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README.TXT
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README.TXT for Wintune 2.0, final version 12-2-94
*** IMPORTANT ***
PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES AND READ THESE RELEASE NOTES. THEY WILL
SAVE YOU TIME AND TROUBLE LATER. --The WINTUNE 2.0 Task Force
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TO INSTALL WINTUNE 2.0:
1) If you have a beta version of WINTUNE 2.0, please delete it,
and all related files. In particular, delete any .TRF files (the
format has changed), WT20.INI from \WINDOWS; and delete HELL16C.DLL,
GETINFO.DLL, TIPADW16.DLL in your \WT20 directory and and any WT*.VBX
files from \WINDOWS\SYSTEM. Also delete the Wintune icons and WT20
group from Program Manager. Then exit and restart Windows before
running WINTUNE setup.
2) run SETUP.EXE from File/Run in Progman
3) when setup is complete, run Wintune. PLEASE FILL IN THE USER
INFORMATION FORM as completely as possible.
4) If you have trouble during setup, please check the file sizes and
modification dates against those listed below. If any are off, you
need to download WINTUNE again.
Files in WINTUNE 2.0 setup:
Name Length Date
CMDIALOG.VB_ 10,865 04-28-93
GETINFO.DL_ 22,263 09-27-94
GSW.EX_ 151,678 02-18-94
GSWDLL.DL_ 24,408 02-18-94
HELL16C.DL_ 224,800 12-01-94
README.TXT 12,454 12-02-94
SETUP.EXE 8,480 10-07-93
SETUP.INF 217 08-30-94
SETUP1.EX_ 20,207 10-01-94
SETUPKIT.DL_ 3,657 04-28-93
SSIDXTAB.VB_ 39,604 05-23-94
TIPADW16.DL_ 26,663 11-04-94
VBRUN300.DL_ 276,684 05-12-93
VER.DL_ 6,307 03-10-92
WINTUNE.TR_ 22,511 11-08-94
WT20.EX_ 103,956 11-09-94
WTFAQ.HL_ *41,059 12-02-94
WTGRAPH.VB_ 41,683 02-18-94
WTHELP.HL_ 251,961 10-31-94
WTSS3D.VB_ 28,209 08-24-93
WTSS3D2.VB_ 44,100 06-01-93
WTTEST.HL_ 3,992 10-18-94
WTTIP.HL_ 52,762 11-04-94
*not less than
File lengths, dates and locations after setup
Name Length Date Directory
CMDIALOG.VBX 18,688 04-28-93 \windows\system
GETINFO.DLL 37,652 09-27-94 \wt20
GETINFO.DLL 37,652 09-27-94 \windows\system
GSW.EXE 262,704 02-18-94 \windows\system
GSWDLL.DLL 45,584 02-18-94 \windows\system
HELL16C.DLL 303,104 12-01-94 \wt20
README.TXT 12,454 12-02-94 \wt20
SSIDXTAB.VBX 61,664 05-23-94 \windows\system
TIPADW16.DLL 44,064 11-04-94 \wt20
TIPADW16.DLL 44,064 11-04-94 \windows\system
VBRUN300.DLL 398,416 05-12-93 \windows\system
VER.DLL 9,008 03-10-92 \windows\system (varies)
WINTUNE.TRF 107,940 11-08-94 \wt20
WT20.EXE 276,519 11-09-94 \wt20
WTFAQ.HLP *101,049 12-02-94 \wt20
WTHELP.HLP 640,060 10-31-94 \wt20
WTSS3D.VBX 28,209 08-24-93 \windows\system
WTSS3D2.VBX 44,100 06-01-93 \windows\system
WTTIP.HLP 115,259 11-04-94 \wt20
* not less than
PROBLEMS?
If you have trouble getting Wintune installed and running, check
the file dates and sizes you have against those above--chances are
one or more will be off. If that's not the problem, try viewing
WTFAQ.HLP If you don't have it, go to a DOS prompt, change to
the directory where the installation files are, and type:
EXPAND WTFAQ.HL_ WTFAQ.HLP
Then exit the DOS prompt, and double-click WTFAQ.HLP from File
Manager. That should launch WINHELP.EXE with WTFAQ.HLP loaded.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
VIEWING .TRF ENTRIES WITHOUT RUNNING A TEST
Many Beta-2 testers requested this capability; so we added it in beta-3.
