[comp.windows.ms] Standard mode locks up

mikew@proton.LCS.MIT.EDU (Michael B. Williams) (09/13/90)

I just switched to Standard mode from 386 Enhanced mode because it's
significantly faster (especially when running DOS apps), but now when I
switch to a running DOS application, my system sometimes locks up tight,
necessitating a cold reboot.

Has anyone else had this problem and can propose a solution (short of
going back to 386 mode)?  Thanks.
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MSR113@psuvm.psu.edu (Matthew Starr Richmond) (09/13/90)

In article <1990Sep12.184606.16168@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu>,
mikew@proton.LCS.MIT.EDU (Michael B. Williams) says:
>
>I just switched to Standard mode from 386 Enhanced mode because it's
>significantly faster (especially when running DOS apps), but now when I
>switch to a running DOS application, my system sometimes locks up tight,
>necessitating a cold reboot.

I have a 286 AT and therefore (unfortunately) MUST run in Standard Mode,
but I too have noticed that my machine freezes up frequently..  Could
these 2 occurances be connected in some way?  Is there a problem with
running DOS apps from Windows?  Thanks..
                                                   --Matt

jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris) (09/14/90)

In a recent article mikew@proton.LCS.MIT.EDU (Michael B. Williams) writes:
>I just switched to Standard mode from 386 Enhanced mode because it's
>significantly faster (especially when running DOS apps), but now when I
>switch to a running DOS application, my system sometimes locks up tight,
>necessitating a cold reboot.

What does the screen look like when it fails?  I'm trying to figure out
why YTERM 3.0 blows the system away if you try to use the transient form
of its resident BIOS interface, but works fine if the driver form is used.
The symptom is that when you exit the DOS window the top of the screen
receives a message which looks like this:

         MICROSOFT WINDOWS POP-UP PROGRAM SUPPORT                            ---
-------------------------------------------------------------------------    You
r pop-up program has been loaded and you may activate it as you would      norma
lly.  When you have finished using this pop-up program, exit it and      press C
trl+C to return to Windows.

(The offsets in the above lines are deliberate, showing what the user sees.)

There seems to be some interaction with the EBIOS.COM program, but I haven't
been able to figure out what.  Microsoft refused to tell me what conditions
should have triggered the message about pop-up programs, so I don't know if
there is any significance to its appearance or if it is merely an accidental
byproduct of an error elsewhere.  (The rep says that the message appears when
Windows detects that a TSR has been loaded (wow!) but declines to say just
how Windows figures this out.)  In either case when the message appears 
the cursor runs around the message area (I suspect it's continually rewriting
the message) and the three-finger salute is the only keyboard action which
has any effect.

Joe Morris