I'm sorry, I'll write that again
Windows 95 and modems
Inverters, programming and associations
Preventing children accessing program groups
XT clock utilities, swapping floppies on MS-Word
Direct cable connection in Windows 95
Internet FAQ
Information on AMD DX4-120
Setting up a modem as 28,800 Hayes-compatible
Two many copies
Resizing DoubleSpace
Slow floppy
In November I generated an outstanding quantity of correspondence
by telling Uri George Malaniak that there was no way to run DOS,
Windows NT, Windows 3.1, OS/2, Unix and Windows 95 from one PC.
As apparently everybody in the world knows, there are plenty
of ways.
A program called System Commander enables you to run up to 96 operating systems in one boot session. According to Wayne Pryor of TBSA, you can run Unix, Linux, NT, Windows 95, OS/2, DOS and HP on the same machine, which in his case is a 486 DX2/50.
Why would you want to do it?
"We write a lot of programs and we support a lot of applications in OS/2," said Wayne. "We need to go and do a lot of stuff in Unix. We're writing product for Windows NT and using Windows 95. We have a customer who has a HP mainframe, so we boot into a HP session."
You can purchase System Commander from TBSA -
contact Wayne Pryor at wayne@tbsa.com.au.
Thanks also to C Brockwell who wrote to tell me about System Commander ($US99.95). When I wrote the November Help Screen, V Communications hadn't replied to my enquiries - and still hasn't - but readers may have more luck. The address is:
V Communications Inc
4320 Stevens Creek Blvd #120-OS
San Jose, California USA 95129
Phone: +1 408 296 4224
Fax: +1 408 296 4441
See also, in Star-Dot-Star, the comments of Stephen Davidson and Simon Walker on the multiple operating system question.
There's also been a veritable avalanche of correspondence on DMF
disk copiers. Thanks to John Vaccaro, Peter Williams, Geoff Vennells,
Kaine Sherwood, Randall Lane, Wayne Corbin, H Tran and
all of you who wrote in.
You can download some recommended copiers from our Web site, http://www.idg.com.au/pc.world, which now provides access to the shareware files we mention in Help Screen.
One other point should be cleared up. In November I suggested that Windows 95 mysteriously wrote to protected setup disks. Windows 95 does write to the second setup disk, but not if it's protected by a disk protect tab.
I may have just had the impression this happened due to the hypnotic trance I enter when installing an operating system for the 17th time. The action of resetting and setting the write-protect tab could well have been performed in a totally unconscious state.
Windows 95 stores registration information on the second disk. Because Windows 95 writes to the setup disk, computers that write to the second disk can infect the second Windows 95 setup disk. According to Microsoft this is a problem that has caused some reports of virus-infected Windows 95 setup disks.
I can only commend the drive, energy and enthusiasm which readers have brought to the happy task of letting me know when I'm raving. It's so nice to get all that mail that I think from now on I'll put deliberate mistakes in Help Screen. If you spot the deliberate mistake, you may be entitled to a special prize: perhaps a mug, perhaps a T-shirt, perhaps an item of software, who knows? This is a win-win scheme: it provides an incentive for you to write in, and I can always say any mistakes were deliberate. Heh heh.
Q I wonder if you can throw some light on Windows 95 and the installation of internal modems. While I was away on holidays recently my son-in-law succumbed to the blandishments of a letter from Microsoft and bought Windows 95. Prior to the installation of Windows 95 his computer was running perfectly with Windows 3.11.
The computer is a DX4-100 clone with an Award BIOS, 8Mb of RAM, one parallel, two serial (8250 UARTs) ports and one games port. It is fitted with an internal Dynalink 1414VQH modem, which is sold in the US as an Infotel 1414VQH. Under Windows 3.11 and Winfax Pro, the modem performed perfectly. Dialling out under CardFile also worked.
My son-in-law could not get the modem to work under Windows 95, despite trying to install it some 13 times, if the old versions of AUTOECEC.00n are to be believed. He brought the computer down for me to have a go. I started from scratch and proceeded with the installation, which appeared to work faultlessly. However, the modem and Windows 95 refused to co-operate, despite six or more calls to Microsoft during the four days that I persevered with the wretched thing.
