November OS/2 Shareware

CONFIG.SYS Optimisers

Editing your CONFIG.SYS can improve your system performance out of site, but it doesn't have to be daunting either!

By Christopher Relf
Section Index
Products in this section:

Windows:  Boxer 99 8.0.0, WordTabs, Super Word Search 2.2, EditPro Suite 1.0.1, NoteTab Pro 4.6a

OS/2: CNFGINFO 4.0, Tyra/2 1.50, ConfigSort 2.1, ConfigMaint/2 1.00.

Mac: Web Devil 4.5, PhotoPage 1.2a1, Texture Magic 1.1.1, NetStatus Pro 1.2, StuffIt Expander 5.1.3 / DropStuff with Expander Enhancer 5.1.2, Installer Observer 2.3

Linux: Dynamic DNS utilities, Mesa, Blender, HylaFAX

Other Workshop Files: C++Workshop, Java files, OS/2 files

NB: Before you install a shareware program that you have downloaded from the Internet, you should always check the version information. Often you could be downloading an old version, with limited features, or even an experimental one that could crash your workstation. Generally, the first release version is v1.00 -- there may be versions before this one, but they are usually 'under construction' versions. When the author makes a minor improvement, the version number is incremented to the right of the decimal point (for example: v1.00 becomes v1.01), but when a major change occurs (a lot of extra functionality, or a new PM interface for example) the version number increments to the next whole integer (for example: v1.54 becomes v2.00). A word of warning: if the version number is suffixed with either a or b, beware! An alpha version (eg: v1.32a) is a rough version that's hardly been tested at all, and a beta version (eg: v2.46b) has been tested only at a base level, and has usually been released for others to test it in general use. If an alpha or beta falls over and you lose data, or even experience hardware damage, you have used the program at you own risk!

CNFGINFO 4.0
This is the final release of an OS/2 utility that has been around for a long time. Why the final release? Unfortunately, CNFGINFO refuses to run on partitions over 2Gb, so the new owner (sic) has decided to wind it up and start again (see ConfigMaint/2 below). CNFGINFO is a PM program that displays your CONFIG.SYS file in its main window, and then, as you select a line, displays a multitude of information regarding it in another window. Most of the information displayed has been suggested by a countless number of OS/2 users, so you're not just getting the programmer's advice. The description window not only explains each line in plain languague, but also how to optimise them, and, in individual instances, whether a line is neccessary at all. Every so often a new data file to update CNFGINFO 4.0 springs up on the net (the most recent being OS2CFG16.DAT) but their appearance is becoming less regular. Apparently the original programmer (Rick Meigs) no longer supports this great utility, so, since version 11, Klaus Staedtler has taken overthe role. Although there'll be now new releases of CNFGINFO its DAT files wil continue to be updated, even though they are a little scant on network and MMOS information. All over, a great utility that's been around for a long time - very comprehensive.
Download the version for your operating system here:

OS/2
Publisher: Rick Meigs
Price: Freeware
Requirements: OS/2 Warp, REXX installed, VROBJ.DLL installed in your \OD2\DLL directory
Install instructions: Download to your local drive, then unzip it and run the EXE file.
Links online:  http://www.buntspecht.de 
Rating:

 

Tyra/2 1.50
Tyra/2 is a user-friendly CONFIG.SYS file editor with a difference - it represents all of the statements in the file in a settings notebook that contains a combination of drop-down menus, tick boxes, radio buttons, and so on, so that you can manipulate them. You don't have to worry about correct spelling or what parameters are available for each statement. Every command that Tyra/2 supports includes help pages that describe the command and what parameters can be used with that particular entry. Thankfully, any changes you make are logged in a history file and, like other utilities we reviewed this month, Tyra/2 will sort your CONFIG.SYS statements into logical groups that you can understand.Tyra/2 will also edit some of your INI files - you don't even have to know which ones as it's all automatic. Just about every command is covered, and easily manipulated, however, there may be users out there that would like to tweak their systems a little more than Tyra/2 will allow.
Download the version for your operating system here:


OS/2
Publisher: Oliver Poggensee
Price: $US49 (lifetime updates), $US19 (one version only)
Requirements: OS/2 Warp
Install instructions: Download to your local drive, unzip it and run the EXE file.
Links online: http://www.online.de/home/os2 
Rating:

 

ConfigSort 2.1
We really like this one. The purpose of ConfigSort is not to assist you in optimising your system, but to make it more understandable. ConfigSort processes your CONFIG.SYS and re-organises it into something substantially more useful. The program sorts your system entries into sections, and gives you the option of organising additional entries into user-defined sections or simply incorporating into the default structure. Although quite powerful and user-definable, ConfigSort doesn't really do much else. It's best to use it in conjunction with one of the other utilities reviewed - apply ConfigSort, optimise your CONFIG.SYS file, and then apply ConfigSort again - it works!
Download the version for your operating system here:


OS/2
Publisher: Philip A. O'Malley
Price: Freeware
Requirements: OS/2, REXX installed, RXEXTRAS.DLL installed in your \OS2\DLL directory (included)
Install instructions: Download to your local drive, unzip it and run the EXE file.
Links online: phil.omalley@zetnet.co.uk 
Rating:

 

ConfigMaint/2 1.00
ConfigMaint/2 is the "new" CNFGINFO (reviewed above). Extremely similar to the original, the initial ConfigMaint/2 data file (CM2CFG.DAT) is based on OS2CFG11.DAT for ConfigInfo 4.0 by Rick Meigs. When launched, the program loads your CONFIG.SYS file into a window, and excerpts from the CM2CFG.DAT into another window. The selected line of your CONFIG.SYS is placed in another window still, ready for your editing. Once CM2.EXE has loaded both files, click on any CONFIG.SYS statement in its window, and, if available, a description of that item appears in the DAT window, along with tips, notes, warnings and other information about the line. You can even back up your CONFIG.SYS file using ConfigMaint/2 and alter the OS/2 Recovery Choices screen (that's the blue on that comes up when you press Alt+F2 when the OS/2 box appears at boot). Overall, ConfigMaint/2 was the most comprehensive CONFIG.SYS editor reviewed.
Download the version for your operating system here:


OS/2
Publisher: Kai Evers & Klaus Staedtler
Price: Freeware
Requirements: Warp 3 or above, REXX Installed
Install instructions: Download to your local drive, unzip it and run the EXE file.
Links online: http://www1.stuttgart.netsurf.de/~kevers/ 
Rating:

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