A sausage has two
The mouse that purred
Spell that checker!
Pack it in
Upper memory in a 286
Back to Shonk City
Well-hung Windows
Mumboard blues
Quickener tip
Wallpaper tip
Now you see it, now you don't
Forward to the past
Talking to the Macs
Get behind!
My memory is going
Tiny shoe
A rather hoary Swedish schoolboy joke has it that "all things come to an end, and a sausage has two". What fired that rusty old synapse in my alleged brain was the fact that my stint with Australian PC World ends with this issue. It's been a fun four-odd years, and I've particularly enjoyed being part of Australian PC World's Great Leap Forward, not to mention the opportunity the increased space gave me to work with all my friends in the Help Screen pages.
Just a short note to say thank you for printing my letter in the June issue (about the GPF when my Logitech mouse driver and WordPerfect for Windows couldn't agree to share memory). Thanks also to John Clarke, via CompuServe, for his contribution. Up until then I thought I was alone with this problem.
Finally, thanks to Bernie of BJE Enterprises of Eastwood, who kindly sent me the latest driver after I'd spoken to him on the telephone. The problem is now resolved.
- Mike Buggé, Kambah, ACT
PS: The "Mickeyed mouse" play on words was a resounding success with my workmates.
I thought the following "Letter to the Editor" from a UK magazine might be of interest to your readers:
For the benefit of all PC owners who rely on their spelling checkers to ensure accuracy
I have a spelling chequer
It came with my pee see
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss takes I cannot sea
I've run this poem threw it
I'm shore yaw pleased to no
It's letter perfect in its weigh
My chequer told me sew
Incidentally, my grammar checker also found nothing wrong!
- Reg Manus, Willetton, WA
Editor's comment: Thanks, Reg, that's a good reminder of a spell checker's main weakness: it'll find misspelled words but not misplaced words. I tried it against the Australian WinWord spell checker, and by George, it sailed right through without a hiccup.
Q I hope you will be able to help me with my question about DoubleSpace. I have a Packard Bell 486SX, 4Mb RAM and a 170Mb hard drive (a whopper when I bought it 15 months ago). As I live on a disability pension, I cannot afford to buy a larger hard drive or purchase a stacking program. I'm trying to get work from home with my computer but am starting to find disk space a problem. I have no problem currently doing what I need to do on 4Mb of RAM and I am extremely happy with the system I purchased. Some of the applications I use (Word 6 is one) take up most of the available memory and disk space (only 40Mb left). If I were to set up DoubleSpace, would it slow my system down at all or take up extra memory that could cause my system to crash or hang? I hear many bad reports about DoubleSpace, but as I am only using my system for word processing for different clients, would it be suitable to use in this type of situation?
A second question I have concerns CD-ROMs. Are all CDs able to be run direct from the CD reader (Word 6 for example), or do some of the application programs have to be loaded onto your hard drive? I have inquired about this at many different computer stores and haven't had the same answer twice. If a CD-ROM can be used this way, it could help my lack of space problem.
I certainly hope you will be able to help me with these questions, as your Help Screen section has given me more advice and tips to keep things running smoothly than manuals or so-called experts.
- Rodney Hamelink, Mackay, Qld
A In your situation, DoubleSpace is an excellent idea. There were some problems with the early version (that came with DOS 6.0), but they have been solved now and your version (DOS 6.2) is perfectly safe. DoubleSpace is not the fastest, but it's reliable now and, above all, it's free. You'll find no noticeable degradation of speed; writing to disk will be slightly slower, reading from disk may be slightly faster. You can check this yourself by timing how long it takes to start up WinWord before and after.
When you install DoubleSpace, make sure you leave enough uncompressed space on the hard disk to allow for your Windows swapfile - 8Mb would be plenty in your case. Also, your installation will be quicker and less dangerous if you clean as many unneeded files as possible off the hard disk before you start. If you can, it's a good idea to back up your data first. Don't back up program files; they're better re-installed from the installation disks if something goes wrong.