Things tried or checked were:
According to Delrina, the version of Winfax was OK for Windows 95. Even so, I could not get the modem to work with the Microsoft Fax program or CardFile.
Deleting the COMM.DRV in C:\windows\system and extracting the file from disk 1. The original version was 5.28K in size, the Microsoft advisor's COMM.DRV file size was 6K and the freshly extracted file from mini.cab was 9K in size! No success with this either.
I was informed that Windows 95 does not support COM1 and COM4 ports together, and the mode should be set up as COM3! Luckily I had an adaptor to place the mouse on the COM2 port. This did not work either.
The last piece of information gleaned from the experts was to set the modem up for COM2, and that some information would be faxed to an address that I gave them. The information did not arrive, and the system quite naturally hung due to contention between the COM2 port and the modem. I had had enough by then.
The good news. Windows 95 Uninstall worked perfectly. WinFax and CardFile worked perfectly again under Windows 3.11.
- John Little
A John, my experiences with modems and Windows 95 have been surprisingly successful.
I'm assuming that since you say the installation went flawlessly, that you have no hardware problems and that Windows 95 detected the modem card and set it up, or that you set it up. I have the impression you may have been reinstalling Windows 95 to try to correct the modem problem. This is definitely not necessary.
You use the Control Panel-Add New Hardware option. You can either get Windows 95 to try to detect the modem, or choose it yourself. The New Add Hardware Wizard guides you through.
I'm wondering if there's a misconception about what you need to set up.
When you set a modem up in Windows 95, you configure a virtual modem that can be used by any compliant 32-bit application. The ones provided with Windows 95 are:
Dial-Up Networking: This lets you log on to Internet service providers using the WINSOCK.DLL 32-bit Windows sockets driver, and gives you a simple terminal interface for bulletin boards.
Hyperterminal: A communications program that allows you to perform standard communications, such as exchanging files with other PCs over a modem, and connecting to bulletin boards.
Microsoft Fax: The Windows 95 fax system, which relies on Microsoft Exchange.
Microsoft Exchange client: The e-mail and fax client.
Microsoft Network client: The client for dialling in to the Microsoft Network
Delrina announced at Comdex 95 in November last year that it was shipping its 32-bit Windows 95 version of WinFax. Symantec has announced PCAnywhere for Windows 95. Other 32-bit comms programs that use the virtual modem should be around by now.
Under Windows 95, Win 3.1 16-bit applications still talk directly to the modem. You have to set them up just as you would in Windows 3.1, selecting the COM port, bit/sec rate, stop bit, parity bit and so on within the 16-bit comms application.
It's possible that you may have neglected these settings. In our November issue we tested 16-bit fax applications under Windows 95, and WinFax in particular worked well.
To check whether your modem is working correctly, you can try it under 32-bit applications and also under 16-bit applications. First, set up your modem. You should install it using the Infotel 1414VQH driver or the generic (Hayes) driver supplied with the release version of Windows 95.
A good way to test your modem is with the Modems Properties sheet. Just click on the Diagnostics tab, select your modem and click the More Info button. The diagnostic tests send some standard Hayes commands to your modem and display the results.
A nother way to test it is with Hyperterminal. You'll probably find Hyperterminal in the Start menu under Programs-Accessories. When you run it, Hyperterminal expects a session, with a telephone number to call. Just give it a random name and a random number.
When the Connect dialogue appears, click the Cancel button. Now, in the blank terminal window, type some Hayes standard commands such as the reset command (ATZ<Enter>) and an interrogation command (ATI4<Enter>).
You should get a response "OK" to AT and ATZ. ATI4 should elicit a few modem details. You can drive your modem using these commands if you want to. Try typing ATD followed by a phone number and <Enter>. You should hear the modem dialling the number you specified.
To try out the modem under 16-bit applications, try to control it through a DOS comms program, or through Terminal, the 16-bit application that comes with Windows 3.1.
