Setting Up DESQView and PCBoard V14.5a Setting Up DESQView and PCBoard V14.5a Advantages: Advantages: * Only one computer * Only one monitor * Only one hard drive * Up to 4 nodes are a keyboard away Disadvantages: Disadvantages: * System is harder to tune; lockups may occur * A system which uses more than 2 COM ports may have problems finding third party software which will support 'non-standard' COM ports. CONTENTS CONTENTS ________ Topic Page Topic Page ________________________________________________________ Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Modifying CONFIG.SYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Modifying AUTOEXEC.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Installing Additional Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Setting Up PCBoard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Optimizing DESQview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Example DOOR Batch Files and Environment Variables . 11 Third Party Software Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Hooking Up a Multitasking Machine to a Network . . . 14 Answers to Common Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 GETTING STARTED GETTING STARTED _______________ Ok, you have a PCBoard /E3 or higher node version and now you want to know how you can run/install up to 4 nodes on a single machine. This type of setup can be complicated at first, but after reading this explanation the majority of your questions about setting up a multinode system under DESQview should be answered. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 1 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 1 First you will need to obtain the necessary hardware and software found in the list below: Recommended Hardware: Recommended Hardware: * 80386/486 based computer with 2 megabytes plus 512k of RAM for each node. * AT I/O card using NS16550AFN UARTs. If you plan to run more than two nodes you may wish to look into an I/O card or a special 3 or 4 port serial card that will let you use configurable IRQ settings (preferably one that uses IRQs above 10) * Floppy drive (5 1/4" or 3 1/2") * Hard drive * Monitor and video card NOTE: It is not recommended that you use an 8088 or 80286 processor when attempting to run more than two nodes on a single machine. Necessary Software: Necessary Software: * MS-DOS (V3.3 or higher) * DESQview 386 * PCBoard V14.5a * Disk caching software NOTE: If the amount of memory you will have available is a concern you may wish to look into using the VROOM overlay version of PCBoard which uses less memory. The overlay version uses less memory by storing part of the program on disk. If you only plan on running two multi-tasking nodes using modems on COM1 and COM2 then your modem setup will be REAL easy because you will not need to worry about any IRQ conflicts. However, if you plan on running more than 2 nodes, you might run into some IRQ conflicts. One of the most important things you will need to do next is resolve any and all IRQ conflicts. IRQs are vital to communications. They are interrupt requests and are used by various components of a computer system to get the CPU's attention. It is essential that each node has a unique COM port and each COM port will need a unique base address and IRQ to operate correctly. On most high quality I/O boards you can select from a wide range of base addresses and IRQs. Below you will see a sample setup for 4 COM ports: How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 2 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 2 Base COM Address IRQ __________________ 1 03F8 4 2 02F8 3 Note: If you have an autoswitch EGA/VGA 3 03E8 5 card, disable the autoswitch IRQ on the 4 02E8 2 card if you use IRQ2 on a COM port. card, NOTE: Finding an I/O card which uses a wide range of IRQs may be hard to locate but you will enjoy the increased flexibility when it comes to setting up a multitasking system. Another thing to look for in a good I/O card is one that comes with NS16550AFN UARTs built in, or has sockets so you can replace the existing UARTs. Once you get the COM ports setup and installed you will next want to modify your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to work correctly in the multitasking environment. Before modifying these files, install but do not alter the configuration of DESQView and QEMM. MODIFYING CONFIG.SYS MODIFYING CONFIG.SYS ____________________ At this point, you should make sure you have the following items in your CONFIG.SYS: DEVICE=QEMM.SYS [optional parameters] FILES=nn STACKS=0,0 SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS\ /E:512 /P FCBS=n,n (This line is