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Path: sparky!uunet!ukma!gatech!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pitt.edu!infidel From: tomh@wes.on.ca (Tom Haapanen) Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.announce Subject: Windows FAQ: ASCII format, 03/06 Message-ID: <1993Jan28.030418.112.comp.os.ms-windows.FAQ.3@pitt.edu> Date: 27 Jan 93 16:59:56 GMT Sender: infidel+@pitt.edu Followup-To: comp.os.ms-windows.misc Organization: Waterloo Engineering Software Lines: 1014 Approved: infidel+@pitt.edu The following is part 03 of 06 of the ASCII text version of the Microsoft Windows FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). While some of you may find this the best format, the more popular format is the WinHelp file. These are posted simultaneously with the ASCII version to comp.binaries.ms-windows. You can obtain a copy of the WinHelp version as "faqwin01.zip" by ftp from sonygate.sony.com [192.63.138.2], in /pub/comp.binaries.ms-windows. It will also be placed on ftp.cica.indiana.edu once disk space permits. BEGIN--------------cut here--------cut here------------cut here---------- DOS application performace is also degraded by using a .PIF file (such as the default .PIF) with the Monitor Ports option enabled, but to a much smaller degree. With Monitor Ports disabled, DOS session performance should be within 5-10% of the performance under bare DOS. ........................................................................... 4.13.8. Problems creating a permanent swapfile in Windows 3.0 -------------------------------------------------------------- First of all, you must be running in real mode to be able to create a permanent swapfile. Second, You must not have any SUBSTed drives or Windows won't create the swapfile. Once the swapfile has been created, you can re-SUBST your drives (although the use of SUBST is not recommended in general). You also can't create a permanent swapfile on a drive partitioned with third-party software such as SpeedStor. If you are installing on a Novell client, you must first disable the receive network messages feature (using the network icon in the Control Panel) and reboot. Once you have installed the swapfile, turn messages back on again. ........................................................................... 4.13.9. Program Manager claims only 8 KB of free memory -------------------------------------------------------- In Windows 3.1, it is possible that Program Manager (and other Windows 3.1 programs) will claim that you have only 8 KB memory when you really have 8 MB (that is, it chops off the kilobytes part and displays only megabytes -- but with "KB" after the figure). This is caused by a null thousands separator in Control Panel's International settings. Set the separator to either blank or some character to restore correct behaviour. ........................................................................... 4.13.10. Using a slow expansion memory board with Windows ---------------------------------------------------------- If some of your memory is on a slower memory expansion board (such as a standard ISA bus memory board, operating at 8 MHz in a 33 MHz system, you may experience serious performance deterioration as soon as Windows starts using the slower memory on the expansion board. (For example, see section Performance deterioration in a 386 Enhanced mode DOS session.) Unfortunately Windows 3.1 does not allow you to specify memory ranges to be used for a RAMdisk or disk cache, and thus you can't control which memory gets used first. In this case, the best solution is to use QEMM-386, which allows you to do just that. Place your RAMdisk and disk cache in the slow memory (they will not suffer a significant performance drop), and leave the fast memory on the motherboard available for Windows' use. ........................................................................... 4.13.11. Windows 3.0 refuses to run without a file called WINA20.386 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Quoting from the MS-DOS 5.0 readme.txt file: 4.3 WINA20.386 File Setup installs a read-only file named WINA20.386 in your root directory. If you move the WINA20.386 file to a different directory, do the following: * Add a SWITCHES=/W command to your CONFIG.SYS file. * Add a DEVICE=[drive:][path]]WINA20.386 command to the [386Enh] section of your Windows system.ini file. Windows 3.1 does not require this file to be present. ........................................................................... 4.13.12. Windows 3.1 hangs or crashes during startup ----------------------------------------------------- Try starting Windows with the command line win /b If it repeats the same crash or hang, take a look at the file bootlog.txt in your Windows directory. It will have two lines such as LoadStart = SYSTEM.DRV and LoadSuccess = SYSTEM.DRV for every driver succesfully loaded; the culprit driver will show a line such as LoadFail = WIN3-64S.DRV Failure code is 05 If it's a standard Windows driver, try reloading it from diskettes; otherwise, for a third-party driver, try to locate an updated driver either from cica, your supplier or direct from the manufacturer. ........................................................................... 