As for running applications straight off the CD, that depends on which application you're talking about - some do, some don't. You'll have to check the instructions in each case. If there is a minimal installation that runs the bulk of the program off the CD, you'll find that the installation program will present that option. It is possible in some cases to run an application straight from its installation CD without installing anything, but the only way you'll find out is by trying it on. Just open a File Manager window on the CD and double-click on the main program file; the worst that can happen is an error message. Typically, the message will be "Can't find xxx.DLL"; this is because many programs expect to find their runtime libraries in \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.
I particularly enjoy reading your help articles, especially when you digress and explain the basics - I sometimes need reminding. Speaking of reminding, I forgot to send a stamped, self-addressed envelope and ask for the 286 upper-memory manager a few months back. Piet van Rosendal's request (June) reminded me to get a copy for a friend who is stuck out on an isolated island.
He uses a 286 laptop that has lead-acid (gel) batteries. The batteries are more reliable in his generator-powered environment. He cannot afford the luxury of flattening NiCads (to keep them in peak performance), as he cannot guarantee power to recharge them; better to use lead acid batteries and keep them fully charged until the power goes off. Later notebooks are all NiCad-powered and unsuitable. The memory manager may be able to give his machine (which has 2.5Mb of RAM) a new lease of life.
- Harry Sheldon, Northcote, Vic
Editor's comment: You've got it. Your friend's situation reminds me of my own in the late 'eighties; I spent five years running an XT, and later a 386-20, off a portable generator. That's when I learned to save my documents frequently - every time the fridge kicked in, the computer reset.
I do hope the memory manager works with his particular machine; the 286 chip sets varied a lot and I know it won't work with all.
Q I was hoping that you would be able to help me out with a problem that has turned my birthday into a bit of a nightmare. I was recently presented with Encarta 95 for my birthday and was rather impressed, until the time came to install it and then the fun started.
I have contacted the supplier and just received the standard "hang on, what planet are we on again?" reaction over the phone. I have noticed that there are a lot of vendors around at the moment that sell PCs and software, but do not know the first thing about the products they sell when it comes to anything but the smallest problems ("have you checked that there are no loose leads in the back of the box?").
My limited knowledge of PCs comes from my own tinkerings, and yet I have had quite a number of friends and friends of friends present me with problems with their new PCs that the vendor should have been able to rectify with only a basic know-ledge of "the box". One such episode was caused (as pointed out in one of your articles) by a very badly done LapLink job, and resulted in the whole bundle of software including Windows having to be reinstalled.
Buyers should check around (through word of mouth) for vendors that know their products backwards, and do not give you the "sorry, I'm too busy making another sale" response when approached for after-sales assistance. The price on the bottom of the quotation should be only the second consideration when buying "the box". One of my friends saved $200 on her first PC, but the PC spent the first three weeks of its life getting free board and lodging at my place.
Not all PC buyers know somebody who can tinker, either. I have heard of one person who paid a technician $30 per hour for 18 hours (that adds up to a few pineapples even on the Windows calculator) to fix software and hardware stuff-ups on a new PC that the vendor just could not fix.
Anyhow, back to Encarta. After loading Encarta, all seems to be well - the sound works, the video clips work, the still photos work, but after anywhere from one to 30 minutes it just locks up with no error messages, requiring a full re-boot, and won't return control to Windows. Upon lockup, a constant clicking noise is heard until re-boot; usually, I will hear a few clicks before it locks up, giving me the chance to quit before it happens. The problem seems to occur mainly after enlarging a still photo and then closing it, but can happen under any circumstances.
I have tried a friend's copy of the CD with the same results. I do not have any other problems with the CD-ROM drive or sound card, and have no other problems with any other software. I have read the Encarta tips and have tried the suggestions within, including changing to standard 640 by 480 256C video mode (I normally run at 800 by 600 256C large fonts). I have tried using MSD and switching around IRQs in case of a conflict. I have tried removing other drivers etc, and using only the ones I need to run Encarta, but no go.
The computer is a 486DX4-100 (Intel Chip) with a SIS85C471 motherboard, 8Mb RAM, Sound Galaxy NX Pro sound card, Trident 9440 VL video card and a Creative Labs dual-spin CD-ROM drive. I have enclosed the MSD report and CONFIG.SYS, etc.
