                Windows 3.1x Setup/Config/Tweak Hints/Tips/Tricks

                                (My Win31 tips)



* IMPORTANT : BACKUP Win31's SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI files BEFORE ATEMPTING
              TO MAKE ANY CHANGES !
              ALSO BACKUP your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files BEFORE
              ATEMPTING TO MAKE ANY CHANGES !


MYTIPS31.TXT Topics Contents:

SET TEMP
LOCALLOADHIGH
MSD
LASTDRIVE
MEDIA PLAYER
CONTROL PANEL
DITCH DRVSPACE/DBLSPACE
WIN SWITCHES
WINDOWS SYSTEM
BLINK... NOT!




SET TEMP

If, for any reason, you decide to choose a different "temp" directory for
storing Windows 31 temporary files (i.e. let's say a RAM disk), you will
need to add these 2 lines to your CONFIG.SYS (or AUTOEXEC.BAT):
SET TMP=D:\TEMP
SET TEMP=D:\TEMP
considering D:\TEMP the new "temp" directory on your RAM drive, created
by loading this device driver in your CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICEHIGH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\RAMDRIVE.SYS <parameters>
To create the new directory D:\TEMP, add this as the last line to your
AUTOEXEC.BAT:
MD D:\TEMP
Then delete the Win31 default "temp" directory: C:\WINDOWS\TEMP (and if
there are SET TEMP= or/and SET TMP= lines in autoexec.bat you'll have to
remove/remark them, too). Reboot.
NOTE: For RAMDRIVE.SYS complete refference, run "HELP RAMDRIVE.SYS" from a
      DOS prompt.


LOCALLOADHIGH

For maximum DOS memory in a Windows DOS session, add/modify the line:
LocalLoadHigh=1
to the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI, found in your Windows directory
(default is \WINDOWS). This will give you an extra 2-8KB (or more,
depending on your system configuration) of conventional (low) memory in a
DOS session.
Default Windows setting in SYSTEM.INI is: LocalLoadHigh=0.
If you run the DOS mode TSRs/drivers/devices loaded high in your CONFIG.SYS
and AUTOEXEC.BAT files (loaded with "DEVICEHIGH" and "LH" by EMM386.EXE),
and have a memory configuration (on bootup, before launching Windows) of
less than 16KB of free upper RAM (the Upper Memory Area: UMA, is the first
384KB of memory above the 640KB boundary), make sure to remove the following
line, or better, remark it with a semicolon (;), in the [386enh] section
of your SYSTEM.INI file, located typicaly in C:\WINDOWS, like this:
; LocalLoadHigh=1
If this line has a numeric value of "1", you won't be able to start Windows
with less than 4KB of free upper memory.
This applies to Windows 3.1x 386 enhanced mode only.


MSD

MSD.EXE is the MS-DOS based MicroSoft Diagnostics utility, that you might
need one day (hope not...), to run to see how your System, Memory, Devices,
TSRs, Video, Mouse, Disks, Ports, etc. are configured and if there is any
hardware conflict.
The MSD.EXE file is located in your \DOS directory (MS-DOS 6.xx users).
Type:
MSD
and press Enter, from a DOS prompt (try first to run MSD from outside
Win31).
Play around with the screens, and if you want, you can save a full report
of your system configuration.


LASTDRIVE

If you are not connected to/using a network, you lose a few hundreds
bytes of low or upper memory, because you probably have a total of 3 to
9 drives on your system (about 7 if you use a disk compression utility,
like MS-DOS's Drvspace or Dblspace).
Every additional drive letter mentioned by the LASTDRIVE= statement in
your CONFIG.SYS file, takes up 96 bytes of memory.
If you use Drvspace/Dblspace/Stacker, add/change the LASTDRIVE= line
to read:
LASTDRIVE=H
If you don't use any disk doubler/compression utility, change to:
LASTDRIVE=D
if you have 1 hard disk, and 1 CD-ROM drive installed.
If you have 1 hard disk and 2 CD-ROM drives, set:
LASTDRIVE=E
If you have 2 hard disks and 2 CD-ROM drives, set:
LASTDRIVE=F
NOTE: Before making any changes to your system files, back them up:
      AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS (located in C:\ root).
From a DOS prompt, run:
MEM /C /P
and write down how much conventional/upper memory you have.
Then open CONFIG.SYS with Notepad, put LASTDRIVE= as one of the first
lines, save changes, and reboot.
Go to that MS-DOS prompt again, and run:
MEM /C /P
See if you gained any amount of upper or/and conventional memory.