4.13.13. Windows 3.1 hangs or waits a long time on exit -------------------------------------------------------- Windows 3.1 tries to reset the mouse driver on exit, and some IBM PS/2 models have great difficulty with this procedure, timing out only after an extended wait. In order to avoid the problem, add the line InitPS2MouseAtExit=False to the [386Enh] section of your system.ini file. ........................................................................... 4.13.14. Windows 3.1 Resource Kit won't install ------------------------------------------------ The most common WRK installation problem is an excessively long path. If you have problems, try reducing the length of your path for the installation, and you should be OK. ........................................................................... 4.13.15. Windows 3.x waits a long time on startup -------------------------------------------------- One possible reason is the use of a serial mouse on COM2 instead of COM1. If you have a serial mouse, Windows will first attempt to find it (with great persistence) on COM1, before it looks on COM2. If your mouse is on COM2, move it to COM1. Using a temporary swapfile instead of a permanent one for 386 enhanced mode also slows down the startup process, but not to even nearly the same extent as the serial mouse problem. With Windows 3.0, it has also been reported that adding too many fonts through the Control Panel will drastically slow down the startup, and with both Windows 3.0 and 3.1, a very large number of ATM fonts will also slow down the startup process. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 5. WINDOWS AND DOS =================== --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.1. Configuring DOS sessions ============================== ........................................................................... 5.1.1. DOS in a window ----------------------- You can run a both the standard DOS command interpreter (command.com) and other DOS applications from within Windows. In Real mode, you are limited to a single session. In Standard mode, you can have multiple sessions, but they must still run full-screen. In 386 Enhanced mode, you can have multiple sessions, and they can run in a window. You can control the starting up in a window vs. full-screen by setting up a .pif file for the program (command.com or any other DOS program). You can also switch the state by pressing Alt-Enter. ........................................................................... 5.1.2. Lotus 1-2-3 in Windows ------------------------------ Lotus 1-2-3, versions 1.x, 2.x and 3.1 run in all modes, but do not support any of the features of the Windows environment. For all intents and purposes, version 3.0 doesn't run under Windows. If you want to use a spreadsheet in the Windows environment, however, you will be best off buying a real Windows spreadsheet such as Excel, WingZ, CA- Compete! or 1-2-3 for Windows. ........................................................................... 5.1.3. Reducing the amount of "jerkiness" in DOS window updating ----------------------------------------------------------------- Windows 3.1 updates the DOS windows by default every 50 ms. To increase the update frequency, specify another update interval (such as 20 ms) by adding a line to the [386Enh] section of system.ini: WindowUpdateTime=20 A smaller interval will provide smoother updates but impose a higher load on the system. ........................................................................... 5.1.4. Extended memory in DOS sessions --------------------------------------- After you run Windows, a utility such as Norton SI will often report that you don't have any extended memory. This is not a bug, but rather a result of the Windows memory management system.. Windows requires applications to access extended memory using one of two mechanisms, known as "XMS" and "DPMI". These mechanism are implemented in himem.sys and emm386.exe. If you have device=himem.sys in your config.sys, the first XMS call (by Windows or SmartDrive, for example) will transfer control of the extended memory to himem.sys, and thus make it inaccessible to non-XMS/non-DPMI applications. ........................................................................... 5.1.5. Changing the font size for a DOS window ----------------------------------------------- All video drivers updated for Windows 3.1 allow on-the-fly font changes; to get the same functionality using older 3.0 drivers (in Windows 3.1), add the line FontChangeEnable=1 to the [NonWindowsApp] section of the system.ini file. If you experience strange cursor behaviour or missing characters, remove the line from system.ini. There are also alternate Windows 3.0 DOS fonts available at ftp.cica.indiana.edu. ........................................................................... 5.1.6. Changing the number of lines inr a DOS window ----------------------------------------------------- To use more than 25 lines in a DOS window, add the line ScreenLines=50 to the [NonWindowsApp] section of the system.ini file. If your screen doesn't quite fit 50 lines in a DOS window with a decent font, you may want to follow this procedure: * Use a VGA font editor (such as VFONT) to create a DOS VGA screen font with more than 25 lines. * Start up a DOS session (in a window) * In that window, change the font (and thus screen size) to your new font/size. Voila! ........................................................................... 