Windows for Corporate Support Professionals - Background Issues - Slide No. 1 © Cheltenham Computer...

Windows for Corporate Support Professionals - Background Issues - Slide No. 1© Cheltenham Computer Training 1995-2002

Background Issues

Windows for Corporate Support Professionals


What’s Wrong with DOS?

• Limited to addressing 640 KB of memory

• Normally does not support multitasking, virtual memory, or access to protected memory

• Limited to 8088 CPU functionality

Where do I start ..


The History of Windows• Windows 1 and 2.x

– A bit of a joke, you were probably better off with DOS!

• Windows 3.0– The first serious version of Windows

– Full of bugs and very unstable

• Windows 3.1– More stable with less bugs, better networking features

• Windows 3.11– Less bugs, faster, more features, excellent peer-to-peer

networking

• Windows 95– Windows finally becomes a full 32 bit operating system

– DOS no longer required

– Much faster, making full use of 32 bit hardware


The Advantages of Using Windows

• Multitasking• Not restricted to 640 KB• User Interface consistency• Excellent API for developers• Inter-program communication


The Windows HELP System

• HELP engine built into Windows, stored as WINHELP.EXE– Used by most applications

– Thus, Help within different applications looks and feels identical

– Help systems may be modified by applications as they are installed, for instance, the release of Word 6 introduced a modified type of Help interface


Tutorials and Help Within Windows Applications

• Most applications (and Windows itself) contain tutorials, which are very useful for new users– Encourage them to use these facilities!

– As later versions of applications are released, the Help files are often modified to give improved information concerning tips and tricks

– Word 2c contained a Help item called ANSWERS, which listed the most frequently asked questions concerning the use of the application

– Word 6 contains advanced CBT tutorials and interactive demos!

– Context-sensitive Help should be invoked when F1 is pressed


Real Mode, Standard Mode and Enhanced Mode

• Real Mode– Windows 3.0

• Limited to 1 MB memory

• Standard Mode:– Windows 3.1

• Limited to 286 chip functionality• No DOS multitasking• Limited use of memory (16 MB) with no Virtual Memory support• No windowing for DOS programs

• Enhanced Mode:– Windows 3.11 can only use this mode

– Windows 3.1 can use Standard or Enhanced mode• Much better memory and multitasking and use of Virtual Memory


The Function of the CPU

• The heart of the PC system

• Determines what will run on the system and how fast it will run

• Responsible for all the calculations within the system

The CPU is in charge!


Intel 8086

• 16 data lines• 20 address lines• 1 MB of addressable memory• Real Mode only• No memory protection• No support for Virtual Memory• DOS was designed for this chip!• Used in the original IBM PC


Intel 80286

• 16 data lines• 24 address lines• 16 MB of addressable memory• Real Mode and 286 Protected Mode• Limited Virtual Memory support• Used in the original IBM AT


Intel 80386

• 32 data lines• 32 address lines• 4 GB of addressable memory• Real Mode, 286 Protected Mode, 386 Protected

Mode and MVRM• 2 TB Virtual Memory support (4 KB swap size)• Windows 3.x can only address up to 16 MB of

memory


i486

• 32 data lines• 32 address lines• 4 MB of addressable memory• Real Mode, 286 Protected Mode, 386 Protected

Mode and MVRM• 2 TB Virtual Memory support (4 KB swap size)• Contains a co-processor and memory cache


Intel Pentium

• Very powerful– Ideal for servers or graphics manipulation

• Effectively contains two i486 CPUs

VERY FAST !

Clocking speeds of 200+ MHz


CPU - Modes Review

REAL MODE8088/8086

Real Mode memory addressing

Limited to 1 MB addressing

No Virtual Memory

No multitasking

286 MODE80286/80386/i486/Pentium

Inefficient Real Mode compatibility

Protected Memory addressing

16 MB memory addressing

Inefficient Virtual Memory

Multitasking

Multiple Virtual Real Mode (MVRM)386/486/Pentium

Multiple Virtual Real Mode

Used to multitask DOS programs within Windows

386 MODE386/486/Pentium

Efficient Real Mode compatibility

4 GB memory addressing

Efficient Virtual Memory

Multitasking


PowerPC

• Not supplied by Intel– IBM, Apple and Motorola

• Uses non-Intel instruction set• RISC-based

Not Intel Inside


Bus Architectures• ISA

– Industry Standard Architecture

– The original PC bus architecture, introduced in 1981 with the advent of the IBM PC

– Upgraded with the release of the IBM AT in 1984

• MCA– Microchannel Architecture

– Introduced by IBM in 1987

– Eliminated many ISA bottlenecks

– Never really took off

• EISA– Extended Industry Standard Architecture

– Introduced in 1989 by a number of PC vendors

– An enhancement to ISA and a rival to MCA

Use MSD to determine bus type


Additional Bus Types • VESA and PCI

– Originally developed for video, now used for hard disks and CD-ROMs

• PCMCIA– A standard used extensively with portable PCs

– Physically small devices located on thin cards which plug into sockets at the back of the portable

– Expensive!


Plug and Play

• Plug and Play devices may be plugged into a PC and will be automatically configured (on the fly) by the PC

• Requires co-operation of:– The PC ROM-BIOS

– Special ‘Plug and Play’ compatible devices

– The operating system (i.e. Windows 95)

Makes installation of new devices much easier; no more messing around with jumpers and DIP switches. No more resolving conflicts between memory, I/O, DMA, and IRQs!


Windows 3.11 - Windows for Workgroups

• Peer-to-peer networking• Resource sharing• Security at directory level

SHARED

RESOURCES


Windows NT

• 32 bit operating system• Stable• Does not depend on DOS• Two versions

– NT Server

– NT WorkStation

At last, a version of Windows to match the box!


Windows 95

• Does not require DOS as a separate pre-installed operating system

• Mixed 16/32 bit operating system• The natural upgrade from Windows 3.x

– According to Microsoft

• Many powerful features not found in Windows 3.1, such as support for ‘Plug and Play’

• Allows 16 bit DOS type device drivers to be used


OS/2 Warp

• The latest version of OS/2

• Powerful, fast, and mature 32 bit operating system

• Full pre-emptive multitasking, unlike Windows 95

• Nice system, badly supported by third party vendors

All dressed up with nothing to run!

OS/2


Other Developments

• The near future will see dramatic advances in:– CPU types and speed– Memory technologies– Hard disks– Plug and Play buses– Internet– Etc.

?


Review Questions


Installing and Optimizing DOS



HIMEM.SYS

• Device driver, loaded from CONFIG.SYS– An Extended Memory Specification (XMS) Driver

• HIMEM.SYS is an XMS driver used to set up Extended Memory, so that it conforms to XMS standards

• Any DOS program written to XMS standards, such as DPMI- enabled DOS applications, will require HIMEM.SYS to be present, as will Windows and all Windows-based applications

– Creates the High Memory Area (HMA)• The HIMEM.SYS driver creates the High Memory Area (HMA) which

is the first 64 KB above 1 MB • It is created through the activation of an additional memory

segment which provides access to an extra 64 KB memory block


The HMA

• Created by the HIMEM.SYS driver– The first 64 KB above 1 MB– Normally the 20 address line is masked off for compatibility

reasons– HIMEM.SYS removes this masking, allowing access to an extra

memory segment (block), using an extra offset address

0

640 KB

1 MB

HMA

UMBs

MEMORY


EMM386.EXE (1)

• Device driver loaded from CONFIG.SYS– Allows DOS to access the UMBs

– Allows DOS to emulate Expanded Memory from Extended Memory

EMM386.EXE has a number of different functions, all contained in a single driver


EMM386.EXE (2)

• EMM386.EXE allows DOS to access the UMBs – Without this line you cannot use a DEVICEHIGH (used to load

device drivers into the UMBs) statement in your CONFIG.SYS or an LH (used to load a TSR into the UMBs) statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT

UMBs

DOSHELLO

HELLO


EMM386.EXE (3)• EMM386.EXE can be used to emulate Expanded Memory from

Extended Memory – This is a completely separate issue from using EMM386.EXE to

allow DOS to access the UMBs!

• Alternatively EMM386.EXE can be used to disable the possibility of creating emulated Expanded Memory from Extended Memory

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS

Hello, my name is Extended Memory, BUT I will pretend to be Expanded Memory

0

640 KB

1 MB

EMM386.EXE


EMM386.EXE (4)• The EMM386.EXE statement may also be used to prevent device

drivers or TSRs from loading into specific areas of the UMBs, using an exclude statement

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXEX=A000-F000

– This statement would exclude the whole UMB range and prevent any TSR or driver loading into the UMBs

ABC

FED

DEVICEHIGH

LOADHIGH

Sorry

No Room!

UMBs


The UMBs

• The space between 640 KB and 1 MB• Divided into six 64 KB blocks• Items located within the UMBs include:

– Video memory– ROM or RAM required by cards, including network cards– EMS page frame– ROM BIOS– Shadow RAM

• Prior to the release of DOS 5, the UMBs used to be referred to as the ‘System Memory Area’ or the ‘Adaptor Memory Area’


Memory Blocks (Segments)

• The first ten blocks are referred to as block 0 to block 9. The remaining blocks (the UMBs) are referred to as blocks A to F. Note the use of ‘0’ not ‘1’, as the first block

0

9ABCDEF

UMBs


Items Requiring Memory (1)

• Many cards that are inserted into the PC contain RAM or ROM chips

• These memory chips, by convention, are always located in your UMBs

• Some computers use a concept known as ‘Shadow ROM’. This means that the contents of the ROM are copied into an area of RAM, normally located with the UMBs

– This is due to the fact that accessing a ROM is slow (ish), whereas accessing RAM is very fast

– It is a way of speeding up the operation of the system

ROM


Items Requiring Memory (2)

• Video Memory (the memory used to store the pictures on your monitor) is located on special, separate, memory chips. It is normally located within the A or B blocks

• If you are using Expanded Memory (either physical or emulated), it requires a 64 KB ‘Page Frame’ which is located in the D or E blocks

• The computers ROM-BIOS chip is always located within the F block. On some computers which use the MCA and EISA buses, the ROM-BIOS is larger than 64 KB, and cannot be located within a single block. In such cases, the E block of the UMBs, will also be used


DOS=UMB

• Necessary if TSR’s or device drivers are to be loaded into the UMBs– Without this line you cannot load TSRs or device drivers into

the UMBs. In some cases, the statements DOS=HIGH and DOS=UMB are on separate lines. In other cases these two statements are contained in a single line, DOS=HIGH,UMB


Expanded Memory Emulation

• DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE number

– Requires a minimum 386 SX CPU– Converts Extended Memory into Expanded Memory for those

DOS programs that require Expanded Memory


MSD and MEM

• MSD– An undocumented utility shipped with Windows 3.1

– Updated version supplied with DOS 6

– First released (undocumented) with Windows 3.1 and is now part of DOS 6 (which includes an updated version). The MSD is an excellent tool for studying your system’s memory, as well as other aspects of your computer

• MEM– Less friendly to use than MSD

– Introduced with DOS 4


System Info

• System Info is included with more recent Microsoft products (Word 6, Excel 5 etc.) – To access System Info, click on the Help drop down menu of

the application. Select the ‘About’ command, and then click on the System Info button

– Reports on system resources, Virtual Memory and physical memory

Stored as MSINFO.EXE on disk (in \WINDOWS\MSAPPS\MSINFO)and may be set up as a Program Icon within a Program Manager Group


Memory Management (1)

• The CONFIG.SYS– DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS

– DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE• These two lines are required to enable access to the HMA and

UMBs, but do not load anything above 640 KB

– DOS=HIGH• Used to load system files into the HMA

– DOS=UMB• Needed to allow DOS to load device drivers or TSRs into the UMBs



• The CONFIG.SYS– DEVICEHIGH=– Used to load device drivers into the UMBs

– HIMEM.SYS allows DOS to access the HMA, while EMM386.EXE allows DOS to access the UMBs. However, neither of these lines actually moves anything above 640 KB. Additionally, the line DOS=UMB is required to allow you to move items into the UMBs

– The DOS=HIGH statement moves the DOS kernel into the HMA

– The DEVICEHIGH= statement loads the relevant device drivers into the UMBs, rather than loading them into the base area of the 640 KB memory space



• The AUTOEXEC.BAT– LH or LOADHIGH

– Used to load TSRs into the UMBs

– By default most Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs are loaded into the base of the 640 KB area

– If they are loaded high this means that they are loaded into the Upper Memory Block (UMB) area, located between 640 KB and 1 MB

– Some recent TSRs are able, by default (i.e. without the use of an LH statement), to load into the UMBs

– SmartDrive, the disk cache supplied with DOS and Windows can do this


Memory Conflicts

• The UMBs are required by:– Video memory

– ROM-BIOS

– ROM or RAM chips located in adaptor cards

– Device drivers or TSRs that are loaded high

– Some device drivers or TSRs that load high by default

– The UMBs, in total, only consist of six 64 KB blocks (even if you add the HMA, this only adds an additional 64 KB of memory)

Many different items are trying to gain access to this rather limited area and sometimes you will find that they do not all fit!


MEMMAKER

• Introduced in DOS 6.0– Improved version released with DOS 6.2

– Automatically optimizes the memory by altering the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS

– Has an ‘undo’ facility

– Beware of using the original version of MEMMAKER shipped by Microsoft. Often you could end up with less available conventional memory than you started with, hardly the point of memory management!

– However, later versions have improved dramatically, illustrating the first rule of computing ‘Never buy the first version of anything!’