Using the Start Menu-Run command, run terminal.exe, which may be in your Windows 95 directory if you installed over the top of Windows 3.1, or in your old Windows 3.1 directory.
Check the settings in the Settings-Communications menu.
Set up the COM port to which your modem is connected. None of the other settings are important for this test.
Now try the AT, ATZ, ATI4 and ATD commands again. You should get sensible replies as you did in Hyperterminal.
If your modem works in these tests, the problem will be in your WinFax and Cardfile settings. The Card-file settings are under the Card-AutoDial menu. Click on the Setup button.
If your modem doesn't work in these tests, something else is going wrong; possibly some hardware issue such as interrupt, base address or port contention. Without more information it's hard to guess what. Please let me know if you're still having problems after trying these tests.
Q I am writing from a little island here in the South-West Pacific, which you probably have never heard of. Despite our remote location the impact of computers has also reached this part of the globe, which poses problems for those of use who are responsible for trying to make them work. Any problem relating to hardware or software has to be dealt with here, or we face the extra cost of shipping the offending device overseas to be repaired.
We run a number of computers in some very remote locations, power supply being a major problem. Where there is no 230-volt supply we rely on generators or solar charged batteries. Most notepads these days can use the 12-volt battery supply directly but the desktop machines need an inverter.
This brings me to my question. When using an inverter there's a lot of screen interference, although the system seems to be stable enough. As far as I can tell the inverter is not grounded anywhere.
Could it be an earthing hum? Do inverters need to be grounded?
I'd like some advice about learning more about programming. I've messed around with Microsoft Basic and Pascal, but need some more on fundamentals and theory. Can you suggest a good language to start off with, and a book or software tutorial on programming for people not over-furnished in the brain department?
I have a small tip for anyone, like me, who is struggling with the new Windows 95 interface. If you want to change the program associated with a particular file (eg, from Notepad to WordPad), there is no Associate option any more. You first must go into the View menu in Explorer and choose Options.
Click on the File Types tab then scroll down about a million files until you find the type you are looking for (you'd think at least the file type you were selecting would be highlighted).
Next choose Edit to get the Edit File Type screen, then Edit again to see the current association. Then you can Browse your way around to find the program you want the file to open with. Then choose Open to bring you back to the previous screen, then OK, then OK, then OK. Whew!
Thanks for your excellent column. It's worth its weight in CPUs (gold is cheaper). Kind regards from the Pacific,
- Tony Cameron (Auki, Malaita Island,
Solomon Islands)
A Tony, thanks for your comments. I gather you're using an inverter to turn a direct current from your battery into an alternating current that can be fed into the computer's switching power supply, there to be converted back into a direct current to power the system.
There's no reason why this shouldn't work. It's been done before, and as you say, it does work except for display interference.
This issue is a little bit outside the typical CONFIG.SYS-type of question, so I referred the matter to a friend of mine, Andrew Kay, who runs Vintage Wireless in Newtown, Sydney.
His business specialises in lovely wireless sets from the golden age of radio, and his electronics background ranges from valve technology of the 1920s to integrated circuits.
The thing is, as Andrew pointed out, there are inverters and inverters. Some put out a pure sine wave, a single fixed frequency, and they're no problem.
However, some put out a square wave, which is full of high frequency components, and this may interfere not only with your display but with other electronic components in your system. Whether the inverter is grounded or not is irrelevant.
Inverters used to be made with a mechanical switch, called a vibrator, but that name has fallen into disuse for various reasons, and the mechanical technology is not so popular. Vibrators put out a square wave, as you'd expect, by switching the current rapidly on and off.
More recent solid-state inverters may mimic the effect of a mechanical switch and put out a square wave. It sounds like you have one of these.
What you need is a pure sine wave inverter, which uses more sophisticated technology and is somewhat more expensive.
JayCar Electronics in Sydney has a Power Conver-sions, continuous rating, 300W pure sine wave inverter with a 12V input (catalogue number MI5030) priced at $699.
Unfortunately, the line is discontinued but they have one left in their York Street store in Sydney. Call them on +61 2 267 1614.