- David Roze, Wyndhamvale, Vic
A So tell me why we're putting up with this sort of thing from some dealers? If the dealers can't put their house in order, why don't we users form an association - and hand our seal of approval to those dealers, and only those dealers, that members have reported as satisfactory?
Short of that, I have to say in the strongest terms that if a dealer can't make the system he sells work properly, don't ever pay fantasy amounts to a third party to fix it up - just demand your money back. With the aid of the Consumer Affairs Tribunal if necessary. Your advice to give the price second priority after dealer capability is very sound, the only hitch being that few newcomers can tell good and bad dealers apart. It doesn't even do any good to go for a big brand; I have seen good work from some outlets and absolute shockers from other outlets of the same brand.
Having raved at length about the incompetence of others, I now have to admit that I can't help you a whole lot, but that's entirely in the best tradition of journalism . . . Your system files look entirely in order, and I have heard no rumours about compatibility problems among your components. About all I can say is that the clicking indicates a conflict involving the sound card, but according to your MSD report there's no interrupt conflict.
There still could be a port conflict; they don't show up in MSD. Symantec's More PC Tools contains a system analyser that emulates Plug and Play in software, and it does check ports for conflict. It may be worth your while getting More PC Tools for other uses, as well as the possibility that it could help with this problem.
The only problems with Encarta I have come across myself have been with video playback that involved Encarta doing something the video driver author hadn't thought of. You report having the crash occur in connection with bitmap processing, and you've tried using the standard VGA driver and that didn't help, so I'm more inclined to think the snag is on the sound side. It's possible that the Encarta team has pulled a few swifties in that department, too.
As an outside possibility, you might consider the chance of an upper memory conflict. To try that, load your sound card driver low. If this turns out to do the trick, the next step is to try excluding different upper memory areas in EMM386 (see the DOS HELP file on your system).
Q I have been experiencing Windows for Workgroups (3.11) hanging on exit to DOS. The system locks with the cursor appearing at the top-left corner of a blank screen. Only a cold start clears the situation. I have included a REPORT.MSD for your assistance.
- Dennis Drogemuller, via Internet
A This sounds like the famous Blank Screen of Death, which is a problem that occurs with early Novell NetWare drivers. But you don't seem to be on a Novell network, so we have to look elsewhere for the suspect. Your REPORT.MSD indicates only two areas that seem a bit smelly to me, namely SYSTEM.INI and AUTOEXEC.BAT.
SYSTEM.INI has a number of redundant repeated lines, which may confuse the system on quitting. Your AUTOEXEC.BAT has a very confused PATH string with multiple semicolons, which is too long. The truncated environment variable listing indicates that you're in the grey area at the end of environment space.
Try cleaning up your AUTOEXEC.BAT by amalgamating your several PATH statements, remembering two basic rules: put first on the path the directories you want to be searched first (for the sake of speed), and don't put pure Windows programs on the path at all - Windows handles this matter through the "working directory" line in each Program Manager Icon Properties listing.
In the June hardware Help Screen, you had an article on a fussy motherboard (from Ken Beattie, Tomakin, NSW). With regard to this problem, I have also found trouble of this nature between SIMMs of different tolerance or maker. I have cured this by adding an extra wait state in the CMOS DRAM cycle. I believe this may also occur with different DRAM speeds in one computer.
Although it's not recommended, some motherboard books allow you to have two different speeds of SIMM if the faster are in bank 0 (this is only applicable to the older 30-pin SIMM modules as fitted to Mr Beattie's 386 board). I would suggest he have two or three DRAM write wait states and see if this cures his problem before buying new components.
This is applicable even though the CMOS DRAM test is enabled, as the HIMEM.SYS file probably has more stringent checks for RAM (this is my assumption, as no info is available from the Big M to know for sure). The last system I had problems with was a 486-66 with 8Mb of 30-pin SIMMs, and adding one wait state cured the problem.
Secondly, Darren Palmer had a problem with a slow machine in the Word Processing section of the July issue. I believe you missed the main problem when he stated that he was waiting so long for a file save at the beginning of the letter, but stated he didn't use a swapfile, yet later he did.