optional) DEVICE=QEMM.SYS: This is the line which installs QEMM and will be DEVICE=QEMM.SYS: placed in your CONFIG.SYS automatically by QEMM's installation procedure. You may see additional parameters after QEMM.SYS which were automatically placed there during installation. Unless you have a good reason to change them, leave them as is. One addition which you will want to make to the optional parameters passed to QEMM is NW3. NW3 will tell QEMM that Windows 3.x will not be running on this machine. FILES=nn: On this line you need to replace 'nn' with 20 multiplied FILES=nn: by the number of nodes you are planning to run. For example if you are planning on running 3 nodes you would set this value to 60 (20 3). STACKS=0,0: This is necessary when running multitasking software. STACKS=0,0: FCBS=n,n: FCBs were only used in older DOS programs so if you are FCBS=n,n: not running old programs such as Sidekick V1.0 then you may be able to omit this line. The first parameter is the number of FCBs you want, and the second number is the number to lock. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 3 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 3 SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM: Increases the available environment space SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM: to 512 bytes. This should be plenty of room for the environment variables that PCBoard V14.5a will create along with any other variables that you may create. MODIFYING AUTOEXEC.BAT MODIFYING AUTOEXEC.BAT ______________________ [1] - The path to locate your PCBoard V14.5 executable and utilities must be in your PATH= statement. (Example: PATH=C:\PCB) [2] - Make sure that SHARE.EXE is being loaded inside your AUTOEXEC.BAT. Reports have indicated that loading SHARE in high memory can impede system performance and cause errors. It is therefore suggested that SHARE.EXE be run in conventional memory if at all possible. [3] - Add the following line as the last two lines in AUTOEXEC.BAT: CD\DV DV This will load DESQview on every bootup and is required if you wish to recover from disasters such as power failures. For information on how to load up all of your PCBoard nodes upon starting up DESQview, please see "Starting Up PCBoard Nodes Using a DESQview Script" on page 10. Now that you have modified AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS you are ready to install additional PCBoard nodes. NOTE: It is advised that you do not use QEMM's BUFFERS.COM for your buffers. Instead, use a good disk cache. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 4 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 4 INSTALLING ADDITIONAL NODES INSTALLING ADDITIONAL NODES NOTE: If you have not already set up your first node of PCBoard, use INSTALL to set up your first node. Next, get all of you files created and make sure the first node is running properly. It will make a multiple node setup MUCH easier. Creating the NODE directories Creating the NODE directories You need to create a SEPARATE subdirectory for each PCBoard node you plan to run. For node 1 create a directory off of your C:\PCB directory and call it NODE1. To do this, just change to the C:\PCB directory and type "MD NODE1" (do not include the quotes). Do this for each node you want to add (up to NODE4). From here on, these directories will be referred to as NODE directories. Now you should have a directory structure that looks like this: C:\ | |-> PCB | |-> NODE1 |-> NODE2 |-> NODE3 (if you are going to run 3 nodes) |-> NODE4 (if you are going to run 4 nodes) Now, copy the following files to each NODEn directory: BOARD.BAT EVENT.SYS PCBERR.OLD PCBOARD.DAT REMOTE.SYS PCBVIEW.BAT For example: "COPY C:\PCB\BOARD.BAT C:\PCB\NODE1". Do so for each file and each node. Once you have copied the above list of files to each of the NODE directories, delete the files listed above from the C:\PCB directory. This will prevent PCBoard from accidently running from the wrong directory. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 5 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 5 SETTING UP PCBOARD SETTING UP PCBOARD __________________ PCBSETUP.EXE PCBSETUP.EXE (For this example, we will assume that PCBoard is installed in C:\PCB.) There are a few setup items which you may wish to change if you are running under a multi-tasking environment. In each node's directory do the following: 1. After installing PCBoard run PCBSetup, select "NODE / EVENT / SUBSCRIPTION" and modify the following fields on the screen: Answer YES to "Running under a Network" Replace the value in "Node Number" to reflect the node number you have assigned to this node. 2. Whenever possible, specify a path to a file. This is inclusive of batch files and your setup of PCBoard in general. This can enhance the speed of your system, especially if you are running EXE files from the PATH. 3. In "File Locations 2" make sure PCBPROT.DAT contains the path to locate the file. For example: C:\PCB\PCBPROT.DAT. Since you are pointing to one file you will find adding, changing, or deleting protocols a lot easier. 