD (formerly Windows Magazine Extra), which is available at many of the same fine retail establishments that sell Windows Magazine. You can also order a yearly subscription (4 CDs for $39.95) by calling 800-255-8100. Due to the low cost of the Windows Extra CD-ROM and the freeware distribution of Wintune 2.0, we cannot provide one-on-one technical support for either product via e-mail, telephone, or mail. A frequently asked questions (FAQ) file covering both products is available by Internet e-mail answerback. Send a message to wmcdfaq@dnai.com and the latest version will be sent back automatically. Note that the system will send only one copy per day to the same e-mail address. We currently provide direct technical support only through our forums on CompuServe (G WINMAG, message section 13) and America Online (keyword WinMag, then choose Message Exchange, then look in the folder Wintune v2.0). Please read through this FAQ completely and browse messages already in the folder *before* posting there. If you do post in one of the WinMag forums, please tell us what versions of DOS and Windows you're using, and tell us exactly what tips Wintune is giving you. (If you tell us, "Wintune says I have a slow disk," we don't know if you're getting "Improve Cached Disk Performance," "Improve Hard Disk Performance," or "Upgrade your hard disk." Also, please provide detailed information that will help diagnose the problem: - For CPU and RAM questions, that means brand and model of the PC; clock speed and model of the CPU (particularly if you're using a clone CPU from AMD, Cyrix, IBM, or NexGen); L2 cache size; amount of RAM; and the contents of Wintune's Details/All window. - For video questions, that means brand, model, and bus type of the video board; driver revision number (if known); and the contents of Wintune's Details/Video window. - For disk questions, that means brand and model of the hard drive; brand, model, and bus type of the IDE or SCSI adapter; and the contents of Wintune's Details/Disk window. If you're using the /c option (discussed below), please upload two copies of Details/Disk, one with the option and one without. *** If you need help setting up Wintune, search for the word SETUP. If you have encountered an error message, search for the word ERROR. If you've run Wintune and you have a performance-related question, search for the word PERFORMANCE. If you are looking for general advice, search for the word GENERAL. *** DO YOU HAVE THE LATEST UPDATE? DO YOU NEED IT? The version of Wintune on this CD is update #2. Update #1 was posted 12/9/94 and fixed an error on systems with more than 32MB RAM that caused DIVIDE-BY-ZERO or OVERFLOW errors *after* all tests were complete. Update #2 was posted 12/15/94 and fixed an error on certain systems with less than 8MB RAM (usually 4MB systems) which caused Windows to lock up during the memory test. Update #3 should be available by the time you read this. It will fix additional problems, notably GPFs on some systems with Enhanced IDE drives, Western Digital's Drive Rocket, and Ontrack Disk Manager, and problems detecting the FPU and clock speed with some non-Intel 486 clone CPUs. You do not need to download the whole WT20.ZIP file to upgrade to update #3. Simply download the WTUPD3.ZIP update and use it to upgrade the version you installed from this CD. Be sure to download the latest FAQ at the same time. *** DOWNLOAD AND SETUP: SETUP: System Requirements Wintune 2.0 requires Windows 3.1 or higher and 4MB of RAM. It needs 5MB of free disk space during installation, but afterwards it takes up only about 1.75MB. It was designed for (and tested on) 386, 486, and Pentium class Intel-based computers. It will run only in 386 Enhanced Mode, thus will not work on a 286. Wintune will run, but will not issue performance tuning tips, on OS/2 2.1 and 3.0, Windows NT 3.1 and 3.5, and the Windows 95 beta. On all these systems, manual disk cache setting (using the /c command-line switch discussed below and in Wintune's online help) is necessary. See specific instructions for NT and OS/2 below. If you are installing over a beta version of Wintune 2.0, see "SETUP: Upgrading from beta version" below. SETUP: NT users Since NT has a dynamic cache, our current test can never be completely accurate, but as a practical matter we're getting good results on both NT 3.1 and 3.5 with a manually set cache size of 4MB. This appears to approximately match the