Windows Expert/Windows Expert.iso/others/nwutils.zip/FASTLE.NW

Text File | 1992-01-23 | 7KB | 177 lines

                Running Fast and Lean

Are you running out of space on your hard disk?  Do
you sometimes get "Not enough memory to continue"
messages when you use NewWave?  Here are some
practical tips you can use to conserve disk space,
memory, and to generally tune your computer so that
it runs "Fast and Lean."

STEP 1:  FREE UP SOME DISK SPACE
================================

 1) Remove the NewWave Tutorials and Guided Tour.

    Removing the tutorial can recover about 2.4 MB of
    disk space.  Here are the steps to do this:

        a.  In the NewWave Office, select Tutorial
            from the Help menu.
        b.  Press the Ctrl-Alt-X keys.
        c.  Click Manage CBT.
        d.  Click Deinstall.
        e.  Highlight the Main Topic that you want to
            deinstall, click Deinstall, and OK.
        f.  Repeat Step e until you have deinstalled all
            of the Main Topics.
        g.  Click Done and OK.

 2) Delete the "What's New Folder"

    The "What's New" folder contains a LOT of good
    information about NewWave, agent task tips, etc.
    However, once you have read or printed these
    objects, some of the items (or even the whole
    folder) may be deleted from your disk.  The whole
    folder can be removed for a savings of about 156 KB.

    You can store a copy of the folder and its contents
    on a flexible disk by using the Export To Disk File
    command from the Objects menu of the NewWave Office
    desktop.

3)  Empty your Waste Basket frequently.

4)  Delete unnecessary Window's files and applications

    You can conserve disk space by deleting Windows
    accessories you don't use.  For example, deleting all
    the Windows 3.0 files that have a base file name of
    CALC removes the Windows Calculator (a savings of 63
    KB).  Also, the Window's bitmap files (*.BMP)
    consume about 240KB of disk.

    Do this only when you are sure you don't need the
    accessories or bitmaps.  Again, you should back up
    them up before deleting them.

Step 2: CONSERVE MEMORY
=======================

   You may be able to gain extra memory for NewWave by
   making changes to CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT -- the
   two files that establish the system configuration for
   your computer.  Both of these files are in the root
   directory of the default drive on your hard disk
   (usually Drive C).  Before you change these files, it
   is a good idea to make a backup copy of each in case
   you need to restore your old configuration.  Note that
   changes to either file do not go into effect until you
   restart your computer.

   Here are the changes you can make to conserve memory:

   1)  Remove any unnecessary device drivers from your
       CONFIG.SYS file.

       Device drivers are loaded through the DEVICE=
       command.  To remove a device driver, delete its
       command line from CONFIG.SYS.  Examples of
       device drivers not needed by NewWave are ANSI.SYS
       or MOUSE.SYS.  These files may be needed by
       some DOS applications, however, so make sure you
       that you don't need a device driver before you
       remove it.

       If you are loading a disk caching program, you
       do not need (and should not load) the FASTOPEN
       program provided with DOS.

   2)  In CONFIG.SYS, set BUFFERS to a low value if you
       are using disk caching software (such as
       Microsoft's SMARTDRV.SYS).

       The BUFFERS= command allocates a small amount of
       buffer memory to hold data as it is read from
       disk.  Each buffer uses from 528 up to 4000 bytes,
       depending on the side of your hard disk partition.
       The recommended number of buffers for NewWave is 8
       when running disk caching software and 16 to 20
       when you are not using any disk caching software.

       If you are using the DOS 5.0 CONFIG.SYS entry
       DOS=HIGH, changing the BUFFERS= entry may have
       no effect on base memory (the buffer memory
       goes into extended memory when using DOS=HIGH).

   3)  In CONFIG.SYS, remove any unneeded logical drives.

       The LASTDRIVE command specifies the drive letter
       of the last logical drive.  Each drive you don't
       need uses approximately 85 bytes.  If you don't
       have any physical, ramdrive, substituted, or
       network drives past drive C:, you can set
       LASTDRIVE=C.

   4)  Remove any unnecessary terminate-and-stay
       resident programs (TSRs) from AUTOEXEC.BAT.

       TSRs occupy a small amount of memory at all times
       while your computer is running.  Often, they are
       loaded through a command line in AUTOEXEC.BAT.

   5)  Use a memory manager that can load device
       drivers and TSR programs into upper memory blocks
       (UMB's, or high DOS memory).  Common examples of
       these are Qualitas' 386Max, Quarterdeck's QEMM,
       and Microsoft's EMM386.EXE.  Be sure that you
       obtain a version that is compatible with Windows
       3.0 in Enhanced Mode.  If you have a 286 based PC,
       Qualitas provides MOVE'EM, and Quarterdeck has
       QRAM, which can provide UMB support for PCs
       with certain models of add-on memory cards.

STEP 3: TUNE DISK PERFORMANCE
=============================

   1)  On 386 PC's create a permanent swap file.  This
       file typically should be 4 to 6 MB in size, and
       should be placed on your fastest hard disk.
       Follow the instructions for this in the Window's
       3.0 manual.

   2)  Defragment your disk drive often. Performance
       of many applications can be improved by using
       a disk defragmenting program.  There are
       various programs available on the market that
       can do this, such as those provided in Norton
       Utilities and PC Tools.  Be sure to run these
       programs OUTSIDE of Windows 3.0.

       TIP: If your disk optimizing program can place
            certain directories first on the disk (in
            the fastest access areas), place the
            files in the HPNWDATA directory at the
            front of the list.  This is where the
            NewWave Object Management Facility (OMF)
            resides, which is where most of the
            disk reading and writing will occur.

   3)  Use a disk caching program, such as Microsoft's
       SMARTDRV.SYS.  It is best that you use a cache
       program that is compatible with Windows 3.0, and
       "relinquish" memory from cache back to Windows,
       in case your Window's application runs short on
       memory.

   4)  If you have a SET TEMP=  statement in your
       AUTOEXEC.BAT file, make sure that you have
       adequate non-fragmented disk space on that drive.
       This is particularly important for printing
       large graphics from within Window's/NewWave.

We hope that with the above suggestions, you too, can make
your computer run "Fast and Lean".