Virtual Disks

• Use the RAMDRIVE device driver– Allows you to create a virtual drive (i.e. set aside part of your

memory and pretend it is a disk)• A RAMDRIVE will also be much faster than a physical drive• Volatile!• May be created using Extended Memory• A virtual disk is useful for running applications that make a lot of

disk access, such as a database • Under Windows you should only create a virtual disk if you have

lots of Extended Memory (i.e. over 16 MB)


SMARTDRIVE

• A disk cache utility– Improves access to (and from) the hard disks– SMARTDRV.SYS introduced in DOS 5 had limited functionality– SMARTDRIVE.EXE introduced with Windows 3.1 is much more

flexible


DOS Commands To Avoid With Windows

ASSIGNSUBSTAPPENDFASTOPEN

Time to die!

See the TSR sections of SETUP.INF file for further information


Stacks

• Stacks are configured via the CONFIG.SYS command

• Stacks are temporary data structures used by DOS and applications when processing hardware events

Recommended Windows 3.1 default

STACKS=9,256


SHARE

• Share prevents two applications from trying to write to a file at the same time and should be run from the AUTOEXEC.BAT – SHARE /F:2048 /L:20– Provides 2048 B of Conventional Memory and will lock up to 20 files

• If you try to run Share from within Windows you will see an error message ‘Share has already been loaded’, regardless of whether or not you have previously run Share!

• The error message ‘not enough memory’ may mean, increase the SHARE file locking values in the CONFIG.SYS

• Networks may use their own file locking systems independently of the DOS SHARE command

The message ‘Share Violation: File already in use’, means the SHARE utility has done it’s job!


DOS Startup Menus

• Introduced in DOS 6– Useful for starting either DOS only or DOS/Windows– May be used to start a networked/non-networked environment,

which is useful for portables

Now...Where are we?


Windows Utilities Supplied With DOS

• DOS 6 may install Windows-based utilities

– Changes the File Manager

– An undelete command is added to the File drop-down menu

– A Tools drop-down menu is added, containing Windows-based versions of:

• A backup facility• An anti virus utility• A disk compression utility

– Changes are made to the WINFILE.INI file and DLLs are incorporated into the [AddOns] section


Review Questions


Installing Windows - Standalone



Types of Windows Installation

• From the installation diskettes• Across a network, from a server• Automated, using a script file• Installations can be customized by editing:

– SETUP.INF– APPS.INF– CONTROL.INF

?


Sort out DOS First!

• CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT– Use the latest versions of drivers including:

• HIMEM.SYS• EMM386.EXE• SMARTDRIVE.EXE• Printer and Video drivers

– Remove DOS TSRs or device drivers that are known to cause problems with the Windows installation

• As Windows accesses Extended Memory using XMS you will need HIMEM.SYS which is the DOS-based XMS driver

• EMM386.EXE is advisable, though optional

• Use of SMARTDRV.EXE is again optional, but running Windows with this (or an alternative cache) will result in very poor performance with certain applications!


Setup Will Modify DOS Configuration Files

• Installing Windows may:– Change the path statement

– Replace older drivers or TSRs with newer ones• HIMEM.SYS• EMM386.EXE• SMARTDRV.SYS or SMARTDRV.EXE• VDISK.SYS


Things to Consider Before Installation

– Memory requirements

– Disk partitions

– Disk fragmentation

– Disk space

– Windows itself

– Windows applications

– Virtual Memory

– Print spooling

– Additional fonts

– Temporary file creation

– Future DOS upgrades

– Customize the installation, do you really need Solitaire and Mine Sweeper!


Full Setup vs Maintenance Mode Installation

• Setup will search for previous Windows installations– If a previous copy is found, Setup will enter ‘maintenance’

mode


Two Parts of the Windows Installation

• First part– Text-based

• Second part– Graphics-based


Automatic Hardware Detection (?)

• Windows will normally automatically ID your hardware– The type of PC

– Video

– Mouse and keyboard

– Network (if any)

• On some PCs you have to manually ID parts of the hardware– Including PC machine type


Express vs Custom Installation

• Express – Less interactive

– Faster

• Custom– More interactive

– Allows users to specify which bits of Windows to install

– Slower


Searching the Disk for Installed Applications

• Searches the path and/or specified drives for applications

– Beware of multiple instances of the same program (especially if searching local and network drives)

– Will detect DOS programs listed in APPS.INF and create the necessary Program Manager icon and PIF

– Will set up program icons within the APPLICATION group created in the Program Manager


Creation of Groups Within the Program Manager

• Standard Program Manager groups – Main– Accessories– Startup– Games– Applications (if the disk was scanned for applications)

• These groups are defined within SETUP.INF

Windows is already on this PC!


Setting Up Printers

• You should install a printer driver– Even if no printer will be attached to the PC!


Running SETUP From Within Windows

• May be used to add or remove Windows components– Uses the same file SETUP.EXE


Fault Finding With Setup• Setup may be run using switches

– SETUP /?– SETUP /i– SETUP /c– SETUP /t

• If the system hangs after installation– Use a clean boot disk (or the SHIFT key trick with DOS 6)– Check for incompatible drivers or TSRs

• Problems switching from DOS mode to Graphics mode– Probably a graphics problem– Try plain VGA instead of SVGA– Check for UMB conflicts– Set up error codes


Review Questions


Automated Windows Installation



What is an Automated Windows Installation?

• Requires little or no user intervention

Not much for me to do ...


SETUP.SHH

• Use a script file, SETUP.SHH to specify key installation parameters– Allows a non-interactive installation

– Useful if installing Windows outside the US • National characteristics may be itemized in the SHH file, instead of

having to enter them manually each time you install Windows

– Useful if using ‘non-standard’ hardware

– To find the correct parameter syntax for many of the .SHH lines, you will have to examine the main SETUP.INF file

Syntax for installing Windows, using a script called SETUP.SHH

SETUP /H SETUP.SHH


[sysinfo] Section of SETUP.SHH

• showsysinfo=

– Controls the display of the System Configuration screen • Yes, to display the System Configuration• No, to turn off the display


[configuration] Section of SETUP.SHH

• Contains the following items:– machine=

– display=

– mouse=

– network=

– keyboard=

– language=

– kblayout=

NOTE: If upgrading a previously installed version of Windows, some of these entries will be ignored during the installation (specifically machine, display, mouse, and network).

To force the value to be used during the upgrade or re-installation, place an exclamation mark (!) in front of the entry.


[windir] Section of SETUP.SHH

• Used to define the directory into which Windows will be installed

– If no entry is defined here a dialog box will be displayed during installation requesting the target directory

C:\WIN31


[userinfo] Section of SETUP.SHH

• Used to specify the user name • Used to optionally specify the company name

– Up to 30 characters

– Spaces may be used, providing the string is enclosed within quotation marks (“”)

– If no string is defined a dialog box will be displayed during installation requesting this information

My name is

Michael CaineNOTE: [userinfo] is ignored if performing a network installation


[dontinstall] Section of SETUP.SHH

• Used to specify Windows components you do NOT wish to install– Includes:

• Accessories• Readme files• Games• Screen savers• Bitmaps

I said NO GAMES!

THE BOSS


[options] Section of SETUP.SHH

• Used to:– Specify whether or not the disk should be scanned for

applications which are set up at the end of the installation

– Specify whether the Windows Tutorial should be run at the end of the installation

– setupapps• Will open a dialog box allowing the interactive setting up of

applications that are found on the hard disk

– autosetupapps• Will automatically set up all applications found on the hard disk

– tutorial• Will run the Windows Tutorial at the end of the installation


[printers] Section of SETUP.SHH

• Used to specify printers (and ports) that should be installed by the Setup program– Two parts, the printer description, followed by the port value

– The printer description • Must be enclosed in quotation marks (“”)• String taken from the [io.device] section of CONTROL.INF

– The port value• Values here are used to set up the [ports] section

of WIN.INI


[endinstall] Section of SETUP.SHH

• Use to define:– Whether changes can be made to CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT– Whether at the end of the installation the system:

• Exits to DOS• Restarts Windows• Re-boots the PC

configfiles=modifyconfigfiles=saveendopt=exitendopt=restartendopt=reboot

NOTE: If you are installing Windows across a network, using SETUP /n, then the reboot option is ignored and the system will exit to the DOS command line


Modifying .INF Files

• Take great care!• Backup all INI, INF, and SHH files to a diskette• Remark out lines, rather than deleting them

– Start the line with a semi-colon (;)

Tee Hee!


Review Questions


Customized Installations



What is a Customized Installation?

• The installation of Windows may be customized using the ‘Custom’ interactive Setup option

• Alternatively, you can customize the files from which Setup obtains its information:– SETUP.INF

– APPS.INF

– The *.SCR files

• You can automate a customized installation, using a .SHH script file


Key Files Used To Control Setup

• SETUP.INF– The main file used to determine how setup will install

• CONTROL.INF– Contains information on printers and national items

• APPS.INF– Contains information on how to integrate existing DOS

applications into your Windows installation

– Helps in the production of PIF files

• Most files copied to the target hard disk during installation are stored on diskette in a compressed file format


SETUP.INF SectionsGeneral DisplayKeyboard NationalMouse NetworkSystem fonts Copy filesFontProgram Manager GroupsIncompatible driversMiscellaneousEnd of installationSetup informationSpecial devices

It's not as bad as it looks


SETUP.INF - [Dialog] Section

• Can be used for customizing the Windows Installation Screen

• [dialog]– caption=‘Microsoft Windows Setup’– exit=‘Exit Windows Setup’– title=‘Installing Windows 3.1’– options=‘In addition to installing Windows 3.1, you can:’– Any of these captions may be customized to include, say, the

telephone number of your support department, or warning messages

Have a nice day


SETUP.INF - [Data] Section

• Specifies the disks that are required by the Setup installation routine– May be used to add additional applications as part of the Windows

setup process– Each disk must be assigned a unique identifier number, and a

volume name must be used for each additional disk– Format

– n=path,disk name,disk tag

• n the disk number• path is the path to find disk n• disk name is the name that will be used when prompting the user• disk tag is the volume name of the disk

DISK 1


SETUP.INF - [disk] and [oemdisks] Section

• Specifies the disks that are required by the Setup installation routine

– May be used to add additional applications as part of the Windows Setup process

– Each disk must be assigned a unique identifier number, and a volume name must be used for each additional disk

– Format

– n=path,disk name,disk tag

n the disk number

path is the path to find disk n

disk name is the name that will be used when prompting the user

disk tag is the volume name of the disk

SPECIAL

DISK


SETUP.INF [windows] and [windows.system] Sections

• Used to specify the files that will be copied during the Windows part of the Windows installation

– Files listed within the [windows] section are copied into the \WINDOWS directory

– Files listed in the [windows.system] section are copied to the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory

– Files followed by the word ‘Net’ instruct Setup to only copy these files if you are installing to a network server using SETUP/n

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM

\WINDOWS


SETUP.INF [Shell] Section

• Allows you to specify an alternative Windows shell• This will modify the shell= statement in the

SYSTEM.INI file that is subsequently generated– May even be used to specify an application

?


SETUP.INF - [display] Section

• Used for modifying display drivers or for customizing Setup so that it can use drivers not normally shipped with the default version of Windows 3.1– If you require the use of non-standard display drivers you will

be prompted to insert the additional disk from the hardware manufacturer which contains the drivers. This will not customize this option

– Syntax• Profile=driver, driver description, resolution, 286grabber, logo

code, VDD, 386grabber, ega.sys, logo data, optional section

SPECIAL

DISK


SETUP.INF - Keyboard Sections

• Used to define the type of keyboard and keyboard drivers

In the UK use:

bridll = 2:kbduk.dll , "British".


SETUP.INF - [Language] Section

• Outside the United States you must specify a language DLL file– In the UK the correct DLL file is

eng = 2:langeng.dll, "English (International)" ,2057

I’m American!Not any more you’re not!


APPS.INF

• Placed in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory during Windows Setup

• Sections include:– [dontfind]

– [dialog]

– [base_PIFs]

– [enha_dosprompt]

– [pif]


APPS.INF [dontfind] Section

• Windows programs listed in this section will not be found when you search the disk for applications

– Avoids duplicate installations when running Setup from within Windows

– Additional programs may be added to this section

– Will prevent users from incorporating program icons into the Program Manager for programs that you would prefer remain hidden on the disk


APPS.INF [dialog] Section

• Contains the title text that Setup will use to describe a program in the Setup Applications dialog box


APPS.INF [base_pifs] Section

• Defines a batch file used for creating the _DEFAULT.PIF


APPS.INF [enha_dosprompt] Section

• Defines the memory requirement for running the DOS prompt under Windows in Enhanced Mode


APPS.INF [PIF] Section

• Lists PIF parameters for DOS applications– Used to generate a customized PIF file for each DOS program

that is found during the search of a disk

– The program icon is also defined here• Normally using an icon from MOREICONS.DLL

– The program icon is automatically created within the Applications group of the Program Manager


APPS.INF [PIF] Section Details

• The files listed must be maintained in strict lexicographical order

– The [PIF] section contains numerous parameters used to define a PIF file

exe file pif name

window title startup directory

close window flag icon name

icon number standard pif

386 pif ambiguous exe

optimized pifs


CONTROL.INF

• Contains information about printers used by the Control Panel during Windows setup

• Contains three sections:[io.device]

[io.dependent]

[country]


CONTROL.INF [io.device] Sections

• Lists printers supported by Windows 3.1


CONTROL.INF [io.dependent] Sections

• The Control Panel will check to see if the selected printer driver requires other files, that need to be copied to the \Windows\System\ directory

• These additional files include:Soft font installersFont filesHelp files


CONTROL.INF [country] Sections

• Lists items used by the Control Panel for setting international formats– Uses exclamation marks (!) as field delimiters


Review Questions


Installing Windows on a Network



Special Network Considerations

• Where will the Windows files be installed?– All on the local PC or all on the server

– Some locally, and some on the server

– What about diskless workstations?