I suggest to you his problem with speed is with Windows having a lost or corrupt swapfile, as this will cause a veeeeery slow system operation. I suggest he sets up a new swapfile (on an uncompressed drive of course), and use the defaults as recommended by Windows. We all know that, all else being equal (ie, set up properly), that 8Mb will allow his system and software to fly on a 486-66. All the systems I have set up with the same configuration certainly do so.
Thirdly, Don Goss from Currarong, also in the July issue, describes the typical signs of a CPU going out to lunch in the Hardware section of Help Screen. Fan not working, or not fitted? He doesn't say what speed of system he runs, but it was common practice when the 486SX-25 was released for shonky operators to overclock the CPU to 33MHz and laugh all the way to the bank. I have come across one such unit recently, with a dealer sticker over the CPU as a tamper seal, only to cover the rated speed of the CPU. I would suggest this be checked as a priority.
- Michael Price via Internet
Editor's comment: Thanks for that, Mike. Yet again we see that it's when the readers help each other that this column really fires. Your hardware info is very useful and has been added to the Wikström storehouse!
As to the lost or corrupt swapfile, Windows will warn on start up if this happens, unless virtual memory is set to none. In this particular case, you'll notice that Windows runs just fine with other applications, and only has trouble with OLE-linked complex documents under WinWord. I didn't print the system files as there's never space for that, but take my word for it that they show a correctly configured virtual memory.
In PC World July 1995, page 188, Ian Atkins mentioned the automatic data backup feature of Quicken for Windows 3.0 and how it just keeps on accumulating backups, and you also commented on the way you handled it.
I got very annoyed and frustrated with the Quicken backup facility, and wrote to Intuit regarding this. Their reply told me how to overcome the problem. This requires the modification of the QUICKEN.INI file by adding as the last two lines in the [Quicken] section:
Autobackup=0
Autocopy=0
This still does not stop the program establishing a BACKUP subdirectory, but at least nothing is entered into it, and the drop-down Backup warning no longer appears.
Thank you for the Help Screen, as I generally get some information from it that helps me, not just the contributor to whom you are responding.
- Bob Purdam, Fisher, ACT
Editor's comment: Thanks, Bob. I'm glad you dug out the answer for all of us - the change has certainly made my own life easier. For the benefit of Ian Atkins and others, QUICKEN.INI is located in /WINDOWS.
In the May issue of your journal, Simon Goeschl of Victoria asked whether it was possible to change the wallpaper on his desktop automatically. I use an excellent shareware utility called WWPlus Wallpaper Manager, which does exactly that. It also allows you to edit an image and convert images to a different file format. I obtained a copy of WWPlus from Budgetware in NSW (catalogue code W015). They can be contacted as follows:
Reply Paid 3 (No postage stamp required)
Budgetware
PO Box 496
Newtown, NSW 2042
Phone: 1800 022 064
- Frank Sanfilippo, Bassendean, WA
Editor's comment: Thanks, Frank. We've had a couple of answers on this one, but we're always happy to add more. It's particularly useful that you tell us about the source.
Q I have had the same occurrence on two computers. I had a 386DX40 and after exiting Windows 3.1 in the proper manner and shutting down the computer, the next time I switched the machine on it would not boot into DOS. Investigation found that both my AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files had been deleted. This happened only once on the 386, and both before and after this happening the computer continued to work properly and has continued to do so for its new owner who has had no problems with it.
In January of this year I bought a 486DX2-66 from the same dealer who had given me such good service and advice since I started computing, and the same thing occurred with this computer. I finished installing a small program in WFW 3.11, exited the program and turned off the computer. Later in the day I started the 486 and it would not boot into DOS. Again, the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files had been erased. The last time this occurred the computer was less than 24 hours old. As with the 386, the 486 has continued to perform properly and has given no trouble at all. The fix was easy enough as I had copies of both AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS so it was only a matter of minutes to get the computers back on-line again. My dealer can offer no explanation for this occurrence, and none of my friends and acquaintances who are into computers can give me any idea of the cause.
The 386DX-40 had DOS 6.0 and Windows 3.1 installed, and the 486 has DOS 6.22 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11. Can you shed any light on this for me? Or maybe a reader has had the above occur and was able to find the cause. If so, I would welcome any information on this subject, which is more annoying than disastrous, unless of course you have been caught without either a soft or hard copy of the necessary files.