4. Also in "File Locations 2" make sure that there is a path is specified for PCBFILER.DEF. For example: C:\PCB\PCBFILER.DEF. This way, your file directories will be colorized "on-the-fly" with the colors you defined in PCBFiler. NOTE: Since you are only going to running PCBoard from one machine, most of your configuration files will not need to be changed from your single node setup. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 6 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 6 BOARD.BAT BOARD.BAT The default BOARD.BAT in each node's directory looks like this: @echo off set DSZLOG=C:\PCB\PCBDSZ.LOG if exist REMOTE.BAT rename REMOTE.BAT REMOTE.SYS if exist EVENT.BAT rename EVENT.BAT EVENT.SYS if exist DOOR.BAT del DOOR.BAT if exist ENDPCB del ENDPCB PCB145 if exist REMOTE.BAT REMOTE if exist DOOR.BAT DOOR if exist EVENT.BAT EVENT if exist ENDPCB goto end :end exit You will need to modify each node's BOARD.BAT file so that the batch file changes to the directory where the node resides. For example node 1's new batch file would look like this: @echo off C: C: cd\PCB\NODE1 (Change to each nodes 'home' directory) cd\PCB\NODE1 C:\DV\DVANSI (Loads an ANSI driver for third party programs) C:\DV\DVANSI set DSZPORT=bbb,i (bbb = hex com base address and i = IRQ) set DSZPORT=bbb,i set DSZLOG=C:\PCB\NODE1\PCBDSZ.LOG (Change this for each node) set DSZLOG=C:\PCB\NODE1\PCBDSZ.LOG if exist REMOTE.BAT rename REMOTE.BAT REMOTE.SYS if exist EVENT.BAT rename EVENT.BAT EVENT.SYS if exist DOOR.BAT del DOOR.BAT if exist ENDPCB del ENDPCB PCB145 if exist REMOTE.BAT REMOTE if exist DOOR.BAT DOOR if exist EVENT.BAT EVENT if exist ENDPCB goto end :end exit DSZPORT: By placing this in each node's BOARD.BAT file you can use just one PCBRZ.BAT and one PCBSZ.BAT which can save you a lot of time when/if you need to change either of those batch files. DSZLOG: This environment variable points to the log file which PCBoard uses to determined what files were transferred by DSZ. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 7 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 7 OPTIMIZING DESQVIEW OPTIMIZING DESQVIEW Next you will need to alter DESQview's setup slightly. Go into you DESQview directory and run SETUP. Next, select "Performance". Your screen should look something like this: *1--Advanced-Setup:-Performance----------* | | | Task Processing Time (in Clock Ticks) | | Foreground: 2 | | Background: 2 | | | | Memory Usage (in K) | | Common Memory: 17 | | DOS Buffer for EMS: 4 | | | | Optimize communications? (Y/N): N | | Allow swapping of programs? (Y/N): Y | | Manage printer contention? (Y/N): N | | | | Next field Tab | | Backup menu Esc | | DONE < | | | *----------------------------------------* Foreground and Background Processing Time: It is very important Foreground and Background Processing Time: that you set the foreground and background ticks to an equal value. Otherwise, your system will likely suffer a performance degradation which callers may perceive as an intermittent, jerking display. The exact value for these two values varies, depending on how many nodes you are running and the processing speed of your computer. Avoid setting these values to 1:1, which may result in sluggish system performance. You can experiment with this value to see which works best on your machine, though 2:2 or 3:3 usually seems to be a good choice. Two of the most important settings you will change are "Optimize Communications" and "Manage printer contention". Set both of these to N to help avoid possible system lockups. N Node PIF configurations Node PIF configurations Now you must define PIF files for each node. To do this, select "Open Window" from the DESQview manu menu. Then select "Add Program" and "Other (Add program not found in list)". You will then be asked to specify a path to the program. Supply a node directory for each program you add. For example, enter How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 8 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 8 C:\PCB\NODE1, C:\PCB\NODE2, etc. Next, you are presented with the standard PIF editing screen. Add a Program Screen: Add a Program Screen: Now you need to set up PIF files for each node. You can specify anything you choose in the "Program Name" and "Keys to Open" fields. The recommended values for the remaining fields follow: Memory Size: 450K 450K Program: C:\PCB\NODE1\BOARD.BAT (Change this value for each C:\PCB\NODE1\BOARD.BAT node) Directory: C:\PCB\NODE1 (Change this value for each node) C:\PCB\NODE1 Writes directly to screen: N N Displays graphics info: N N Virtualize text: T T Uses serial ports: Y Y Requires floppy disk: N N When you are finished editing that screen, select F1 for advanced options. You will be presented with another screen. Change the values in the "Change a Program - Advanced Options" to resemble the following: System Memory (in K): 0 0 Maximum Program Memory Size (in K): BLANK Script Buffer: 0 0 Max EMS Memory: BLANK Close on Exit: N N Uses own colors: Y Y Allow Close: N N Runs in background: Y Y Uses Math Coprocessor: N N Keyboard Conflict: 0 0 Share CPU foreground: Y Y Share EGA foreground: N N Can be swapped: N N Protection Level: 0 0 System Memory: This should remain 0 unless you are running a 0 program written expressly for DESQview. Script Buffer: You will not be using scripts inside of PCBoard so set this to 0. 0 Close on Exit: Set this to N. The last line of the new BOARD.BAT N (exit) will take care of closing the window. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 9 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 9 Uses own colors: Unless you have no objections to DESQview's odd color assignment set this to Y so you can see PCBoard in all its Y glory. Allow Close: By setting this to N you do not allow a 'Close N Window' command to be executed from the DESQview menu. Remember, it is always best to properly exit a program whenever possible. Runs in background: Set this to Y on all dial-in nodes and set this Y to N on any local maintenance nodes you may have. By setting any N local nodes to not be active in the background you can save precious processor time should you accidently leave your maintenance node running in the background. Uses Math Coprocessor: This field should be set to N. You will N save precious memory and may even slightly improve performance. Can be swapped: This should be set to N on any communications N program you run. If you set this field to Y you will cause a hard system lock. Starting Up PCBoard Nodes Using a DESQview Script Starting Up PCBoard Nodes Using a DESQview Script In order to have all of your nodes load up every time you start DESQview you will need to use a script. The following key sequence will create a script for starting up to 4 nodes on one machine. Initiate DESQview's script learning mode by hitting SHIFT-DESQview (usually ALT). Select "Start Script", and when prompted for a key to define, hold down ALT while pressing 255 on the numeric keypad. By assigning it to an obscure key you lower the chances of accidently activating the script. Now you must give your script a name. Make sure it starts with an ! (exclamation point) or it will not be executed when you start up DESQview. Now just open up all of your nodes manually. When you are finished, hit ALT-Shift to tell DESQview to "Finish script". Upon doing this, the windows will close; you will need to reopen the script learning window, select "Save scripts", and then save the script you created. It is recommended that you save this script under the name DESQVIEW.DVS. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 10 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 10 EXAMPLE DOOR BATCH FILES AND ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES EXAMPLE DOOR BATCH FILES AND ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES __________________________________________________ Setting up DOOR programs in a multitasking environment may prove tricky at first, but with a little help your batch files will be easy to create. You can set up your doors to each have their own individual DOORS.LST and have each node call a separate batch file. However, you will assuredly find maintenance a time-laboring chore. Instead, we recommend that you create one batch file using environment variables. First of all, it is suggested that you do not have a copy of the door for each node. Instead you should only have one copy of the door for the multitasking machine. Therefore, we have to compensate for a situation where two nodes try to run the same door at the same time. Below you will find various generic examples. NOTE: Since there are so many DOOR programs available specific configurations for specific DOOR programs will not be covered. Instead generic examples will be given for the most popular types of configuration. Doors that allow configuration files on the command line: Doors that allow configuration files on