The Windows 3.1 Resource Kit contains specific information on installing Windows onto:

3 Com Artisoft Lantastic

Banyan VINES DEC Pathworks

IBM OS/2 LAN Server IBM PC LAN

Microsoft LAN Manager Novell

TCS 10Net Ungermann-Bass Net/One


Diskless Workstations, Networks and Windows

• Windows must be installed to, and run from, the server

• The TEMP environment variable is used to define the disk location for Print Manager spooling

• Set TEMP to a virtual disk or a server directory


Changes to the Windows Display on Network PCs

• Control Panel• Setup window• File Manager• Printer dialog box

Local drives Networked drives

Local CD-ROM driveExtra File Manager Drive Icons


Licence Issues!

• Stay legal!• Can use third party licencing packages• Be careful of networking applications

– Lotus supplies a licencing facility built into the products

PAY

ATTENTION

TO LICENCING


SETUP /A

• Administrative setup

SETUP /A

Copies

Expands

Files are made ‘Read Only’

Windows

Installation

diskettes

Server PC


SETUP /N

• Network setup– SETUP/N run from workstations

– Limited number of files installed either on the workstation or in a personal directory on the server (specific to that workstation)

• WIN.COM, plus INI and GRP files

– All other files are shared

Server

Work

Stations

Shared copy of Windows

Ensure that the shared copy of Windows and the users personal network directory are both in the path!


Automated Network Installations

• You can combine SETUP /N with automated script installations!

To automate the Setup use the Setup /H SETUP.SHH switch in conjunction with the /N switch

Use different SHH files for different classes of users, i.e.

ACCOUNTS.SHH

NOVICE.SHH

EXPERT.SHH

You can specify the type and network version in the SHH file


Windows, Networks and SYSTEM.INI

• The three sections of SYSTEM.INI that may be modified when integrated into a network:

[boot] [standard] [386enh]

Some network cards may need you to manually add a [386enh] section, EMMExclude statement to resolve UMB memory conflictsSome PCs (using MCA) will require you to set a larger DMA buffer than normal. To set a 32 KB buffer, use the syntax:

NETDMASize=32 (The ISA default is 0)

Sometimes you may need to increase the data buffer size allocated by Windows, use the syntax:

NetHeapSize=20


SRC Files• Source files for INI files

– When expanded using the ADMINISTRATIVE setup (SETUP/A), they can be edited and customized

WIN.SRC WIN.COM

SYSTEM.SRC SYSTEM.INISETUP /A

CONTROL.INICONTROL.SRC


NETWARE.INI - Undocumented Feature

• Create or modify NETWARE.INI– Add a new section:

[Options]

NetWareHotKey=123

The number 123 is the keyboard scan code for F12

so to activate the pop-up window press the F12 key

No extra functionality added, just more convenient!

Buttons displayed include:

Map Drives

Map Printers

Attach Server

Detect Server

Network Options

Permanent List

Change Hot key

Close


Controlling Windows on a Network• Restrict access to server directories• Make files read-only• Program Manager [Restrictions]• Control Panel [Don’t Load]• Use standard shared GRP files• Modify the name of the Startup group?

I’m the boss!

Why can't I have a picture of my cat as background wallpaper?


SYSTEM.INI[386Enh] Section - Network Settings

• NetAsynchFallback=• NetAsynchTimout=• NetDMASize=• Netheap=• Network=• TokenRingSearch=• INT28Critical=


Review Questions


Loading Windows - Key Files



WIN.COM Switches

WIN /?

WIN /S

WIN /3

WIN FILENAME


Viewing the File Loading Order - WIN /B

• Produces a log file in which you can examine the loading order of files


Windows File Loading Order

• In Standard Mode– WIN.COM

– DOSX.EXE

– KRNL286.EXE

• In Enhanced Mode– WIN.COM

– WIN386.EXE

– KRNL386.EXE

• WINSTART.BAT (optional)


WIN386.EXE

• Is responsible for the management of:– Virtual Memory

– DOS sessions

– Memory management, including the conversion of Extended Memory to Expanded Memory if required by a DOS application

– When starting Windows, WIN386.EXE automatically converts any unused emulated Expanded Memory back to Extended Memory, for use by Windows

– Scheduling within Windows

– File I/O operations

– Loading of executable files within Windows


DLLs Loaded When Starting Windows (in Enhanced Mode)

• The three main DLLs loaded during the loading of Windows 3.1 are– Kernel DLL (KRNL386.EXE)

– User DLL (USER.EXE)

– GDI.DLL (GDI.EXE)


KRNL386.EXE

• Manages the basic Windows system functions• Controls all the machine resources to:

– Manage memory

– Load applications

– Schedule programs


USER.EXE

• Detects user input (from the mouse or keyboard) and directs it to the correct programs within Windows

• Provides support for the Windows interface, including minimizing to icons and control of dialog boxes


GDI.EXE

• Manages the graphics and printing– The GDI.EXE owns a single 64 KB memory heap which it uses

for managing the GDI (Graphical Device Interface)


Windows System Device Drivers

Windows

Hardware

Device drivers

Provides the connection interface between Windows and the hardware


Files Loaded to Support DOS Applications

• WINOA386.MOD– Provides the main support for running DOS applications

within Windows

• *.3GR– ‘Grabber files’, specific to a particular type of video card– Takes DOS-based video calls and translates them for use

within Windows, which converts the call to a Windows-based video call

– In Enhanced Mode DOS applications are controlled within Windows by WINOA386.MOD

– In Standard Mode DOS applications are controlled within Windows by WINOLDAP.MOD


Loading Programs Automatically

• Copy program items into the StartUp group– NOTE: May be bypassed by depressing the Shift key when

Windows starts up

• Edit the WIN.INI file• LOAD=

– Loads as an icon

• RUN=– Runs within a window

• Enter the command– WIN filename


WINSTART.BAT

• Allows the loading of TSRs necessary for Windows programs, but not required by DOS programs– Does not take memory from a DOS virtual machine running

under Windows


[boot] Section of SYSTEM.INI

• Used to define:– The Windows shell (PROGMAN.INI)

– Mouse driver

– Network driver

– Language DLL

– Sound driver

– Keyboard driver

– System driver

– 386 grabber files (vga.3gr for VGA)

– OEM fonts

– Fixed fonts

– Display driver


[boot.description] Section of SYSTEM.INI

• Lists the boot devices required:– Keyboard type (Enhanced 101 or 102 key US and Non US keyboards)

– Mouse driver (i.e. Microsoft, or IBM PS/2)

– Network driver (i.e. Novell NetWare shell versions 3.21 and above)

– Language DLL file (in the UK =English (International))

– System driver (i.e. MS-DOS System)

– Codepage used (i.e. 437 or 850 in the UK)

– Windows Old Application fonts (i.e. woafont.fon=English (437))

– Aspect=100,96,96

– Display driver (i.e. VGA)


Review Questions


Program Manager and File Manager Review



The Program Manager

• Default Windows shell, defined in WIN.INI– SHELL=PROGMAN.EXE

• Two level structure– Groups

– Program Icons

Configuration stored within PROGMAN.INI


Copying vs Moving Program Icons

• First select the icon

• To move the icon to another group– Drag and drop

• To copy the icon to another group– Drag and drop while depressing the Ctrl key

Can you select multiple program icons?


Saving the Program Manager Configuration

• Can use the ‘Save Settings on Exit’ command

• Better to use an undocumented feature:– Depress the Ctrl and Shift key and double-click on the

Program Manager System (Control) icon

– Configuration is saved in PROGMAN.INI


Program Manager Restrictions

• Documented in the Windows 3.1 Resource Kit– Allows you to restrict what users can do when using the

Program Manager

NoRun=

NoClose=

NoSaveSettings=

NoFileMenu=

EditLevel=0

EditLevel=1

EditLevel=2

EditLevel=3

EditLevel=4

What No Close?


Customizing the Program Manager Groups

• Groups can be created, deleted, or renamed

PROGRAM

GROUP

PROGRAM

ITEM


Program Manager GRP Files

• Program Manager groups are each held as separate .GRP files– Not text files

• Standard groups (and Program Icons) can be regenerated using an undocumented switch SETUP /P– Uses information defined in SETUP.INF


Adding, Deleting and Renaming Program Icons

• Any Program Icon within the Program Manager may be modified– Via the File drop down menu

• To easily add Program Icons to a group– Use the File Manager combined with drag and drop techniques

Use the Del key to delete Program Icons


Modifying Program Icons

• MORICONS.DLL and PROGMAN.EXE both contain icons that can be used to represent programs set up within a Program Manager group– Change the icons by selecting the File drop down menu, and

then selecting Properties– Click on the Change Icon button and select an icon from a file

containing icons


[settings] Section of PROGMAN.INI

• Used to define saved settings that determine the display of the Program Manager

[Settings]

Window=68 48 580 384 1

display.drv=vga.drv

Order= 2 3 4 5 1


[groups] Section of PROGMAN.INI

• Used to define each file that contains information concerning Program Manager groups

[Groups]

Group1=C:\WIN31\MAIN0.GRP

Group2=C:\WIN31\ACCESSO0.GRP

Group3=C:\WIN31\GAMES0.GRP

Group4=C:\WIN31\STARTUP0.GRP

Group5=C:\WIN31\APPLICAT.GRP


The File Manager

• Stored on disk as WINFILE.EXE– Configuration information held within WINFILE.INI


Common End-User File Manager Problems

• Tree and Directory views• View ‘by file type’• Viewing hidden files

THINK

ABOUT

THESE


File Association

• Data files can be associated with program files– There are different icons for associated and non-associated

data

Associated

Non-associated

EXE File


[Extensions] Section of WIN.INI

• Stores file associations– File association means that a data file extension is linked with

a particular executable file

– Double-clicking on an associated data file within the File Manager will first run the associated executable file, and then load the selected data file into the applications

– File associations are set up automatically when installing applications

– Use the File Manager to add further associations– NOTE: In Windows 3.1, file associations are also held in the

Registration Database which takes precedence over WIN.INI {Extensions] entries

– How do Program Manager data file icons indicate whether the file is associated or not?


File Manager Shortcuts (1)• To display a new drive and its directories

– Ctrl+driveletter

• To display all sub-directory levels– Ctrl+* (use the * on the numeric keyboard)– You can do this using an undocumented feature by depressing the

Shift key whilst clicking on a drive icon

• To select all files in the current directory– Press Ctrl+/

• To deselect all files in the current directory– Press Control+\

• To cycle through all open directory windows– Press Ctrl+Tab


File Manager Shortcuts (2)

• To tile all open directory windows– Press Shift+F4

• To cascade all open directory windows– Press Shift+F5

• To refresh the screen display– Press F5

• To delete selected files– Press Del

• To open a selected directory– Press Enter

I will be asking questions later


Selecting Multiple Files Within the File Manager

• To select a single file – Click on the file

• To select multiple contiguous files– Click on the first file– Depress the Shift key and click on the last file in the

contiguous block required

• To select multiple non-contiguous files– Click on the first file– Depress the Control key (and keep it depressed)– Click on the required files to select them– Release the Control key


Copying vs Moving Files

• To move files within the same drive– Select the file(s)

– Drag and drop to a new folder icon

• To copy files within the same drive– Select the file(s) and depress the Control key

– Drag and drop to a new folder icon and release the Control key

• To copy files to a different drive– Select the file(s)

– Drag and drop to the required drive icon

• To move files to a different drive– Select the required file(s) and depress the Shift key

– Drag and drop to the required drive icon and release the Shiftkey


What is WINFILE.INI?

• The file used to hold customization options for the File Manager

WINFILE.INI


[Settings] Section of WINFILE.INI (1)

• Usually contains only one section called [Settings]

– Window= • Records the size, position, and windows/minimized status of the

window

– Dir1= • Saves the current directory listing

– Face= • The typeface used within the display. The default is Small Fonts

– Size= • The point size used. The default is 8

– LowerCase= • Lowercase 1, uppercase 0


[Settings] Section of WINFILE.INI (2)

– ConfirmDelete= • 1 if the user is prompted before file deletion

– ConfirmSubDel= • 1 if the user is prompted before directory deletion

– ConfirmReplace= • 1 if the user is prompted before file replacement

– ConfirmMouse=• 1 if the user is prompted before dragging and dropping operations

– ConfirmFormat= • 1 if the user is prompted before formatting a diskette


Review Questions


The Control Panel and Windows Accessories



The Control Panel

• Used to customize the interface and install device drivers– Can be deleted as a Program Manager icon– But may be run using the File/Run command on the Program

Manager, using the file name CONTROL.EXE


The Control Panel Window

• Icons include:– Color Fonts Ports Mouse

Desktop Keyboard Printers International Date/Time Drivers Sound

– Enhanced and Network depend on how you are running Windows

– Applications may add icons

– Non-standard window

– Settings stored in CONTROL.INI


Color Sections - CONTROL.INI

• [Current] Section of CONTROL.INI– defines the current color scheme used within Windows

• [Color Schemes] Section of CONTROL.INI– Defines the color used for specific components within

Windows

– Customized using the Color icon within the Control Panel

• [Custom Colors] Section of CONTROL.INI– Defines the customized colors set up using the Custom

Color Pallet located within the Color option, in the Control Panel


[colors] Section - WIN.INI

• Specifies the colors that will be used by the various components making up the Windows screen display

• Will only appear in the WIN.INI file if you have modified the colors (via the Colors icon within Control Panel)

• Items include:– Background color

– Application workspace

– The three parameters that follow each entry define the color mix of red, green, and blue and must be in the range 1 to 255


[Patterns] Section - CONTROL.INI

• [Patterns]– Defines the color used for background bit patterns


[keyboard] Section - SYSTEM.INI

• Used to define:– Keyboard type

– Keyboard DLL file (kbduk.dll in the UK)


SYSTEM.INI - [386Enh] Section Keyboard Settings

• Keyboard=• KeyBoostTime=• KeyBufferDelay=• KeyIdleDelay=• KybdPasswd=• KeybdReboot=• LocalReboot=