Learning programming languages has been severely complicated by the graphical user interface. What's supposedly easier for users to use is harder for pro-grammers to program. Programmers these days are confronted with a complex list of application programming interface (API) functions before they can get anything to appear on a screen and give them a bit of feedback.
If you want to learn programming languages, Pascal isn't a bad start. It was designed as a language for students to learn. Borland's Delphi is Pascal-based, but is also a highly sophisticated system for interface design, object-oriented Windows programming.
It's very highly regarded. Microsoft's Visual Basic is very popular for prototyping interfaces and for building relatively simple programs. It's not so elegant as Delphi, but it's close to the Windows API, so it helps you get a feel for Windows programming.
With any programming language, it's hard to know where to start. This is complicated by the event-driven nature of Windows, which creates the impression that the program responds to user mouse clicks and key-strokes, and there is no starting point for a program.
Avoid Cobol and Fortran unless you're under duress. They're getting a bit long in the tooth now. Most serious Windows programming is done in C and C++, but these are pretty tricky for beginners.
Whatever the programming language you're using, the simplest approach is to start trying to write a simple program. In the great classic on C by Kernighan and Ritchie, the first program simply says "Hello world". In a graphical user interface, you have to work out how to put a window on the screen before you can say "Hello world", but the principle still applies.
Once you've got one thing working, add another. Clearly define each step you're attempting. Keep a log of what you're trying to do and how you do it. Use on-line services to get help when you're stuck.
There are good books around, but I haven't surveyed the market recently. Can any other readers recommend a book they've found helpful?
Q With reference to children using Microsoft Windows 3.1 or 3.11 on computers in schools: is there any way to prevent them accessing selected program groups, or program items? - for example, a password protection facility that prevents students from opening File Manager and deleting files.
However, at the same time the system manager should be able to access the restricted groups or items quickly and easily, when he or she wishes to perform operations.
Furthermore, is Windows 95 able to offer the facility of restricting access to certain parts of the environment, as requested above? If so, what is the procedure to implement this?
- Geoff Cook
A You can do what you want do to do in Windows 3.x with a very nice little program called SecureGroup. Stewart Bedford, PC World reader, put me onto this (he describes it in this month's Star-Dot-Star section). It's great. I found a copy of SecureGroup on the Monash CICA mirror at
ftp://ftp.monash.edu.au/pub/pc/win3/desktop/secgp
115.zip
You can download it from there or from our Australian PC World Website at
http://www.idg.com.au/pc.world
Click the Help Screen Shareware link to find the files we recommend in Help Screen.
Windows 95 has a feature called System Policies which lets a system manager control access to control panel options, directories and individual files on every machine. You can prevent access to the MS-DOS prompt, and also configure network settings and customise users' desktops. If you're a control freak, you can even force users to use the wallpaper of your choice, or totally deny them their basic wallpaper rights and give them a bleak, grey background.
You can create individual policies for each user, depending on the user log-in name. You can also create computer-specific policies, depending on the computer name. Windows 95 offers much better security than Windows 3.1. If you want to control access, it's really a much better bet.
Q Could you please send me the XT clock utilities which were sent in by a reader in the November 1995 edition. As I was the one who sent in the question regarding this problem, this would be much appreciated. A diskette is enclosed.
Also, one quick question: why is it that in MS-Word 6 for Windows you can't save the same filename onto another diskette? It comes up with the following message:
The current drive is not valid. A network
connection may have been lost or the floppy
drive door may be open or the floppy drive
may contain the wrong disk. Choose Yes button
to retry.
The Yes button does nothing. In Ami Pro I never had any problems with this. Why is this so??!
- Simon Goeschl
A Simon, thanks for sending in your disk. When I took over from Jan I couldn't find your original letter and address, so I'm glad you got in touch. I'm sending you the XT clock utilities and a shareware utility called Fixtime that allows you to adjust your clock if it's losing time. I don't know if it works on an XT, but there's no harm in trying (I hope). The XT utilities are also available for downloading from our PC World home page at
http://www.idg.com.au/pc.world
You'll also find an answer to your DOS Library program enquiry in Star-Dot-Star.
