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- MS-DOS 6 and Quarterdeck Products
-
-
- Quarterdeck Technical Note #166 Filename: MSDOS6.TEC
- by Bill Burge CompuServe: MSDOS6.ZIP
- Last revised: 11/1/93 Category: SW3
-
- Subject: A discussion of MS-DOS version 6.0 and Quarterdeck products.
-
- Q. Is MS-DOS 6 compatible with QEMM?
-
- A. Absolutely! The Microsoft DOS 6 README.TXT file states that
- "Quarterdeck's QEMM memory manager is compatible with MS-DOS
- 6." In addition, there are no known incompatibilities between
- MS DOS 6.0 and Quarterdeck's DESQview or DESQview/X
- multitaskers.
-
- Q. As a QEMM user, what information do I need to install DOS 6?
-
- A. As a QEMM user, the most important information that you can
- take with you in the installation and configuration of
- Microsoft DOS 6 is the knowledge that you are already running
- the most effective memory management system available for the
- IBM-compatible computer. If you are already using QEMM, follow
- these steps:
-
- 1) Run the SETUP program from the DOS 6 installation diskette
- and follow the instructions on the screen.
-
- 2) Install any of the new DOS 6 utilities that you desire. DOS
- 6 provides you the opportunity to add virus protection and
- other utilities to your system. Remember: the default
- installation of DOS 6 installs only the MS Windows versions
- of these utilities; you have to tell it to install the DOS
- versions as well. This is done on the Utilities screen of
- the SETUP process.
-
- 3) Run QEMM's OPTIMIZE to load those drivers into Upper Memory.
-
- If you should desire to experiment with Microsoft DOS 6's
- MemMaker (the program that attempts to provide more memory),
- we can recommend a couple of safeguards. MemMaker will
- remove ALL the QEMM commands from your CONFIG.SYS and
- AUTOEXEC.BAT files (with the exception of DOSDATA.SYS and
- DOS-UP.SYS, which you would have to remove manually). We
- are confident that you will want to return to Quarterdeck's
- QEMM, so we urge you to save a copy of your CONFIG.SYS and
- AUTOEXEC.BAT files. Before you begin to experiment, copy
- these files from the root directory to some other directory
- or to a floppy diskette. This will allow you to restore them
- easily.
-
- Our customers have reported problems related to running
- MemMaker on multi-path CONFIG.SYS files. Unlike QEMM's
- OPTIMIZE and QSETUP programs, MemMaker does not offer a
- multi-CONFIG menu.
-
- Next, be aware that even if you save the configuration
- created by MemMaker, you can usually reverse its changes by
- running MEMMAKER /UNDO. If the final screen of the MemMaker
- process is NOT a numerical breakdown of how MemMaker got you
- more memory (and every test that we have run says it will
- not be), select the default exit by pressing the <ENTER>
- key. Do NOT press F3 to save the current MemMaker
- configuration.
-
- Note that MemMaker does NOT handle CALLed batch files. A
- CALLed batch file is executed with the DOS keyword "CALL"
- which tells DOS to execute the commands in the "CALLed"
- batch file and then resume executing the remaining commands
- in the current batch file (the AUTOEXEC.BAT in this case).
- The significance of this is that Quarterdeck's Optimize
- process DOES handle CALLed batch files, loading any TSR's in
- those batch files into Upper Memory instead of just ignoring
- them. This means that when MemMaker deletes the QEMM
- commands from the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS, it leaves
- them in the Optimized, CALLed batch files. These would have
- to be removed by editing the CALLed batch files and deleting
- the LOADHI information. If NO changes have been made since
- the last time that you Optimized your system, you could also
- run UNOPT.BAT. UNOPT is a batch file, created by Optimize,
- that returns your system to the condition it was in before
- the most recent Optimize. If you have Optimized more than
- once, use the OPTIMIZE /RESTORE parameter instead; this
- allows you to restore any of your last nine configurations,
- or the pre-QEMM configuration.
-
- With the greater selection of features in QEMM and Optimize,
- MemMaker does not stand a chance of creating more upper
- memory. QEMM's Stealth ROM feature adds 96K of Upper Memory,
- 64K more than MemMaker's best attempt to find unused space
- in your System BIOS. Optimize has the ability, through
- Quarterdeck's Squeeze technology, to shoehorn TSR's and
- device drivers into areas that are large enough for them to
- reside, but too small for them to initialize. (It is common
- for drivers and resident programs to require larger areas
- during initialization than they need once they have loaded.)
- Optimize has a "What-If" feature that lets you see the
- effect that rearranging the loading order of your programs
- and drivers will have on your memory usage WITHOUT making
- any changes to your configuration. None of this is possible
- with MemMaker.
-
- Q. Are any of my Quarterdeck products affected by DoubleSpace (or
- DriveSpace)?