[Windows] Section of WIN.INI Relating to Mouse Settings

• MouseTrails– Default is 0. Can be used to set a mouse cursor that leaves ‘trails’

on the screen– May be useful for people giving presentations on direct projection

systems

• MouseSpeed– Default is 1. Defines the relationship between physical movement

of the mouse and the movement of the mouse pointer on the screen. A setting of 0 moves the mouse pointer across the screen more slowly, and a setting of 2 increases the relative speed of the mouse pointer

• SwapMouseButtons=– Allows you to reverse the actions of the two mouse buttons, as

used by Windows. May be useful for left-handed people


[Desktop] Section of WIN.INI (1)

• Defines desktop items• Defines the wallpaper or pattern display• Icon spacing on the screen• Screen granularity

– Setting changes via the Control Panel are all entered in this section, apart from the enabling/disabling of screen saver passwords which is stored in a separate section


[Desktop] Section of WIN.INI (2)– GridGranularity=

• Default is 0. Defines an invisible grid used to position a window on the screen

– IconSpacing=• Default is 77. Defines the screen spacing (in pixels) of icons

– IconTitleFaceName=• The default is Microsoft Sans Serif. Defines the font used to

display icon titles. May be changed for persons with a visual impairment, or to improve the quality of screen dumps that are being used for production of documentation manuals

– IconTitleSize=• Default is 8. Defines the font size used to display icon titles. May

be changed for persons with a visual impairment, or to improve the quality of screen dumps that are being used for production of documentation manuals

– IconTitleWrap=• Default is 1. Allows the wrapping of icon titles


[Intl] Section - WIN.INI

• The International section which allows you to customize Windows settings for a particular country, including:– Country

– Language

– Keyboard layout

– Currency

– Measurements

– List separators

– Time and date formats


[Screen Saver.name] Section - CONTROL.INI

• [Screen Saver.name]– Defines the color used for background bit patterns


[Installed] Section - CONTROL.INI

• [Installed]– Lists the current version of Windows and installed printer drivers


Control Panel - ‘Don’t Load’

• Undocumented feature – Removes specified items from the Control Panel

– Edit CONTROL.INI

[Don’t Load]

Color=1

Will prevent the Control Panel from displaying the Color icon, preventing users from changing the preset colors

But I want MY PICTURE in the background !


Control Panel - Sound Drivers

• Software sound drivers• Hardware sound cards• Embedding sound clips using

OLE

Go ahead, make my day!

You must install sound drivers prior to assigning sounds to Windows events


The Windows Accessories

• Contains standard accessories including:– Write

– Paintbrush

– Terminal

– Notepad

– Recorder

– Cardfile

– Calculator

– Clock

– Object Packager

– Character Map

– Sound Recorder


The Clock Accessory

• Analog or digital display• Can be run ‘Always on top’


The Windows Recorder Accessory• Useful macro recorder

– Do NOT record mouse movements and clicks - only record keystrokes!

Undocumented feature allowing you to see what you have recorded (but does not allow editing)

–Open the recorder, with a macro loaded into it

–Select the macro you wish to view

–Depress the SHIFT key

–Select the Macro drop down menu

–Click on the Properties command

–Release the SHIFT key


The Calculator Accessory - Beware!

• Two modes - Standard and Scientific

• Bugs!– No square root function in scientific mode!

– Try subtracting 2.1 from 2.11 using the Windows 3.1 calculator, you may be surprised by the result!

• The result is due to a rounding bug in the Microsoft C run-time library

• The first version of Windows NT also had this bug


The Notepad Accessory

• Limited to 50,000 characters– You often need to use the DOS editor, called EDIT– For instance, the APPS.INF file is too big to be edited using

NotePad– You can associate INF files with EDIT.COM– Remember that the DOS Edit program, in turn, required the

presence of QBASIC.EXE to make it work

Tee Hee

They still need me!


The Character Map Accessory

• Useful for accessing characters not on the keyboard, such as the copyright symbol– May be used to identify the keyboard code for directly entering

a particular character or symbol

– Alt+xxxx• where xxxx is a four digit code, entered using the numeric keypad,

representing the ANSI code

– Often more efficient to use a utility within the application you are using

– Microsoft Word has an Insert/Symbol command


SYSEDIT - An Undocumented System Editor

• Undocumented editor allows you to edit:• AUTOEXEC.BAT• CONFIG.SYS• WIN.INI• SYSTEM.INI

– Does not allow editing of other important INI files

– Stored as SYSEDIT.EXE

– You can also associate INI files with the NotePad program, in which case, double-clicking on an INI file will launch the NotePad Editor

• This is only useful on text-based INI files • Each INI file can then be set up as a Program Icon within a

Program Manager group


Review Questions


DOS and Memory - A Review



Conventional Memory

• Defined by addressing limitations of the 8086/8088 CPU

• Is the first 1 MB of memory• Not protected• Traditionally only 640 KB

used by DOS and DOS applications

1 MB

640 KB

0KBDOS

DOS

APPLICATIONS

USED BY THE SYSTEM


Segment/Offset Memory Addressing• DOS

– Designed to run on the 8086 CPU which has 20 address lines

– Maximum addressable memory of 1 MB

• BUT– DOS is a 16 bit operating system

– Uses the 8086 with 16 bit registers

– Maximum number supported by a 16 bit register is 64 KB

• THUS– Two 16 bit registers are used:

• The segment register• The offset register

– These two 16 bit numbers are combined to produce a single 20 digit binary address (5 hex digits)

– The segment is offset one hex place enabling 1 MB memory addressing


Extended Memory• Memory above 1 MB• Protected• Used by Windows and Windows

applications– The original CPU for which DOS was designed only

had 20 address lines• Could only address a maximum of 1 MB

– In 1984, with the release of the IBM AT based on the Intel 80286 CPU

• The number of address lines was raised to 24, giving a maximum memory address range of 16 MB

– The first 1 MB was addressed in Real Mode, while the remaining 15 MB were addressed in Protected Mode and were referred to as Extended Memory

• 386/486-based PCs can, in theory, address 4 GB of memory

Extended

Memory

Conventional

Memory

0

1 MB

Lots


XMS (Extended Memory Specification)

• Extended Memory Specification– Defines a standard used to access Extended Memory

– DOS and Windows use a driver HIMEM.SYS to control access to the XMS memory


DOS Extenders

• DOS extenders are codes that are built into certain DOS programs to allow them to access Extended Memory– Lotus 3.x for DOS

Extended

Memory

Conventional

Memory

0

1 MB

Lots

DOS Program

I want some of this!


VCPI and DPMI DOS Extenders• VCPI

– The original type of DOS extender• Suitable only in non-multitasking environments (i.e. DOS)• Not supported by Windows• Used in Lotus 123 Version 3.0

• DPMI– Developed by Microsoft with Windows in mind

• Supported by Windows• Acts as a client to HIMEM.SYS which is an XMS memory server• Used in Lotus 123 Version 3.1• DPMI (DOS Protected Mode Interface) is designed to allow multitasking • Lotus 123 version 3.10 (which used a VCPI DOS extender) was re-written

and released as Lotus 123 Version 3.1, which used a DPMI DOS extender • This version works fine under Windows (assuming the Windows PIF files

have been sorted out!)


Expanded Memory• Used only by certain DOS applications

– Windows applications do not require Expanded Memory

– Used to extend the life of old 8086-based PCs (which could only address 1 MB of Conventional Memory)

– Modern DOS programs will tend to use Extended Memory rather than Expanded Memory

OLD DOS PROGRAM

If DOS only uses 640 KB of memory, how can I get more?


How Traditional Expanded Memory Works

• Requires:– Special Expanded

Memory card

– Device driver

– 64 KB page frame in the UMBs

Expanded Memory card

The memory on the Expanded memory card is logically seen as a number of blocks

The 64 KB page frame within the UMBs is used to map to the Expanded Memory

0

640 KB

1 MB

0

32 MB


How Emulated Expanded Memory Works

• Treats an area of Extended Memory as Expanded Memory– Under DOS, requires an EMS driver such

as EMM386.EXE, often called a LIMulator

– Windows also contains drivers for emulating Expanded Memory (for use by DOS programs requiring Expanded Memory, under Windows)

– DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE 1024

– Windows can use the EMM386.EXE driver, but also has its own built-in Expanded Memory emulator

• NOTE: Windows itself does not require or use Expanded Memory

0

640 KB

1 MB

Extended Memory, emulating Expanded Memory


LIM EMS Version 3.2 vs. 4.0

• LIM EMS 3.2– Only data can be stored on the Expanded Memory card

• Uses four 16 KB page frames which must form a contiguous page frame in the UMBs

• Uses bank switching to find memory located anywhere on the Expanded Memory card

• LIM EMS 4– Both data and code can be stored on the Expanded Memory card

• Can use 64 pages simultaneously (each one consisting of 16 KB)• The page frame does not have to be contiguous and can use ‘backfilling’• Backfilling involves relocating the page frame below 640 KB (normally

down to 256 KB), removing the system board memory, and letting the Expanded Memory cards map into that memory space


Virtual Memory

• Treats part of your disk as if it were memory– Used by Windows and Windows applications, but

not by DOS

– Transparent to Windows applications

– Only used when physical memory is full

– DOS was designed for the Intel 8086 CPU, which did not support Virtual Memory. Consequently, DOS does not support Virtual Memory

– Virtual Memory is used by Windows 3.1 which was designed to run on 286 and 386 CPUs (which do support Virtual Memory)

Physical Memory

Virtual Memory


Typical DOS CONFIG.SYS

DEVICE=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXEDEVICE=C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE /DOUBLE_BUFFERDEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYSDEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMSDOS=HIGHDOS=UMBFILES=60BUFFERS=10,0LASTDRIVE=ZCOUNTRY=044,,C:\DOS\COUNTRY.SYSDEVICEHIGH /L:1,15792 =C:\DOS\DISPLAY.SYS CON=(EGA,,1)STACKS=9,256SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS\ /PDEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\DRVSPACE.SYS /MOVE


Typical DOS AUTOEXEC.BAT

@ECHO OFF

C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE /l:500 /f:5100

C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE

PROMPT $p$g

PATH C:\WINDOWS:C:\WINWORD;C:\DOS;

C:\DOS\KEYB UK 437 C:\DOS\KEYBOARD.SYS

SET TEMP=C:\TEMP

C:\DOS\MODE CON CODEPAGE PREPARE=((437) C:\DOS\EGA.CPI)

C:\DOS\MODE CON CODEPAGE SELECT=437

C:\DOS\KEYB UK,,C:\DOS\KEYBOARD.SYS


Review Questions


Windows and Memory



Virtual Machines

• Windows itself, and all Windows-based applications run in a single virtual machine

• Each DOS application runs in its own virtual machine

0 KB

640 KB

1 MB

1 MB Real Mode

memory

Windows/System

Virtual Machine

Virtual DOS Machines


Virtual Machine Size

• The virtual machines used for running each DOS-based application under Windows may be of variable size (dictated by the PIF settings that apply to that program)

Windows overhead used for managing CPU and Video registers

Large virtual machine, for a DOS application

Small virtual machine for a DOS utility program


Virtual Machines and Memory

• If the DOS program requires use of Expanded Memory, this is provided by Windows itself

• Expanded or DPMI Memory is specified via the PIF

NOTE: VCPI is not supported under Windows

I want Extended (or Expanded) Memory for this DOS program No problem Thanks!


The three 64 KB areasthat form the Windows 3.1 memory bottleneck!

System Resources

• There are three memory heaps used to manage System Resources

MENU heap

USER heap

GDI heap

Lots of memory

BEWARE THE GDI


System Monitor Program

• Supplied with the Windows 3.1 Resource Kit and can monitor:

– Free memory

– GDI resources

– User resources

May be run as a dynamic icon set to display ‘Always on top’ NB: SYSMETER.EXE uses

TOOLHELP.DLL to determine total free memory


Enhanced Mode and Memory

• DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI) translation buffers are loaded into the UMBs by default– Translation buffers are memory storage areas used to

translate calls from Real to Protected Mode memory (or vice versa)

• Unable to use a physical Expanded Memory card, but able to emulate it automatically on demand

• Uses Extended Memory, via the HIMEM.SYS XMS driver loaded via the CONFIG.SYS


Virtual Memory

• Treats part of the disk as if it were extra physical memory– Only used when physical RAM is full

– Only used in Enhanced Mode

– Configured via the CONTROL PANEL


The Virtual Memory Manager (VMM)

• Controlled by the Virtual Memory Manager (VMM)– Demand paged memory– The VMM controls swapping of 4 KB pages in conjunction with

support from the CPU, using a LRU (Least Recently Used) algorithm

RAMUses Virtual

Memory when

full

VMM


Virtual Memory and Physical Memory

In Windows, the memory available to Windows and applications running under it, is equal to the physical RAM plus the size of the Virtual Memory swap file

Memory is Memory!


Virtual Memory vs Temporary Files

• Do not confuse Virtual Memory with the use of temporary files within Windows, they are two completely different subjects!

FREE MEMORY

MEMORY USED

BY WINDOWS

AND APPLICATIONS

TOTAL

MEMORY

Temporary files


Virtual Memory and Virtual Disks

• Never try to locate the paths from different workstations to point to the root directory of a network server

Do not try to locate a Virtual Disk in Virtual Memory!

?


Modifying the Swap File

• Use the Control Panel• Select the 386 Enhanced

icon• Click on the Virtual Memory

button– The drive

– The type

– The size

– Use of 32 bit access (?)


Temporary Swap Files

• Slower than a permanent swap file– May be non-contiguous– Accessed using the DOS FAT– Can be used on a compressed drive or Novell formatted drives– Created in \WINDOWS by default

WIN386.SWP

Whoopsmemory full again!


