New Star Software Collection/NSS_Collection.iso/3-069 qemm 603/1.ima/DVMAN/APPEND-D.DEV

Text File | 1991-10-08 | 11.6 KB | 261 lines

Appendix D

Using DESQview with a Floppy-Based System

 Because DESQview lets you run several programs at once, installing DESQview
on a floppy-based or laptop PC requires a little extra planning to get the
configuration that will be the most convenient for you.  This appendix first
discusses how to install your programs on a floppy-based system.  Then, it
discusses the two strategies you can use:

~Item~ The "quick" strategy uses your system the way it's already configured.

~Item~ The "laptop" strategy optimizes the use of DESQview on systems with
high-capacity floppy drives.

~Subhead~ Preparing a System Diskette

 Before you install DESQview, it's necessary to have ready a blank, formatted
diskette. Since it's usually most convenient to be able to boot your PC from
the DESQview diskette you'll create (called your everyday DESQview diskette),
we recommend you prepare a "system" diskette.  If you wish to use DESQview
386 on a floppy based system, you'll need a high density (720K or larger)
system diskette.  To make a system diskette:

~Step~ Place your DOS diskette in drive A.

~Step~ Type A: and press <Enter>.

~Step~ Type FORMAT B: /S and press <Enter>.

DOS responds by telling you to place the diskette you want to format in drive
B and then to press any key (or, for some versions of DOS, to press Enter).

~Step~ Place a blank diskette in drive B and press any key (or <Enter>).

When formatting is complete, DOS will ask you if you want to format another
diskette.

~Step~ Type N to indicate that you don't.

 You must install DESQ view 386 ~dash~ or at least the QEMM-386 part of it
~dash~ on a system diskette. You aren't required to install DESQview on a
system diskette.  If you don't, you should probably copy COMMAND.COM from
your DOS diskette to your everyday DESQview diskette. (See page 18, note 6,
Installation Notes for more information on how DESQview finds COMMAND.COM.)

~Subhead~ Using DOS Services

 Most of the commands used by the DOS Services Companion are built into DOS.
A few, however, run programs, and thus require that a diskette containing the
program be available in order to use the command ~dash~ in particular,
Format, Print, and Copy Diskette require programs.  There are two strategies
you can take:

~Item~ If there's room on your everyday DESQview diskette, copy the programs
for the DOS commands you use to this diskette from your boot diskette.

~Item~ If there's not enough room on your everyday DESQview diskette, create
a "DOS Services" diskette and put these programs, plus the DOS Services
program, DOSSERV.COM, on this diskette.

~Subhead~ Installing Your Programs in DESQview

 Before you can install your programs in DESQview, you must install DESQview
(see page 15) and you must know the basics of how to use DESQview. For this,
we recommend that you walk through the steps of Chapter 2, Getting Started:
A Tutorial. Then, use the Add a Program command to tell DESQview which
programs you're using.

The basic steps required to install programs in DESQview are given in Adding
a Program on pages 62-63 .To summarize:

~Step~ Start up DESQview, if you haven't already done so ~dash~ see page 20.

Then, with your everyday DESQview diskette still in drive A:

~Step~ Display the DESQview menu and select Open Window.

~Step~ Select Add a Program to display the Add a Program Menu ~dash~ the list
of programs that DESQview knows about.

~Step~ Mark the programs you want to install in DESQview and select DONE.

DESQview then displays the Program Location menu for each program you marked,
in turn, so you can indicate where each program is stored.  Since you
normally run programs from drive A (and keep the program's data files on
drive B):

~Step~ Type A: and press <Enter>  ~dash~ once for each program you marked.

Finally, DESQview asks if you're done installing programs or want to install
more:

~Step~ Select DONE to indicate you've installed all the programs you want for
now.

 If you have any programs that aren't listed on the Add a Program menu,
install them using the Add OTHER Program command ~dash~ see pages 64-65 for
instructions.

Next, you must decide which of the two basic strategies is best for you:

~Item~ If you have a laptop or other PC with high-capacity (720K or more)
floppy drives, you should consider the "laptop" strategy. This takes more
initial effort on your part to set up but, once you've made this effort, you
get the closest possible equivalent to a hard disk system.

~Item~ If you have only standard-capacity (360K) floppy drives, or if you
can't or don't want to take the trouble to implement the "laptop" strategy,
choose the "quick" strategy ~dash~ which isn't really a strategy at all so
much as a set of "do's" and "don'ts" that you need to follow to run DESQview
with your programs and diskettes configured the way they already are.

~Heading~ Implementing the "Quick" Strategy

 The "quick" strategy is to use your program and data diskettes the way
they're already configured and only create one additional diskette, your
everyday DESQview diskette (according to the instructions starting on page
15).

With this strategy, you'll usually have to shuffle diskettes each time you
start up a program, each time you switch from one program to another, and
each time you use Add a Program, Change a Program, online Help, and DOS
Services.  And, you'll probably be unable to run programs in background.

When you use the "quick" strategy, there are certain "dos" and "don'ts" you
must follow to avoid losing data:

~Item~ You must start up DESQview from drive B.

~Item~ You must run all your programs from drive A.

