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Document 1603
Windows 3.1
06/05/92
Novell Desktop Systems Group
Microsoft Windows 3.1
The April update of DR DOS 6.0 is fully compatible with Microsoft
Windows 3.1. If users do not have the update they can download it
from the Novell Host System BBS or CompuServe. All registered users
will be sent the business update at no charge. The update has already
been incorporated into all currently manufactured product. The Novell
Host System is at 408-649-3443 and is 2400,8,N,1.
Windows' Requirements
Microsoft Windows 3.1 is designed to run on only 286, 386SX, 386 and
486 computers. It has 2 modes of operation. Windows Standard mode
requires there be at least 1 Megabyte of total memory and the presence
of an XMS memory manager such as HIDOS.SYS or EMM386.SYS. Enhanced
Mode will only run on a 386SX or better CPU and requires a minimum of
1 Megabyte of available XMS memory to function. If you are not sure
what mode you are using you can find out by selecting the HELP menu
from the Windows Program Manager. Select ABOUT PROGRAM MANAGER and you
will see a dialog box that indicates the mode you are currently using.
Windows users cannot use the /V option for HIDOS.SYS and EMM386.SYS.
This option takes video memory addresses and assigns them to
conventional memory. This means that you can only run text based
applications when this switch is on.
SuperStor
The Windows 3.1 default drive for temporary swap files is the drive on
which Windows was installed. If Windows is installed on a SuperStor
drive it is strongly recommended that users change the default drive
for swap files to an uncompressed drive. This should be done for both
temporary and permanent swap files.
To change the location of the swap file it is necessary to be in
enhanced mode. Open the Control Panel by double clicking on the icon.
Next select the 386 Enhanced icon. You should see a dialog box with
several buttons. One of the buttons will be labeled Virtual Memory.
Select this button. The next dialog will indicate whether or not a
permanent swap file is in use and the drive that is being used for the
swap file. It is very important that swap files not be created on a
SuperStor drive. Select the appropriate options to place the swap file
on the uncompressed drive.
If the uncompressed drive does not have enough space for the swap file
do not continue to run Windows in enhanced mode until enough free space
has been cleared on the uncompressed drive. Standard mode can still be
used. It may be necessary to backup the compressed drive and remove it
in order to create enough uncompressed free space for Windows swap
files. Swap files range in size from about 2 MB to 8MB.
SuperPCK
Users must configure SuperPCK to use XMS memory instead of EMS memory
and have the PCKWIN.SYS driver in the CONFIG.SYS. SuperPCK is
configured to use XMS with the /EM option. The PCKWIN.SYS driver is
mandatory for running Windows in Standard or Enhanced Mode with SuperPCK.
Both of these options can be enabled through DR DOS Setup. Go to the
DISKMAX menu and say YES to SuperPCK. The next screen will be the
SuperPCK dialog. There you check YES to the selection that asks if
Windows is run in Standard or Enhanced modes.
The next selection in DR DOS Setup will be whether or not to use
Automatic Memory Allocation. If this selection is YES (default) then
SuperPCK will use all of the available XMS memory and will lend half
of that amount back to Windows. We recommend that this option should
only be used on computers with 4 or more Megabytes of total memory.
If Automatic Allocation is YES then the next line will ask for an
amount of RAM to reserve. This option will reserve the specified
amount of memory for use by otherapplications and prevent SuperPCK
from using this memory. Lending is still valid. On computers with less
than 4 megabytes total memory or for machines where users wish to limit
the size of the cache Automatic Memory Allocation should be NO. This
will change the next couple of options you see on the screen. You
will now see selection boxes for the Cache Size and the Lending Amount.
Users with 3 megabytes systems will be very close to the minimum needed
to run Windows in Enhanced Mode. Make sure the size of the cache and
the lending amount give you enough memory to run in the mode that you
use.
For example: A 4 Megabyte computer can use SuperPCK with a 3 MB cache
size and 2 MB of lending. This means that when Windows runs the cache
will be reduced to 1 MB (because of lending) and Windows will have 2
MB of XMS memory to use (the 1st MB is DOS conventional memory).