Temporary Swap File SYSTEM.INI Settings

• [386enh]

– PagingDrive=• Defines the drive on which the temporary swap file will be created• If using network drives do not specify the root directory

– MaxPagingFileSize=• Defines the maximum size of the temporary swap file• Microsoft recommend a minimum setting of 1024 (which will

allows 4 KB page swapping)• Below 512 KB, inefficient 64 KB segment swapping is used for the

Virtual Memory swapping

– MinUserDiskSpace=• Limits the growth of the temporary swap file, so that you still have

space to store data on the disk!


Permanent Swap Files

• Faster than a temporary swap file– Uses contiguous disk space

– Accessed directly by Windows (avoiding DOS FAT)

– Cannot be used on a compressed drive or Novell formatted drive

– 386SPART.PAR and SPART.PAR

TIP: Use an undocumented feature DEFRAG /Q to quickly defragment your disk prior to installing Windows or re-sizing/creating your permanent swap file


Permanent Swap File Disk Access

• By default, a permanent swap file will access the disk using the BIOS– As opposed to using the DOS interface method used by a

temporary swap file

• If your hard disk is compatible with FastDisk– Use 32 bit disk access

DISK

BIOS

FAT

FAST

SLOW

32 bit access?

FAST

NOT ALWAYS

COMPATIBLE


Permanent Swap File SYSTEM.INI Settings

• PagingFile=– Defines the swap file

• PermSwapSize=– Defines the size of the swap file

• PageOverCommit=– Defines the maximum memory that can be used

– Maximum page over commitment is 20 (which allows a swap file 19 times that of your physical memory)


SYSTEM.INI [386Enh] SectionGeneral Memory Settings

• PSPIncrement= ReservedHighArea=• SysVMEMSLocked= SysVMXMSLimit=• SysVMXMSRequired= A20EnableCount=• LocalLoadHigh= MinUnlockMem=• UseableHighArea= WindowsKBRequired=• XlatBufferSize=


Review Questions


Running DOS and DOS Applications



Implications of Running DOS and DOS Programs Under Windows

• Do you have access to the full 640 KB?• Run in Extended (Protected) Memory• Multiple DOS programs can be run


Full Screen vs Windowed

• Full Screen– Faster

• Windowed– Slower– Some DOS programs will not run in a window due to the way

they access the graphics hardware– DOS sessions can be customised with regard to fonts and

multitasking – If the PIF file controlling the DOS session permits it, the

windowed DOS session may be closed using the mouse

Command line sessions must be closed using the EXIT command


DOSAPP.INI

• Used to store the screen position and font used by DOS applications running under Windows

DOS Program DOSAPP.INIEXIT

FONTSSCREEN POSITION

I WILL MAKE A NOTE OF THAT


WINDIR

• An environment variable – The environment is an area of memory used by DOS and

Windows for storing information and variables (such as Path and Prompt)

– When a DOS session is running within Windows, the WINDIR variable is always placed within the environment

– View the environment using the DOS SET command

– windir=C:\WINDOWS

Note: This variable is in lower case and cannot easily be tested for using the normal %EnvironmentVariable% syntax


Changing The Prompt Within a Windows DOS Session

• When you first enter a DOS command line session within Windows, a warning box is displayed telling you how to get back to Windows– This message scrolls off the screen as you enter text and run

DOS commands– To remove the warning box displayed when running DOS

within Windows, edit the SYSTEM.INI file:• [386Enh]• DOSPromptExitInstruc=False

– To set a Windows DOS prompt use:• SET WINPMT=• You can set this environment variable to display a message

warning users that they are running DOS within Windows


Font Sizes and Setting the Number of Screen Lines

• You can change the font size used by a windowed DOS session– Click on the Control icon and select the Fonts command– 10 font sizes can be selected, which will also change the size of

the window that the DOS session is displayed in

• To change the number of lines displayed within a DOS session from 25 to 50, edit SYSTEM.INI– [NonWindowsApp]– ScreenLines=50


Mouse Support Under DOS

• Requires installation of a DOS-based mouse driver, MOUSE.COM– When running DOS in a window, mouse support may be

disabled by editing the SYSTEM.INI file• [NonWIndowsApp]

MouseInDosBox=0

It still works


DOS Session - Screen Refresh Rate

– To set the screen refresh rate (the screen refresh rate of a DOS session is slower in a window than in a full screen session), edit the SYSTEM.INI file

• [386Enh]• WindowUpdateTime=250• Default value is 50• This number sets the priority given to the DOS application window

as opposed to Windows tasks running in the background

Me, Me ... Me, Me ...


File Settings

– Under DOS the maximum number of files that can be opened is set in the CONFIG.SYS, using the Files=statement

– Use Files=60 (or more if necessary)

– Under Windows, attempting to run a DOS program may produce the message ‘Insufficient File Handles, Increase File in CONFIG.SYS’

– Increasing the Files= statement may not cure the problem!

– Edit the SYSTEM.INI file, and add/edit the PERVMFILES= statement

• [386Enh]• PERVMFILES=• This defines the number of files per virtual machine• Default of only 10 files per DOS session within Windows


DOS Commands That Should Not Be Used!

• CHKDSK /F• SHARE• SUBST• ASSIGN• APPEND• SCANDISK

• See the [TSR]s sections within SETUP.INF

NO WAY!


Shelling Out From DOS Applications

• Beware - This is a good way of losing memory from your system!

• Totally unnecessary within a Windows environment– Stress this to users upgrading from DOS to Windows-based

packages!

– Old habits die hard! Let me explain!

I want my DOS PC back


Multitasking DOS Applications

• Priorities are set via the DOS application PIF


What Are PIF Files?

• Determines how a particular DOS program will run within Windows– Not used by Windows programs– You should define a PIF file for each DOS application– If no PIF file is created for a particular DOS application, it will

use the settings defined within _DEFAULT.PIF


The PIF Editor

• Used to edit and create PIFs


PIF - File Name, Window Title, Parameters and Startup Directory

• Program File Name– Full path and file name

• Window Title– An icon description

• Optional Parameters– Any parameters that you would normally add when running

the DOS program from the command line

– Use ? to prompt for a parameter

• Start-up Directory– Defines the drive and directory that will be used as the current

directory by the program


PIF - Video Memory

• Text– Reserves memory to run a text-based application (about 16KB)

• Low Graphics– Reserves memory to run a CGA graphics-based application

(about 32KB)

• High Graphics– Reserves memory to run an EGA- or VGA-based application

(about 128KB)


PIF - Memory Requirements

• Required vs Desired– The amount required defines how much memory must be

available before the program will start

– Use a setting of -1 to allow the program to use all memory that is discarded by Windows

• Memory Requirements (Conventional)– Defines the Conventional Memory needs of the program

• EMS Memory– Defines the Expanded Memory needs of the program

• XMS Memory– Defines the Extended Memory needs of the program


PIF - Display Usage and Close on Exit

• Full Screen vs Windowed– Defines how the DOS program will start up

– Once started use Alt+Enter to toggle between full screen and windowed

• Close Window on Exit– If on, the DOS session automatically closes when the DOS

application running within it terminates

– If off, the DOS session will remain open when the application terminates


PIF - Background and Exclusive Execution

• Background Execution– Allows a DOS program to run in the background

– Uses the PIF defined Background Priority setting

– May be overridden by the WINEXCLUSIVE=YES setting within SYSTEM.INI

• Exclusive Execution– If on, allows the DOS application to run exclusively (compared

with other DOS applications)

Can a PIF file setting be set up to be both background and exclusive and, if so, what would this mean?


PIF - Advanced Multitasking Options

• What is Priority?– Priority is not defined in time units, it is purely a number that

has meaning relative to the priority number given to other DOS applications that may be running

• Background Priority – Defines the relative CPU time an application gets in

background execution

– Ignored if background tasking is not enabled

• Foreground Priority– Defines the relative CPU time an application gets in

foreground execution

• Detect Idle Time– Allows Windows to switch the CPU to other activities if the

DOS program does not use allocated CPU time


PIF - Advanced Memory Options

• EMS Memory Locked– If on, Windows will not swap the application EMS memory to

disk

• XMS Memory Locked– If on, Windows will not swap the application XMS memory to

disk

• Uses High Memory Area• Lock Application Memory


PIF - Advanced Display Options• Monitor Ports

– Only required on older graphics cards (EGA), which used Write Only registers

• Emulate Text Mode– When on, will improve the rate at which text is displayed on

the screen– Turn off if the text (or cursor) become garbled when you

switch back to a DOS-based program

• Retain Video Memory– If on, locks the video memory and prevents Windows

swapping it to disk


PIF - Other Advanced Options

• Allow Fast Paste– Allows an improved, faster method of communication with the

Clipboard

– Switch off if use of the Clipboard becomes unstable

• Allow Close When Active– If on, enables the CLOSE option within the windowed DOS

session to be used

– Default is off, requiring users to type EXIT to close a DOS command line


PIF - Shortcut Keys

• Reserve Shortcut Keys– Reserves a key combination exclusively for use by the

application– Reserving the PrtSc key is common

• Application Shortcut Keys– Defines a key combination that will bring a running DOS

application to the foreground– Does NOT launch DOS programs!


Running DOS in the Background

• By default DOS programs do not run in the background– Change this on the fly by clicking on the Control icon and

selecting Settings. This allows you to select the Background Tasking Option

– Change this setting more permanently by modifying the PIF multitasking settings

What about me!


PIF Files and APPS.INF

• During installation, the APPS.INF file is used to define PIF files for common DOS programs discovered during a search of the hard disk– The APPS.INF files contain all necessary parameters used to

define a PIF file

APPS.INF

SETUP.INF


Windowed DOS Control Menu Settings

• Allows you to change the way a DOS program runs on the fly– Does NOT update or modify a PIF file

• Display Options– Full screen or Windowed

• Priority– Foreground or background

• Tasking Options– Background/Exclusive

• Special– Terminate


SYSTEM.INI [386Enh] Section DOS Specific Settings

• DOSPromptExitInstruct=• FileSysChange=• Global=• Local=• MouseSoftInit=


SYSTEM.INI [386Enh] Section - EMS Settings

• AllEMSLocked= EMMExclude=• EMMInclude= EMMPageFrame=• EMMSize= NoEMMDriver=• ReservePageFrame= SysVMEMSLimit=• IgnoreInstalledEMM=

Do I really want Expanded Memory?You tell me!


[NonWindowsApps] Section of SYSTEM.INI

• Typically only contains one line:

[NonWindowsApp]

localtsrs=dosedit,ced

LocalTSRs=

Any TSR that is listed here is copied to each virtual machine created under Windows

OTHER ENTRIES

CommandEnvSize=

DisablePositionSave=

FontChangeEnable=

GlobalHeapSize=

MouseInDOSBox=

NewAsynchSwitching=


Review Questions


Running Windows Applications



Running Programs Automatically and Customising How they Run

• To run programs automatically– Use the StartUp group

– Or modify the WIN.INI file• Run=• Load=

• To run programs as icons– Modify the Program Icon properties

– Or depress the Shift key when double clicking on the program icon


Working Directory May Be Ignored

• The Working Directory– Should define the default location for opening files

– Word for Windows 6 uses internal settings

Program Manager Properties Box

Word 6 Option Settings


Win32s and Visual Basic Extensions

• Win32s is a set of virtual device drivers (VxDs) and Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) that allow some Win32 based applications to run on top of Windows 3.x– If you install a 32 bit program and see the message ‘This

program cannot run in DOS mode’ then you will need to install these additional (free) files

• Other programs may require a run time version of Visual Basic– Freely available from Microsoft


Windows and Timeslicing

• Set via the Control Panel, Enhanced section• Stored in SYSTEM.INI, [386enh] section

– MinTimeSlice=

– WinTimeSlice=

– WinExclusive=

CPUEach application receives a percentage of CPU time


Scheduling Within Windows - MinTimeSlice

• The Minimum Timeslice can be modified using the Enhanced section of the Control Panel

• Stored in the SYSTEM.INI [386enh] section– MinTimeSlice=milliseconds

The MinTimeSlice value is the minimum amount of time allocated to each virtual machine, before the CPU is switched to another virtual machine

Default=20


Scheduling Within Windows - WinTimeSlice

• You can schedule different values for foreground and background processing of Windows applications

• Stored in SYSTEM.INI, [386enh] section– WinTimeSlice= SYSTEM.INI

[386enh]

WinTimeSlice=100,50


Running Windows Programs Exclusively

SYSTEM.INI

[386enh]

WinExclusive=On

(default=OFF)

• You can use the Enhanced icon within the Control Panel to set Windows programs to run exclusively– Only the Windows program in the foreground will run!

Also ...

KeyBoostTime=


DLL Files

• Dynamic Link Library files– Can be held on disk until required by the main EXE file

– Save memory

– Make bug fixing and upgrading easier

Many spelling and grammar checker facilities are written as DLLs

and only loaded when required!


WINSTART.BAT

• Allows TSRs to be loaded for Windows applications– Does not affect memory in DOS virtual machines

TSRs required by Windows

applications

Just what I wanted!

TSR... What TSR?


SYSTEM.INI - [386Enh] Section - Multitasking Settings

• ALLVMsExclusive=• AllXMSLocked=• MinTimeSlice=• WindowsUpdateTime=• WinExclusive=• WinTimeSlice=• IdleVMWakeUpTime=


[compatibility] Section of WIN.INI

• Used to pass extra information concerning listed applications to Windows– Not well documented

Not even mentioned in the Windows 3.1 Resource Kit!

