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- From: sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu (Timothy F. Sipples)
- Subject: Re: Paradise drivers, HD slowdown...
- Message-ID: <1992Nov16.175135.20392@midway.uchicago.edu>
- Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System)
- Reply-To: sip1@midway.uchicago.edu
- Organization: Dept. of Econ., Univ. of Chicago
- References: <1992Nov15.151652.1235@gossip.urich.edu>
- Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 17:51:35 GMT
- Lines: 76
-
- In article <1992Nov15.151652.1235@gossip.urich.edu> millerric@urvax.urich.edu writes:
- > I just found this list, and I have a few questions.
- > I'm using a Dell Precision 486SX/25 with 8MB RAM and a 120-meg HD with
- >roughly 5 MB free. My video card is a Paradise with a full meg installed.
- > Any reason I get worse performance under OS/2 than under
- > Windows?
-
- Yes. Your hard drive is too full. Why are you running at 96%
- capacity? Get rid of something. Your hard drive is going to be
- whirring away trying to cope with a hard disk that full, and OS/2
- won't be able to create much of a swap file. Try and free up 10 MB or
- more. (You can start with the OS/2 applets, if you like -- they
- aren't strictly necessary.)
-
- Alternatively, get ahold of DCF/2, the OS/2 on-the-fly disk
- compression software, to rescue some space. For information on that
- package see the file dcf2info.txt, available via anonymous ftp from
- ftp-os2.nmsu.edu, directory /pub/os2/2.0/info.
-
- > I've installed OS/2 onto my DOS machine so that Dual Boot is enabled.
- >I know this nixes HPFS, but I wanted to save my Windows installation. Good
- >thing too, because as is, I have no SVGA support under OS/2, and my Windows
- >apps (forced to run under WINOS2 v3.0 >:-( ) are sluggish and take forever to
- >load (not to mention being forced to convert all my hard-won fonts to ATM
- >format). The DOS boxes are nowhere near as speedy as I was led to believe
- >(Wing Commander II barely moves...) and despite all the expensive (well, sorta)
- >RAM I added (SIMMs, by the bye, are a bear to install in a Precision; you hafta
- >move the power source), I'm constantly getting SWAPPER.DAT errors because of my
- >limited HD space.
-
- Precisely. That's the problem.
-
- You can install Windows SuperVGA support just like you always did (by
- replacing the VGA.DRV file). See the OS/2 FAQ List for details.
-
- On your machine you can get an 800x600-16 color Workplace Shell
- desktop. Get the file vga800-1.zip, available via anonymous ftp from
- ftp-os2.nmsu.edu, directory /pub/uploads (but it could move).
-
- To speed up your Win-OS/2 sessions, follow the advice in the FAQ List.
- The slow down is only related to the need to reload the Win-OS/2 code.
- If you leave a Win-OS/2 desktop running, you can switch to it and
- start another Windows application from the Program Manager, if needed,
- in no time flat. The Win-OS/2 full screen settings can also be
- optimized to get better performance: try IDLE_SENSITIVITY set to 100,
- VIDEO_RETRACE_EMULATION off, and EMS zero/disabled and XMS to 64K.
- (It couldn't hurt to increase DPMI to about 3 or 4 MB.)
-
- Finally, it also wouldn't hurt to defragment your hard disk. Again,
- see the FAQ List for some advice there (and run a CHKDSK /F from an
- OS/2 floppy boot afterwards, just to be safe; better yet, enable
- autochecking before you go and defragment).
-
- > Help me out, here. First, is the WINOS231 beta any good? Second, why
- >does my HD take so long to get anything onscreen? Third, are there any
- >Paradise SVGA drivers out there? Fourth, how can I get my Windoze apps to
- >perform up to snuff?
-
- See above on the last few questions. The Win-OS/2 3.1 beta, according
- to reports, is very good indeed -- most people seem to say that it
- outperforms Windows 3.1 itself. Wait for the real update, though,
- which should be late this year or early next. In the meantime, I
- think you'll be much happier with the suggestions I've made above.
-
- > Thanks for the shoulder, but I want OS/2 to be the way to go and thus
- >far it's only been a pain.
- > Thanks and apologies of there are any FAQs here. I read them, up to
- >2.0g, and wasn't helped. (I may just be dain-bread).
-
- Hopefully my pointers will get you thinking again. :-)
-
- --
- Timothy F. Sipples | Read the OS/2 FAQ List 2.0g, available from
- sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu | 128.123.35.151, anonymous ftp, in /pub/os2/all/info
- Dept. of Econ., Univ. | /faq, or from LISTSERV@BLEKUL11.BITNET (send "HELP")
- of Chicago, 60637 | [Read the List, THEN post to ONE OS/2 newsgroup.]
-