Your Word 6.0 floppy problem is also a problem in Word 7.0, under Windows 95. There's a system error if you read a Word file from a floppy, replace the floppy and then try to write the file.
Here's my take on what's happening. Word doesn't load the whole file into memory when you're editing. It leaves it on the disk, and just loads what it needs for processing and display. This means you can edit very big documents. It also means that when you save the file, Word doesn't have the complete file, so it has to read from the disk as well as write to it. If you change the disk, Word can't read what it expects to be there, so there's a disk read error.
In Windows 95, you get alarming blue screen errors:
Error Reading Disk in Drive A:
Please insert disk blah blah
with serial number blah blah blah in Drive A:
Press Enter for OK or Esc to cancel.
This is the same error you get if you remove the disk from the drive. I succeeded in crashing not only Word 7.0 but Windows 95 itself, just by experimenting with swapping floppy disks while working in Word 7.0.
That's a Microsoft 32-bit application, working with a Microsoft 32-bit virtual device driver, in a Microsoft 32-bit operating system that is purported to completely protect 32-bit applications from each other. In the process I succeeded in creating a file that crashes Word 7.0 whenever you try to load it. After the Word 7.0 crash you can sometimes return to Windows 95 without re-booting, but there's clearly aberrant behaviour such as left mouse clicks behaving like right mouse clicks. You have opened a can of worms here.
My advice would be if it hurts, just don't do it.
Q I wish to transfer files between my PC and my friend's PC within Windows 95. In the past we used InterLink, which came with MS-DOS. Windows 95 comes with Direct Cable Connection, but we cannot get it to work. We ran through the on-line trouble-shooting without success. We've used a serial cable and a null modem cable, still with no success.
Upon reading your November issue BackBytes section I found out ". . . don't bother trying it with a LapLink cable . . . it needs a special sort!" - so I pose the question, what sort?
Your help would be greatly appreciated, as the size and quantity of the files we wish to exchange makes using floppy drives a joke and tape backup too slow.
- Jason Price
A Jason, the null modem cable should have worked for a serial connection. For a parallel connection you use a 4-bit parallel LapLink or InterLink cable. The pin connections for two DB25 connectors are shown below, if you want to wire one up yourself:
In the first printing of my book Discover Windows 95 there's a misprint on page 310, indicating that pin 25 connects to pin 12. The above is the correct wiring. You can buy these cables over the counter at computer and electronic stores, but for some reason they're not so readily available as null modem cables.
Q I recently went to the 1995 Brisbane Computer Expo and while I was there a few things interested me. I would like to ask a few questions about them:
1. At the expo I saw a Dynalink 1414VHL internal fax/data modem. It comes with Comet Lite and WinFax and was priced at $140, but as the Expo is over the price would have increased $10 or $20. Is this a good package and is it worth buying? Also, are Comet Lite and WinFax suitable for use on the Internet?
2. If I buy the modem, I was thinking about subscribing to Brisnet for Internet hook-up. Their prices are a flat rate of $180 a year, which gives up to 10 hours on the Internet each week. Is this a good company to subscribe to and is this a competitive price?
3. After I have hooked on to the Internet I would need a Web browser for the World Wide Web. Is it necessary to buy a Web browser, or will a freeware Web browser such as WinWeb (which you tested in PC World July 1995) give the performance of most commercial Web browsers?
4. What differences do the freeware and shareware versions of WinWeb have? What do these differences mean and/or do? How much does the shareware version cost and where can I get it from?
5. If I subscribe to the Internet through Brisnet and pay my yearly $180, how much more does it cost to talk to someone in America, and how long does this extra cost give you?
6. It says in the PC World July 1995 test on Web Browsers to get a freeware copy of WinWeb and use it for anonymous FTP. Could you please explain to me what anonymous FTP is?
I understand that I have asked a few questions and that your time and space in PC World are limited, so I have enclosed a stamped self-addressed envelope if you would be kind enough to give me a reply.