For more information see Microsoft PSS ID Number Q82860


[MS User Info] Section of WIN.INI

• Only present if you have installed part of Microsoft Office

[MS User Info]

DefName=

DefCompany=


[MSApps] Section of WIN.INI

• Only present if you have installed part of Microsoft Office

[MSAPPS]

MSAPPS= ORGCHART=ARTGALRY=C

MSGRAPH5= SHEETCNV=TEXTCONV=

GRPHFLT= MSINFO= PROOF=

EQUATION= WORDART= MSQUERY=

MSGRAPH=


Review Questions


The Clipboard



The Clipboard Concept

• An area of memory used for storing text and/or graphics– Only one item may be stored at a time

EXCEL WORD

THE CLIPBOARD


Copying or Cutting Data

• Select an item • From the Edit menu, select Cut or Copy

• Copy– Copies the selected item to the Clipboard

• Cut– Moves the selected item to the Clipboard

• Keyboard shortcuts– Copy = Ctrl+C

– Cut = CtrlL+X


Pasting Data

• Move the insertion point to the location where you wish to insert the contents of the Clipboard

• From the Edit menu, select Paste– Or press Ctrl+V

– Note: The application into which you are pasting data must understand the information on the Clipboard!

I don’t see any text!


The Clipboard and ClipBook Viewer

• Is only a viewing tool– Not the Clipboard itself!

– Can be used to examine the format(s) of the data held in the Clipboard

– Can be used to clear the contents of the Clipboard

Windows 3.1

Clipboard Viewer

Windows 3.11

ClipBook Viewer


DOS And The Clipboard• Running DOS in a window allows limited Clipboard access

Only text can be copied or pasted


Screen Dumps and Producing Documentation

• Print Screen– Copies the entire contents of the screen to the Clipboard

• Alt+Print Screen– Copies the active window (or iconised program) to the

Clipboard

Question: How was the screen dump on this slide produced (displaying a drop down menu)?


Multiple Clipboard Formats

• Only one item of data can be held in the Clipboard– But this data can be held in multiple formats!


Using ‘Drag and Drop’ to Copy or Move

• Many recent applications allow drag and drop techniques to move or copy selected data

• THIS MECHANISM DOES NOT USE THE CLIPBOARD

• To move– Drag and drop

• To copy– Drag and drop with the Ctrl key depressed

NOTE: In many cases you can drag and drop between different application windows!

Also right-hand mouse activates pop-up menus


The Microsoft Word Spike

• Unlike the Windows Clipboard the MS Word Spike can store multiple items– This is specific to MS Word

• Many other Windows applications also have localised Clipboard extensions


SYSTEM.INI - [386Enh] Section Clipboard Paste Settings

• KeyPasteCRSkipCount=• KeyPasteDelay=• KeyPasteSkipCount=• KeyPasteTimeout=• AltPasteDelay=


Review Questions


DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange)



The DDE Concept

• DDE server application broadcasts update messages

• DDE client receives the message and automatically updates the display– For instance, a graph produced in Microsoft Excel may be

dynamically linked to Microsoft Word– If you change the graph in Excel the graph displayed within

Word will be automatically updated

EXCEL 4

(DDE SERVER)

WORD 2

(DDE CLIENT)

Just keep talking

Hello, hello ...


Using DDE

• Copy the item to the Clipboard from the DDE server application in the normal way

• Switch to the client application, and use the Edit/Paste Special option to paste a link from the server application

• Not all Windows programs can support DDE• Most recent programs use OLE, which is far

superior


DDE - Manual vs Automatic Updating

• When changes are made to the information within the server application updating may be either automatically or manually controlled

• Automatic updating– The client application always displays the latest information

– May slow down system performance

• Manual updating– Does not affect system performance

– Allows old versions of data to be examined prior to updating with fresh data


Review Questions


OLE 2



What is OLE?

• Object Linking and Embedding• Embedding

– The data is copied from one program and embedded in another program

– The embedded object becomes part of the target programs data

– Changing the original source data will not change the embedded data

• Linking– The data in the source program is linked to data in the target

program

– If changes are made to the original data, this may be reflected in the target program


OLE Terminology

• Source document– Contains the data that will be linked

• Container document– The receiver of a linked object

• Object applications– An application capable of creating an embedded object

• In-place editing– The facility to directly edit embedded objects


DDE vs OLE

• Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)– Involves a DDE application transferring information to a DDE

client application– Both applications must be open– Not very robust!

• Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)– More flexible– More robust– Allows for creation of compound documents– Supports many types of data– Text, graphics and sound

OLE can be a little slow; buy a fast PC with lots of RAM


OLE Data Object Types

• Presentation data– Presentation data is the information required to render the

object on the display device

• Native data– Native data is the data required for an application to be able to

edit an object

Presentation data

Native data


Linking vs Embedding (1)

• Linking– Only the object’s presentation data is placed within the

document, along with a reference point to its native data

– The associated native data exists in a separate location, often a file stored on disk

– If the object is updated the result of that update appears automatically within the compound document

– From the user’s perspective, the linked object acts as if it were part of, and contained within, the compound document

– As not all of the data is stored within the compound document this reduces the file size overhead

• This advantage is offset by the fact that if the compound document containing the linked object is moved to a different computer, with a different filing system, it cannot be edited

Beware!


Linking vs Embedding (2)

• Embedding– When an object is embedded, the presentation and native data

is stored within the compound document

– All the necessary information for editing the object is now located within the compound document

• As all of the object’s data is stored within the compound document, this increases the file storage size overheads

• Has the advantage that this object may be transferred, along with the compound document that holds it, to a different computer where it can still be edited


Benefits of Using OLE

• Allows document centric computing– Less reliance on applications, disks, and files

• Linking allows you to save disk space– Avoids duplication of disk eating bitmaps!

• Allows transmission of data across a network – Without having to also send the application that created it

MORE PRODUCTIVITY

The Boss


New Features of OLE 2

• Adaptable links• Drag and drop• Improved disk and memory usage• Inter-programmability• Logical pagination of objects• Nested object support• Object conversion• OLE Transaction Management System• Storage independent links• Version management

NEW

IMPROVED

FORMULA

OLE 2


OLE 2 - In-place ActivationMicrosoft Word - before in-place activation

Microsoft Word - after in-place activation


OLE 2 - Drag and Drop

The chart can be dragged from Excel, directly into a Word document


OLE 2 - Inter-Object Dragging

• Objects can be nested within other objects• Nested objects can be ‘dragged and dropped’


OLE 2 - Storage Independent Links

• OLE 1 linking mechanism is file system dependent• OLE 2 linking mechanism is file system independent

– In theory!

OLE 2

No worries!


OLE 2 - Adaptable Links

• Links should be maintained if you copy a linked object to a new disk location– In theory!

File

moved


OLE 2 - Programmability

• User level– More features incorporated by program designers

– Easier to integrate data between different programs

• Programmer level– Improved OLE command set They act like a

single program!


OLE 2 - Logical Pagination of Objects

• Embedded objects can now be spread across multiple pages– Using imposed, logical, page breaks within the host


OLE 2 - Version Management

• OLE 2 compliant objects retain an awareness of the version release of the program used to create them

Hi, I'm an embedded object and I was created with a very old version of your program


OLE 2 - Object Conversion

• OLE 2 embedded objects may be selected and the format changed

In this example an Excel chart has been embedded in a Word document


OLE 2 - Improved Disk and Memory Usage

• When using OLE 2, objects are only loaded in memory when they are actually required– If necessary only part of the object is loaded

Container

Embedded Object

I’m not really in memory, it just looks that way. I will load from disk when I am needed!


The Registration Database

• Central database used to store information concerning OLE applications

• Stored as REG.DAT

To view the Registration Database•Basic view run REGEDIT•Advanced interface run REGEDIT /V


REG Files

• Used to install the Registration Database– Installed into the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory

– Text file, may be edited (with care)

Application

REG File

Registration Database

Now everyone who speaks my language

knows where I am


SETUP.REG

• The file used to install the Registration Database within Windows 3.1– A text file which may be edited with care

Some of these entries duplicate those found in WIN.INI. For example, the file extension associations to executables. SHELL.DLL always looks in the Registration Database before it looks in WIN.INI for this information, so it is efficient to include it here.

Important message located within SETUP.REG!


Embedding Objects Using the File Manager

• Objects may be dragged directly from the File Manager to an application – Providing the application is OLE compliant!

EXE files can also be dragged and dropped in this way, notice the Calculator icon!


The Object Packager

• Used to package objects• Icon normally set up in the Accessories group• Limited use and functionality


Linking and Updating Issues

• Links can be:– Updated manually

– Updated automatically

– Locked

– Broken


Using OLE 2 and E-Mail Systems

• Data or entire programs, can be embedded within a document and transmitted using normal E-Mail techniques– TechNet uses this approach to distribute file and program

updates and demos

Embedded

Object

DOCUMENT


OLE vs OpenDoc

• A technology produced by Apple Computers, IBM Corporation, and WordPerfect Corporation– Not yet proven

– Head-on competitor to OLE 2 technology!


[embedding] Section of WIN.INI

• Used to list server objects and is used in connection with OLE (Object Linking and Embedding)– This section is only used to maintain compatibility with

Windows 3.1 programs

• This information is also stored in the Registration Database


Review Questions


Disks and CDs



Disk Interfaces (1)

• The disk interface is the link between magnetic storage on the disk and movement of ones and zeros across a computer bus– ST506

• Original drives supplied with the IBM PC, XT, and AT PCs• Limited to supporting a 40 MB hard disk• Slow

– ESDI• Enhanced Small Device Interface• Used in early Compaq’s• Faster than ST506 cards and supported larger disks


Disk Interfaces (2)

– IDE• Integrated Drive Electronics• All the electronics necessary to support the hard disk are within

the drive, no separate card required• Used to be limited to 500 MB, more recent versions support 1 GB

drives

– SCSI• Small Computer System Interface• Connects directly to the PC bus and supports bus mastering• Very fast• Supports very large disks, as well as other devices such as CD-

ROMs and tapes• Up to seven devices may be daisy-chained together


Using CD-ROMs Within Windows

• Requires a hardware driver so that your system can recognise the CD-ROM drive– This will depend on the make of CD and the way it interfaces

with the system

– EIDE vs proprietary (i.e. Sound Blaster)

DEVICE=C:\ATAPI\TOSHV111.SYS /D:MSCD000

• Also requires a software driver -

C:\WINDOWS\MSCDEX.EXE /S /D:MSCD000 /L:D

CD-ROM drive as displayed within the File Manager


Virtual Disks

• May be created under DOS and used by Windows– May be useful on diskless workstations for storage of

temporary files

– Improves performance (but only if you have a lot of memory)

– DO NOT use a virtual disk for Virtual Memory swapping!

– The latest Microsoft bulletins suggest you should only use a virtual disk under Windows if you have more than 16 MB of RAM

– Set up via the CONFIG.SYS file

– DEVICE=C:\DOS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 1024 512 100 /e

REMEMBER: The word ‘virtual’ means pretend, imaginary, not real


SMARTDRIVE - Read Caching

• Hard disks are slow (typically 10 milli-seconds average access time)

• Memory is fast (typically 70 nano-seconds average access time)

– When data is requested from the disk the requested data (plus the rest of the sector) is retrieved, given to the program requesting it, and also stored in the cache (in Extended Memory)

– The next time data is requested the memory cache is checked first. If it is in the cache there is no need to physically access the hard disk


SMARTDRIVE - Write Caching

• Data is written to an area of memory, rather than the physical hard disk– Periodically the cache is flushed, and physically written to the

disk– Write caching speeds up disk writes but may lead to data loss

if power is lost before the cache is flushed– SMARTDRIVE /C – Forces flushing of the cache


SMARTDRIVE for DOS and Windows

• SmartDrive memory use– By default, the SmartDrive driver is loaded into the UMBs

– The memory used for the caching is taken from Extended Memory

• When SmartDrive is loaded under DOS, a large amount of Extended Memory is set aside for the cache by default

• When Windows is started, the size of the cache is automatically downsized, as Windows can make better use of the Extended Memory

– The size of the cache for DOS and Windows may be hard coded

• The first number is the cache size under DOS• The second parameter is the cache size under Windows• SMARTDRIVE 1024 512


SMARTDRIVE Monitors

• Allows you to dynamically monitor SmartDrv hit rates– Supplied with the Windows

Resource Kit and also with DOS 6.22

May be run as a dynamic icon ‘Always on top’


SMARTDRIVE and Buffers

• Normally the CONFIG.SYS buffers statement will be set to 10 when using Windows with SmartDrv installed

• Use a DOS menu system for PCs that sometimes run only Windows programs and at other times run only DOS programs– That way the user can determine configuration at boot-up time

Do you want to run DOS or Windows today?


Hardware Disk Caching

• Many disks are now supplied with extra memory on-board that is used as a hardware cache– More efficient than software caches


SMARTDRIVE and Double Buffering

• With some bus mastering hard disk controllers, double buffering is required– When Windows is installed, it detects whether bus mastering

is required

– Double buffering writes the information to an area in conventional memory, prior to writing to a disk

– Enter SMARTDRIVE from the command line to see the status of read and write caching, as well as whether double buffering is enabled

– Enabled via the CONFIG.SYS file• DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE /DOUBLE_BUFFER


SMARTDRIVE vs VCACHE

• SmartDrive– The cache used by Windows 3.1– Caches diskettes, CD-ROMs, and hard

disks– Run from the AUTOEXEC.BAT

• VCACHE– Used with 3.11, together with SmartDrive– Does NOT cache CD-ROMs or diskettes– Set from the Virtual Memory dialog box

Note: Windows 3.11 will normally use SmartDrive AND VCACHE to cache different types of drives


32 Bit Disk Access (1)

• 32 bit access is possible in Protected Mode, without the need to revert to Real Mode (which slows down access)– The installation routine determines whether 32 bit access is

possible with the installed disk drives

– If suitable the driver is installed BUT you must switch it on!