You can now establish an association in file manager (File/Associate) of
type ".TRF" with WT20.EXE. Once that's done, double-clicking on a .TRF
file in file manager or any other app that supports associations (MS-
Mail 3.2, for instance) 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.
You will still have to run a test, using the "Start" button before any
of the individual test commands will work. We apologise for the
inconvenience; but this is necessary to assure that all program setup is
properly executed (for instance, if you exit the app and change
smartdrive settings, just running the disk test again wouldn't help--
because Wintune detects disk cache type and size when the Start button
is pressed, *not* when an individual disk test is run).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTOMATICALLY LOADING THE LAST SAVED TEST "AS CURRENT"
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 add a /L.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
EXPERT MODE
We've added a new mode that eliminates some of the system messages (such
as the one about other applications running), and which provides a "Load
Test As Current" command in the File menu. The Help/Full Tips command
has been eliminated from Standard Mode, and is now only available in
Expert Mode.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
IF YOU HAVE A NON-STANDARD DISK CACHE, Or are running OS/2 or NT,
then you will need to manually set the disk cache size in the WINTUNE
command line. The syntax for this is:
/Cnnnn
Where nnnn is your disk cache size in KB. Legal values are 16--16384.
Ie, to manually set a 2MB cache size, use command-line switch:
/C2048
If you don't set a cache size, you will get a simplified disk test with
results that may not be comparable to those from a test with a detected
cache size.
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 sett cache size of 4MB.
This appears to approximately match the performance of NT's dynamic
cache and the built-in Wi16 emulation subsystem.
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 have IFS=C:\OS2\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:512 ...
Then set:
/C512
-------------------------------------------------------------------
OTHER ISSUES
- Disk results different from Wintune 1.0: The disk test in 2.0 is
*very* different than in 1.0, and we don't expect it to match. The 2.0
results (which are a weighted average of cached and un-cached
performance... we now detect both WFWG 3.11 32-bit cache and SMARTDRV.
If you are using Windows NT, OS/2, or an undetected 3rd-party disk
cache, you will need to set a /C command-line switch as discussed
above.
- Where's the Bird (in the video test)? He's gone. His replacement is
they "Eyeball", which you will see at the end of a *full* video test.
- GPFs: The only condition where we expect Wintune to GPF is running a
full video test with a bad video driver. If that happens, switch to Quick
Test mode (so you don't get the GPF anymore) and contact your video supplier
for a new driver.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WINTUNE.TRF
Our default test results database (WINTUNE.TRF) contains significantly
more information in this release--the same four systems are shown on
start-up, but you'll find that a much wider range of systems are now
available for comparison. Many thanks to our beta testers who contributed!
The file starts with four "standard" systems that are used a defaults in comparison
displays, then has about two dozen common systems that are ordered from fast
through slow systems (all are pretty much correctly set up), and winds up with a
bunch of "example" systems with problems such as compressed disk drives, a
TSR that slows overall performance, L1 cache disabled, turbo switch off, etc:
Examples:
At the end of the build-14 version of WINTUNE.TRF there are 13
example systems that illustrate typical problems. They're intended
as a diagnostic aid in debugging systems that deliver odd results
the examples in this version 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 anomolously
low CPU results, the second low disk. The third file shows
how the same system tested with power management disabled. We
reccomend 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
compresser 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)
YOU CAN HELP! We're interested in expanding this collection of example
problems. If you encounter a system with an unusual problem, please save
results on it, and mail it to jruley on AOL. Please include a full
description of the problem. Thanks! --jR
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BUGS
If you find a bug (please check all text in this file *first*):
1) save your results
2) go to details/all, copy all text
3) Send a mail message to jruley@aol.com. Detail what's wrong. Follow that
with the text copied in (2), and attach your WINTUNE.TRF file (which
contains the results you saved in step 1).
4) If you experience a crash, run Dr. Watson and MSD.EXE, and send me
the results.
Thanks!
John D. Ruley
Editor-at-Large
jruley@aol.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHH! DON'T TELL ANYONE!
If you read this far...
Then you're a *really* dedicated WINTUNER. So try the
following:
Help/About
Click on "from"
Enjoy! --jR