Installing MS-DOS 5.0: In general, the user should follow the instructions for installing MS-DOS 5.0 that are provided in the "Getting Started" booklet included in the 5.0 upgrade. For most PCs, this is as easy as putting the DOS Upgrade Disk #1 in the floppy drive and typing "a:setup" at the DOS prompt. When running SETUP on a LANtastic Network, there are three issues to be aware of: 1. SETUP cannot be run while the LANtastic SERVER program is running on a PC. If this is attempted, SETUP reports: "SETUP detected an error in identifying the hard disk partition you system starts up from" and indicates that it cannot install MS-DOS 5.0 on the hard drive. To run SETUP on a SERVER, bring the PC up without the SERVER program running and run SETUP as documented. SETUP will run correctly on a LANtastic workstation (a PC running the REDIR program but not running SERVER). 2. Chapter 3 of the "Getting Started" booklet is titled "Updating Networks for MS-DOS Version 5.0." This chapter includes documentation for upgrading to MS-DOS 5.0 when LANtastic versions 2.5x through 3.01 are also installed on the PC. These notes indicate that DOS will display two "Incorrect DOS version" messages when running these LANtastic versions after installing MS-DOS 5.0 and attempting to install the LAN software. These error messages are actually generated by the redir and server programs, not by DOS. However, by following the instructions in the booklet, the user can utilize the new DOS SETVER command to eliminate the error messages and run the LAN software normally. The SETVER command does not need to be used with LANtastic versions 3.02 or higher. For more information on the new SETVER command, see the 'new features of MS-DOS 5.0' section below and Chapter 15 of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Guide and Reference." 3. If DOS's EMM386.EXE Expanded Memory Manager is included in the CONFIG.SYS and the PC has an Artisoft 2Mbps or Enhanced 2Mbps (E2Mbps) adapter installed, the RAMBASE address of the card must be excluded from use by EMM386.EXE. This also applies to LANtastic/AI installations with adapters that use a RAMBASE address, such as the WD80x3 adapters and some ARCNET NICs. To exclude the RAMBASE, use the "X=mmmm-nnnn" switch in the DEVICE command for EMM386.EXE in CONFIG.SYS. See the "Notes on EMM386.EXE" section below and Chapter 15 of the MS-DOS User's Guide for further information on EMM386.EXE. New Features of MS-DOS 5.0 This section is not intended to completely document MS-DOS 5.0's new features, but to provide a brief overview for experienced DOS users. MS-DOS version 5.0 introduces some powerful new abilities and commands as well as improving on many of the familiar DOS functions. On 286, 386 and 486 machines, MS-DOS can now be relocated to the high memory area (HMA), making more conventional memory available for applications to use. On 386 or higher based machines, it is also possible to load some device drives and memory resident software in upper memory. Utilizing the new LOADHIGH (or LH) command, all of the version 3.03 or higher LANtastic NOS TSRs can be loaded into upper memory (assuming that there is enough available upper memory), reducing the NOS overhead to 0K and providing more space for LAN applications to execute in conventional memory. The MS-DOS Shell (DOSSHELL) has been improved and now includes a task switcher which allows you to swap between DOS applications. Since it uses the same task switching conventions as when running Windows in Real mode, it is possible to use the DOS Shell task switcher on a LANtastic non-dedicated server. Microsoft has licensed several disk utilities from Central Point Software (PC Tools): unformat, undelete, and mirror. Mirror stores information about the hard drive (it is NOT disk mirroring software) and can be used to track file deletions for use by undelete and unformat. Mirror, undelete, and unformat cannot be executed on a PC that is running as a LANtastic server or on a redirected (network) drive, but will run on the local hard disk of a LANtastic workstation. Mirror can also be used to take a 'snapshot' of the hard disks on a server if it is included in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file at boot time. If