performance of NT's dynamic cache and the built-in Wi16 emulation subsystem. SETUP: OS/2 users You should manually set Wintune's cache size to the same size as that set in the DISKCACHE line in CONFIG.SYS (for FAT drives) or to that set with CACHE= in the IFS=HPFS.IFS line of CONFIG.SYS. For instance, if you are using OS/2 with a FAT drive, and DISKCACHE = 1024,L,W set: /C1024 If you are running HPFS and IFS=C:\OS2\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:512 ...: /C512 SETUP: Setup fails If the setup.exe utility fails, another application may be interfering. Try this: exit Windows, enter WIN at the DOS prompt, and hold down the Shift key until you see the desktop. This aborts any automatic startup programs, such as screen savers. Now try running setup.exe again. SETUP: Windows not installed on drive C: Wintune won't set up properly if Windows isn't installed on C: We tested the Wintune setup on partitions other than C:, and it works--but there may be problems installing if Windows itself is located on a partition or disk other than C:. If that happens, you can still install manually. SETUP: Manual Installation If Wintune's setup.exe won't run, try to install the utility manually. After extracting WT20.ZIP into a scratch directory, exit Windows and use the following DOS commands to copy them where they belong. If you want to install into a directory other than c:\wt20, or Windows isn't installed in c:\windows, edit the commands accordingly. (Note that you can copy the commands from this file and paste them into a batch file, thus avoiding a lot of command-line tedium.) expand cmdialog.vb_ c:\windows\system\cmdialog.vbx expand getinfo.dl_ c:\wt20\getinfo.dll expand gsw.ex_ c:\windows\system\gsw.exe expand gswdll.dl_ c:\windows\system\gswdll.dll expand hell16c.dl_ c:\wt20\hell16c.dll copy readme.txt c:\wt20\readme.txt expand ssidxtab.vb_ c:\windows\system\ssidxtab.vbx expand tipadw16.dl_ c:\wt20\tipadw16.dll expand vbrun300.dl_ c:\windows\system\vbrun300.dll expand ver.dl_ c:\windows\system\ver.dll expand wintune.tr_ c:\wt20\wintune.trf expand wt20.ex_ c:\wt20\wt20.exe expand wtfaq.hl_ c:\wt20\wtfaq.hlp expand wtgraph.vb_ c:\windows\system\wtgraph.vbx expand wthelp.hl_ c:\wt20\wthelp.hlp expand wtss3d.vb_ c:\windows\system\wtss3d.vbx expand wtss3d2.vb_ c:\windows\system\wtss3d2.vbx expand wttip.hl_ c:\wt20\wttip.hlp expand wtest.hl_ c:\wt20\wtest.hlp If expand.exe isn't in your DOS directory, you can copy it from the DOS installation diskettes to your DOS directory using File Manager or this DOS command: copy a:\expand.exe c:\dos Once you've expanded all files to the correct directories, restart Windows. From Program Manager, select File/New, Program Group, and type in "Wintune 2.0" to create the program group. Then select File/New, Program Item, and use the Browse button to select WT20.EXE from your WT20 directory to create a Wintune 2.0 program item. Repeat this process to create program items for the three .HLP files and README.TXT. Wintune is then installed just as if you'd been able to run Setup. SETUP: Upgrading from beta version If you have a beta version of WINTUNE 2.0, please delete it and all related files. In particular, you must delete: \WT20\*.TRF \WT20\HELL16C.DLL \WT20\GETINFO.DLL \WT20\TIPADW16.DLL \WINDOWS\WT20.INI \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WT*.VBX Also delete the Wintune icons and WT20 group from Program Manager. Then exit and restart Windows before running WINTUNE setup. SETUP (PREFERENCES): Expert mode You can switch Wintune into Expert mode using the radio button on the General tab of the Edit/Preferences dialog. This adds a Load Saved Test as Current to the File menu so you can look at saved test details; adds a Full Tips command to the Help menu so you can browse tips that are not pertinent to your configuration; and eliminates some system messages, like the warnings you get when other applications are running or you exit Wintune without having saved the test results in a database. SETUP (STARTUP SWITCHES): Automatically loading the last saved test as current with /L If you wish, you can have Wintune automatically load the most recent test in the default .TRF file (normally WINTUNE.TRF) automatically each time Wintune loads. To do so, edit the command line (click on the WT20.EXE icon in Program Manager, select File/Properties) and append /L (preceded by a space) after any other switches: wt20.exe /l SETUP (STARTUP