Article Getting DESQview up and running by Roger C. Thompson At the inaugaral meeting of the DESQSIG I displayed an annotated copy of my config.sys and autoexec.bat files. Several members have asked for copies. I have found that these tips are useful for anyone starting DESQview(tm) with QEMM(tm). To tune DESQview(tm) to have the largest possible amount of memory available for applications it is necessary to make changes to your autoexec.bat and config.sys files. The installation program will make all the changes it can to try to configure your system but since all 386's were not created equal... Before changing your files. !!KEEP A BOOT FLOPPY HANDY JUST IN CASE!! This disk needs to be formatted with FORMAT A: /S and then, COPY c:\command.com a:. COPY c:\autoexec.bat a:. COPY c:\config.sys a:. You will notice that I always include a full path in all the statements of my autoexec and config files. If I need to boot of of a floppy, everyting will start normally and I can immediately use my editor to correct any errors I have made . When changing autoexec.bat and config.sys, be careful. Make certain it is saved as a TEXT or ASCII file. DOS does not care for embedded word processing commands and special characters. *************************************************** *This is a sample config.sys file with annotation.* *************************************************** (1) DEVICE=c:\qemm.sys extmem=1024 i=a000-b7ff x=c000-cfff i=f000-f7ff ram rom (2) DEVICE=c:\loadhi.sys c:\dmdrvr.bin (2) DEVICE=c:\loadhi.sys c:\mouse.sys (3) FILES=40 (4) BUFFERS=2 (5) SHELL=c:\command.com /p/e:512 (1) DEVICE=c:\qemm.sys extmem=1024 i=b000-b7ff x=c000-cfff i=f000-f7ff ram rom extmen=1024 --> leave some extended memory available. My disk cache program uses EXTENDED memory. This reserves 1 MEG for that program. i=a000-b7ff --> let QEMM(tm) have this area of memory This area is used by MONO cards only and can be used by CGA. EGA and VGA can use this area if you want to give up high resolution graphics. Graphics will be displayed as CGA. Note that each package should be lied to. Tell them you have a CGA system. If you need to use high res graphics do not use noega and use i=b000-b7ff. If you make a mistake and use i=a000-b7ff without using noega you will find that boot disk you made very useful! x=c000-cfff --> do NOT let QEMM(tm) have this area of memory. Some VGA cards will try to use memory in this region no matter what. In that case, you must not let QEMM(tm) mess with it. Garbage on the screen on boot up is a good indication. Aren't you glad you made that boot disk. i=f000-f7ff --> let QEMM(tm) have this area of memory IBM(tm) used this for casette BASIC. Rarely used now, so its fairly safe to let QEMM(tm) have it. ram Allows QEMM(tm) to fill-in unused areas of low memory and will significantly increase available memory to applications. Without running DESQview(tm), I have about 685K of FREE ram for applications. rom If you want to use shadow ram, include this option and turn off any shadow ram that came with your system, if possible. If you cannot turn off this ram then you must extmem= whereever your system copies the video rom. Personally, I don't use shadow ram because I like to keep as much memory available for applications as possible. (2) DEVICE=c:\loadhi.sys c:\dmdrvr.bin DEVICE=c:\loadhi.sys c:\mouse.sys These statments load device drivers high and out of the way. Just place loadhi.sys in front of the driver. Include the space. Again. !!HAVE A FLOPPY BOOT DISK AVAILABLE JUST IN CASE!! (3) FILES=40 Uses lots of files. I really wouldn't recommend less. (4) BUFFER=2 Use DESQview(tm) buffers, these just take up space. (5) SHELL=c:\command.com/p/e:512 I like to use a lot of environment variables at times so I include this line. ****************************************************** *This is an example autoexec.bat file with annotation* ****************************************************** (1) @ECHO OFF (2) PROMPT $p$g (3) c:\loadhi c:\noega (4) PATH=c:\;c:\bin;e:\pcw;c:\qb45;c:\qc2;c:\msc50 (5) c:\loadhi c:\fastp c:1024 ob:128 oc df:0:1 (6) SET LIB=c:\lib (6) SET INCLUDE=c:\inc (6) SET TERMID=\THOMPSON\ (7) dv (1) @ECHO OFF Patrick Mahoney told me about this. It keeps echo from being echoed. (2) prompt $p$g displays dirname> for a prompt (3) c:\loadhi c:\noega loadhi This command will free up a lot of memory for applications by placing a TSR program in high memory out of the way. Use the command repeatedly, once for each program loaded. Some programs bypass bios and dos calls to accomplish whatever it is they do. Consequently, DESQview(tm) cannot know what is happening and BLAM >> SYSTEM LOCKUP!! Either avoid such programs like the plague or if you really must use them, you must sacrifice the additional memory and load them without the benefits of loadhi. noega This works with EGA and VGA adapters -- USUALLY! It is hardware dependant whether it will actually work. Have a DOS boot disk handy in case it doesn't work. Also, some programs are REALLY ill-behaved and will still lock up your system. Note that when I use noega, I even load it high. (4) PATH=c:\;c:\bin;e:\pcw;c:\qb45;c:\qc2;c:\msc50 I happen to like to access a lot of programs from any directory. (5) c:\loadhi c:\fastp c:1024 ob:128 oc df:0:1 This is the disk caching program I use. FAST(tm) uses extended memory which I leave open via the extmem= command in config.sys. Note that this is totally unrelated to the memory caching function available on some 386 machines. Note also, this is a program that will loadhi without problems. (6) SET LIB=c:\lib SET INCLUDE=c:\inc These are just some environment variables I use for programming. (7) dv I always boot into DESQview(tm) END Roger C. Thompson (W) 744-4826 (H) 492-6917 --------------------end-of-author's-file--------------------- Software Library Information: This disk copy provided as a service of Public (software) Library For a copy of the latest monthly software library newsletter and a list of the 2,000+ disks in the library, call or write Public (software) Library P.O.Box 35705 - F Houston, TX 77235-5705 1-800-2424-PSL MC/Visa/AmEx Outside of U.S. or in Texas or for general information, Call 1-713-524-6394 PsL also has an outstanding catalog for the Macintosh.