- Daniel McLean
A Daniel, we always have room for questions like this. We only recommend products and services in a review context, so forgive me if I neatly sidestep discussing the merits of the Dynalink 1414VHL and Brisnet (besides I don't know anything about them). The price of $150 is good for a 14.4Kbit/sec modem, but 28.8Kbit/sec is a better speed for Internet access.
Also, $180 per year is a pretty good price for 10 hours per week; it works out at $2.88 per hour if you manage to use up your hours. Shop around though. You can compare price per hour, or subscription prices. When you just use a few hours, you might find the free hours offered in a package quite sufficient.
Comet Lite is a communications package. It lets you log on to bulletin boards and other PCs running communications packages to exchange files. WinFax is a fax package that lets you send faxes from your word processor via your fax modem. Fax packages work through a modem over the phone lines, but the Internet is not involved. You connect to the Internet via a phone line, but that's the only point of similarity.
When you're connected to the Internet, distance disappears. It doesn't cost you any more to connect to sites overseas. However, the connection may be slower if you connect to US sites, because the AARNET link, currently managed by Telstra, is woefully, painfully inadequate. It stinks.
This means you spend longer on-line, and you have to pay for that. Telstra, if you're listening, how about some more bandwidth? Another 48Mbit/sec for starters.
There are lots of Web browsers. They're developing fast, and some of the older ones don't support new features such as display backgrounds and fancy effects. Most Internet service providers (ISPs) offer a package of shareware Internet tools, including a Web browser, when you sign up. Ask your ISP about this. NetScape offers a good browser that you can get in beta versions as shareware, and the Internet Explorer provided with Windows 95 is a good package. Once you're connected to the Internet you can acquire more shareware and freeware utilities, including Web browsers, using anonymous FTP.
Anonymous file transfer protocol (FTP) is a system for making files available on Internet servers. An FTP utility lets you browse FTP servers, and upload or download files. Web browsers typically incorporate FTP, so you don't need another application to retrieve files.
The Internet is a new medium for most people, and until you've used it it's hard to benefit much from just listening to people babbling about it. Take the plunge, get the modem, subscribe to an ISP, pester their support people until you're happily connected and browsing, use up your free hours, and it will all become clear.
Q I found your advice to one of the PC World readers on upgrading the CPU very interesting. Do you have any info on the AMD DX4-120? All I would like to know is whether it has 16K L1 cache or only 8K. And compared to the Intel DX4-100, which one would you recommend? Thanks a lot in advance.
- Minh Nguyen
A Minh, AMD has a Website that supplies information about all its products. It's at http://www.amd.com
The answer appears to be that the AMD DX4s have an 8K write-back cache, which AMD claims is superior to the 16K cache on the Intel CPUs. The figures provided by AMD seem to indicate the AMD runs faster than a 75MHz Pentium.
Q I have a Dynalink FastDeskModem 1428VQE, and in Spiro Hionis's review on fast modems [November 1995] it talks about selecting the modem as a 28,800 Hayes-compatible to gain better performance. As I run CompuServe under Windows 3.1 could you please pass on to me the settings used to achieve maximum performance?
Thanks again for a great magazine.
- John Vaccaro
A John, thanks for your insightful comments on the quality of our magazine. Spiro (Guru with Intel inside) Hionis says you should use the Standard or Generic 28.8Kbit/sec driver, as this is the Hayes-compatible driver (Hayes is the standard).
Q Every time I print from Word 7 under Windows 95, I get two copies, despite the fact I have only selected one copy in the Print dialogue box. Can you tell me what to do to avoid this?
- Robert Thirlwell
A Robert, the name is strangely familiar. I'm glad you mentioned this problem, as it has been bothering me too. I sense that you're using a Lexmark Optra Plus printer with a PostScript driver, but none of this is relevant to the problem. What's happened is that someone set the printer to print two copies.
You just check on the front panel of the printer under Menus-Paper menu-More-Copies, and make sure it is set to 1. Why it printed only one copy for other people I don't know - it was printing two copies for me.
Q I have read in recent editions of Help Screen that, when using DoubleSpace, you should leave sufficient uncompressed disk space to accommodate the Windows swap file.