SWITCHES): Setting cache size manually with /C If you have an IDE or SCSI adapter with a hardware cache, you should use the /c switch to set Wintune's cached disk performance test file size manually. For example, if there's 128K on the adapter, you'd start Wintune with: wt20 /c128 *** ERROR MESSAGES: ERROR: Unable to load WTSETUP.EXE If you get this message, the automatic setup won't work. Follow the instructions in SETUP: Manual Installation above. ERROR: One or more Visual Basic applications are running. Please close those applications, then choose OK to continue. Installing Wintune updates some Visual Basic components. Since this can't occur while a VB program is running (executables can't be overwritten while in use), you have to shut down all VB apps before running setup. ERROR: VBX File Out Of Date If you get a message that a .VBX file is out of date, it's likely that a misbehaving program has placed an out-of-date version of the .VBX file in your WINDOWS directory, rather than in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory where VBX files belong. Since Windows searches the \WINDOWS directory first, it will use an out of date file rather than a newer, correctly installed in \WINDOWS\SYSTEM. To correct this problem, back up the \WINDOWS and \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directories. Then check your WINDOWS directory for the existence of .VBX files. If you find one, copy it from the WINDOWS directory to the WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, *unless* there's a newer file of the same name in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. Do *not* copy a VBX FILE from WINDOWS to WINDOWS\SYSTEM if the .VBX file in WINDOWS is older than the .VBX file in WINDOWS\SYSTEM! When you're done, delete all .VBX file from the WINDOWS directory, restart Windows, and run Wintune again. ERROR: Cannot Create Redraw File This message means you are short on both memory and disk space. Wintune's user interface was built with Visual Basic 3.0, and uses VB's auto- redraw feature. This requires opening a redraw file that contains copies of the bitmaps used in the user interface, so that we can quickly restore the display when you move a window or take other actions that require redraw activity. When Wintune can't find enough space to create the redraw file, it can't run. Try freeing up some space on your hard disk. ERROR: Invalid Property Value Wintune (and Windows itself) requires certain fonts in order to run. Do not delete the following fonts: Arial (TrueType) Arial Bold (TrueType) Arial Bold Italic (TrueType) Arial Italic (TrueType) Courier 10,12,15 (VGA res) Courier New (TrueType) Courier New Bold (TrueType) Courier New Bold Italic (TrueType) Courier New Italic (TrueType) Modern (Plotter) MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res) MS Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res) Roman (Plotter) Script (Plotter) small fonts (VGA res) Symbol (TrueType) Symbol 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res) Times New Roman (TrueType) Times New Roman Bold (TrueType) Times New Roman Bold Italic (TrueType) Times New Roman Italic (TrueType) Wingdings (TrueType) Deleting these fonts, particularly MS Sans Serif, may result in an "Invalid Property Value" error when attempting to start Wintune. ERROR: Need Graphics Server version 2.51 or Later ERROR: GSW.EXE & GSWDLL.DLL version mismatch If you see this error, you probably have more than one copy of GSW.EXE and GSWDLL.DLL on your system. You *should* have only one copy of each file, in WINDOWS\SYSTEM. Search your hard disk for additional copies (usually in the \WINDOWS directory), and rename them, i.e. GSW.EXE becomes GSW.EXX and GSWDLL.DLL becomes GSWDLL.DLX. Please note that this is *not* due to an error in Wintune setup--the problem is that certain other software puts these files in the wrong directory. ERROR: One or more Visual Basic applications are running. Please close those applications, then choose OK to continue. Wintune needs to have total control over your system while performing its low-level tests. It can't do that while Visual Basic apps are running (for that matter, ideally Wintune should be the only program running--that's why we recommend that you always run it first after starting a clean Windows session). Running it any other way gives misleading results. ERROR: General Protection Fault (GPF) There are two known conditions that can cause a