- Les Toplis, Wynnum, Qld
A When you say "it won't boot into DOS", I'm considerably mystified. Just removing AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS shouldn't stop the system booting - it should merely boot into a totally raw configuration with nothing set up.
However, leaving that aside, I can only conclude that you have a virus infection. It can't be a hardware problem as it happens on two machines, and such unlike machines. For the same sort of reason, it's unlikely to be an operating system or Windows bug.
The effect is fairly typical of a milder virus that makes a mere nuisance of itself at wide intervals, controlled by the date or some other event counter. I'd suggest that you contact the Brisbane PC User Group for some good antivirus shareware, or get on to the Australian Thunderbyte distributor Rod Fewster on (07) 3204 5000.
Q Do you have any greybeards in PC World who have actual knowledge of old steam-driven XTs? I have two and they are driving me to distraction. Having seen them in museums is unfortunately not enough, as I need someone with practical experience, preferably still sane. I am enclosing the printout from one screen, a Kaypro XT with AttachŽ.
Problem 1: the system locks up after any program and will not return to DOS. The message on the screen reads: "Invalid COMMAND.COM. Cannot Load, System Halted".
I have to re-boot to continue and this fault appeared after a "technician" installed DOS 5 and tried to install a newer motherboard. I have tried to remove the trash from AUTOEXEC.BAT with EDLIN but did not succeed.
Problem 2: Can you please explain the AUTOEXEC.BAT file in the Hold Directory. I see that it is OS/2 and wonder if it is for AttachŽ.
I have a second machine, a Texas Instruments PC 30 with AutoCAD 1.18 (I wouldn't say that it's old, but when you change to C: you can hear somebody in there sharpening pencils!). I tried to replace DOS 2.22 with DOS 5 from the Kaypro. I was aware that there was a TI diagnostic program installed, and believe that it has come into conflict with something in DOS. Anyway, the whole thing locks up as soon as the TI check starts and I cannot get anywhere. Can you suggest something other than a 10-pound hammer?
- Alan Maynard, Mooroolbark, Vic
A Well, people collect and restore antique cars, so why not antique computers? As long as you don't try to take the corners too fast.
The problem - what am I saying - one problem with XTs is that some diverged considerably from the IBM norm, especially in the matter of system support software. The TI model may be one such PC, so try Texas Instruments on (02) 878 9000 to see if they happen to have an old manual lying around (or maybe one of us clean-shaven oldies). Your machines appear also to have been chopped about with a pretty heavy hand, requiring severe surgery. But don't use a 10-pound hammer - a double-bitted felling axe is so much more satisfying . . .
As for that OS/2 file, it must be a remnant from a misguided attempt to install a 32-bit operating system on an 8-bit (bus) machine! There should be a halo around it, for surely it is not of this world!
If you're willing to take a punt, this is the general procedure for revitalising doorstops:
1. Check for specialised control software, such as the mouse driver, and copy it to floppies (if there's a real-time clock on an expansion card, it's a typical candidate for tailor-made setting software).
2. Boot from the DOS 5.0 installation floppy. When the Install question comes up, answer No. The system will then attempt to run normally as a floppy-based system. Check if you can read the hard disk and run the odd program from it. If this works, chances are you'll be safe to proceed to step 3. If it doesn't work, continue anyway - what's to lose?
3. From the A: prompt, enter format C:/S. This is guaranteed to get rid of everything that could cause trouble, including hidden files and viruses. The /S switch installs the basic operating system and makes the hard disk bootable. This is essential if your DOS installation disk is an upgrade version; it'll refuse to install to a formatted but non-bootable hard disk.
4. Back at the A: prompt, type install and follow the instructions on the screen. If this doesn't make your XTs workable, get out that double-bitted axe.
Q 1. If the RAM cache architecture on Octek 486 motherboards offers such a powerful speed increase, why isn't the principle applied by more/all motherboard manufacturers?
2. If Word for Macintosh is supposed to be able to read Windows Word files saved in Mac format, how do you get past the problem of the Mac constantly insisting that the disk "is not a Macintosh disk"? Of course, initialising will format it and the file will be lost.
