Windows 95 Startup Configuration TIPS *** Read MSDOSSYS.TXT for valuable setup info! I included my own AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS and MSDOS.SYS files. The file MSD.TXT gives an idea how my computer configuration looks like, running Microsoft's MSD utility, outside Win95. I also included my own memory configurations, using: - MS Windows 95's own EMM386.EXE, - Helix NetRoom's RM386.EXE ver 3.04 and - QuarterDeck's QEMM386.SYS ver 7.04. Read DOS95MEM.TXT to see my 'outside Win95' memory configurations. For my memory configurations WITH WIN95 STARTED, read WIN95MEM.TXT. For NetRoom or QEMM users, you will need to add the following lines to your SYSTEM.INI file (found in your Windows 95 directory, typically C:\WINDOWS) in the [386enh] section: SystemROMBreakPoint=false EMMExclude=A000-FFFF DualDisplay=true for Windows 95 to run with NetRoom or QEMM memory managers! Helix Cloaking Multimedia Package users: DO NOT USE CACHECLK.EXE with Win95! DO NOT use ANY memory management feature (QEMM's Stealth or NetRoom's VideoCloak) that move the video/ROM BIOS to extended memory or above 1 meg! For more info about running Windows with your own 3rd party memory manager read your memory manager documentation! You might need, at some point, to exit Win95 to plain ol' DOS (version 7.00), to play a stuborn DOS game or to start a weird DOS application. That's because Win95 takes over all your system memory resources, and you don't have more than 192kb of expanded memory after you started Win95. Example: a DOS game like TIE Fighter, by Lucas Arts, or Magic Carpet by Bullfrog, or the new Star Trek Next Generation "A Final Unity" by Spectrum Holobyte, CANNOT BE STARTED FROM INSIDE WIN95, AT A DOS PROMPT. TIE Fighter requires 540kb of low RAM and 2000kb of expanded memory to run with the sound features turned on! So you have 2 solutions: create custom autoexec.bat and config.sys for each of your dos applications/games, and reboot your computer in that particular confi- guration, or try to get as much memory as you can out of the Win95 operating system and JUST EXIT WIN95 and start your DOS application, without rebooting. When you're done playing Tie fighter, you can return to Win95 by typing 'WIN'. EMM386 error messages If EMM386 displays a message such as "EMM386 has detected error #12 in an application," this indicates that the processor has reported an exception error to EMM386. An exception error typically occurs when an application gives the processor an instruction under invalid or unexpected conditions. In most cases, these errors are related to a specific program. If you are receiving an error that does not occur with any particular application, the error might be caused by a device driver or a TSR. To avoid errors: * Identify the program involved. See if the error occurs when the program is not running. If you suspect a memory-resident program or device driver, try bypassing it when your computer starts. * Disable EMM386. If a particular application is to blame, disabling EMM386 might allow that application to generate an error message. Disabling EMM386 might also change your memory configuration so the error no longer occurs. * Change the order in which you load device drivers and TSRs. It might help because some errors occur only under specific memory conditions. * Error 12 message: a stack is being used incorrectly. Add to CONFIG.SYS: STACKS=16,256 * Error 13 message: the program may be trying to use protected mode without cooperating with EMM386. You may need to obtain a VCPI-compliant version of the program from your vendor, or not load EMM386 when using that application. Code Means -------------- 0 Divide error 1 Debugger interrupt 2 Nonmaskable interrupt 3 Breakpoint 4 Overflow interrupt 5 Array boundary violation 6 Invalid opcode 7 Coprocessor not available 8 Double fault 9 Coprocessor segment overrun 10 Invalid task state segment 11 Segment not present 12 Stack exception 13 General protection violation 14 Page fault 16 Coprocessor error For MS DOSSHELL (MS DOS 5.x and up) users, I included a neat dosshell.ini file. To use it, backup your own dosshell.ini and copy this one to your DOS directory. Hope you like it. All these are freeware. I hope they will be useful to you. Enjoy! If you have any comments, give me an e-mail 'call' at: axcel216@aol.com