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- ID:PC Tools version 7
- Quarterdeck Technical Note #206
- by Myke Keefe
-
- Following is some information that will help you optimally use
- Central Point's PC Tools version 7 with Quarterdeck products.
-
- Using PC Tools 7 with QEMM-386 5.1 - 6.0
- ========================================
- Q: Can the PC-Tools utilities be loaded high?
-
- A: Yes, some of them can but not all of them. QEMM-386 can load the
- SWAP programs high, if you use this feature of PC Tools. This would
- free up 15K of conventional memory. PC Shell and Desktop need at
- least 400K to initialize before going resident.
-
- This makes loading them high impossible because the TOTAL amount of
- memory areas between 640K and 1024K is only 384K - and some of that
- is always in use. See the section about DESQview for alternatives.
-
- Deskcon, Mirror, PC-Cache, or VDEFEND can LOADHI if enough High RAM
- is available.
-
- DATAMON and COMMUTE load themselves high into UMBs if there is space
- available between 640 and 1024K. This may cause problems for QEMM's
- Optimize program. You can disable this feature of DATAMON with /LOW
- (load in low memory) and COMMUTE /NU (no upper memory). Both Datamon
- and Commute use over 300K each to initialize and will not LOADHI.
-
- Thus, if you use them, the DATAMON and COMMUTE lines in your
- AUTOEXEC.BAT file should look like this...
-
- C:\PCTOOLS\DATAMON /LOW
- C:\PCTOOLS\COMMUTE /NU
-
- After running Optimize, you can remove these parameters and let the
- programs try to use their own method to load into whatever High RAM
- is left over.
-
- If you have chosen to run Shell or Desktop in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file,
- they will be invoked as usual during the Optimize process. Simply
- exit Shell or Desktop (the F3 Key exits) to allow Optimize to
- continue.
-
-
- Q: What is the best way to set up PC-Cache?
-
- A: PC-Cache should be run in XMS Memory. This is particularly
- necessary if you are a Microsoft Windows 3.0 user or using the
- Stealth feature of QEMM 6.0.
-
- If you find it necessary to run the cache in Expanded, use the QEMM
- parameter DiskBuffFrame=10. (The number 10 is chosen arbitrarily;
- smaller numbers increase conventional memory, whereas larger numbers
- may improve performance.) This will increase QEMM's usage of
- conventional memory but will allow QEMM to buffer direct writes to
- the Page Frame while in Steath mode or when using Windows 3.0. PC-
- Cache performs direct writes to the Page Frame.
-
- Delayed Writes should be disabled when running Optimize or if you are
- planning to use the DESQview environment. Add /WRITE=OFF to the PC-
- Cache command line.
-
-
- Using PC-Tools 7 with DESQview and DESQview 386
- ===============================================
- Running PC Tools programs inside DESQview has several advantages to
- using them by themselves, namely that other programs will continue to
- run in background when working in PC Tools, you have the ability to
- Mark and Transfer information easily between programs without having
- to use the PC tools Clipboard and finally, you can have "instant"
- access to other programs without having to wait for PC Tools to swap
- them into and out of memory.
-
- Q: How do I install PC-Tools in DESQview?
-
- A: You should be able to select PC Tools Shell or PC Tools Desktop
- from the "Add a Program" menu. If you are using DV 2.3 or earlier
- you should run Change a Program and increase the field "Maximum
- Program Memory Size" to 470.
-
- If DESQview is your primary environment, you should stay with the
- default of Text Mode, and 25 Line display.
-
- If you have already installed PC Tools with the Graphical Fonts, you
- can run PCCONFIG and select TEXT mode and 25 Lines. You can also
- disable PC Tools mouse support from PCCONFIG as well, thus allowing
- you to pop up the DV menu with the mouse.
-
-
- Q: Why do my DV screens and borders look strange when I run PC Tools
- programs?
-
- A: PC Tools modifies the text fonts on your video graphics adapter in
- a manner that DESQview cannot detect. This will alter the borders on
- your DESQview windows and menus. Their alternate fonts can be
- suppressed with /NF (No font switch) on the startup command line when
- the programs are invoked.
-
- For example if you find that running VIEW in a DV DOS window causes
- screen fonts to change, try VIEW /NF.
-
- Unfortunately, once the fonts have been changed in DV, you must exit
- and restart DV to restore the correct fonts.
-
- Q: Characters are blinking when I run PC Tools programs in DV. How can
- I stop this from occurring?
-
- A: If you get blinking letters after hitting the DESQ key, you can
- rerun PCCONFIG and choose non-high intensity colors. The blinking
- should go away when the PC Tools program is brought back to the
- foreground in DV.
-
- Or you may wish to tolerate the background blinking if you prefer
- high intensity colors in the PC Tools window, and "Hide" the window
- when not in use - that way you won't be distracted by the blinking.
- Use the Rearrange, Hide command from the DESQview menu.
-
- The DESQview Pallette program can be used to force DESQview to use
- high intensity colors by selecting "Blink Enable" to make it stop
- blinking (the two choices are to "blink" or "use high intensity
- colors"). Make sure Save the Pallette setup if you want this change
- to be permanent.
-
-
- Q: What PC Tools programs cannot be run in DESQview?
-
- A: PC-Format detects DV and will not run. Try FORMAT! instead as
- DOS's FORMAT.COM gets renamed by PC Tools installation to
- FORMAT!.COM.
- COMPRESS will not run if it detects DV. Run it outside DESQview;
- otherwise you might be using a file that is trying to be moved in the
- compression process - this can't be done!
-
- Q: Why did the DV mouse cursor disappear after installing PC TOOLS 7?
-
- A: DATAMON's disk access light feature will interfere with the DV
- Mouse. DV users should deactivate this feature with /LIGHT- on the
- DATAMON startup command line.
-
- For example: DATAMON /NU /LIGHT-
-
-
- We hope these tips allow you to get the most out of PC Tools
- utilities and Desktop. Thank You for using Quarterdeck Products!
-
- Copyright (C) 1991 by Quarterdeck Office Systems
- * * * E N D O F F I L E * * *