Any help you could provide on the above would be enormously appreciated.
- Terry Kyle, Kirribilli, NSW
A Forgive me if I'm rude, but you may as well ask "if the Ferrari has such a great engine, why don't all cars have Ferrari engines?" Octek has pulled off a great design, and you can bet it's got all the protection against copying that Octek can arrange. Other makers may be trying their hardest to create something equally fast without plagiarising, but that sort of work takes time. Indeed, someone else may have a better idea in a few months. Then again, some makers may think that factors other than sheer speed (such as manufacturing cost) are more important.
With the Macintosh problem, there are two separate issues: MS Word file formats and Macintosh/PC disk formats. As you say, the file format question has built-in solutions as both the Macintosh version and the PC version of Word can both import and export the other's file format. The disk format problem can be solved by one of several utility programs. One I have tried myself is called MactoDOS and is available in shareware form from most suppliers and bulletin boards. In your case, I suggest having a chat to the Sydney PC User Group on (02) 9972 2133. It's a good organisation to belong to, anyway.
Q I have recently struck a situation that is rather worrying. It involves an increasing number of lost clusters and compression structure problems on my Zenith Z-Lite 425L subnotebook. It is a 486SX-33 with a 170Mb HDD, which has been doubled via MS-DOS 6.2 DoubleSpace (the version which was being sold just prior to the DoubleSpace withdrawal by Microsoft early last year). I hope the attached material (MSD printout, CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT) will give you sufficient data on my system.
My system is a "working dog", by the way, not a "pet pup". I use it every day in my business as I travel around meeting with clients. The main programs I run on it are Windows for Workgroups 3.11 with Word 6.0A, Excel 5.0, PowerPoint 4.0 and Publisher 2.0, along with Act! 2.0 for Windows and a DOS-based database program for order-entry and stock control of some of the products I sell.
For 12 months I used the DOS-based ScanDisk and Defrag to clean up my system each week, but rarely found any problems to fix, and never had a defragmentation greater than two or three per cent. Then I started using Norton Utilities 8. The first time I did so (from DOS), Norton Disk Doctor found numerous lost clusters, FAT problems and compression structure problems. And Speed Disk told me my compressed drive was only 54 per cent unfragmented!
When I got back into Windows, I found the system ran noticeably faster. I also found, to my surprise, that File Manager was showing 94Mb free, compared with 70-75Mb free that I had been running with for 12 months, so Norton had obviously done an effective job of cleaning up the disk.
Since then, however, almost every time I exit Windows, Norton Disk Doctor (which is loaded from AUTOEXEC.BAT), finds at least three or four problems: lost clusters and compression structure problems mainly, but sometimes FAT errors too. Then I noticed my File Manager free space indication had slipped back down to the low 70s again.
But when I ran Speed Disk, it came back to the high 80s or low 90s. This disk degradation seems to be happening all too often. I have even had cases where the available free disk space has gone from about 90Mb to 75Mb after just one session's work on the system.
I have two questions: is it normal for the Norton products to produce such a different result from the DOS-based equivalents, and is it normal for so many disk/file problems to be generated so frequently?
And I guess the obvious follow-on from this is, if these symptoms are not normal, do they indicate a virus or other ominous condition? I don't have virus protection, as I have not considered that I have been exposed to such problems, but I may have to change my consideration of that.
- Neil Clark, Lane Cove, NSW
A Speaking of working dogs, I have to tell you about this farmer mate of mine who named his dog "Please". It quite startles you the first time you hear a raucous "Get behind, Please!" echoing around the paddock.
As for your own electronic canine, I have to ask if you often have power failures or simply switch off when you're finished with your work; they are some of the most common causes of lost sectors, the most common being system hangups that force you to re-boot or restart.
Lost clusters and allied items are simply files that were open at shutdown - including invisible temp files - which never were closed and recorded properly. It's absolutely necessary to shut down in an orderly way when you're through, by which I mean exiting from every program and finally Windows itself before switching off.