MEDIA PLAYER

Undocumented! You can configure Media Player (MPLAYER.EXE, installed in
\WINDOWS by default) to open, play once, and then close any of the media
clip files (AVI, FLI, FLC, MID, RMI, WAV, MPG, MPE, MVB, MOV, etc.).
Run REGEDIT /V from Program Manager's command line, and scroll down into
the REG.DAT's window until you find the files associated with MPLAYER.EXE.
In the top edit box, type a space after "C:\WINDOWS\Mplayer.exe", and then
type "/play /close". The text in the box should look like this (skip the
quotes-unquotes):
C:\WINDOWS\Mplayer.exe /play /close
Save changes.
You can repeat this operation with all media clip files listed above.
From now on, when you double-click a MID or RMI file, Mplayer will play
the file once, and then exit, without prompting you for action, or
waiting for you to manually click all the necessary buttons. This is
also useful for previewing new media files. Enjoy!
NOTE: You need to have the proper MCI (Media Control Interface) drivers
installed to have media clip files associated with Media Player!
To see a list of all MCI drivers installed, open your SYTEM.INI file
(located in \WINDOWS) with Notepad, and scroll down to the [mci] section.
It should look something like this:
[mci]
waveaudio=mciwave.drv 9
sequencer=mciseq.drv
AVIVideo=mciavi.drv
animation1=mciaap.drv
cdaudio=mcicda.drv
QTWVideo=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MCIQTW.DRV
MpegVideo=c:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\softpeg.drv
MpegVideoCD=c:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\softpeg.drv CDI
Depends on what MCI devices are installed on your system, to have similar
or different entries.


CONTROL PANEL

In File Manager, associate the .CPL files located in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM
directory with CONTROL.EXE, located in \WINDOWS.
From now on, when you double-click on any CPL file, it opens that Control
Panel's specific applet screen.


DITCH DRVSPACE/DBLSPACE

If you don't use (and I strongly recomend NOT TO) Drvspace, the disk
compression utility that comes with MS-DOS 6.22, it's good to free some
disk space and delete all Drvspace related files. In File Manager, start
a file search, begining with the root directory (default is C:\) for
DRVSPACE files. Type in the search box: DRVSPAC*.* and click OK. You will
get a list of all Drvspace files (with the following extensions: .BIN,
.EXE, .HLP, .INI, SYS, etc...). Highlight all these files and delete
them. Don't worry about making backup copies, you can always find them
on your MS-DOS 6.xx install floppy disks.
If you are running MS-DOS 6.00, you want to delete the DBLSPACE.* files
instead.
Some of these files might not show in the Find windows, because you need
to set Explorer (or File Manager) to display ALL FILES INCLUDING HIDDEN
FILES.
If you ARE using Drvspace, DO NOT DELETE ANY DRVSPACE FILES YET!
Better, upgrade your hard disk, (a 1GB hard drive sells now for under
$200). To be able to delete the files, UNINSTALL Drvspace first, and
then delete all related files.
Drvspace only slows down your system (and it's not 100% safe), and of
course, is a temporary solution for getting extra disk space. You'll
end up looking for another hard drive some day, anyway.