Examples:
SUPERPCK /EM /R:1024
These parameters instruct SuperPCK to use all XMS memory less 1 MB
(1024K). On a system with 3 MB of XMS memory Superpck will use 2
megabytes. Half of that amount (1 MB) will still be available for
lending. This gives Windows a total of 2 MB to use. Lending can be
turned off with the switch /L-.
SUPERPCK /EM /L:1024
These parameters will instruct SuperPCK to lend 1 MB of memory no
matter what the size of the cache is. This parameter could conceivably
be more or less than half of the total cache size (default).
SUPERPCK /EM /S:1024
These parameters will restrict the size of the cache to only 1 MB. Any
additional XMS memory will not be used by the cache. Half of the cache
is still available for lending unless the /L- switch is used.
Windows 3.1 Installation
If Super PC-Kwik is already loaded when you install Windows 3.1, you
are informed by the Windows SETUP program that SUPERPCK.EXE is running
and you are warned that your system may fail. Ignore this message and
continue with the Windows installation procedure. This message will
also appear whenever the Windows SETUP program is used to change
Windows configurations.
The Windows 3.1 standard installation makes changes to AUTOEXEC.BAT
and CONFIG.SYS on installation. It is recommended that backups of
these files be made before installing.
By default, Windows installs the SMARTDrive disk cache program and the
HIMEM.SYS memory manager. However, the DR DOS 6.0 disk cache, Super
PC-Kwik, and the DR DOS 6.0 MemoryMAX drivers provide superior
functionality over the Windows 3.1 SMARTDrive disk cache and HIMEM.SYS.
To use Super PC-Kwik and the DR DOS MemoryMAX drivers instead of
SMARTDrive and HIMEM.SYS, you simply remove one line from your
AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. Edit AUTOEXEC.BAT to remove the line:
C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE
and edit CONFIG.SYS to remove the line:
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
The above lines should be removed after Windows 3.1 has been installed
but prior to rebooting.
If you are using the DR DOS 6.0 EMM386.SYS MemoryMAX driver, Windows
may also replace the EMM386.SYS line in your CONFIG.SYS file with the
Windows EMM386.EXE line. As a result of this change, an error may be
generated when rebooting. The EMM386 line should be changed back to
its original form after installing Windows 3.1 for the system to boot
properly. Refer to the backup of CONFIG.SYS to be sure that the correct
syntax is used. Windows will also change the path to the driver.
The Windows 3.1 installation will insert a STACKS command into the
CONFIG.SYS. Even though DR DOS does not use a STACKS command, the line
can be left in CONFIG.SYS. No error will result.
SMARTDrive
DR DOS 6.0 is compatible with both the SMARTDrive disk cache and with
HIMEM.SYS. If you want to continue using these drivers, you must run
the DR DOS SETUP program, and remove MemoryMAX and Super PC-Kwik.
However, if you do use SMARTDrive instead of Super PC-Kwik, do not use
the SMARTDrive + (plus) option to enable caching on a SuperStor
compressed drive. Unexpected errors may result when this option is
used.
EMM386.SYS supports upper memory for Windows 3.1 running in Standard
or Enhanced mode. You no longer need to use the /WINSTD option on the
EMM386.SYS command line to run Windows 3.1 in Standard mode. (Note:
As a result, if you use SETUP to configure MemoryMAX /EMM386.SYS to
run Windows 3.1, you should respond "No" to the question "Support
Windows Standard Mode" when prompted.)
Issues/Troubleshooting:
*DOS applications lock up when attached to a network but are fine
when not loading the network.
-Machines that have LPT1 ports and are using NE2000 network cards
configured for I/O address 360 have occasionally hung or had trouble
running DOS applications under Windows 3.1. If this is encountered,
try setting the NE2000 for a lower I/O address.
*Windows 3.1 will not run. But it was installed with no problems.
- One of the key areas here is that it was installed over a Windows
3.0. The update has been installed and a check of IBMDOS.COM and
EMM386.SYS indicate that they are from the April update. In order to
install Windows 3.1 the install program will actually load Windows 3.1.
So at least during the installation Windows was in fact running in
Standard mode. However, one of the things that does change when
running it again is that Windows will use the old WIN.INI file from
Windows 3.0. This file contains 2 lines that may be effecting
performance. One line begins with LOAD and the other with RUN. These
two lines tell Windows to execute an application on startup. Not all
old Windows 3.0 applications seem to be working under 3.1. Try
commenting out the RUN and LOAD lines of the WIN.INI with a semicolon
";". If this does not seem to be of any help then rename WIN.INI and
SYSTEM.INI and reinstall Windows 3.1. Windows will then create new
INI files.
