noring@netcom.COM (Jon Noring) (02/18/91)
Hello, As most people eventually face, I'm finding that many of my programs won't run on my pc because of the 640k limitation of DOS. Of course, I've been playing games of rebooting with a downsized autoexec.bat file (to remove stuff that I don't need), but find this a pain. One of my applications will not run properly even when I strip everything out to the bare minimum. I've heard of software that will utilize the higher memory available and move stuff there (I have 8 megs used mainly for Windows 3.0 when I run it). Could anybody out there summarize to me what software is the best to use, and other things I should be aware of. I've heard that Quarterdeck has some good software to do this (Deskview?). BTW, I have a 386-33 machine with 8 megs and am running MS-DOS 4.01. Thanks. Jon Noring
ccastdf@prism.gatech.EDU (Dave) (02/18/91)
noring@netcom.COM (Jon Noring) writes: >As most people eventually face, I'm finding that many of my programs won't >run on my pc because of the 640k limitation of DOS. Of course, I've been >playing games of rebooting with a downsized autoexec.bat file (to remove >stuff that I don't need), but find this a pain. One of my applications >will not run properly even when I strip everything out to the bare minimum. >I've heard of software that will utilize the higher memory available and >move stuff there (I have 8 megs used mainly for Windows 3.0 when I run it). >Could anybody out there summarize to me what software is the best to use, >and other things I should be aware of. I've heard that Quarterdeck has some >good software to do this (Deskview?). BTW, I have a 386-33 machine with >8 megs and am running MS-DOS 4.01. Thanks. I have the same problem. I have tried many solutions, but nothing has even given me a byte more memory. I have a 286-12, and VGA, so no program can give me any memory, at least none that I have found. I have 4 meg, that I basicly don't use. If anyone has anysuggestions for me, please email a reply. Finally, there are many utilities you can use to increase YOUR memory. I think hram1.zip on simtel would be your best bet. It can give you up to around 900k if things go right. It requires EMS. Dave -- David Frascone ccastdf@prism.gatech.edu Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 Office of Information Technology--User Assistant
mwizard@eecs.cs.pdx.edu (Craig Nelson) (02/18/91)
noring@netcom.COM (Jon Noring) writes: >As most people eventually face, I'm finding that many of my programs won't >run on my pc because of the 640k limitation of DOS. Of course, I've been >playing games of rebooting with a downsized autoexec.bat file (to remove >stuff that I don't need), but find this a pain. One of my applications >will not run properly even when I strip everything out to the bare minimum. >I've heard of software that will utilize the higher memory available and >move stuff there (I have 8 megs used mainly for Windows 3.0 when I run it). >Could anybody out there summarize to me what software is the best to use, >and other things I should be aware of. I've heard that Quarterdeck has some >good software to do this (Deskview?). BTW, I have a 386-33 machine with >8 megs and am running MS-DOS 4.01. Thanks. >Jon Noring My first question is with 8megs of RAM what the hell are you running DOS for ? Secondly, I am not sure if you have tried it yet, but Quaterdeck has a real fine memory manager out called QEMM386.SYS, and it does just about everything it appears you are looking for. Loading such nice things as 30k of buffers into expanded memory, loading .SYS drivers into high memory, and all sorts of other nice nifties. Last I used it, I was running a 386/25 with 4meg and about 110k in DOS/TSR functions. It allowed me into the 580+k available. Don't freak out and wonder how complicated it is to load all this. They also give a nice little program that does it for you, parsing your autoexec.bat and config.sys files, coming up with the best memory solutions possible. try it. you'll like it. Craig Nelson (mwizard@eecs.ee.pdx.edu)
jdb@reef.cis.ufl.edu (Brian K. W. Hook) (02/18/91)
In article <24473@netcom.COM> noring@netcom.COM (Jon Noring) writes: >Hello, > >Could anybody out there summarize to me what software is the best to use, >and other things I should be aware of. I've heard that Quarterdeck has some >good software to do this (Deskview?). BTW, I have a 386-33 machine with >8 megs and am running MS-DOS 4.01. Thanks. Well, I personally have used QEMM and QRAM and find them both satisfactory. The products that you will want to consider the most are the 386 specific products, such as QEMM-386, 386MAX, and NetRoom/386. Of these I believe that you would be most interested in is QEMM, although 386MAX is supposed to be comparable. QEMM, among other things, replaces HIMEM.SYS, will load device drivers and what not into high memory, will shadow ROM, give you EMS 4.0 out of XMS, convert XMS to EMS, etc. Right now you can pick it up mail order for about 80 dollars, and it is WELL WORTH IT! I use DOS 3.3, which gives me about 10K (?) more than 4.01, but being able to load METASHEL (a 90K graphics driver), Mouse.sys, ansi.sys, driver.sys, and buffers all into high memory gives me a total of 592K available. The only problems that I have discovered so far are that: QEMM conflicts with other protected mode programs (notably Turbo Debugger 386), but gets a long with most 286 protected mode programs. In other words, other 386 control programs get irked with QEMM occasionally. The other thing is that Quarterdeck tech support is atrocious....I have YET to get through to them! I've had the line picked up ONCE, and then I was put on hold by voice mail for 15 minutes before I hung up. And it's not even toll free. DesqView is another Quarterdeck product, but it is a system for multitasking and usually relies on QEMM386 for the memory management. If you have a motherboard that shadows (mine does....Micronics 386-33) then be sure and put the NOSH line in your QEMM.SYS line, otherwise you will get random reboots. Brian