WIN SWITCHES

When you run WIN /? from a DOS prompt, you get this screen:
Starts Windows for Workgroups 3.11.  (... or Windows 3.1.)
WIN [/B] [/N] [/D:[C][F][S][V][X]]
/B    Creates a file, BOOTLOG.TXT, that records system messages generated
      during system startup (boot).
/N    Causes Windows not to load network drivers.
/D:   Used in combination with one or more of the following switches for
      troubleshooting when Windows does not start correctly.
   C  Turns off 32-bit file access.
   F  Turns off 32-bit disk access.
      Equivalent to SYSTEM.INI file setting: 32BitDiskAccess=FALSE.
   S  Specifies that Windows should not use ROM address space between
      F000:0000 and 1 MB for a break point.
      Equivalent to SYSTEM.INI file setting: SystemROMBreakPoint=FALSE.
   V  Specifies that the ROM routine will handle interrupts from the hard
      disk controller.
      Equivalent to SYSTEM.INI file setting: VirtualHDIRQ=FALSE.
   X  Excludes all of the adapter area from the range of memory that Windows
      scans to find unused space.
      Equivalent to SYSTEM.INI file setting: EMMExclude=A000-FFFF.
These switches are meant to provide you with options for starting Win31 in
special modes, if you are having problems running, and/or loading Win31 on
your system. Example:
WIN /D:F
to turn off the 32-bit disk access.
Hope you never have to use them...


WINDOWS SYSTEM

SYSTEM.INI is a text file located in \WINDOWS.
Helpful lines to add/modify to the [386enh] section of SYSTEM.INI (Windows
3.1x and Windows for Workgroups 3.1x):
MaxBPs=768  => maximum number of break points used by Win31's virtual
               memory manager
EMMExclude=A000-FFFF  => not to allow Windows to search for unused RAM
                         in the upper memory area (UMA): safer on some
                         systems
DualDisplay=on  => to make use of the B000-B7FF upper memory area on VGA
                   monitors, if not using a secondary display
DMABufferSize=64  => to let your 16bit sound card have enough room to play
                     music (MID, RMI, MOD) files (16bit DMA channel HI-FI
                     buffer)
PageBuffers=32  => for better hard disk buffered operations
SyncTime=on  => MUST have this line if TrapTimerPorts=off
TrapTimerPorts=off  => might help running time sensitive programs/games
                       better (that rely on the computer's timer) in Win31
InitPS2MouseAtExit=off  => saves a few miliseconds upon exiting Win31 (not
                           looking for a PS/2 style mouse on exit)
UniqueDOSPSP=TRUE  => to start every application at a unique address in
                      memory (especially if using some networks)
IRQ9Global=on  => use this line if your system hangs when reading from your
                  floppy drive(s)
COMBoostTime=1  => decrease character download time with high speed
                   communication software (increase it if you are loosing
                   characters during modem high speed transfers)
COM2Buffer=1024  => your fast modem port (at least 9600bps)
COM2FIFO=1  => if your modem is hooked to COM2 with a 16550AxN UART
VGAMonoText=off  => to allow Win31 to use the B000-B7FF area if not used
                    by other hardware devices/applications
32BitDiskAccess=on => turn on 32 bit disk access in Windows 3.1x/WfWG 3.1x
FileSysChange=off  => not to update files in DOS mode (speeds things up
                      in DOS windows)
Some of these parameters can be loaded at Windows startup, as command
line parameters. To see which ones suit you, run:
WIN /?
at DOS prompt (outside Windows).
NOTE: If you don't know what these lines do, YOU MUST READ MS-DOS and
      Windows help and documentation files and manuals BEFORE altering
      your configuration files and beware that if you type in the wrong
      things you can damage the data on your hard disk and / or have
      unexpected machine hangups !!!
      Win31 afficionados may want to purchase Microsoft's "Windows 3.1"
      or "Windows for WorkGroups 3.11 Resource Kit" for more info on
      tweaking Win31 startup files (sells for 19 bucks or less).


BLINK... NOT!

Undocumented! To change the cursor blinking rate to NON-BLINKING in Win31,
all you need is modify the following line in the [windows] section of your
WIN.INI file, located by in the \WINDOWS directory, to read:
CursorBlinkRate=-1