the command line: ECHO OFF cd\DOORS\GAME GAME GAME%PCBNODE%.CNF %PCBDRIVE% cd %PCBDIR% BOARD This example will replace PCBNODE with the value PCBoard V14.5a sets it to in your environment. ECHO OFF: Turns echo off so command lines are not echoed to the screen CD\DOORS\GAME: Changes to the directory which contains the DOOR GAME GAME%PCBNODE%.CNF: Executes the DOOR using configuration file GAMEn.CNF (n is replaced by the value of the PCBNODE environment variable). %PCBDRIVE%: Changes to the drive where you run PCBoard node from. (For example: C: ). CD %PCBDIR%: This changes to the directory where you run the PCBoard node from. (For example: \PCB\NODE3). How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 11 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 11 If you have PCBoard set to swap you should not rely on the environment variables being in place. Therefore, you should place the following statements beginning at the second line of each node's BOARD.BAT file. For example, node 1's C:\PCB\NODE1\BOARD.BAT file would have these line added: set PCBDRIVE=C: set PCBDIR=\PCB\NODE1 set PCBNODE=1 As an additional example, on node 2 you would add the following lines to the C:\PCB\NODE2\BOARD.BAT. set PCBDRIVE=C: set PCBDIR=\PCB\NODE2 set PCBNODE=2 Make these modifications to each node's batch file. By setting the environment variables within each node's BOARD.BAT file, you eliminate the difficulty of managing 4 separate batch files which all run the same DOOR. It is absolutely critical that you do not rely on 14.5a's new environment variables being in the environment space if you have set PCBOARD to swap on shells to DOS. DOORs Which Do Not Accept Configuration Files on the Command Line: DOORs Which Do Not Accept Configuration Files on the Command Line: Unfortunately, in a situation such as this you will need to create separate copies of the DOOR for each NODE or scrap the DOOR and replace it with one that will work in a multitasking environment. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 12 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 12 THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE SETUP RECOMMENDATIONS THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE SETUP RECOMMENDATIONS __________________________________________ DSZ (ZModem transfer protocol) DSZ (ZModem transfer protocol) Your PCBRZ & PCBSZ batch files should resemble the following examples: PCBRZ.BAT echo off if exist PCBERR.FIL del PCBERR.FIL if exist PCBDSZ.LOG del PCBDSZ.LOG DSZ F pY129 handshake both estimate 0 %5 pB4096 pd0 z pr1 rz -p %3 PCBSZ.BAT echo off if exist PCBERR.FIL del PCBERR.FIL if exist PCBDSZ.LOG del PCBDSZ.LOG DSZ F pY129 handshake both pB4096 estimate 0 %5 z sz %3 The F and pY129 parameters are new to the 'normal' DSZ command line. These parameters will help improve performance and will cause DSZ to use less CPU cycles during DSZ transfers which will speed up the other PCBoard nodes. NOTE: All DSZ commands are case sensitive and should NOTE: All DSZ commands are case sensitive and should be entered just as you find them in this example. be entered just as you find them in this example. NOTE: The F and pY129 parameters should only be used NOTE: The F and pY129 parameters should only be used in conjunction with a NS16550AFN UART. in conjunction with a NS16550AFN UART. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 13 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 13 HOOKING UP A MULTITASKING MACHINE ON A NETWORK HOOKING UP A MULTITASKING MACHINE ON A NETWORK ______________________________________________ Items to keep in mind when hooking a multitasking machine as a node onto an existing local area network: * Do not configure a multitasking machine as a server even if the networking software allows it. You should have no problem placing a multitasking computer as a workstation. * Check your file location and conference setup. Change the path for those files you wish to share with the network; for instance, the user file. * Set "run_burst=1" in your call to your AILANBIOS line. This will give more processing time back to the CPU and will help speed up your task switching. This parameter only works with Lantastic. If you are using a different network, consult your manual. * Increase your tasks in QEMM. To do this add "tasks=nn" (where nn is the number of tasks to allocate) to your QEMM.SYS line in CONFIG.SYS. Set this value to 16 times the number of nodes you plan to run. * If you want to slightly increase network speed and if you have some conventional memory to spare, load REDIR in low memory. SOLUTIONS TO COMMON PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS TO COMMON PROBLEMS ____________________________ When I make a change to one of the conferences (including the Main When I make a change to one of the conferences (including the Main Board) the change shows up on all of the nodes. Why? Board) the change shows up on all of the nodes. Why? This is because all of your nodes point to the same CNAMES file (located in PCBSetup, File Locations #1). The CNAMES file contains all conference information and since you are using one CNAMES file you see the changes reflected on all nodes. The obvious solution would be to specify different CNAMES files on each node. This is not recommended though because any time you made a change to any conference you would have to make that same change on each node. Instead use relative addressing. Relative addressing depends on where you are. For example relative addressing looks like this: DOORS.LST How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 14 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 14 Absolute addressing, on the other hand, looks like this: C:\PCB\GEN\DOORS.LST Notice that the relative addressing example is missing the drive letter and the complete path from the root. Relative addressing then depends on the current directory to find the DOORS.LST file within it. Whenever I open up a node's window it loads the wrong node and Whenever I open up a node's window it loads the wrong node and sometimes gives a modem reset error? sometimes gives a modem reset error? This is most commonly caused by changing to the wrong node directory in your BOARD.BAT. Make sure you change to the correct node directory before you execute PCBoard so that the correct PCBOARD.DAT (setup) file is read. I have often noticed that some programs that wish to run in the I have often noticed that some programs that wish to run in the event require that all nodes be down while one node runs the event. event require that all nodes be down while one node runs the event. How can I make sure that all of the nodes are down? How can I make sure that all of the nodes are down? The most common solution to this dilemma is to have the other nodes run a program which will wait x minutes while the other node does its processing. There is a utility available on Salt Air under the filename of WAIT4.ZIP. Your EVENT.SYS files may look like this: Node 1's EVENT.SYS Node 1's EVENT.SYS @ECHO OFF PCBPACK /AREA:00 PCBPACK /USERS BOARD Node 2's EVENT.SYS Node 2's EVENT.SYS @ECHO OFF WAIT4 360 BOARD Node 3's EVENT.SYS Node 3's EVENT.SYS @ECHO OFF WAIT4 360 BOARD Using these example EVENT.SYS files, node 1 will pack both the message base and the users file and then return upon completion. In the meantime, nodes 2 and 3 will be on hold for 360 seconds (6 minutes). After the 6 minutes are completed, the EVENT.SYS file reloads the BBS by executing the BOARD batch file. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 15 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 15 Sometimes when loading PCBoard it just hangs. What is causing it? Sometimes when loading PCBoard it just hangs. What is causing it? Try disabling your cache. Some shareware caches have been known to cause problems. Also, if this appears to be happening with a particular door make a note of it and leave a message on Salt Air detailing what you are seeing. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 16 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 16 CONCLUSION CONCLUSION __________ There are countless ways to set up a multitasking system (especially when placing it on a network). This article covers just a few. As you can see, setting up a multitasking system can be complicated, but the cost advantages for running this type of system can be an advantage for some. However, if you plan on expanding to a system with more than 4 nodes, you should consider what a true Local Area Network has to offer. DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER __________ The information provided in this document is provided 'as-is' without any warranty of any type or guarantee of fitness of use. The configurations detailed in this document have been used by some systems however results may vary from system to system and you assume full responsibility for trying any of the above suggestions on your system. It is suggested that before you attempt any of the suggestions listed that you completely back-up your system. PCBoard is a registered trademark of Clark Development Company. QEMM and DESQview are trademarks of Quarterdeck Office Systems. Lantastic is a trademark of Artisoft. How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 17 How to Run Up to Four Nodes With PCBoard and DESQview Page: 17