Only if you do follow this procedure and rarely have system hangups would I suspect a virus. Having said that, I also have to say that there's no such thing as not being exposed to viruses - even shrink-wrapped software has been known to be infected. I'd suggest on general principles that you get a good anti-virus package, such as VET or Thunderbyte. The cut-down antivirus program that comes free with DOS is better than nothing, but only just. Curiously, all the best antivirus programs are available as shareware.
And if it's not system crashes and shutdowns, and not a virus, what could cause the trouble? Apart from a faulty application program or utility, which you'll soon find if you keep track of what's running before trouble appears, there's only hardware malfunction. The controller card could develop an intermittent break and the disk could develop surface defects, but I think we can discount those problems here - a faulty card would make trouble during operation in other ways than just lost sectors, and Disk Doctor checks the disk surface if you let it.
Yes, it's normal for the Norton disk care products to be a lot sharper than the MS-DOS freebies. They have a long history of success. In the same vein, I'd suggest replacing DoubleSpace with Stacker 4.0; the extra space (compression typically increases from 1.6 to 2.0) would come in handy on a machine like yours, and the extra reliability wouldn't hurt, either. It's also just possible that your problems are caused by a defective DoubleSpace program. Just read the fine print on the Stacker box and make sure you get the latest issue, which is compatible with 32-bit file access.
Your system setup with a start-up menu looks fine. I'd suggest a few minor improvements:
• If you don't actually need SETVER, REM it out as it takes up RAM for nothing. Only reinstate it if you get an error message "Wrong DOS version" when running an old DOS program.
• If you don't use embedded ANSI commands to dress up your DOS screen, REM out ANSI.SYS in CONFIG.SYS. At least move it to the menu section that loads plain DOS, so it doesn't waste memory space that Windows can make use of.
• Move the DOSKEY command line in AUTO-EXEC.BAT to the DOS section; it takes up space for nothing under Windows.
• You have C:\CARDWARE twice in your PATH statement; I'd delete the first occurrence.
• You should run Disk Doctor and Image before you start Windows, not after - that way, Windows gets the benefit of running on a freshly-tuned system every time. I'd suggest moving the NDD and Image command lines before GOTO %CONFIG%.
Q I have a 486DX2-66 with 8Mb of RAM and run DOS 6.22 and WFW 3.11. On normal bootup I was always able to get the following memory allowance: largest executable program size, 616K; largest free upper memory block, 32K.
I have recently changed the motherboard (from an Expert Board 4044 to an Expert Board 4045) to provide more options for RAM configurations. This was due to the original motherboard's inability to configure to 12Mb. The work was carried out by the dealer who sold me the original machine, with the only cost being the difference between the two boards. There were no other changes made to the machine.
My problem is that now when I boot up the machine, the memory has dropped to 586K and 10K respectively, although very occasionally (virtually never) it will boot up to the original figures. I took the machine back to the supplier immediately for checking as I feared that something had gone astray.
The dealer stated that not all motherboards have the same amount of memory available and that as I have a slightly faster board with better options, I can't have everything. The dealer also believes this to be a software problem and states that the machine did not really have that much memory (616K) available. He also states that as I use HIGHSCAN NOEMS when loading EMM386.EXE, the machine would be unstable if it could achieve these high memory figures. He showed me this in the DOS help under EMM386/HIGHSCAN.
I have included copies of my start-up files and a copy of the memory allocation of both normal bootups after typing mem/c. You can see that when the machine boots with lower memory, the drivers etc. are not loaded in the order they should be. Am I really stuck with this new amount of memory or is there something I can do to get it back?
In the July issue of PC World's Readers' Forum I noticed a request for a review and comparison of motherboards. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity.
- Neil Lofts, Hoppers Crossing, Vic
A You'll be relieved to hear that your problem is highly fixable. It's simply that the choice you make from your start-up menu determines what devices and TSR (terminate-and-stay resident) programs are loaded. Some choices take up more memory than others. In your particular case, it's mainly the order of loading; sometimes the mouse driver and SmartDrive wind up in DOS memory, sometimes in upper memory.
Another strange item is that the CD driver MSCDEX sometimes doubles its size. This could be a flaw in the particular version you're using, which appears when loaded in a particular way. If this persists after reorganising your system files (see below), you might try using the standard Microsoft driver, which resides in the directory WINDOWS\SYSTEM. To try this, just change the path shown in the command line from C:\SB16\DRV\ to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\. If this doesn't work out, you'll have to change it back, of course.