the NOS is loaded in AUTOEXEC.BAT on a LANtastic server, mirror must be run before the SERVER command is executed and cannot be loaded in its TSR form. Help is available through the new "help [command]" command. Help for all DOS commands can also be invoked at the DOS prompt by typing the desired command followed by /?. MS-DOS 5.0 provides the MS-DOS Editor (edit), a new full screen, CUA compliant ASCII file editor. Support for disk partitions up to 2 gigabytes in size. MS-DOS 5.0 no longer requires SHARE to be loaded for partitions greater than 32 MB. However, any PC that functions as a LANtastic server must still use SHARE for network file and record locking support. It includes DOSKEY, a TSR program that allows the user to recall commands previously typed at the DOS prompt in order to re-issue and/or edit them. DOSKEY also has a macro feature that enables easy recall of frequently used command sequences. The SETVER command is provided to allow programs that expect a specific version of DOS to run under MS-DOS 5.0. This command can be used with the LANtastic version 2.5x through 3.01 SERVER and REDIR programs to permit them to run under MS-DOS 5.0. For this function to work correctly, CONFIG.SYS must contain "device = c:\dos\setver.exe"; and the commands SETVER REDIR.EXE 4.0 and SETVER SERVER.EXE 4.0 must be run. SETVER only needs to be run one time each for REDIR and SERVER, thereafter DOS will remember what version number to report to the programs. Notes on Using EMM386.EXE MS-DOS 5.0 provides enhanced support for loading DOS into high memory and for loading device drivers and other TSR programs into upper memory. When installing MS-DOS 5.0 on a 286 or higher machine which has more than 640K of RAM, the SETUP program automatically alters the CONFIG.SYS to include two statements that will load DOS into the high memory area (HMA). The two lines are: device=c:\dos\himem.sys dos=high This allows DOS to be loaded in HMA, but does not allow for device drivers and TSRs to be loaded into upper memory. MS-DOS 5.0 considers these separate issues, and in order to load programs into upper memory, upper memory blocks (UMBs) must be created by invoking EMM386.EXE. To do this, CONFIG.SYS must contain these statements: device=c:\dos\himem.sys dos=high,umb device=c:\dos\EMM386.EXE noems Note that EMM386 will only work on 386 or higher processors. The above commands will cause DOS to be loaded in HMA and tells DOS to make UMBs available for applications to use. The NOEMS switch tells EMM386 create and manage the upper memory area only and not to simulate any expanded memory. If expanded memory simulation is desired, the noems switch would be replaced by the RAM switch so that EMM386 will both manage the upper memory area and emulate expanded memory. Which switch is used depends on the applications that will be run on the PC. For example, if a user wishes to run Windows in 386 Enhanced mode (which requires extended memory), load device drivers and the LANtastic E2Mbps NOS TSRs into UMA, and load DOS into HMA, the following lines would be added to CONFIG.SYS: device=c:\dos\himem.sys dos=high,umb device=c:\dos\EMM386.EXE noems x=D800-DFFF devicehigh=c:\ansi.sys Then, in the STARTNET.BAT (or other batch file that loads LANtastic NOS), the LOADHIGH, or LH, command would be inserted on the command lines for the NOS TSRs. For example: lh lanbios2 irq=15 rambase=D800 lh redir host logins=10 lh share lh server LOADHIGH will load a TSR in UMA if there is enough memory available, otherwise the program is loaded in conventional memory. Unfortunately, LOADHIGH does not report where it loaded the program. MS-DOS' MEM command can be used to find out where the TSR was loaded by entering MEM /C at the command prompt. MEM /C will display all device drivers and TSRs that are loaded into conventional memory and upper memory. Note that the DEVICEHIGH command is used in CONFIG.SYS to load device drivers into UMA. Conclusion MS-DOS version 5.0 is compatible with the LANtastic Network Operating System versions 2.5x through 4.0, and provides new utilities and services that were previously only available through third-party manufacturers. Vendor Information: Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-6399