5.1.7. Mouse in a DOS window ----------------------------- In Windows 3.0, if you are running a DOS application in a window, Windows will retain control of the mouse for cutting and pasting. You can use a mouse in a full-screen DOS session if you install a mouse driver by running mouse.com (either before starting Windows, or inside the DOS session), or by including device=mouse.sys in your config.sys file. If you're running WordPerfect 5.1 inside Windows, WordPerfect must be started full-screen in order to detect the mouse. Once it has started, you can use Alt-Enter to run in a window, if you wish. In Windows 3.1, the mouse will automatically work in a DOS window if you have a video driver which has been updated for 3.1. Old 3.0 drivers do work, but they do not by default provide mouse functionality inside DOS windows, although you can force them to do so by adding the line MouseinDosBox=1 to the [NonWindowsApp] section of the system.ini file. If you have a Microsoft mouse, you should use the mouse driver version 8.20, included on the Windows 3.1 disks, named mouse.co_ and mouse.sy_. Expand these files using expand.exe (also included on the disks) before using them. ........................................................................... 5.1.8. TSRs in DOS sessions ---------------------------- Some TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) programs will not work if you install them before running Windows. Some of them will not work if you install them inside a DOS session. Generally the best idea is to avoid TSRs completely unless you absolutely have to have them. See also the description of winstart.bat in the Windows *.txt files. ........................................................................... 5.1.9. VGA graphics in a windowed DOS session ---------------------------------------------- Windows 3.1 will support VGA graphics in a windows DOS session if you have the correct display driver. True Windows 3.1 display drivers (such as the standard SuperVGA driver) will do this, but some partial implementations may not. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.2. Troubleshooting DOS applications ====================================== ........................................................................... 5.2.1. Out of Environment Space -------------------------------- When Windows starts up a DOS session, it by default gives it an environment of 224 bytes, or the space required to hold your current environment, whichever is larger. If you need more space, there are two methods of circumventing this. In order of desirability: * Use a .pif file for each DOS application you run. In this you can specify the environment size by using the /e:nnn option (see your DOS manual). You will need a separate .pif file for each program (although in Windows 3.1 you can create a _default.pif, which is used by all DOS applications which do not have their own .pif files). You can just create a command.pif with a suitable /e:nnn, and then specify in the win.ini a line such as [Extensions] bat=command.pif ^.bat // for DOS users ksh=sh.exe ^.ksh // for MKS users With this, you can create batch file icons freely, and still get the options specified in command.pif or sh.pif. * Use a dummy variable By specifying a dummy variable (such as DUMMY1=xxxxx...) before starting Windows, you can reserve some space in the environment. Then, as the first thing in each command.com session, do set DUMMY1= to reclaim the space used by DUMMY1 for use by other environment variables. ........................................................................... 5.2.2. Protected-mode software ------------------------------- Many protected-mode applications currently on the market use an extended- memory interface called VCPI (Virtual Control Program Interface), which is incompatible with Windows' DPMI (DOS Protected Mode Interface). Microsoft went against an established standard in choosing DPMI, but there are valid technical reasons why VCPI was not chosen for Windows. At this point, you have three choices: * Run your protected-mode software under DOS This means that you must NOT use Windows or SmartDrive before running your VCPI software, and may require you to have two different config.sys files. * Plead with your software developer Call up the software vendor and ask them whether they are developing either a Windows-based version, or, at the minimum, one which uses DPMI instead of VCPI. They should already be working on it anyway, given the momentum that Windows 3.x has. * Buy QEMM/386 or 386Max Both of these packages provide VCPI. You'll be able to run your protected- mode software as well as Windows 3.0 and 3.1. ........................................................................... 5.2.3. Corrupted diskettes when copying files in a DOS session --------------------------------------------------------------- If you are getting corrupted diskettes with a 0xff as every other byte when copying files to a floppy within a DOS session, the most likely cause is an expansion board using the same memory area also used by Windows for EMM. You should check that you EMMExclude all areas used by your cards. The Video-7 1024 SVGA board needs a more radical measure: you need to change a jumper to do all ROM decoding in cooo - c7ff, and change a DIP switch to force 8-bit ROM access. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.3. DOS shells and extenders ============================== ........................................................................... 