-
- A. The most talked-about feature of Microsoft DOS 6 is its disk
- compression -- DriveSpace in DOS 6.22; DoubleSpace in earlier
- releases of DOS 6. Both DoubleSpace and DriveSpace were
- designed to be compatible with QEMM. Disk compression
- utilities, including Stacker, XtraDrive, and now DoubleSpace,
- have gone to great lengths to be compatible with Stealth ROM as
- well as Optimize.
-
- (In the following paragraphs, DBLSPACE is used to refer to
- DBLSPACE or DRVSPACE.) DBLSPACE.BIN is a driver that allows
- your system to recognize your DoubleSpace drive. It is loaded
- by IO.SYS during boot time, BEFORE DOS has even thought about
- loading QEMM. DBLSPACE.BIN uses about 43K of your memory, and
- when the CONFIG.SYS has completed, the memory used by the
- resident portion of DBLSPACE.BIN appears to be added to the
- memory used by the LAST driver loaded in the CONFIG.SYS. In
- other words, the last driver loaded appears to be 43K larger
- than it actually is. When you install DoubleSpace, the
- following line is added to your CONFIG.SYS file:
-
- DEVICE=C:\DOS\DBLSPACE.SYS /MOVE
-
- DBLSPACE.SYS has only one purpose, and that is to make
- DBLSPACE.BIN appear as a "real" driver, separate in memory.
- DoubleSpace REQUIRES that DBLSPACE.SYS be loaded in order for
- any memory manager to load DBLSPACE.BIN into upper memory.
-
- QEMM includes a feature called "Stealth D*Space," which
- moves the DoubleSpace driver out of conventional or upper
- memory and maps it into the expanded memory Page Frame whenever
- it is needed. By using Stealth DoubleSpace you save
- approximately 41K of memory. If DoubleSpace is installed on
- your system when you install QEMM, the following line will be
- added to your CONFIG.SYS file:
-
- DEVICE=C:\QEMM\ST-DSPC.SYS
-
- If you install DoubleSpace AFTER installing QEMM, you should
- run QEMM's QSETUP program (by typing QSETUP at the DOS prompt).
- QSETUP will remove the DBLSPACE.SYS line in your CONFIG.SYS and
- replace it with the ST-DSPC.SYS line shown above.
-
- The Stealth D*Space feature, like the Stealth ROM feature,
- requires the presence of an EMS page frame. If you have used
- QEMM386.SYS's FRAME=NONE; FRAMELENGTH=0, 1, 2 or 3; or EMS:N
- parameter to eliminate the page frame, the ST-DSPC.SYS program
- will act exactly like the DOS 6 driver DBLSPACE.SYS with its
- /MOVE parameter: in other words, it will move DBLSPACE.BIN from
- the top of conventional memory to low conventional memory. If
- you choose to leave ST-DSPC .SYS in your CONFIG.SYS file
- without a page frame, you can use O ptimize to load the
- DoubleSpace driver into High RAM, just as you could with
- DBLSPACE.SYS /MOVE.
-
- Q. How can I restore my QEMM configuration after MemMaker has
- removed QEMM from my CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files? REMOVED
- QEMM FROM MY CONFIG.SYS AND AUTOEXEC.BAT FILES?
-
- A. The steps that you must follow in order to return to QEMM after
- running MemMaker depend on whether you have:
-
- 1. Not yet completed MemMaker; OR
- 2. Have completed MemMaker.
-
- For the Number 1's who have not yet completed MemMaker:
-
- When MemMaker completes and DOES NOT provide a better
- configuration than the one you already had, it will tell you
- "Your computer's memory was optimally configured before you ran
- MemMaker". At this juncture you can press <ENTER> to restore
- your original configuration or F3 to save the MemMaker
- configuration. Your choice at this time will be <ENTER>. Your
- existing QEMM configuration will be restored.
-
- For the Number 2's who have completed MemMaker:
-
- Since you have completed the MemMaker process, it has probably
- become evident to you that nothing provides more upper memory
- for loading your TSR's and device drivers than QEMM. Just type
- QSETUP from the DOS prompt. QEMM's QSETUP program will remove
- HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE from your CONFIG.SYS file and replace
- them with a QEMM386.SYS device line. From the QSETUP menu you
- can also enable other options (such as QDPMI and DOS-UP.) Once
- QSETUP has enabled the options you choose, run QEMM's Optimize
- program to load your device drivers and TSR's into upper
- memory. That is all there is to it.
-
- Q. MemMaker does not support multi-path CONFIG.SYS files. Does
- QEMM support this DOS 6 feature?
-
- A. Yes -- much better than DOS 6's memory management programs.
