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SHAREPCK.DOC
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1988-11-23
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12KB
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246 lines
TM
Shareware PC-Kwik Disk Accelerator
Copyright 1986, 1988 Multisoft Corporation
All Rights Reserved
INTRODUCTION
The main benefit of personal computers has always been
increased productivity. And yet, as we become familiar with
the advantages of personal computers we begin to notice that we
spend an increasing amount of time waiting for the computer to
finish its task. This is partly due to the natural human
tendency to always want more. But, there is a more objective
reason as well. Usually, when we begin an activity on a
computer, we begin small -- a small document, a small
spreadsheet, a small database, or a few weeks of accounting
information. Inevitably the data grows, resulting in slower
responses from the computer, especially when disk access is
involved.
Fortunately, there is a way to increase the performance of
applications that use larger amounts of information. The
technique is called disk caching. Put simply, a disk cache is
a collection of copies of recently used disk sectors. By
keeping a copy of recently used disk sectors in extra RAM
memory, a disk cache can reduce the number of times the
application actually accesses the disk. This, in turn, can
dramatically speed up the performance of the application.
The Shareware PC-Kwik program increases the performance of
diskette and hard disk access by setting up a disk cache. In
other words, copies of frequently accessed portions of your
disks are kept in memory. Even though this results in a
substantial decrease in transfers from your disks and a
corresponding increase in application performance, the disks
themselves are constantly being kept up to date. This means
you receive a performance boost similar to a RAM disk without
the complexity and the risk of loss of data associated with a
separate "virtual" drive.
The Shareware PC-Kwik program is designed to work on the IBM
PC, XT, AT, and PCjr as well as lap-tops, PS/2s, and
AT-compatible 386 systems. It has been successfully tested
with IBM DOS Version 2.0 through 4.0. You should notice an
improvement in the performance in a wide variety of
applications. In particular, applications that re-read the
same data should run more quickly. Likewise, if you switch
back and forth between applications, you should find that
loading times improve.
To invoke the Shareware PC-Kwik program, simply type SHAREPCK
followed by an enter key. A series of information screens will
be displayed. You will be requested to press a key to continue
after each screen has been displayed. (To avoid having to press
a key after each screen, specify SHAREPCK /C.) After the program
has been installed you will receive the DOS prompt again. To
obtain measurements after running your applications, simply
specify SHAREPCK from the DOS prompt.
The program should dramatically improve the responsiveness of
your system. The performance gain will be largest when you are
using programs that frequently access the disk. Programs that
spend less time accessing the disk such as spreadsheets will
receive little or no benefit. On the other hand, database
programs, accounting systems, and similar applications may
receive a performance increase of a factor of two or more.
Because of the way it keeps track of disk transfers, the longer
you use Shareware PC-Kwik in any one session, the greater
benefit you should receive.
Following are some useful facts about Shareware PC-Kwik:
(1) All reads are cached, not just single-sector reads. This
means the cache can provide its performance gain regardless
of how your applications happen to access the disk.
(2) All writes are cached. This means that a copy of data
written to disk by one phase an application program is
saved in memory so that later requests for the data can be
serviced directly from the cache.
(3) All write requests are written through to the disk
immediately. This means that your disk are constantly kept
up to date. This eliminates any special concerns about
power failure.
(4) Diskette changes are automatically detected. This means
that you can change diskettes whenever you normally would.
Data from the diskette you have removed will automatically
be purged from the cache. There is one exception to this
rule: if you have only one diskette drive, do not use the
DOS DISKCOPY command to copy a diskette without first
rebooting DOS without Shareware PC-Kwik.
(5) The program automatically allocates memory for itself,
leaving 360K bytes for your applications. As a practical
matter, this means that you will need at least 512K bytes
to use Shareware PC-Kwik. Applications which will run on a
384K system will have enough room to run after Shareware
PC-Kwik is loaded. If you have applications which require
more memory, see the information about the other versions
of PC-Kwik under Upgrades below.
DISCLAIMER
This program is provided "as is" with no warranties whatsoever,
either expressed or implied, including without limitation,
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular
purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of
the program is with you. Should this program be defective, you
assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair or
correction.
SHAREWARE POLICY
You have probably obtained this copy of the program free of
charge or for the cost of the diskette and duplication.
We encourage you to make copies of the program and the files
associated with it for friends and co-workers. If you find this
program useful and wish to support the concept of Shareware, we
hope you will become a registered user. The cost is low and
the benefits are real. Registered users of the PC-Kwik
product:
(1) receive a copy of the latest Shareware version.
(2) receive printed documentation.
(3) become entitled to telephone support.
(4) support the concept of Shareware products.
UPGRADES AVAILABLE
Instead of registering the Shareware version, you may want to
order one of two commercial versions of PC-Kwik. Both versions:
(1) allow you to specify the cache size and otherwise tune
the product to your hardware and software environment.
(2) allow you to install the software from a batch file.
(3) allow you to un-install the software and re-claim the
memory it uses without rebooting.
(4) provide a greater performance boost.
(5) do not display promotional screens when they are
installed.
Standard PC-Kwik allows you to set up the cache in conventional
memory (the first 640K), Lotus/Intel/Microsoft (or AST) expanded
memory or AT-compatible extended memory. Super PC-Kwik adds a
unique featur