5.3.1. QEMM/386 and DesqView/386 --------------------------------- You can use versions 5.0 of QEMM/386 and below with real-mode Windows 3.0 only. However, QEMM/386, versions 5.1 and higher, provides XMS services for Windows, thus allowing Windows to run in all modes under QEMM/386, plus providing compatability with VCPI applications. Windows will run in Standard (Windows 3.0 and 3.1) and Real (3.0 only) modes as a DesqView/386 task. ........................................................................... 5.3.2. MKS Toolkit: setting up ------------------------------- There are two possible problems with running Windows from the MKS Toolkit. First, with versions up to and including 3.1c of the Toolkit, the use of login.exe precludes the use of Windows 3.0 in any but the real mode. To avoid this, have your machine boot directly into the Korn shell or command.com (you may use init.exe if you wish). Second, somebody at Microsoft had a brain fade, and Windows gets confused if it is started with a forward slash path. Thus, if you simply type "win" in Korn shell, the shell invokes Windows with something like c:/usr/windows/win.com and Windows doesn't know where to find itself! To cure this, specify a shell alias for Windows: I use alias -x win='c:\\usr\\windows\\win.com' Note that the double backslashes are necessary for the Korn shell, even inside the single quotes. The newer versions of MKS Toolkit allow (standard and 386 enhanced mode) Windows to run directly from the login: prompt; but they still won't let you run standard/386 enhanced Windows from the shell (if you used login). An updated version of init.exe is available from MKS for users of older versions of the MKS Toolkit. ........................................................................... 5.3.3. MKS Toolkit: maximizing DOS session memory -------------------------------------------------- If you run MKS Toolkit by starting up init.exe from config.sys, and then starting the shell from /etc/inittab, you will likely find that there isn't much memory available in the DOS (shell) sessions you start from inside Windows. One way to address this is to start up Windows immediately upon booting, avoiding loading the shell into the valuable DOS low memory. There are at least two ways of doing this cleanly: As the last line in your profile.ksh, add the command exec c:\\windows\\win.com (or whatever the path is to your Windows directory). Using the exec command retains the environment you have set up in your profile.ksh and environ.ksh files, but overlays the shell memory with Windows, avoiding memory loss. Since the startup script executes Windows at the end, make sure that you so not run sh -L from Windows, as this would attempt to restart Windows. Given that command.com uses much less memory than the shell, you can specify (as the last line in /etc/inittab, instead of starting up the shell) the following: ms;35;respawn;c:/dos/command.com /c c:\etc\init.bat Then, in /etc/init.bat, specify all your essential environment variables, and as the last line start up Windows. This method wastest a few kilobytes of low memory compared to hte first one, but allows you run sh -L without risk. ........................................................................... 5.3.4. MS-SH ------------- The basic problem is the MS-SH swap setting. In Real mode, you will need to use swap disk. In Standard mode, you can also use swap extend, but you will have to specify at least 200K of XMS memory in the MS-SH .pif file. Alternatively, if you are using Standard or 386 Enhanced mode, you can use swap ems, but again you will need to specify at least 200K of EMS memory in your .pif file. A bug in the current (as of this writing) version of MS-SH prevents swap extend from working in 386 enhanced mode; MS-SH will always crash with a panic error. With Windows 3.1, swap xms works as intended, and is the appropriate setting. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 6. WINDOWS TIPS, TRICKS AND SECRETS ==================================== --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.1. General ============= ........................................................................... 6.1.1. Automatically opening applications on startup, with predefined window positions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------- You can load applications automatically in two ways: * By adding them to the Startup group in Windows 3.1 Program Manager. To run start them as icons, check the Run iconized checkbox in the File / Properties dialog for the program. * By specifying them on the load= or run= line in win.ini. This will load the specified applications, respectively, either with their default window sizes, or as icons. If you need specific window sizes or positions, you will need to use another utility, either shareware package (such as Layout, Command Post or Aporia) or a commercial one (such as Batchworks, Bridge or NewWave). ........................................................................... 6.1.2. Changing or bypassing the startup logo ---------------------------------------------- To bypass the logo, you can start Windows with the command line such as win : Be warned, however, that some people have had problems with this. Also, skipping the startup logo does not speed up the Windows startup process. To change the logo to something else, you need to first create a .RLE file (using a graphics utility package), with no more than 16 colours, and not exceeding the VGA 640x480 screen resolution, and no more than 64K in size. Once you have this file, say mylogo.rle, enter the following command in your system subdirectory: copy win.cnf/B+vgalogo.lgo/B+mylogo.rle/B win.com If you use CGA or EGA, limit the .RLE file to the appropriate resolution, and replace the vgalogo above with cgalogo or egalogo. ........................................................................... 