*Following the update to the April files or after installing Windows
3.1 from defaults the system is crashing out of and loosing the
AUTOEXEC.BAT. After dropping out of the AUTOEXEC the computer
appears to have corrupt directories. Booting from a clean floppy
such as the DR DOS Startup Disk shows that all is well with SSTOR.
- Here SMARTDRV.EXE was added as the first line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT
and the + option was used to cache the SuperStor drive. SMARTDRV will
not normally cache a SuperStor drive and users are strongly cautioned
not to do so. Super PC-Kwik is fully compatible with both SuperStor
and Windows 3.1.
* When trying to load, Windows 3.1 gets an error indicating that the
SYSTEM.INI could not load EMM386.SYS. The user is then dropped to DOS.
- The system has returned to a pre-April EMM386 driver. If SuperStor
is involved make sure that all copies of EMM386 are the April version.
This includes any copies that maybe on the uncompressed drive. This
error will immediately go away when the correct EMM386.SYS is used. Be
sure and check all other updated files for the correct dates.
*Windows has the ability to provide EMS memory to DOS based
applications when in Enhanced Mode. Its ability to do this is
dependent on which memory driver is being used and what options are
selected.
- If the DR DOS EMM386.SYS is being used a page frame must be created
to enable Windows to provide EMS support. To create a page frame with
EMM386.SYS it is necessary to use the parameter /F=AUTO or /F=address.
If DR DOS's HIDOS.SYS or Windows' HIMEM.SYS is being used Windows will
be able to create EMS memory. HIDOS.SYS would be preferred because
this will still permit DR DOS to use the HMA.
*Windows begins but not in Enhanced Mode
-First check available memory with the MEM command. Windows in
Enhanced Mode will require 1024K (1 Megabyte) of available XMS memory
to run. If you are using SuperPCK the command "SUPERPCK /P" will give
you a listing of the parameters that are currently in use. The /L
command will indicate the total amount of memory available for
lending, the amount currently lent and the amount remaining to be
lent. Make sure that the amount remaining is enough for the mode that
you are trying to enter. Also, make sure that the cache is using XMS
memory. This will be indicated by the /EM option.
* Windows seems to start but suddenly a lot of strange characters appear
fon the screen and then it locks or drops back to DOS.
-This one is unusual in that it generally happens on a SuperStor drive
(or any other disk compression software that swaps disks) with a 3rd
party memory manager. SuperStor has a utility called DEVSWAP.COM that
swaps DOS drive letters around. This is so that if you compress a boot
disk the applications that you have will still be installed to drive
C: rather than the drive that was created by SuperStor. SuperStor boot
disks will have an uncompressed segment where DOS can load from. This
uncompressed drive will also have a file called DCONFIG.SYS. If you
place your memory manager in the DCONFIG.SYS SuperStor will be able to
move a portion of itself into upper memory. Caution: Do not try to
HILOAD the entire SuperStor driver (it can relocate itself and only
portions of it may go into upper memory). Windows will reinitialize a
memory manager as it starts. As it does the XMS driver will go back
to the original path it was loaded from. In the case of a swapped
drive though, the physical file may not be there because of the swap
and Windows will abort. This can be a confusing issue so here is a
step by step sequence.
1. A memory manager is loaded from C:\ (uncompressed segment of the
disk)
2. The SuperStor driver is loaded creating a drive D: (compressed)
3. DEVSWAP.COM is run. This turns the drives around making uncompressed
drive C: into drive D: and compressed D: into C:
4. Windows is run. As the memory manager reinitalizes it looks to the
old path that it was originally loaded from in C:\ (which is where
it was loaded in step 1) but the memory manager is no longer there.
It is now in drive D: because of the swap. Windows aborts.
The solution to this is straightforward. Copy the memory manager into
the same directory on the compressed drive that you loaded it from in
the uncompressed drive. In the case above have a copy of the memory
manager in both the compressed and uncompressed root directories ( C:\
& D:\ ).