Unfortunately, I have installed DoubleSpace without doing so. Is it possible to reconfigure the hard disk somehow without affecting my programs and data and, if so, how? I gather from comments in the Help Screen that this will improve the performance of Windows applications. Is this true? If it is not possible to decompress some of the disk space now, what is the best course of action for me to take?
Thank you for providing the Help Screen. As a relative novice at computers, I find it extremely helpful. I'm using DOS 6.2 and Windows 3.1.
- Bruce Martin
A Thanks Bruce. Windows 3.1 benefits greatly from a reasonably large permanent swap file, which must reside on an uncompressed drive. Windows 95, on the other hand, works just as well with a dynamic swap file and can manage it on a compressed drive. To resize your DoubleSpace drive, use the DOS DBLSPACE command with the /SIZE parameter. The command goes:
DBLSPACE /SIZE=size1 drive:
where size1 is the new size of the drive, expressed in megabytes, and drive is the drive letter for the compressed drive.
Another way that fits your requirement a little better is to reserve the amount of free space you want left on the uncompressed (host) drive, using DBLSPACE with the /RESERVE parameter:
DBLSPACE /RESERVE=size2 drive:
where size2 is the amount, in megabytes, of free uncompressed space you want to reserve, and drive is the drive letter for the compressed drive.
For example, if you want to free up 20Mb for a Windows swap file, and your compressed drive is C:, type:
DBLSPACE /RESERVE=20 C:
Divide the free space on your compressed drive by two for a rough estimate of how much uncompressed space is left on your hard drive. If you have very little uncompressed space left, you'll have to remove files before you can resize the compressed volume.
Needless to say, exit Windows and close down all applications before doing this. If you're not feeling wild, reckless and devil-may-care, back up all your files and take out comprehensive data insurance.
Q I have an IBM clone 486DX2-66 PC with 8Mb of RAM, two hard drives (350Mb and 420Mb) and a double-speed CD-ROM with 16-bit sound card. I have noticed my 31/2in HD floppy drive is very slow when I install programs from it. I am using Windows for Workgroups 3.11 and DOS 6.22.
I have about 40Mb of free space on both drives. I use my PC to develop Visual Basic programs and distribute them on floppy disks.
When I install these Visual Basic programs on other PCs they get installed very quickly, but when I want to test a program on my PC by installing, it takes a long time to read the floppy disks. Is there any reason why my floppy drive is not as fast as other PCs?
- Tissa Ballan
A Tissa, apart from some hardware problem, the only significant factor affecting the speed of your floppy drive is whether or not you're using caching.
If you're not already using SmartDrive to cache your floppy drive, try it and see if performance improves.
To enable SmartDrive, put this line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
c:\dos\smartdrv.exe
If you have several copies of SMARTDRV.EXE, say in your DOS and Windows directory, use the most recent one, identifying it by its full path name.
You can tune it by specifying two parameters after the command. The first is the maximum size of the cache, and the second is the minimum size of the cache. Both are expressed in kilobytes (K). SmartDrive varies its cache size while it runs. It reduces the size of the cache under Windows, so SmartDrive and Windows won't compete for extended memory.
The optimal maximum size depends on how much RAM you have. Typical figures for the maximum size are 1Mb of cache for 4 to 6Mb of RAM; 2Mb of cache for 8Mb of RAM; and 4Mb of cache for more than 10Mb of RAM. So for an 8Mb system, you could try:
c:\dos\smartdrv.exe 2048 256
If your hard disk is a SCSI type and you're running Windows 3.1 with DOS 5, you may need to use double buffering. To do this, use CONFIG.SYS to run SmartDrive with the following parameters:
device=c:\windows\smartdrv.exe /double_buffer
After starting your system with this line in your CONFIG.SYS file, you can then check if you need double buffering by typing smartdrv at the DOS prompt.
The report includes a buffering column. If it shows a "NO" for all drives, you don't need double buffering.
When you're running Smartdrv, you can type smartdrv /s to see details on smartdrv status, including how many cache hits and misses it's getting, which gives you an idea of how well it's speeding up performance. SmartDrive should also improve your CD-ROM performance.