6.1.3. Changing the font used for the icon labels -------------------------------------------------- To use 10-point Arial (substitute your own favorite below), add the following two lines to your [Desktop] section of your win.ini file: Icontitlefacename=Arial Icontitlesize=10 A shareware Control Panel utility, More Control also gives you control over the icon fonts. ........................................................................... 6.1.4. Limiting the size of the temporary swap file ---------------------------------------------------- In Windows 3.1, you can add a line such as MinUserDiskSpace=4096 to the [386Enh] section of the system.ini file to limit the temporary swap file's size. The above line doesn't actually set the size of the swap file, but rather limits its growth to always retain at least 4096 KB (4 MB) of available disk space for your and your applications' own use. ........................................................................... 6.1.5. Making Windows 3.x act like 2.x runtime ----------------------------------------------- The Windows 2.x runtime version would start Windows from the DOS prompt, and exit back to DOS when you exit the application. You can do this as follows (the example is for Excel; others are similar): * Create a new directory called c:\excel (it doesn't have to be distinct; it could be your normal Excel directory, as long as it's not the main Windows 3.x directory). * Copy the following to the new directory from the Windows directory: win.com win.ini system.ini * In the new directory modify the [boot] section of system.ini by changing the shell= line to point to the one and only program you want to run. The original line should read: shell=progman.exe and the modified line should be something like: shell=c:\excel\excel.exe. Remember to type the complete fileid of the program to be executed, including the .exe suffix. * To execute the dedicated Windows session just put the new directory ahead of the normal Windows directory in your path and issue the 'win' command, or start Windows with the command 'c:\excel\win'. What we're doing here is making Windows think it's running on a network where the actual executable files etc. are on a network server, and only the basic control files (and win.com) are on the user's local disk. Note that this technique isolates any changes in win.ini and system.ini made in the dedicated task from any changes made in normal Windows; this may or may not be desirable. If you need to keep the two flavors of Windows in sync you'll have to provide an outboard copy function to refresh the files. ........................................................................... 6.1.6. Printing PostScript files without a PostScript printer -------------------------------------------------------------- To print PostScript files on a printer without PostScript, you'll need to get a third-party PostScript interpreter. One such product is GhostScript, available free from the GNU project. The current version, 2.52, can be found by ftp as /mirrors/msdos/postscript/gs252win.zip on wuarchive. ........................................................................... 6.1.7. Search path in Windows ------------------------------ In addition to the standard MS-DOS search path, Windows will also search the Windows and system directories. In general, the search order is as follows: * Current directory on current drive * Windows directory * System directory * MS-DOS search path * Current directory on network drives ........................................................................... 6.1.8. Swapping the Ctrl and CapsLock keys ------------------------------------------- One method is to use the public domain program CCSwap, written by David Michmerhuizen. You can find this as swap10.zip at your favorite FTP site, Alternately, you may be able to use a different keyboard driver. A good one comes with the distribution of Kermit for Windows, available either from cica or from the official Kermit archive at watsun.cc.columbia.edu. ........................................................................... 6.1.9. Using a Dvorak keyboard ------------------------------- Installing a Dvorak keyboard for Windows 3.1 is really simple -- just click the International icon in Control Panel, and select the "US - Dvorak" keyboard layout. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.2. Program Manager ===================== ........................................................................... 6.2.1. Changing the font used for the icon labels -------------------------------------------------- To use 10-point Arial (substitute your own favorite below), add the following two lines to your [Desktop] section of your win.ini file: Icontitlefacename=Arial Icontitlesize=10 A shareware Control Panel utility, More Control also gives you control over the icon fonts. ........................................................................... 