[comp.windows.ms] More gripes about WIN 3.0

jwb@cci632.UUCP ( co-op) (08/15/90)

Please excuse the tone of this article;  I just had Win 3.0 trash my hard disk last night, making twice in two weeks. 

The particular error I encountered was with the File Manager.  I was happily copying files from floppy to hard disk when I got a standard "Unrecoverable Applications Error" etc.  I thought, "okay, it does this all the time."  a couple minutes later, i got a divide by zero error also.  This is what got me thinking.

The problem came when I tried to run MS Quick C 2.5.  Before I got these error messages, Quick C ran fine, but after, I would get an "invalid program file" message.  This also happened with a couple other programs.

The Norton Disk Doctor did not find anything wrong with my hard disk, but when I ran QA Plus diagnostics, upon exiting, I got a "bad fat" error.  To make a long story short, the gd File Manager trashed my hard disk.  I assume it is because my Epson Equity II+ is not on the hardware compitibilty list.
 
Needless to say, I am not using Win 3.0 any more.  I would also add that it never did run well on my 10 MHZ 286 even with 2 1/2 megs of memory;  you really do  need a 386 with 3 megs or more.

As for me, I will be getting Desqview within the next few days,

Thanx for hearing me out.



John Berndt, 
CCI Communications Division, an STC Company
Rochester, NY 14609

DISCLAIMER:  My babblings in no way reflect the babblings of CCI.

MUHRTH@tubvm.cs.tu-berlin.de (Thomas Muhr) (08/16/90)

We also have the suspicion that Windows 3.0 might do something to the hard-
disk tracks. The amount of bad clusters keeps growing since using windows 3.0.
Maybe there are some troubles with managing oversized HDs. We have a Rodime
80MB disk and a driver which makes it accessible to our Compaque DOS 3.31.
Are there any forbidden programs, which may never be used in combination
with Windows 3.0. Would really be a pity if such a nice product incorporates
the semantics of virusses......

ben@val.com (Ben Thornton) (08/18/90)

jwb@cci632.UUCP ( co-op) writes:


>  The particular error I encountered was with the File Manager.  
> I was happily copying files from floppy to hard disk when I got 
> a standard "Unrecoverable Applications Error" etc.  I thought, 
> "okay, it does this all the time."  a couple minutes later, 
> i got a divide by zero error also.  This is what got me thinking.

  I experienced a similar thing twice now, but only after installing
a Trident 640x480x256 driver for the TVGA8900.  Guess I should have
learned the first time :-).  The main difference is that windows
would report a corrupt main group file and then when I exit, there is
a divide overflow and the machine halts.  After rebooting, CHKDSK
reports crosslinks and a trashed windows directory.  Also, Norton
Disk Doctor does find the trashed FAT.  I'm not sure whether or not
the Trident driver is responsible, but I had used Windows 3.0 for
several weeks with the standard VGA driver with no disk corruption
problems prior to installing the Trident Driver.

> Needless to say, I am not using Win 3.0 any more.  I would also
> add that it never did run well on my 10 MHZ 286 even with 2 1/2
> megs of memory;  you really do  need a 386 with 3 megs or more.

I have had some nagging problems with strange hangs and inability
to run some of its own applications on my 12 MHz 286.  Also, the
keyboard never works right at 12 MHz.  It beeps (as thought the
keyboard buffer were full) with almost every keystroke.  Slowing
to 6 MHz corrects this.

>Thanx for hearing me out.

You're welcome.

>John Berndt, 
>CCI Communications Division, an STC Company
>Rochester, NY 14609

-- 
This is MY opinion.  My employer can't have any of it....  So there.
Ben Thornton             packet:  WD5HLS @ KB5PM   Internet:  ben@val.com
Video Associates           uucp:  ...!cs.utexas.edu!val!ben
Austin, TX              fidonet:  1:382/40 - The Antenna Farm BBS

dchun@aludra.usc.edu (Dale Chun) (08/18/90)

In article <1990Aug17.224057.13790@val.com> ben@val.com (Ben Thornton) writes:
>jwb@cci632.UUCP ( co-op) writes:
>a divide overflow and the machine halts.  After rebooting, CHKDSK
>reports crosslinks and a trashed windows directory.  Also, Norton
>Disk Doctor does find the trashed FAT.  I'm not sure whether or not
>the Trident driver is responsible, but I had used Windows 3.0 for
>several weeks with the standard VGA driver with no disk corruption
>problems prior to installing the Trident Driver.