GPF when running a copy of Wintune installed from CD. "WT20 caused a General Protection Fault in module GETINFO.DLL" happens if you try to start Wintune while Windows is running in Standard Mode. Restart Windows in 386 Enhanced Mode. You can force Windows into 386 Enhanced mode by starting it with "win /3". If you get a GPF during the video test, there's either a bug in your video driver or a conflict between it and Wintune. If possible, upgrade to a new video driver. (See UPDATING VIDEO DRIVERS in the main helpfile for more information.) Unfortunately, it's fairly common for even the latest video drivers to have problems, in which case you'll just have to wait and try your vendor's next upgrade. In the meantime, you can disable the video test by starting Wintune with the /v option (wt20 /v), or try running Wintune using its generic VGA or super-VGA drivers (which will give unrealistically low video results). ERROR: Divide By Zero ERROR: Divide Overflow If you get this error on a system with more than 32MB RAM, then you need to download the current update (WTUPD2.ZIP) and apply it--versions of Wintune 2.0 distributed prior to 12/9/94 had not been tested under these conditions. If you get the error during the floating-point unit (FPU) test, and you have a 386-based system (or a 486SX) that's been upgraded by adding a 387 (or 487) math coprocessor, this may indicate that the FPU is incompatible with the CPU (probably it's not fast enough). To check, use the Turbo switch (or fast/slow CMOS setting) to reset your system to slow speed, then run Wintune again. If the divide-by-zero error goes away, this indicates that your CPU is too fast for the coprocessor, and you need to replace the coprocessor with a faster model. If you get the error on startup, then you've probably encountered one of the bugs that will be fixed by update #3. ERROR: "Unable to get memory management information. This may cause Wintune (and Windows itself) to become unstable. Wait until this test sequence is complete, then exit Windows and reboot your computer." This usually indicates a minor conflict between Wintune and a third-party memory manager like QEMM or Netroom. If you temporarily reconfigure your system to use DOS's memory management (HIMEM and EMM386), Wintune should run normally, though it won't necessarily reflect the performance with the third-party memory manager. If you're not using a third-party memory manager, this message probably indicates that your system has very little memory below 1MB in the Windows virtual machine (VM). Windows uses a small amount of this low memory each time it starts an application. If you are unable to start applications, but seem to have plenty of system resources and virtual memory, then you have probably run out of low memory. You can check with the WinMag Resource Probe utility, PWRESL.ZIP in the file libraries on America Online or Compuserve. (Normally you could find out how much free low memory there in the Windows VM by clicking on the RAM tab in Wintune's Details screen.) To increase the amount of Windows VM memory available under 1MB, you must either remove unnecessary device drivers and TSRs from or CONFIG.SYS and/or AUTOEXEC.BAT, or load necessary drivers and TSRs into high memory by running DOS's MemMaker utility or a third-party memory manager. ERROR: System locks up (hangs) during memory test. If your system has less than 8MB (usually 4MB) RAM, then the problem is most likely a bug in an early version of WT20.EXE. If your copy of WT20.EXE has a size of 276519 bytes, then it is the old version. Download the latest update. ERROR: Insufficient Disk Space for Write Test If the "Test Disk" is set to a drive with ample free space, this message probably indicates the largest unfragmented block of free space isn't large enough to create the test file. Defrag the drive and try again. ERROR: ERROR # 70; Permission denied. Proc: MNU SaveAs_Click This message appears if you try to save over an existing .TRF file. Use a different file name (or delete the old file first, if you really want to replace it). ERROR: System locks up (hangs) when browsing Wintune's help files This is a known problem we were still investigating at the time this FAQ was released. Newer versions of the FAQ may have more info. ERROR: "Error loading DLL" when installing from WinMag CD This is a known problem we were still investigating at the time this FAQ was released. Newer versions of the FAQ may have more info. In the meantime, follow the instructions in SETUP: Manual Installation above. *** PERFORMANCE ISSUES PERFORMANCE (GENERAL): Test Scores and/or Tips Vary If you run Wintune several times, you may notice a variation of plus or minus 10% on the individual test results. This is normal, so don't worry about it. These minor variations mean that if your system's performance is right around the point where Wintune displays a particular tip, that tip may appear only intermittently. For example, if your video board is slower than average but not a real dog, the "Upgrade your video board" tip might appear the first time you run Wintune, disappear the next, and come back the third time. PERFORMANCE (DISK): Slow Hard Disk Performance Many factors affect disk performance, including the drive itself, the adapter, which bus the adapter uses, CPU speed, RAM speed, CMOS settings, size and configuration of the disk cache, 32-bit file access, and disk compression, if any. (See Understanding Disk Test Results in the main Wintune helpfile for more information). The Wintune developers' current working theory is that with a hardware cache you'll get the best results by setting 32bfa to a minimum. Note that when you run Wintune with the /c switch, it will report that 32-bit file access and SmartDrive, even if you are. If your disk scores are in the under 300K per second range, then you are almost certainly running without cache, or with inadequate cache. Wintune's disk test looks for the size of your WFWG 3.11 32BFA cache or SMARTDrive cache, and runs two tests--one at 20 percent of the cache size ("cached" test), and one at 10 percent over the cache size. Thus, for a 1MB cache size, we test at 200KB (cached) and 1.1MB (un-cached). If we find neither 32BFA nor SMARTDrive, then we test cached performance at a 64KB file size, and uncached performance at 50 percent of the size of your system's RAM (if you have 8MB of RAM, we run a 4MB test file). In any case, Wintune 2.0 creates the test file, then performs sequential and random reads and writes in the file using 4KB blocks. We compute overall disk performance for the front-panel indicator using a weighted average of cached and uncached performance, weighted at 50 percent each at a 2MB cache size. Increasing either the cache size or the disk performance will improve both the Wintune disk score and overall system performance in most cases Note: Wintune's Disk Test will show the best performance with both read and write caching enabled. Write caching can be dangerous--if your system is shut down unexpectedly between disk flushes you may lose data or even corrupt your disk. If you are not certain that your system is reliable with write caching enabled, turn it off. Consult the documentation provided by your manufacturer (for SMARTDrive and WFWG 3.11 32BFA, this is the DOS/Windows documentation from Microsoft). A number of software factors can also affect disk performance, including use of EMM386.EXE to provide expanded memory for DOS applications (it's not needed for Windows applications, and should be eliminated when not required), fragmentation on your hard disk, use of a compression program such as Stacker or DoubleSpace, and so on. See Disk Performance Improvement Tips in the main Wintune helpfile for some suggestions. PERFORMANCE (DISK): Improve cached disk performance. There is a bug in Wintune's online help: when you view the "Improve Cached Disk Performance" tip, it displays the "Improve Hard Disk Peformance" tip instead. Here's what you should get: Your disk cache performance seems low for your type of system. Unless you also received the "Improve Hard Disk Performance" tip, it is unlikely that your hard disk or controller is responsible for this problem. The most common cause is misconfigured cache software. Here are some possible causes of poor disk cache performance: - Write-back caching disabled: If you are using SmartDrive and have the /X or C- switch on the SmartDrive command line in AUTOEXEC.BAT, then you are not using write-back caching. This slows the system considerably, so you may want to consider removing these switches. - Third-party cache: If you are using a disk cache other than SmartDrive or WfWG 3.11 32-bit file cache, it may not support write-back caching. You may want to try switching to one of those two caches and see if your performance improves. Also, if you specified the /c switch when you started Wintune, make