6.2.2. Changing the program icon --------------------------------- Choose the item in Program Manager, and then select File Properties. Click on Icon..., and then enter the name of the file containing the new icon. If the icon file is a .DLL or .EXE containing multiple icons, you can either scroll though the available icons (in Windows 3.1) or cycle through them by clicking Next Icon (Windows 3.0). After selecting the correct icon, click OK, and then OK again. You can also use icons from other programs by the same method: just specify the name of the .exe file instead of an .ICO or .DLL file. The icon that is displayed by the application when it is minimized is controlled by the application. It is not normally possible to change that; however, several workarounds exist for changing the icons of running DOS applications. * Windows 3.1 will display the selected Program Manager icon for each running DOS application. * In Windows 3.0 you can use the iinject or puticon utility to replace the standard DOS icon, which is contained in winoa286.mod and/or winoa386.mod. * The IconFixer utility monitors your DOS applicationsin Windows 3.0, and updates their icons as you minimize them, allowing you to have different icons for different DOS applications. All three utilities are available from ftp.cica.indiana.edu. ........................................................................... 6.2.3. Changing the title of the Program Manager window -------------------------------------------------------- In Windows 3.1, you can specify the title of the Program Manager window by adding a Program Manager icon to your Startup group. Windows will not start up a second copy of Program Manager, but will use the title you specify in File / Properties for the icon. ........................................................................... 6.2.4. Creating your own icons ------------------------------- You can create your own custom icons with either IconDraw (shareware), Icon12 (shareware), Tamr11 (shareware), SDKPaint (a part of the Windows SDK) or Resource Workshop (a part of Borland C++). Simply draw your icon, and save it as an .ICO file. ........................................................................... 6.2.5. Creating your own wallpaper ----------------------------------- You can save a .msp file as a .bmp from Windows Paintbrush. You can convert a .gif file to a .bmp using the gif2bmp utility from cica. wingif will also do a good conversion, including dithering 256-color images to 16 colors (rescale before dithering!). A third, and the most flexible, conversion program is PaintShop Pro, which will do color conversions (16M, 32K, 256 and 16 colors), many format conversions, scaling and clipping. Both wingif and PaintShop Pro are shareware, and available at ftp.cica.indiana.edu. A JPEG-format file can also be converted to a walppaper bitmap by first uncompressing it with the cjpeg/djpeg utility (free, available at wuarchive.wustl.edu and other sites) to a .gif, and then using one of the utilities above to convert the .gif to a .bmp. ........................................................................... 6.2.6. Previewing PostScript output ------------------------------------ To preview PostScript output on Windows, you can use GhostScript, a free utility from the GNU project. The current version, 2.52, can be found on ftp.cica.indiana.edu and other archive sites as GS252WIN.ZIP. ........................................................................... 6.2.7. Restricting the Program Manager --------------------------------------- If you want to prevent a user from changing the Program Manager configuration, you can insert a combination of the following lines into the [Restrictions] section of progman.ini: NoRun=1 Disables the Run command NoClose=1 Disables the Exit Windows command NoSaveSettings=1 Disables the Save Settings command NoFileMenu=1 Removes the File menu EditLevel=(see below) Sets the edit restriction level The following are the EditLevel restrictions: 1 Disables creating,deleting and renaming groups 2 As 1, plus disables creation/deletion of program items 3 As 2, plus disables changing program item command lines 4 As 3, plus disables changing program information If you boot directly into Windows (and restart it immediately on exit), don't allow any unrestricted DOS sessions from Program Manager, and make progman.ini read-only, you can accomplish a reasonable level of protection from users changing their configuration. ........................................................................... 6.2.8. Saving Program Manager settings without exiting Windows --------------------------------------------------------------- In Windows 3.0, the trick is to try to select File / Exit with a DOS sessionactive; Windows will save the settings, and then refuse to exit. In Windows 3.1, you can press Alt+Shift+F4 at any time (while you are in Program Manager) to save the settings. ........................................................................... 6.2.9. Starting Windows without activating the applications in the Startup group ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- You can do this by holding down the Shift key when the Windows startup screen appears, and then releasing it once Program Manager is active. ........................................................................... 