-
- DOS 6 provides the ability to build menus of configurations in
- the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. This is accomplished by
- building "blocks" in the CONFIG.SYS, and having the name of the
- block selection that you make on boot passed to the
- AUTOEXEC.BAT as an environment variable -%config%. The use of
- the environment variable, for IF's and GOTO's, will then
- process a particular portion of the AUTOEXEC.BAT file that is
- appropriate to that portion of the CONFIG.SYS.
-
- Multiple configurations (as implemented via the CONFIG.SYS
- blocks) have to be MemMakered one configuration at a time. The
- DOS 6 documentation discusses the process of converting your
- CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT into multiple copies and then
- MemMakering them one at a time. Microsoft warns users to avoid
- [common] blocks and "first entries" in the AUTOEXEC.BAT.
-
- If you are using QEMM however, you will find the process of
- Optimizing a multi-config system much easier than with
- MemMaker. QEMM's Optimize program handles multiple
- configurations with ease. When you run Optimize, it will
- detect any multiple configurations you have set up and will
- post a message prompting you to choose the CONFIG.SYS
- configuration you want to Optimize. (If Optimize is launched
- automatically by the Install program or by QEMM Setup, these
- programs will also detect multiple configurations and pass the
- information along to the Optimize program.) Optimize will then
- execute normally, booting the system with the configuration
- that you have chosen.
-
- When you are not using multiple configurations, Optimize places
- the /R:n (REGION:n) parameter on lines that load TSRs and
- device drivers to specify which High RAM region the driver or
- TSR will load into. When you are using multiple
- configurations, instead of placing /R:n parameters on the
- QEMM386.SYS and LOADHI lines, Optimize will place /RF
- (/RESPONSEFILE) parameters. The /R:n parameters would not work
- in a multiple configuration situation, because a program might
- be part of two or more CONFIG.SYS configurations, each
- requiring a different region number.
-
- The /RF parameter gets around this problem by directing
- QEMM386.SYS and the LOADHI programs to look in a resource file
- called LOADHI.RF that Optimize has created in the \QEMM
- directory. (Optimize places a LOADHIDATA environment variable
- in the CONFIG.SYS file that tells QEMM386.SYS and the LOADHI
- programs the name and location of this resource file.)
- LOADHI.RF will contain several "config blocks," each
- corresponding to a CONFIG.SYS configuration and containing the
- appropriate /R:n statements for that configuration. QEMM386.SYS
- and the LOADHI programs check the current CONFIG environment
- variable (created at boot time by DOS 6 to indicate which
- CONFIG.SYS configuration is being used), and then choose the
- appropriate config block to get information about what High RAM
- region they should use to load high.
-
- Here is an example of a resource file:
-
- [Vanilla]
- QEMM386.SYS /R:1
- C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE /R:1
- C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /R:1
-
- [Development]
- QEMM386.SYS /R:1
- C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE /R:1
- C:\QEMM\QDPMI.SYS /R:1
- C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /R:1
-
- [Full]
- QEMM386.SYS /R:2
- C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE /R:3
- C:\QEMM\QDPMI.SYS /R:3
- C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /R:2
- C:\PCKWIK\SUPERPCK.EXE /R:2
- C:\NET\IPX.COM /R:1
- C:\NET\EMSNETX.COM /R:2
-
- [All Others]
- QEMM386.SYS /R:1
- C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE /R:1
- C:\QEMM\QDPMI.SYS /R:1
- C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /R:1
- C:\PCKWIK\SUPERPCK.EXE /R:2
-
- In this example, the blocks named Vanilla, Development, and
- Full will be used only when you choose their names off the menu
- that DOS 6 offers when you boot with multiple configurations.
- The All Others section will be used only if none of the blocks
- before it were chosen. If you place a line before the first
- block, it will be used no matter what configuration name you
- choose.
-
- This file format is also supported by QEMM's parameter files
- (see Chapter 7 of the QEMM manual for information) and by the
- DOS-Up resource file DOS-UP.DAT, which the driver DOS-UP.SYS
- uses to determine where different parts of DOS go in High RAM.
- Normally, you do not need to edit these files yourself.
- Optimize creates and maintain the files.
-
-
- Q. What else is Quarterdeck doing for DOS?
-
- A. Quarterdeck's commitment to adding functionality to DOS and
- DOS-based programs has kept our products at the forefront of
- memory management and multitasking technology. With each new
- version of DOS comes an opportunity for Quarterdeck to design
- new features and offer the DOS user an even greater
- implementation of the world's most widely used operating
- system. Quarterdeck intends to continue this pattern.
-
- ******************************************************************
- * Trademarks are property of their respective owners. *
- * This and other technical notes may be available in updated *
- * forms through Quarterdeck's standard support channels. *
- * Copyright (C) 1995 Quarterdeck Corporation *
- ******************** E N D O F F I L E ***********************
-
-