sure you gave the correct value. PERFORMANCE (DISK): Make sure the disk's parameters are correctly set in the BIOS. The documentation for your hard drive should indicate the settings that should appear in your PC's BIOS setup display. For example, the Seagate ST3600A's setting is 1024 cylinders, 16 heads, and 63 sectors per track. If the settings in your BIOS don't match those specified in the disk's documentation, you may not be able to format the drive to its full capacity, and performance may suffer. PERFORMANCE (DISK): SCSI and Wintune When running under Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Wintune sometimes report very low performance on SCSI disks. There are some very strange things going on with caching, 32-bit disk access and 32-bit file access in 3.11, and Wintune isn't the only diagnostic that highlights them. The most common problem with SCSI disks is that Windows will set SMARTDRV /double_buffer in CONFIG.SYS. This slows the effective disk access to a crawl, both in applications and in the Wintune disk benchmarks. You need to install the correct ASPI driver for the SCSI card you are using, which will enable you to use WFWG 3.11 32-bit file access on the drive. Remove the SMARTDRV line for CONFIG.SYS (or edit the SMARTDRV line to disable caching on your SCSI drive(s). For more information, search for "Adjusting: Smartdrv Settings" in Wintune's online help. PERFORMANCE (DISK): SMARTDRV and Hard Disk Performance If you're using disk compression software like DriveSpace, DoubleSpace, Stacker, or SuperStor, don't cache the compressed drive. Instead, cache the physical "host" drive, uncompressed drive that holds the hidden file that actually contains the data for the compressed virtual drive. Check your SMARTDRV settings to assure that the physical drive is cached and the compressed drive is not. For example, if your physical drive is C: and the compressed drive is G:, you'd want c:\dos\smartdrv c+ g- or c:\dos\smartdrv c g- depending on whether you want write-caching on or off. Enter HELP SMARTDRV at the DOS prompt or search for SMARTDRV SETTINGS in the main Wintune help file for more information. PERFORMANCE (DISK): Memory and Disk Performance If you have only 4MB of RAM, the most cost-effective way to improve disk performance is probably to upgrade to 8MB. With only 4MB of RAM, your SMARTDrive cache probably isn't set larger than 512KB. That means that large files will be forced directly to disk, without the benefit of caching. Don't try making SMARTDrive larger without increasing RAM, though, that will cause programs to thrash as they fight for the small amount of RAM that's left. The simple fact is that 4MB isn't enough RAM to get optimal performance from any current version of Windows. PERFORMANCE (DISK): Hardware Cache Unrecognized Wintune doesn't actually test to see if you've got a hardware cache on your disk adapter or drive--it relies on Windows for that information. If Windows doesn't detect such a caches, check with your drive and/or adapter manufacturer to see if you're using the right drivers and settings to get maximum performance under Windows. PERFORMANCE (DISK): Windows NT Advice [this section under renovation, please post questions in forum] PERFORMANCE (DISK): Windows 3.1 Advice If you have Windows (or Windows for Workgroups) 3.1, then the cache may be SMARTDrive (covered under "Adjusting SMARTDRV Settings" in Wintune's online help), or a third-party disk cache (consult the instructions that come with your third-party cache software). PERFORMANCE (DISK): Windows for Workgroups 3.11 Advice If you have WFWG 3.11, then the cache situation depends on whether you are able to use 32-bit file access. In Control Panel, click on the Enhanced Icon, then select Virtual Memory and Change>>. If you see a check box for Use 32-bit File Access, check it and set the cache size to about 25 percent of the total memory in your system (2MB on an 8MB system). If you have a SMARTDrive line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, Windows automatically adjusts it downward when you select 32-bit file access. If you have put SMARTDrive in another batch file or are using a different cache, then you should either comment it out, or modify the SMARTDrive settings to avoid caching the hard disks you're using with 32BFA. These issues are discussed in detail in the Microsoft Windows for Workgroups Resource Kit, which is a must-have reference for serious