6.2.10. Starting an application in a different directory --------------------------------------------------------- To start up a Windows application in a default directory other than the Windows directory (or application executable directory), you have a number of choices: * In Windows 3.1, set the Working Directory under File Properties for the application. * Create a auto-execute macro for that application, which will change your directory upon startup. * Specify your application's path in Program Manager as something such as d:\u\personal\letters\winword.exe. As long as the application is on your path, it will be started as usual, but with the default directory being the one you specified in Program Manager. Note that Program Manager will complain of this when you enter the path (and may require you to manually select an icon), but it will work. * Create a dummy document for your application in the desired directory. As long as you have your application listed under [Extensions] in your win.ini file, starting that document from Program Manager (either with File / Run or by adding it as an icon to a group) will then start the application with that document loaded, and in the correct directory. . * For Word for Windows 2.0, add the line Doc-Path=pathname into the [Microsoft Word 2.0] section of your win.ini file. This will cause Word to start up in the specified directory every time. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.3. Windows Accessories ========================= ........................................................................... 6.3.1. Cardfile: Converting to ASCII text ------------------------------------------ To convert a cardfile to a text file, use the WinCrd utility, available from ftp.cica.indiana.edu. ........................................................................... 6.3.2. Clock: Windows 3.1 Clock limitations -------------------------------------------- The Windows 3.1 clock is limited to one instance (simultaneously running copy) by design, as it retains the position and size you last specified for it. You can, however, run any number of Windows 3.0 clocks that you want in 3.1. As an alternative, you may want to take a look at the TimeFrame freeware program from ftp.cica.indiana.edu, which places the current time in the title bar of the active window. ........................................................................... 6.3.3. Help: Changing the keyword colors ----------------------------------------- To change the keyword colors in your Windows help files, you can add some or all of the following lines to the [Windows Help] section of your win.ini file: JumpColor=255 0 0 PopupColor=0 0 255 MacroColor=0 128 0 IFJumpColor=128 0 0 IFPopupColor=0 0 128 The arguments are the intensities of Red, Green and Blue, respectively, with legal values between 0 and 255. This means that JumpColor (above) would be an intense red. The IFJumpColor= and IFPopupColor= settings determine the colors for inter-file jumps and popups. ........................................................................... 6.3.4. Notepad: F5 and current time ------------------------------------ F5 in Windows 3.0 Notepad inserts only a date and not the time as well -- it's a known bug. And it's fixed in Windows 3.1. ........................................................................... 6.3.5. Recorder: Recording more than 60 seconds of sound --------------------------------------------------------- If you want to record, say, three minutes, follow this procedure: * Record 60 seconds (Recorder will stop). * Immediately record again for 60 seconds. * Repeat one more time. * Drag the scroll bar thumb all the way to the left With this procedure, you will be able to record 180 seconds of sound. Repeat more times if you need more than 3 minutes of sound. ........................................................................... 6.3.6. Terminal: Keypad ------------------------ Press ScrollLock to toggle the keypad between local and remote mode. The default is local mode. ........................................................................... 6.3.7. General: "Can't open TEMP.WRI" (or similar message) ----------------------------------------------------------- A message similar to this one is likely caused by an invalid definition of the TEMP environment variable in your autoexec.bat. Havign a trailing space on the definition line can cause various Windows applications to generate invalid temporary filenames similar to the one noted. Correct the problem by making sure there are no trailing blanks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.4. Changing default directories ================================== ........................................................................... 6.4.1. Bitmaps --------------- You cannot move the bitmaps from the Windows directory unless you use a utility program such a PaperBoy. ........................................................................... 6.4.2. Fonts ------------- To move your TrueType fonts to a different directory, follow the procedure below: * ........................................................................... 6.4.3. Icons ------------- Yoy may place your fonts in any directory you wish, as long as you update your Program Manager's File / Properties dialogs to point to the correct location. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.5. Fonts =========== ........................................................................... 