rschmidt@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (roy schmidt) (02/19/91)
Since you have a 386 and DOS 4.01, why not try EMM386.SYS, which is right there on your 4.01 distribution disk? Documentation is in another file, "README.TXT." I was surprised (and generally pleased) that it handily loaded other drivers and environment into memory above 1 MB, and gets along fine with PC-Cache, WordPerfect, TC++ IDE, etc. There may be some advantages not listed previously to using a program like QEMM, but consider that EMM386.SYS is *very* competitively priced (it's free if you have DOS 4.01 :-) I have noticed one minor problem with it: The right-hand CTRL and ALT keys on my 101 keyboard are now "CTRL lock" and "ALT lock". Once I got used that "feature", it came in handy. (You unlock by pressing the left-hand corresponding key). -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy Schmidt | #include <disclaimer.h> Indiana University | /* They are _my_ thoughts, and you can't Graduate School of Business | have them, so there! */
gary@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM (Gary Barrett) (02/19/91)
"The other thing is that Quarterdeck tech support is atrocious....I have YET to get through to them! I've had the line picked up ONCE, and then I was put on hold by voice mail for 15 minutes before I hung up." Brother, you can say THAT again! All I wanted was information on how to update QEMM to version 5.1, so that I can run with Windows 3.0. Could I get anything but a busy signal on their phone line? No. Oh well. So I gave up and dropped them a postcard requesting the information. Well, guess what: I never got a reply from them. Dear Quarterdeck: If you are listening, you are about to lose a former happy customer just because I have a problem to solve and you don't seem too concerned about respecting your current user base. No way I'm going to buy a whole new version of QEMM. If I have to do that, I'll find another Windows-compatible solution (like 386 MAX). I'm not bound to support a company who doesn't support me. -- ======================================================================== Gary L. Barrett My employer may or may not agree with my opinions. And I may or may not agree with my employer's opinions. ========================================================================
chaz@chinet.chi.il.us (Charlie Kestner) (02/21/91)
In article <RkkmX5w164w@halcyon.uucp> halcyon!ralphs@sumax.seattleu.edu (Ralph Sims) writes: >gary@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM (Gary Barrett) writes: > >> "The other thing is that Quarterdeck tech support is >> atrocious....I have YET to get through to them! I've had the > >> Brother, you can say THAT again! All I wanted was information on >> how to update QEMM to version 5.1, so that I can run with Windows 3.0. >> Could I get anything but a busy signal on their phone line? No. Oh > >I called them for setup information and got through quickly. My >problem was handled to my satisfaction and I hadn't even got the >registration card in the mail. I guess it depends which way the >wind is blowing at the time, eh? Nah. All these guys (WITH modems, btw) have to do is call the Quarterdeck BBS, and all the info they need is right there. In- cluding dope on how to upgrade to v5.11 QEMM. Quarterdeck BBS 213.396.3904
Bert_-_Raphael@cup.portal.com (02/21/91)
If you just need a LITTLE more memory, and you need it while you are working in text (not graphics) mode, look at a little package called "Memory Master" from Vericomp (303-241-5800). It transparently tacks about 120K of graphics buffers that DOS normally reserves, onto the available 640K, WITHOUT needing any expanded or extended memory. My Turbo Pascal compiler and complied applications that need over 700K (including TSRs) work beautifully on my 286 with Memory Master. (under DOS 3.3). --Bert
joseph@panix.uucp (Joseph R. Skoler) (02/22/91)
In article <39472@cup.portal.com> Bert_-_Raphael@cup.portal.com writes: >If you just need a LITTLE more memory, and you need it while you are >working in text (not graphics) mode, look at a little package called >"Memory Master" from Vericomp (303-241-5800). It transparently tacks >about 120K of graphics buffers that DOS normally reserves, onto the >available 640K, WITHOUT needing any expanded or extended memory. My >Turbo Pascal compiler and complied applications that need over 700K >(including TSRs) work beautifully on my 286 with Memory Master. >(under DOS 3.3). > > --Bert Is there a shareware or PD program that does this exact thing? It sounds great (after trying HRAM, VRAM etc. and being quite disappointed) Joseph R. Skoler UUCP: {cmcl2|apple!}panix!joseph BITNET: skohc@cunyvm.bitnet INTERNET: ak526@cleveland.freenet.edu AMPR NET: kc2yu@kc2yu.ampr.org [44.68.32.56] PBBS: kc2yu@nn2z.nj.usa.na