tuning. The cost is approximately $30. Call Microsoft End User Sales at 800-426-9400 PERFORMANCE (DISK): Disk Test Scores Vary It's normal to see some variation in Wintune disk scores. We read disk data through whatever cache is enabled (SMARTDrive, FastFAT, etc.), and the precise score depends on the cache state. For maximum accuracy, run the Full Test rather than the Quick Test, run it several times, and average the results. If the disk score appears to be changing when some other system component not related to the disk (video driver, network drivers, etc.) is changed, then this may indicate that some sort of delayed activity or timer setting is interfering with the test. Try editing the command line to: c:\wintune\wintune.exe /t30 this will set a 30-second delay between tests, eliminating any possibility that the video test affects the disk test. You *must* have a space after WT20.EXE and before /t in order for the command-line switch to work: C:\WT20\WT20.EXE /t15 works, while: C:\WT20\WT20.EXE/t15 Does not. PERFORMANCE (CPU): Wrong clock speed (4MHz 486/Pentium?!) A bug in the Wintune 2.0 beta produced the 67MHz ratings of the 90MHz Pentiums listed in WINTUNE.TRF. Under certain conditions, Wintune will report a 486 or Pentium system running at unrealistically low performance levels--such as 4MHz. This is usually associated with low overall performance on all tests (all pointers at or near the bottom of the screen) and it indicates a serious configuration error--not a Wintune bug. The most likely causes are: primary CPU cache disabled (see your system's CMOS configuration screen), excessive RAM wait states (see your system's CMOS configuration screen), turbo switch set OFF or cross-wired (reset the switch and repeat the test), power management enabled (notebook computers only), or use of a TSR/driver program that steals CPU cycles (examples include EMM386 with EMS emulation enabled, and the Chameleon TCP/IP TSR). PERFORMANCE (CPU): Slow CPU on Packard Bell Some users have reported receiving a software patch from Packard Bell that improved CPU performance and made Wintune stop displaying the "Check TURBO settings" tip. PERFORMANCE (VIDEO): Slow Video Tests The 24-bit image display test used in the "Full" video test uses the Windows 3.1 SetDIBitsToDevice() API call. This essentially hands the bitmap to the driver and tells it to do the best job it can of rendering the image. We've seen wildly varying results, ranging from near-instant display of a low-resolution rendering up to displays that may take several *minutes* (not to mention several cases where it crashes the video driver). Better performance on this test depends on getting a better driver from your video card vendor. Now, with all that said--very few Windows applications actually call the SetDIBitsToDevice() API--for obvious reasons. Unless you plan to use your video system for something like 24-bit image editing (and probably not even then), you needn't be concerned. PERFORMANCE (RAM): Slow memory RAM speed is affected by CPU, L2 (secondary) cache design, amount of L2 cache, and SIMM speed. The memory improvement tips in Wintune's online help can help you make sure that your PC's CMOS setup is configured for best RAM performance. Since RAM speed is determined by the motherboard design, there's no hardware upgrade path like there is for CPU, disk, and video. PERFORMANCE (VIDEO): Video Problems Q: When I start Wintune I see a strange, ghostly outline of a graph. How do I make this go away? A: You've run into a bug in your video driver. We've observed this problem with first-generation Diamond Viper video cards, and it might happen on some other video systems as well. Contact your video card vendor for information on updated drivers (see Updating Video Drivers in the main Wintune helpfile for more information). PERFORMANCE (VIDEO): Slow Diamond Viper Video Performance Q: Why am I am getting low video performance on my Diamond Viper video card? A recently issued Diamond Viper video card driver includes a new In Control Windows utility. In order to obtain the best performance from your card, you need to activate this utility, turn off fast scrolling, close Windows, restart Windows and reset fast scrolling to on. *** GENERAL INFORMATION: GENERAL: Less Free RAM Each Time If you run Wintune repeatedly, it may show less free RAM on each pass. This is normal. We execute a GlobalCompact command on start-up, which forces