6.5.1. TrueType, ATM and FaceLift ---------------------------------- In case you were wondering whether Bitstream FaceLift, Adobe Type Manager (ATM) and TrueType really work -- yes, they do. Here are some things to consider: * TrueType is included free with Windows 3.1 (and Apple System 7.0). It's somewhat more flexible than ATM in its font description capabilities, and renders very fast to LaserJet II-compatible printers. * ATM uses the ubiquitous Type 1 fonts, which are widely available, both commercially and at FTP sites. It has had some compatability problems, but version 2.0 is fully compatible with Windows 3.1. * FaceLift provides the most user control of three, but has the poorest native font support. Version 2.0, however, can use Adobe Type 1 fonts directly. It also lets you generate LaserJet soft fonts for higher printing speeds. At street prices not much above $50, ATM and FaceLift were definitely worth their prices, at least before Windows 3.1. Now, with the free TrueType, you may wish to postpone your ATM or FaceLift purchase until you have determined whether TrueType will satisfy your needs. ........................................................................... 6.5.2. Converting Font Formats ------------------------------- There are at least two packages available to convert between Type 1 (ATM) and TrueType formats: AllType ($79) and FontMonger ($99). AllType, however, imposes its own copyright on any converted fonts, as well as doing a generally unsatisfactory job of coverting from ATM to TrueType. Macintosh TrueType fonts are also directly compatable with Windows (you only need to strip off the resource fork from the Mac file). ........................................................................... 6.5.3. Viewing available fonts ------------------------------- At least three shareware/freeware programs claim to be able to do provide a listing of all available fonts: Fonter, FontShow and Compose are all available at ftp.cica.indiana.edu. ........................................................................... 6.5.4. Foreign character sets ------------------------------ To create Cyrillic documents, you may wish to use the shareware CyrWin package, available from ftp.cica.indiana.edu as well as other sources. Cyrillic fonts are also available from Data-Cal (602-545-1234) and East West Trade Consulting (+49-8230-4925 in Germany). Hebrew fonts are also available from Data-Cal. Also, the WinGreek package at ftp.cica.indiana.edu contains Hebrew fonts (for screen and LaserJets; an ATM version is under development). I am not aware of any Arabic fonts, but Eastern Language Systems in Utah (801-377-2200) has an Arabic word processor called AlKatiib, as well as a Persian one called Vazhe Negar. Data-Cal's WorldFont for Windows package also includes some Japanese language support, and a Japanese font called Shorai is reputed to be available on FTP sites. ........................................................................... 6.5.5. Converting Macintosh Type 1 (ATM) fonts to Windows ---------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for this procedure to Norman Walsh, the maintainer of the comp.fonts FAQ. Converting Macintosh Type1 fonts into PC Type1 fonts can be done using purely free/shareware tools. I've outlined the procedure below. Make sure you read the "readme" files that accompany many fonts. Some font authors specifically deny permission to do cross-platform conversions. The tools you need: xbin xbin23.zip in /pub/msdos/mac on oak.oakland.edu (or other mirrors) unsit unsit30.zip in /pub/msdos/mac on oak.oakland.edu uncpt ext-pc.zip in /pub/pc/win3/util on ftp.cica.indiana.edu refont refont11.zip in /pub/pc/win3/fonts on ftp.cica.indiana.edu bmap2afm bm2af01.zip in /pub/norm/mac-font-tools on ibis.cs.umass.edu xbin converts Mac BinHexed files back into binary format. BinHex is the Mac equivalent of uuencoding: it translates files into hexidecimal digits so that mailers can send them around without difficulty. It also aids in cross-platform copying. BinHexed files generally have filenames of the form "xxx.yyy.HQX". unsit explodes Stuffit archives. Stuffit archives generally have filenames of the form "xxx.SIT". uncpt exploces Compactor archives. The ext-pc implementation is called extract and does not require Windows (even thought it's in the Windows section on cica). Compactor archives generally have filenames of the form "xxx.CPT". refont converts Mac type1 fonts into PC type1 fonts. bmap2afm constructs AFM files from the metric information contained in Mac screen fonts (.bmap files). The screen font files do not have any standard name (although they frequently have the extension .bmap). The screen fonts have file type "FFIL" which, in combination with some common sense, is usually sufficient to identify them. It's probably a good idea to check with archie for closer sites if you're not in North America. These tools run under MS-DOS. xbin and unsit can also be run under Unix. How to do it: Collect the Mac fonts from the archive or BBS of your choice. Most of these files will be in BinHexed format. As a running example, we'll use the imaginary font "Plugh.cpt.hqx". When you download this font to my PC, you would use the name "PLUGH.CPX". The actual name you use is immaterial. Run xbin on PLUGH.CPX. This will produce PLUGH.DAT, PLUGH.INF, and PLUGH.RSR. The data fork of the Mac file (the .DAT file) is the only one of interest to us, you can delete the others. If the original file had been "Plugh.sit.hqx", we would be using the END--cut here--cut here