~Item~ Once you've started up a program (in drive A) and accessed a file (on
drive A or B), you must never remove either the program diskette or the data
diskette without closing down all open files.  If you do, data may be lost,
the program may hang, or both.

 Exceptions are:  If you're absolutely sure that the program doesn't use
overlays or otherwise ever read the program diskette once you start up the
program, you can remove it.  If you're absolutely sure that the program
doesn't leave files open, you can remove the data diskette.  (However, this
is unusual.  Most programs leave files open while you're working on them.)

 To determine if a program uses overlays, look at the files on its program
diskette.  Often you can tell which files are programs and which are data.
If not, another approach is to watch to see if the diskette light flashes as
you walk through the program's features.  This method isn't foolproof,
however, unless you exercise every program feature ~dash~ which is almost
impossible to do.

~Item~ You must put your everyday DESQview diskette back in drive B before
you select a program from the Open Window menu.  If you fail to do this,
you'll get an error indicating that drive B is not ready (if the door is
open) or that DESQview can't find file DESQVIEW.DVO (if some other diskette
is in drive B).  Also, you must put your everyday DESQview diskette back in
drive B to get online Help and to quit DESQview.

~Item~ If you want to run multiple programs, you must put all the programs
you want to run at the same time on one diskette and all the data for all
these programs on the other diskette.  Once you start any of these programs,
don't remove either diskette until you close all open files.

 Although it's possible to "freeze" a program (using the Freeze command or
the Ctrl-NumLock key), remove its diskettes, and start up another program in
drives A and B, this has certain risks.  Most importantly, if you accidently
switch back to the program whose diskettes have been removed, and press any
key (which "unfreezes" the program), data might be lost, the program may
hang, or both.

~Heading~ Implementing the "Laptop" Strategy

 Although it will take you a few minutes to set up your system for the
"laptop" strategy, this effort will more than pay for itself in improved
convenience and functionality. You'll effectively have a hard disk system
~dash~ except for speed. To implement the "laptop" strategy, prepare:

~Item~ Your everyday DESQview diskette, containing DESQview and all the
programs you want to use at the same time.

~Item~ Your data diskette, containing all the data files for all the programs
on your everyday DESQview diskette.

To set up the two diskettes required by the "laptop" strategy:

~Step~ Create your "everyday DESQview diskette" by following the instructions
on page 15. Then, install all your programs in DESQview as per page 184.

~Step~ Copy all the programs you want to use together in DESQview onto this
diskette. Then, copy all your data files to another, blank diskette.

Now, to run DESQview:

~Step~ Place your everyday DESQview diskette in drive A and your data
diskette in drive B.

~Step~ Type A: and press <Enter>.

~Step~ Type DV and press <Enter>.

If you can't fit DESQview and all your programs on one diskette, there's a
fallback position. After you've created your everyday DESQview diskette, make
a copy of it, label it your "DESQview program diskette", and delete the
DESQview files your system will not use. Appendix G lists and describes all
the files that were copied to your diskette.   Which files you can safely
delete depends entirely on how your hardware is configured and what software
you will be running. Briefly, you may delete the following files, under the
following conditions:

~Item~ Those memory and device drivers your system will not use (files with
an extension of .DVR):

 ~dash~  You may delete EMM.DVR and DOSBUF.DVR if you do not have exPanded
memory.

 ~dash~  You may delete QEXT.SYS and DVXMS.SYS if you do not have exTended
memory.

 ~dash~  Also, you may delete all the video drivers but the one your system
uses. (See Appendix G.)

 ~Item~ Those DESQview drivers your system will not use:

 ~dash~  You may delete RMGRDV.DVR if you have "Manage Printer Contention"
set OFF (N) in the Advanced setup menu.

 ~dash~  You may delete LEARN.DVR and CONVSCR.COM if you do not wish to use
the keyboard macro feature.

~Item~ You may delete DVANSI.COM if you will not be using programs which
require an ANSI driver loaded.

~Item~ You may delete XDV.COM if your system has only 640K of memory, with no
Expanded or Extended memory.

~Item~ You may delete DVPAL.COM (the Palette program) if you are not running
an EGA or VGA video adapter.

~Item~ You may delete DESQVIEW.DVH, the DESQview help file. If there were not
room on your floppy diskette, this might not have been copied at all.
However, if it was , and you wish to conserve disk space, you may delete it
from the DESQview program floppy.

~Item~ You may delete DEVICE.COM, if you will not be needing to load a device
driver from DOS or in a DESQview window.

~Item~ AUTOINST.COM is not generally used on a floppy based system.

Then copy all your programs to this DESQview program diskette. To run
DESQview, start it up as described above, replace your everyday DESQview
diskette with your DESQview program diskette, and then put your data diskette
in drive B.

 If you run copy-protected programs, you can either abandon the "laptop"
strategy and use the "quick" strategy or use a hybrid strategy for the
copy-protected programs. Copy to each copy-protected diskette the files
xx-PIF.DVP and xx-LOAD.COM (if any) for the program. Then, to start up the
copy-protected program, place the program diskette in drive A before you
select it from the Open Window menu. You must observe the restrictions listed
on page 185 while you're running this program and should "freeze" it before
you switch to another program.