L O G O G O Ver 3.1b 02/14/93 for use with PKZIP/PKUNZIP Ver 1.1 or 2.04g by Dick Koster This program works in conjunction with a procedure documented in PC Magazine (August 1992 Vol 11 No. 14 Pg. 530) whereby the Microsoft Windows Version 3.1 startup logo may be replaced by one of your choosing. It goes one step further, however, to automatically provide a new startup screen each time you run windows. Basic Operation: You create a ZIP file called RLE.ZIP (or use the enclosed sample) to contain all your windows startup screen files (which must have an ".RLE" extension). Each time LOGOGO runs, it extracts and sorts up to 200 RLE files into a table. If no ZIP file comment exists, it assumes this is the first time you are running it, and it will use the first "sorted" file in the table as your startup screen. The last-used RLE file's name is added to the zip file as a "comment". The file itself is extracted, merged with WIN.CNF and VGALOGO.LGO (both in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ directory) to create a new WIN.COM (in C:\WINDOWS\ directory). The extracted RLE file is deleted after the merge (it remains in the zip file however!) The next time LOGOGO is run, it will remove the name of the last file used from the comment field in RLE.ZIP, find its location in the current sorted RLE table, and extract the next file in line (or loop back to the top of the list). The new file's name is then added to the zip file comment field. To add a new RLE file to the table, merely add it into the zip file and wait for its appointed time to appear (since it too will be merged into the existing sorted list). A Word about RLE Files: The RLE graphic file must be in RLE-4 format (Versus RLE-8), 16 color or less, and must not exceed 47,608 bytes in size. The size restraint keeps WIN.COM <= 64k bytes which is required for all COM files. A good shareware program to convert BMP, PCX, etc. files to RLE-4 format is PAINTSHOP PRO and can be found on most BBS's. Save the file as a WINDOWS RLE ENCODED file; the program assigns a .BMP extension. Then rename the file to an .RLE extension. If a particular graphics file converts to a size too large to merge with WIN.COM, try converting mixed-pixel color schemes to solid colors to conserve encoding space. Murphy's law, however, mandates that your favorite picture will "not" convert no matter what! Installation Instructions: Place LOGOGO.EXE into your Windows subdirectory where WIN.COM is located. (It must go there!) PKZIP and PKUNZIP must be in your active PATH statement! If you chose the standard Windows path during installation of Windows 3.1 (ie, \WINDOWS), proceed to the next section. Otherwise, we must tell LOGOGO where to find Windows itself as well as the RLE.ZIP file. The default locations for pertinent files are listed below: \WINDOWS\LOGOGO.EXE \WINDOWS\WIN.COM \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WIN.CNF \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VGALOGO.LGO \WINDOWS\RLE\RLE.ZIP For example, if you installed Windows in a subdirectory called \WIN31 (instead of \WINDOWS), then the following parameters must be included on the command line: C:\>LOGOGO /w=\win31 /Z=\WIN31\RLE The first parameter "/w=" tells LOGOGO what the new \WINDOWS subdirectory is. The second parameter "/z=" tells where the RLE.ZIP file can be found. Even if the RLE.ZIP file is in the subdirectory \WIN31\RLE, merely using the "/w=" parameter will not properly locate it! The following example is also valid: C:\>LOGOGO /W=\MSWIN /z=\graphics\zips LOGOGO will work on any hard drive, but it will not work "across" drives. All file references are made to the currently active drive! The First Time... The first time LOGOGO runs, it will look for a file called WINCOM.SAV in the \WINDOWS (or your personal Windows) directory. If it is not found, it will copy your WIN.COM file to WINCOM.SAV for safe keeping. It is your "WIN.COM" file which w ill be altered each time you run this routine so that the new startup screen will load. You may copy your original WIN.COM file somewhere else as well for safe keeping if you so desire, but it must be done prior to running LOGOGO for the first time! Place the RLE.ZIP file in any desired subdirectory. The internal default subdirectory is \WINDOWS\RLE\ and unless otherwise specified, this is where the program will look for the RLE.ZIP file. You may use another subdirectory by placing it on the command line with the "/z=" parameter described above. Execute LOGOGO either in your windows startup batch or AUTOEXEC.BAT file before starting WINDOWS. If your RLE.ZIP file contains files "too large" to merge into WIN.COM, a list of said files will be displayed below the acknowledgment window. These files will not be processed whether displayed or not! When this program runs it will place a version and author acknowledgment on the screen. Very small, but vanity has its place. If you register the program for the paltry sum of $5.00, you will be notified as to how to bypass this startup window. Starter RLE.ZIP Included! Also included in this package is a "starter" RLE.ZIP file containing four startup screens; one being a version of the current Windows 3.1 startup screen. For an extra $1.00 ($3.00 outside USA) those that register will receive a diskette with up to 125 (current tally) startup screens collected thus far. (State 5.25" 1.2mb or 3.5" 1.44mb disk size! ) U.S.A. All Only Others ******* ******* Standard Registration Donation $5.00 $5.00 Extra screen disk, postage & handling $1.00 $3.00 ------ ------- Total $6.00 $8.00 Forward any questions, comments or registration to: Dick Koster 35 Guinevere Road N. Easton, MA 02356 (CompuServe 72627,1670) Problems? If there are any problems in the installation or running of LOGOGO, please let me know at the above address or leave a message on CompuServe. Please enclose a copy of your autoexec.bat and config.sys files as well. Any information on the hardware itself may also be useful. LIMIT OF LIABILITY: The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, and assumes no liability for damages either from its direct use or as a consequence of its use. REVISION HISTORY: Version 3.1b corrects a problem which occurs when version 3.1a of LOGOGO runs in conjunction with the new PKUNZIP version 2.04x and the file to unzip has exactly 8 characters in the filename. ~