– The 32 bit driver is called WDCtlr (Western Digital Controller)

BEWARE: Do not use 32 bit access on laptops that have a hardware activated ‘sleep mode’


32 Bit Disk Access (2)

• Modifies the SYSTEM.INI file– [386enh]– device=*wdctrl– device=*int13– 32BitDiskAccess=off

• The * indicates the driver is internal in the Windows kernel

• The *int13 traps and virtualises the Interrupt 13 BIOS call that most programs (including DOS and Windows) use to access the hard disk

• Even if 32 bit driver access is installed it is turned off by default and must be switched on manually (using the Control Panel)

• As an extra check, Windows will look for 32 compatibility each time Windows is started


VFAT - 32 Bit File Access

• DOS and Windows 3.1 use the File Allocation Table (FAT)– Windows 3.11 allows use of a 32 bit filing system called VFAT

• Enabled via the Virtual Memory dialog box within the Control Panel– Normally faster than FAT

– May not work with all types of hard disk

– Does not work with diskettes or CD-ROMs• VFAT cannot be used on a volume compressed using DOS 6.0;

later versions are OK though!


VSHARE , SHARE and File Sharing

• SHARE– DOS and Windows 3.1 solution to sharing files

– Uses Conventional Memory

• VSHARE– A Virtual Device Driver (VxD) used by Windows 3.11 and

replaces SHARE

– Uses Extended Memory

– If SHARE is loaded this controls access before Windows is loaded and when you exit Windows. If you do not need SHARE remove it and save 5 KB of memory space

See Microsoft PSS ID Number Q90239 for further information


Virtual IRQs

• To force Windows to use the ROM BIOS interface, rather than using virtualising requests directly to the hard disk controller

– Edit the SYSTEM.INI file• [386Enh]• VirtualHDIRQ=off•

– The default is ‘on’ which improves performance but may cause problems with certain disks


The Temp Variable

• The temp variable is used to define the disk and directory where temporary files will be stored

• May point to a virtual disk to improve efficiency

– Defined in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file

– SET TEMP=


Disk Compression Issues (1)

• Disk compression allows more data to be stored on a disk by using a disk compression algorithm

– A question mark hangs over all disk compression utilities

– What happens if it fails?

– Will reduce disk access speeds

– A permanent swap file may not be located on a compressed drive


Disk Compression Issues (2)

• Stacker– One of the original disk compression utilities

– Not part of DOS, supplied by a third party company

• DoubleSpace– Introduced in DOS 6.0

– The Microsoft version of Stacker (who sued and forced Microsoft to withdraw the product)

• DriveSpace– ‘Legalised son of DoubleSpace’

– Introduced in DOS 6.2

• SuperStore– Used in IBM PC-DOS


Virtual Memory and Disks

Total Memory available to Windows

Total RAM

Total Virtual Memory= +

That’s a lot of memory!


Saving Space Using Bitmapped RLE Files

• Convert your BMP files to 4 bit/pixel RLE files– RLE files are directly supported by Windows and take up less

disk space

BMP Files RLE Files

I must be bilingual


[386Enh] Section - DMA Settings

• DMABufferIn1MB=• DMABufferSize=• HardDiskDMABuffer=• MCADMA=

What is DMA?

?


Review Questions


Printing and Fonts



Types of Fonts

• Raster (Bitmapped) Fonts– Stored as bitmaps– Cannot be scaled (except for exact multiples) or rotated– Require large amounts of disk space– Fast to use (no rendering required)

• Vector (Outline) Fonts– Stored as a series of mathematical equations– Need to be rendered by the CPU using Windows GDI calls– Slower than Raster fonts– Can be scaled or rotated

• TrueType Fonts– A type of outline font using a technology specially developed

for Windows 3.1– Can be scaled or rotated


Raster Fonts and Windows

• A raster font contains a description of how to draw the font on-screen at a certain size, that is specific to a particular display, such as EGA or VGA– Raster fonts supplied with Windows 3.1 include:

• Courier• Microsoft Sans Serif• Microsoft Serif• Small• Symbol


TrueType Fonts

• Windows 3.0 was not WYSIWYG, 3.1 is!• 14 typefaces supplied with Windows 3.1• All TrueType fonts supplied within Windows

(except Wingdings) allow hinting• Windows requires two files to handle TrueType

fonts– .FOT

– .TTF


TrueType Screen Font Generation

• The GDI reads the TrueType character from a TrueType file

• The GDI generates an exact bitmap which is copied into memory


Installing Fonts

• Installing via the Control Panel– Fonts take up memory and resources so do not install more

than you need


Embedding TrueType Fonts

• Makes the transfer of fonts within a document legal

• Read-only embedding allows the recipient of a TrueType document to view it

• Read/write embedding allows editing and printing of the document without the need to install the specific fonts on the target machine

• All TrueType fonts shipped with Windows 3.1 are read/write enabled

Embed TrueType fonts?

4 levels of embeddable fonts

1 No embedding

2 Preview and print

3 Editable

4 Installable


FINSTALL.DIR

• Useful for reinstalling soft fonts after a reinstallation of Windows– Reinstalling Windows wipes out the soft font entries in the WIN.INI file

To create FINSTALL.DIR

•Open the Printer Setup dialog box

•Click on the Fonts button

•Press Ctrl+Shift and click on Exit

•A special dialog box is displayed which will save the soft font information to a file called FINSTALL.DIR

To reinstall the soft fonts

•Open the Printer Setup dialog box

•Click on the Fonts button

•Depress the Ctrl+Shiftkeys

•Specify the location of FINSTALL.DIR

•Select the desired fonts which are displayed and click on the Move button

•Specify a target directory


ATM

• Not supplied with Windows 3.1• A third party Font Manager supplied by Adobe• Very useful for type setters and graphic

designers– Not so useful for everyone else

– Bundled with most Lotus Windows applications

What do I do with it?


Printing From DOS and Windows Applications

• Most Windows applications print through a single, globally installed, printer driver– Each DOS program requires its own printer driver to be

installed

WINDOWS

PRINTER

DRIVER


Interfacing With The Printer

• Using Interrupt 21– DOS applications normally use device names (such as LPT1)– Use the standard Microsoft DOS Interrupt 21 file access services– Slowest, but most compatible method

• Using the ROM BIOS Interrupt 17– Accessing the printer via the BIOS involves sending one

character at a time to the printer– Very inefficient

• Accessing the LPT1 port directly

– Fastest method• But requires 100% hardware compatibility

LPT

ROM-BIOS

Interrupt 21SLOW

FAST


Installing Printers• Via the Control Panel

– Multiple printer drivers may be installed

– Only one printer driver is active at any one time

– Good idea to install the postscript printer driver even if it is not required immediately


Printer Memory Issues

• The more memory you install in the printer, the faster you will be able to print– Make sure that Windows knows how much memory is installed

on your printer!

Options displayed when using an HP III printer


The Print Manager

• A print spooler• Use the Print Manager or use network spooling• High, medium, or low priority• Print jobs may be cancelled


Setting Up Printers

• Resolution• Paper size and source• Memory installed• Paper orientation• Dithering• Laser printer cartridges

Postscript printers have far more configuration options


Connecting Printers

• Ports - Serial or Parallel• Network printing options• Time-out and retry settings• Fast printing direct to port


Forcing Windows To Use The BIOS For Printing

• Windows normally prints directly to the parallel port, avoiding the BIOS

• To force Windows to use the BIOS:– Edit the WIN.INI file from this:

– [ports]

– LPT1:=

– to this:

– [ports]

– LPT1.PRN=

WINDOWS

DOS

BIOS

PRINTER


PCL vs Postscript

• PCL (Printer Control Language)– Not so good for DTP– Device dependent– Reasonably fast– Current version PCL5 used in HP LaserJet 4 series– Normally used with resolution enhancement

• Postscript– Much more flexible and configurable– Slower– More expensive hardware required– Ideal for graphics and DTP– Device resolution dependent


Printer Driver Bugs

• Original Windows 3.1 HP LaserJet III driver had a fatal bug– Try scrolling through the Clipboard Viewer after dumping the

background to the Clipboard!

I want a printer driver upgrade!


TESTPS.TXT

• Useful for testing Postscript printers– If printing works under DOS but not under Windows, fix your

Windows!

– COPY /B TESTPS.TXT LPT1:

Well it’s not your printer that’s broken!

TESTPS.TXT


GDI Printers

• Low cost• Fast• May only be used with Windows, NOT DOS!

I’m cheap, cheerful,

VERY fast and LAZY!

I will have to do all the work!


The Windows Printing System

• Microsoft’s hardware and software solution to improving connections between Windows and HP LaserJet III compatible printers

Talk to me! OK


Network Printing Issues

• Local spooling or using the network?

• Speed?• Harder to troubleshoot

Where exactly is the problem?


Drag and Drop Printing of Files From The File Manager

• OLE support built into the File Manager– Drag a selected file from the File Manager and drop it on the

Print Manager icon

– Only one file may be dragged at a time


Background Printing

• Supported by many Windows applications, such as Microsoft Word 6– Printing will be slower, but you will regain use of your PC

faster

Background Printing option within Word 6


Adobe Acrobat - A Document Solution• The ideal solution for computer document

transfer– Allows you to print through a special ‘print’ driver to produce

Adobe ADF formatted files. These files are much smaller than say Word 6 formatted documents

– Designed to be electronic transfer

– Ideal for Internet

– Platform independent

– Free Adobe Viewer program


[PrinterPorts] Section of WIN.INI

• Lists the printers installed and defines printer options, including:– The printer driver

– The ports used by the printers

– Time out and retry values used by each printer• Note there is also a [devices] section of WIN.INI• Only necessary for compatibility with old Windows 2.x

applications• Duplicates entries in the [PrinterPorts] section and lists the active

printers

– The [PrinterPorts] syntax is:• device=driver, device time out, retry time out [other ports ...]

– Although multiple printer devices can be defined within Windows, only one printer may be active at any one time


[fonts] Section of WIN.INI

• Defines all the screen fonts that will be loaded by Windows at startup– Fonts are installed/de-installed using the Font icon within the

Control Panel

– Removing lines from this section does not un-install fonts. The fonts still remain on the disk. You may use the Fonts icon within the Control Panel to add or remove fonts from the hard disk


[FontSubstitutes] Section of WIN.INI

• Contains a list of fonts that can be substituted if a document is opened containing a font not installed on the system– Enables you to work with documents containing screen fonts

that are not supported by the system, or to work on old documents created using fonts such as Helv supplied with Windows 3.0

– In this case Windows 3.1 will substitute Microsoft Sans Serif


[TrueType] Section of WIN.INI

• Defines how TrueType fonts will be integrated within the system– Enables/disables TrueType font support

– May make only TrueType fonts available

– May force substitution of TrueType fonts instead of bitmapped fonts (that have the same name)

• TTEnable=– Default is 1

• TTIfCollisions=– Default is 0

• TTOnly=– Default is 0


Review Questions


Windows 3.11 Resource Sharing



Sharing and Connecting to Resources– You can share your disks, directories, files or

printers with other users

– You can also connect to resources that have been shared by other users


Types of Network

• Peer-to-peer– Windows 3.11

– Windows 95

– Windows NT

– Each PC can act as a resource client or a server

• Central server based networks– Novel

– Centralized resources


Mapping Drives

• Local drives are normally referred to as drive C:– Remote drive can have any drive letter assigned to it

DRIVE C DRIVE C

First PC Second PC

I see drive C and I see the second PCs disk as drive D

So do I .....

except that I see drive C and I see the first PCs disk as drive D


Sharing Disks, Directories and Files

• Select the disk or directory that you wish to share• From the Disk drop down menu click on the

Share As command, which displays the Share dialog box


Stop Sharing Drives

• From the Disk drop-down menu, click on the Stop Sharing command– Note sharing drives will slow down

your system

No more sharing!What happened to my disk!

BANG


Connecting to Disks on Other PCs• Easy to connect, but will be slower than using

local drives


Disconnecting from Network Drives

– From the Disk drop-down menu, select the Connect Network Drive command which displays the Connect Network Drive dialog box


Sharing Printers

• Printers can be shared in the way a disk can– Use the Print Manager to control sharing

– Click on the check box called Share this printer on the network


Connecting to a Network Printer• Click on the Printer

drop-down menu• Select the Connect to

Printer command


The Network Group of Programs• Mail

– Allows you to exchange e-mail messages with other members of your network

• Schedule– Allows to set and view your time schedules

• Remote Access– Allows you to access your PC from outside the office, or to

access other PCs via a telephone line


Review Questions


Video and Windows



What Does The Video Adaptor Do?

• Interface between the computer bus and the screen display

VIDEO ADAPTOR

Video logic circuits

Video Memory

The address buses


Video Standards

• CGA– Digital, low resolution, maximum 4 colors

• EGA– Digital, better resolution (640x350), maximum 16 colors

• VGA– Analogue, high resolution (640x480), maximum 64,000 colors

• XGA– Higher resolution available, IBM defined

• Super VGA– Defined by (VESA) Video Electronics Standards Association


Types of Screen Font

• Three types of screen font are provided under Windows– TrueType Fonts

– System Fonts

– Fonts used in windowed DOS sessions• Covered in a separate learning module


TrueType Fonts

• Scaleable, outline fonts that can be reproduced as screen fonts of any size greater than 6 points– Below 6 points, Windows reverts to bitmapped fonts (small

fonts)

– Small fonts are often used when ‘Print Previewing’ a page

– A 25% screen reduction of a 12 point font means that it is displayed at 3 point size!


System Fonts

• Three Types– Non-proportional fonts (as used in Notepad)

– OEM non-proportional fonts - used for displaying characters In the IBM-defined PC-8 character set

– Windows system fonts - used by Windows dialog boxes and menu systems

• Windows System Fonts– Defined within the SYSTEM.INI file

– [Boot]

– fixedfon.fon=vgafix.fon

– oemfonts.fon=vgaoem.fon

– fonts.fon=vgasys.fon


Installing Video Drivers

• The default video standard for Windows is VGA– To change the video driver, use the Control Panel


Video Memory Issues

• Video memory is separate from main (system) RAM– Mapped into the UMBs (A and B blocks)

– The more video memory the better!