mcastle@mcs213f.cs.umr.edu (Mike Castle {Nexus}) (02/24/91)
In article <22256@hydra.gatech.EDU> ccastdf@prism.gatech.EDU (Dave) writes: >Finally, there are many utilities you can use to increase YOUR memory. I think >hram1.zip on simtel would be your best bet. It can give you up to around >900k if things go right. It requires EMS. Well, a friend of mine has, from a straight C:\> something on the order of 637K free for a program. How did he do this? Lots of experimenting. His current setup is: 386/33 w/ 4Megs, DOS 3.3 (important), Hercules monochrome card (important), QEMM 5.11 (nice). First, DOS 4.00 eats up a LOT more memory than does 3.3. The best that I can do is 550k free. I've considered down-dating from 4.0 to 3.3, but haven't really decided yet. This is my first "private" computer, and it came with 4.0, so I don't have enough experience with 3.3 to see if I would miss any features. Second, having a lower quality video card, certain memory managers can "steal" the memory mapped to the card, and "give" it to DOS. hram, I believe, and do this with Hercules and CGA, I believe. I'm not sure about EGA, and VGA is right out (from what I remember from looking at the package, anyway). QEMM comes with a program called VIDRAM which can do the same thing. It can, however, steal memory from VGA, but you can nolonger do hi-res (if any) graphics. You make your choice. QEMM (and vram, which can be obtain from the same place as hram (yes, same people wrote them)) can allow you to load device drivers and tsr's into high memory (actually, not sure if it's vram or not, but it's in one of the to packages. Just look for similiar names). This can sometimes free up a significant amount of memory for dos apps. Some thing else you might want to look at might be DRDos from Digital Research. There have been a few write ups in recent issues of PC Magazine and PC/Computing that you might like to read (PCMag v10n3, 12feb1991; PC/Computing v3n10 oct90). DRDos has the ability to load part of itself into high memory, as well as tsrs and drivers, with out the need for other memory managers (this is from memory, if you want the details, read the articles). I'm not sure how compatible this is (this is a REPLACEMENT for MS-DOS, not something that goes ontop of it) or what kind of hardware requirements there are. Of course, MS-DOS 5.0 is supposed to have some of these features, plus some. Then again, it may just be vapor-ware. The hram/vram packages are available on Simtel-20 and clones in the SYSUTL directories, if your interested in looking at those. I know I haven't given too many specifics, but I hope I've given you some things to look into. Again, PCMag and PC/Computing have been having quite a few articles on this kind of stuff, so you might stop at you local libary and look at some of the more recent (last 4 months) issues. I'm sure other mags have similiar articles. Disclaimer: I don't work for either mag, they're just the only 2 I receive (actually, the only 2 Ed had to offer :-). Good luck! -- Mike Castle (Nexus) S087891@UMRVMA.UMR.EDU (preferred) | XEDIT: Emacs mcastle@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu (unix mail-YEACH!)| on a REAL Life is like a clock: You can work constantly, and be right | operating all the time, or not work at all, and be right twice a day. | system. :->
storm@cs.mcgill.ca (Marc WANDSCHNEIDER) (02/26/91)
>First, DOS 4.00 eats up a LOT more memory than does 3.3. The best that I can >do is 550k free. I've considered down-dating from 4.0 to 3.3, but haven't >really decided yet. This is my first "private" computer, and it came with 4.0, >so I don't have enough experience with 3.3 to see if I would miss any features. Quite honestly, I feel a little sorry for DOS4.01. It gets a lot of flack from people who really don't use it. The kernal for 4.01 is only some 15k greater than the 3.3 kernal. With 3.3 and a few tsrs, you can get up to about 580k free. 4.01 has a few feature 3.3 doesn't such as the MEM command. >QEMM (and vram, which can be obtain from the same place as hram (yes, same >people wrote them)) can allow you to load device drivers and tsr's into >high memory (actually, not sure if it's vram or not, but it's in one of the >to packages. Just look for similiar names). This can sometimes free up a >significant amount of memory for dos apps. QEMM can give up to 590k free (600,000 or so bytes), and will not load the kernal into High Memory. It is a little testy, and creates a lot of problems >Of course, MS-DOS 5.0 is supposed to have some of these features, plus some. >Then again, it may just be vapor-ware. I have been looking at the Beta test version of MS DOS 5.0, and it gives some 639,500bytes free on the machine I looked at. Of course, this has to be a 386, and requires more than 1MB. DR DOS is out now legally, and works quite similar to DOS5. You might want to check it out. However, when DOS 5.00 comes out, I will buy and make my 386 happy. ./*-