You are not alone, few minutes after running Windows 3.0 on a 286-10,
my computer dies/hangs, then after rebooting, my EMS (Expanded memory
system) fails to get recognized by emm.sys (fixed it by cracking out
the original disks and zeroing expanded memory), the CMOS is scrambled
(fixed it by running setup), CHKDSK C: reports "Probable Non-DOS
Disk//Continue Y/N ?" (even Mace can't repair the damage; so fixed
this by reformatting), modem fails to respond with my comm program
(fixed this by downloading the stuffs again) and many small other
irritating problems.

After all of this (above), I still don't know if I fixed everything
that Windows 3.0 trashed. Still running "mapmem" (to check on expanded
memory) and CHKDSK on every single partition every five
minutes....yeah, I know, I pain, but I really don't wanna go through
the above again.......(phew!)

>> Needless to say, I am not using Win 3.0 any more.  I would also
>> add that it never did run well on my 10 MHZ 286 even with 2 1/2
>> megs of memory;  you really do  need a 386 with 3 megs or more.
>
>I have had some nagging problems with strange hangs and inability
>to run some of its own applications on my 12 MHz 286.  Also, the
>keyboard never works right at 12 MHz.  It beeps (as thought the
>keyboard buffer were full) with almost every keystroke.  Slowing
>to 6 MHz corrects this.

...similar (not exactly) problem here...

>>Thanx for hearing me out.

...hope netland hears me too.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 name: Dale C. Chun	    | * 2 + 2 = 5, for sufficiently large values of 2.
PLAYMAC Technical Support   | * First, Ask Questions Later.
email: dchun@aludra.usc.edu | * MAC; Maybe A Computer, but probably a toy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

strobl@gmdzi.UUCP (Wolfgang Strobl) (08/19/90)

ben@val.com (Ben Thornton) writes:

>I have had some nagging problems with strange hangs and inability
>to run some of its own applications on my 12 MHz 286.  Also, the
>keyboard never works right at 12 MHz.  It beeps (as thought the
>keyboard buffer were full) with almost every keystroke.  Slowing
>to 6 MHz corrects this.

Try to replace the keyboard. I had similar problems with my old 12MHz
AT. I.e. I got missing and duplicated scan codes while running under
Windows 3. Replacing the keyboard solved the problem. I have no 
technical explanation for this behavior. I have since switched to
a new 386, so I didn't investigate more.

Wolfgang Strobl
#include <std.disclaimer.hpp>

jwb@cci632.UUCP ( co-op) (08/21/90)

I would like to amend my recent statements about the problems I been having
with my system.  Originally, I blamed Win 3.0 and the incompatibilty of my
Epson Equity II+ for the weird way my computer has been acting.  In fact, I
had a virus on my computer, the last thing I would have expected!  What
clued me off was when I ran my new copy of Norton utilities 5.0, and it showed
a 1792 byte TSR in memory that it couldn't identify.  The next day, I purchased
Virucide (from Parsons Technolgy) and sure enough, it told me I had the
"Jeruselum B" virus.  The program worked wonderfully, removing the virus from
all my programs as well as from memory.

I am sorry for the inconvininience (sp?) that my statements might have caused.

To repeat, the Epson Equity II+ is compatible with Win 3.0 and seems to run
acceptably, especially with 2 megs of memory or more.

Please send email if you have any comments.



John Berndt,
Systems Engineering,
Computer Consoles Inc, A STC company

rochester!cci632!ccird7!jwb
after 8/24, berndtj@pawl.rpi.edu

DISCLAIMER:  This opinions I have expressed above in no way reflect the
opinions of CCI or STC.