Windows to go through its garbage collection cycle and free up memory segments (we do this to predict swapping behavior in small-footprint systems). Then we run a bunch of tests that dirty those segments--including a video test that uses lots of GDI heap resources. If you run the test again, we start off with a GlobalCompact--which can't get as much back as it did the first time because heap resources are in use, etc. You'd probably get a more meaningful result if you restart Windows and run Wintune again. GENERAL: WINTUNE.TRF WINTUNE.TRF is the file in which results of Wintune 2.0 testing are stored. Unfortunately there's no way to delete results from the file--that's high on the wish list for 3.0. You can associate the extension .TRF with WT20.EXE using the File Manager's File/Associate command. From then on, double-clicking on a .TRF file will launch Wintune, load the .TRF in question, and set the most recent test results "as current"--in effect, you'll see Wintune behave as though that test had just been run. The data in WINTUNE.TRF is stored in a proprietary binary format, but may be saved in a Comma Separated Variable format; with an extension of .CSV. Such files are also known as comma-delimited ASCII, which is accepted as input by most spreadsheet programs and databases. Try loading the comma-delimited version of .TRF into a spreadsheet and graphing some of the variables from test to test. This can provide a great way to see how your system's performance changes over time! At the end of the WINTUNE.TRF there are 13 example systems that illustrate typical problems, which may be useful in diagnosing systems that deliver odd results. They are: * EX: Pwr Mgt On (Gateway Colorbook) * EX: Pwr Mgt On (Gateway Colorbook) * EX: Pwr Mgt Off (Gateway Colorbook) The first two files illustrate what can happen when testing a notebook with power management--the first shows anomalously low CPU results, the second low disk. The third file shows how the same system tested with power management disabled. We recommend disabling power management when running WINTUNE on Notebook computers. * EX: L1 and L2 Cache Off (NCR 3333 486/33) * EX: L2 Cache Off (NCR 3333 486/33) * EX: L1+L2 Cache On (NCR 3333 486/33) These examples illustrate the effect of level-1 (internal) and level-2 (external) CPU cache. The system in question has a 256KB L2 cache. In the first example, both caches are disabled; yielding low overall performance. In the second case the L1 cache internal to the 486 CPU is enabled, but external cache is disabled--so CPU performance is improved, but RAM, video and (particularly) disk performance still suffer. The third example shows the result of enabling both caches--optimal performance. * EX: Compressed Disk ( AMD 486 DX2/66) This example shows typical performance from a non-cached disk compressor such as Stacker. A caching compressor such as Doublespace yields significantly better performance. * EX: Notebook wi APM On. This example shows a notebook computer with Advanced Power Management (APM) enabled--low (and erratic) performance. Turn APM off when running Wintune, then turn it back on if needed for use. * EX: Stacked Disk, no Cache This example is similar to the compressed disk example above. * EX: TSR (Chameleon) Loaded Here a well-tuned system suffers because a DOS terminate-and-stay resident (TSR) utility is stealing CPU cycles, reducing overall performance. * Ex 486SX with Turbo switch OFF Here a system gives low overall performance--indicating either Turbo OFF or a problem with memory wait states. * Ex: APM Enabled (NCR 486 SX/SLC Notebook) Another example with Advanced Power Management. You can select any of these entries in the Comparisons tab--and if you want to see how the front-panel display looks for these conditions, use Edit/Preferences to select Expert Mode, and load the test in question "As Current"--this will show you the front panel pointer display and tips (it's especially instructive to view the RAMprobe curve for the three NCR CPU cache examples--load each in turn "as current", and click on the RAM pointer). GENERAL: Saved test details missing When you open a TRF file or use the File/Load a Saved Test as Current command, some of the test details may be missing. To see them, you must first run Wintune's tests, then load the saved results. *** Wintune is a registered trademark of CMP Publications, Inc. ***********************************************************