– Editing the [386enh] section of SYSTEM.INI can affect video usage

SYSTEM

RAM 1 MB (?)

VIDEO

MEMORY

The 16 MB of RAM is nice, but I want more of this too!


Interlaced vs Non-interlaced Monitors

• Interlaced– More expensive

– Less ‘flicker’

– Better for your eyes!

– The whole screen is ‘painted in one sweep’

• Non-Interlaced– Cheaper

– Noticeable ‘flicker’

– Do not use for long periods!

– Every other line is painted, per sweep

OLD

Extra

Accessory


Grabber Files

• 386 Grabber Files– Used for support

• Allow a DOS session to be displayed within a window• Select and copy text from DOS applications• Copy graphics to the Clipboard• Control PrintScreen

– In 386 Enhanced Mode, the standard VGA Grabber File is VGA.3GR

Grabber Files

WInOldAp Files

We will help you Thanks


Graphic Accelerators• The original IBM VGA standard was 8 bit!

– Upgrading the video card and the amount of video memory will make a tremendous difference to the performance of Windows

BEFORE

AFTER UPGRADING TO A GRAPHIC ACCELERATOR

Diamond Graphics card control dialog


Screen Savers• Prevent ‘burn-in’• May be password

protected• File extensions .SCR

Can be assigned to Program Icons or shortcut keys

Edit WIN.INI and add ‘pif’ to the Programs = line


Disabling the Password in the Windows Screen Saver

• What happens if:– The user forgets the Screen Saver password?

– The user leaves the company and does not remember to tell you the password?

Open CONTROL.INI

Change PWProtected=1 to PWProtected=0

Delete the Password= line

Reset the password using the screen saver options in the Control Panel


SYSTEM.INI - [386Enh] Section - Display Settings

• Display= AutoRestoreScreen=

• CGA40WOA.FON= CGA80WOA.FON=

• CGANoSnow= BkGndNotifyAtPFault=

• EGA40WOA.FON= EGA80WOA.FON=

• VGAMonotext= VideoBackgroundMsg=

• VideoSuspendDisable= ReserveVideoROM=


Review Questions


Communications and Windows



Windows Communication Issues

• Serial port use and configuration• Terminal emulation• Modems• Bulletin boards• Faxing from Windows

The WEB ...


COM Ports Under Windows

• Windows recognizes 4 COM ports– Configured via the Control Panel

– Windows ignores settings made via the DOS MODE command

– Windows ignores parallel to serial port redirection set up via the DOS MODE command

Speeds up to 57.6 kbps supported

16550 UART chip supported fully supported


Virtual Communications Driver

• All serial communication is controlled by the Windows internal Virtual Communications Driver (VCD), specified in SYSTEM.INI– [386enh]

– device=*vdc


Advanced Serial Issues (1)

• On MCA and EISA computers, interrupts may be shared. To enable this, edit SYSTEM.INI– [386enh]

– ComIRQSharing=true

– Windows 3.0 supports the old 8250 UART serial communications chip

– Windows 3.1 supports the 16550/1650A, which uses a FIFO buffer (First In First Out)


Advanced Serial Issues (2)

• Increasing the serial communication buffers– If data is lost after the first 128 characters are sent, increase

the size of the Windows serial buffer, by editing the SYSTEM.INI file

– [386enh]

– Com1Buffer=256• The default value is 128 Bytes


Windows Terminal

• Limited functionality– Supplied by Future Soft Engineering Inc., not Microsoft

– Not very good, but it’s free!


Faxing From Windows

• Install a fax/modem card (either stand-alone or networked)– To send a fax simply ‘print’ to the fax driver

– PC must be left on in order to receive faxes


Bulletin Board Services

• CompuServe– Use WINCIM as a

front end

• Internet– Useful for

obtaining information, upgrades, and drivers


SYSTEM.INI - [386Enh] Section Serial Port Settings

• COMxAutoAssign= COMxBase=• COMBoostTime= COMxBuffer=• COMdrv30= COMxFIFO=• COMxIrg= COMIrqSharing=• COMxProtocol MaxCOMPort=


[Ports] Section of WIN.INI

• Lists all ports to which devices are attached– Overrides any values set up by the DOS MODE command in

the AUTOEXEC.BAT– COM port settings may be configured by selecting the Ports

icon within the Control Panel– Using a setting such as LPT2.DOS will force Windows to

bypass the normal Windows printing methods, or printing directly to a port. Windows will use the DOS LPT method instead

– Using a setting such as FILE=: will make Windows prompt you for a file name and print to disk

• Alternatively, if you create a setting such as MYFILE.DSK, then Windows will automatically print to a file called MYFILE.DSK. Note that the extension DSK does not mean anything in Windows


Review Questions


Customizing Windows and Windows Applications



Application INI Files

• Some applications use text-based INI files – Others use compiled files which cannot be edited

• Contain custom settings for the application– Such as which spell checker to use

Using the information below this slide in your course notes:

Where, by default, will Ami Pro look for documents?

Where, by default, will Ami Pro look for macros?

WINWORD.INI


Customized Microsoft Application Installations

• Get familiar with Microsoft STF Setup files– Very big files!

– Open them in a spreadsheet (Excel) for easy manipulation

• Work in combination with INF files

• Allows customized, automatic, networked installations– Why specify that you want a UK checker during the

installation?

– Specify it in the installation files!

x


Customizing Application Menus and Toolbars

• Items may be added to or removed from the menus or toolbars

In MS Word 6, selecting this icon and dragging it to a toolbar would give you an icon, that when clicked, will send the active document across your E-Mail system


Extending Application Functionality• Most Applications allow extensions

– Microsoft Word Internet Assistant allows creation of Internet Web pages

– You can also use a standalone version of Word for viewing and printing Word files, and give this to persons who do not have the full product


SETUP /P

• Undocumented feature used to reset the default Program Manager groups and program icons (as defined in SETUP.INF)


Customizing WIN.COM (1)

• WIN.COM is not supplied on the Windows 3.1 installation disks – It is generated during installation, by combining three files

– WIN.CNF • A small file used to detect the configuration of the PC to which

Windows is being installed

– VGALOGO.LGO (or similar file) • Used to switch the PC into the correct graphic mode, according to

the video hardware on the target PC

– VGALOGO.RLE (or similar file) • A bitmap containing the graphics image that is displayed each

time you start Windows, stored in a Run Length Encoded (RLE) format


Customizing WIN.COM (2)• Create your own customized RLE file and manually combine

the three files using the DOS COPY command

COPY/B WIN.CNF+VGALOGO.LGO+MYPIC.RLE WIN.COM

• Use WINGIF - freely available shareware to manipulate RLE files

• Use a 4 bit/pixel format


Review Questions


Optimizing Windows and Windows Applications



CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT

• Use the latest drivers, in either the DOS or Windows directories

• Optimize your path

DIR/S filename

DOS

WINDOWS


Wallpaper and BMP Files

• No Wallpaper• Within applications, display Bitmaps as ‘Place

Holders’

Word for Windows 6

Options/View tab


Memory and CPUs

• More RAM– The more the better

• CPU– Pentiums and 586s

– Faster clocking speeds

Remember the USER and GDI will often run out before your memory is full!


Disk Optimization Issues - (1)

• Use of DOS and Windows produces file fragmentation– The more fragmentation, the slower the disk access, and the

worse the performance!

•DEFRAG–Supplied with DOS 6

•Speed disk–From Norton Utilities

•Compress–From PC Tools


Disk Optimization Issues - (2)

• Use of a virtual disk• 32 bit access• On-board caching• SCSI 2


Linking vs Embedding Objects

• Embedding– Faster

– Takes up more disk space

• Linking– Slower

– Saves on disk space

– Automatic linking ensures updating of the latest linked object information, but will slow you down


INI Settings

• The main Windows INI files include:– WIN.INI

– SYSTEM.INI

– PROGMAN.INI

– CONTROL.INI

– WINFILE.INI

Remember most Windows applications also have dedicated INI files


Bus Types and Graphics

• Bus Types– ISA

– EISA

– MCA

– Local bus technology

• Graphics– Graphics Accelerator cards


Windows Eats Hardware!

• If you really need peak Windows performance get the best, fastest, newest hardware you can afford!


Review Questions


Fault Finding in Windows



Fault Finding Procedures Within Windows

• Be logical• Isolate from the network• Use a clean boot• Sort out DOS first

?


Beware of Misleading Messages!

What do you mean

‘out of memory’

‘OUT OF MEMORY’

Windows favorite error message


README Files Provided With Windows

• Files stored in the Write file format include:– README.WRI

– WININI.WRI

– SYSINI.WRI

– PRINTERS.WRI

– NETWORKS.WRI

– SETUP.TXT

• Text-based files:– README.TXT

– APPNOTES.TXT

• Text-based INF files:– APPS.INF

– SETUP.INF

Try reading the files!

WINDOWS RESOURCE KIT


Installation - Fault Finding

• If the Windows Setup routine hangs when switching from the text-based to graphical-based part of the installation

– It may indicate that Setup had incorrectly identified your hardware– Use SETUP /I to install, using default hardware settings, which

ignore your particular hardware

• If Setup hangs for no apparent reason– It may be due to a TSR conflict, or a network pop-up

message • Disable all network pop-up systems during installation

– Check your SETUP.INF file to identify common TSRs that upset the Windows Setup routine

• There are two TSR sections using the Editor search routine

Setup Error codes are documented in the Microsoft PSS ID Numbers Q82770, Q827771 & Q82772 Use Microsoft TechNet!


BOOTLOG.TXT

• Start Windows by typing WIN /B– The log file BOOTLOG.TXT, (created within the \WINDOWS

directory) will list each element of Windows as it loads and indicate success or failure of the attempt to load

– Useful for investigating the loading order of the items that make up Windows

– Illustrates why you should not install too many fonts (they are all initialized during the Windows Startup process)

• Successful loads are indicated by Load start finished by Load success

• Errors indicated by a Loadfail error message

– As well as being used for troubleshooting, the boot log gives a detailed view of the file loading order within Windows


WIN /D:x

• You can start Windows in troubleshooting mode by entering WIN /D: followed by a parameter, as below:

C Turns off 32 bit file access

F Turns off 32 bit disk access

S Specifies that Windows should not use ROM address space between F000:0000 and 1 MB for a break point

V Specifies that the ROM routine will handle interrupts from the hard disk controller

X Excludes all of the adapter area from the range of memory that Windows scans to find unused space


Clean Boot

• If the system hangs when switched on, and you suspect the fault is in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT– Try booting from a floppy disk with minimal configuration files– If using DOS 6 (or greater), depress the Shift key when you use the

words ‘Starting Microsoft DOS’. This will bypass the configuration files

– Pressing F8 (DOS 6 or later) will allow you to conditionally process the configuration files

CLEAN

VIRUS FREE


SYSEDITAllows to you edit:

• CONFIG.SYS

• AUTOEXEC.BAT

• WIN.INI

• SYSTEM.INI


MSD

• Can be used with switches for extra flexibility

– /B Runs MSD in mono

– /I Bypasses initial hardware detection

– /F[drive:][path]filename Requests input and writes an MSD report to the specified file

– /P[drive:][path]filename Writes an MSD report to the specified file without first requesting input

– /S[drive:][path][filename] Writes a summary MSD report to the specified file. If no filename is specified, output is to the screen

UsefulUndocumented

Tool


System Info. - Available in Recent Microsoft Applications

• Powerful, free system viewer

Click here for further options!


DrWatson

• A software tool supplied by Microsoft to help find bugs

• Run DrWatson in the background and if the system fails it will log system values in DRWATSON.LOG

• Send the log to Microsoft (or your in-house developers)


Disabling the Local Reboot

• Pressing Control+Alt+Del – Normally displays a screen explaining that pressing Enter

will kill the active program (that may have just hung), or that pressing Esc will return you to that program. Pressing Control+Alt+Del will cause a complete system reboot

• To disable this local reboot feature edit SYSTEM.INI– [386Enh]

– KybdReboot=false• This will not stop a program from crashing, but will return you to

the DOS command line when you press Control+Alt+Del• This may be useful when pressing Control+Alt+Del causes

the system to hang rather than entering a local reboot


Bypassing Startup Group

• Depressing the Shift key while Windows is loading:– Causes Windows to bypass the Startup group – Is useful where, inadvertently, a large number of program icons may

have been moved or copied into the Startup group– May also be useful if the Startup group contains a Windows-based

virus checker, or log-on mechanism to other machines, such as minis or mainframes

Hey you’ve missed me out!


DOS and PIF Files

• If a DOS program is not working properly, first try running it under DOS then examine the relevant PIF file– Assuming one exists!

Tell me what you want and I will think about it


System Resource Limitations

• Program Manager ‘Help About’– Does not report on the individual System resources

• With regard to the GDI, USER, and Menu heaps

• System Info– Available in the Help utilities of most recent

Microsoft applications, such as Word 6• Will report on the GDI and USER heaps

• The Resource Monitor– Available with the Windows Resource Kit allowing

you to dynamically monitor the system resources

Avoid multiple re-loads of programs (Microsoft Excel!)

Beware certain screen savers (early versions of After Dark!)

No more!


Creating New .INI files (minus third party drivers) using SR_ files

• Useful for replacing damaged or corrupted INI files• Useful for troubleshooting

EXPAND

SYSTEM.SR_

WIN.SR_

CONTROL.SR_

SYSTEM.INI

WIN.INI

CONTROL.INI


TechNet

• Monthly CD-ROM from Microsoft– Bug fixes

– Knowledge Base

– Updated drivers


Microsoft Keyfax

• Useful if you do not have a modem to access bulletin boards, or a CD-ROM player to access TechNet– Request a main index menu– Then request specific topic sheets to be faxed to you


Review Questions

Windows for Corporate Support Professionals - Background Issues - Slide No. 1 © Cheltenham Computer...

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