As for your dealer, who was very decent about exchanging motherboards, the DOSHELP comment on HIGHSCAN is misinterpreted. What it really says is that some machines can't handle HIGHSCAN and it's nothing to do with how much memory is available. HIGHSCAN is merely a testing utility.
If you have trouble because of memory shortage - which you shouldn't, as your system is quite normal - there are a couple of little things you can do. Put REM in front of the SETVER command line to deactivate it - you'll only need it if you run certain old DOS programs. If you get an error message "Incorrect DOS version", all you need to do is remove the REM. I'd also eliminate DOSKEY, at least from the menu option that runs Windows.
You can make quite big gains by moving the SMARTDRV command line earlier. In your case, the low memory situation comes when it loads last and fails to enter upper memory. While it would seem that its 30K should fit into the 32K upper memory that's free when it comes along, SmartDrive has special needs.
It sets up larger buffers during its loading procedure (I think it needs about 40K), which it then removes again. If you load it earlier, it will successfully load into upper memory and give its extra space up to what comes after, so you can fill more of upper memory and leave more standard memory free. Another small benefit from loading SmartDrive earlier is that it speeds up the rest of the loading procedure.
Your start-up menu loads SmartDrive only on one option, but there is never any reason not to load SmartDrive, provided it can go into upper memory. SmartDrive speeds up DOS operations, too. Your menu should also be rejigged on general principles of logic - it's pointless to repeat the same items in every option. Have a look at a suggested remake in Figure 1 (CONFIG.SYS) and Figure 2 (AUTOEXEC.BAT) to see what I mean.
Q Before I ask any questions or make any comments I would just like to say "Thank you" to all those readers (see July 1995 issue) who offered help regarding my Windows wallpaper problem. It has been much appreciated and, by the way, it works fine!
Now to my question. I'm thinking of buying a shareware program called MicroBoot 6.1 (available from PD Software Services, 8 Bentley Street, Wantirna, Victoria 3152) that allows up to 10 levels of system configuration for both DOS and Windows, and allows for up to 10 different Program Managers. My question is, would this free more memory and improve performance in Windows by allowing, for instance, each program to use a different Program Manager? (I am running MS Word for Windows 6.0, Microsoft Publisher 2.0, Lotus AmiPro 3.0, PaintShop Pro, Sound Blaster Pro applications, After Dark screen saver, plus a few DOS-based programs).
I have enclosed copies of my CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI files, just in case you can think of another way of improving my performance in Windows 3.1. I have a 386DX-40 with 4Mb of RAM, and no, at the moment I cannot afford to buy another 4Mb of RAM.
Also, one more quick question. Could you tell or advise me on a good program for librarians, preferably DOS-based. I have tried a program called Book Librarian 1.53, which is good but it lacks searching capabilities: it can search a book by Title, Author, Subject or book type, but that's it! If you can help me find a more advanced program it would be much appreciated.
- Simon Goeschl, Grovedale, Vic
A I haven't heard of MicroBoot before, so I can't comment on its performance, but it sounds interesting. Perhaps a reader has experience of it. You can of course have different DOS setups by using the Startup Menu facility (to find out the details, type help at the DOS prompt and search for any word that includes "menu"). As for having several Windows setups, I'm not aware of any benefit except that of letting PC sharers have their own personal setups.
Programs for librarians are, again, outside my experience, so I throw the subject open to readers.
As for your system files, they look fine for a Windows machine, except that I'd recommend removing the buffer size specifications (256 256) from the SMARTDRV command line as they make it practically useless. The default value (blank) usually works best as SmartDrive makes its own decisions on the fly. See if you can turn 32-bit file access on after doing this change - you'll find new buffer sizes appearing automatically.
To turn on 32-bit file access, open the Control Panel and double-click the 386 Enhanced icon. Select Virtual Memory and Change. When the final dialogue box opens, you'll see check boxes for 32-bit Disk Access and 32-bit File Access. If they're not greyed out (indicating that your system isn't compatible), check them and answer OK to everything. This gives you the fastest disk access.