TITLE: Configuration Optimization for 386, 486 Compu DOCUMENT ID: TID14911 DOCUMENT REVISION: 1 DATE: 25FEB94 ALERT STATUS: Yellow README FOR: NA NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION: Novell DOS 7 ABSTRACT: NA --------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: THE ORIGIN OF THIS INFORMATION MAY BE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL TO NOVELL. NOVELL MAKES EVERY EFFORT WITHIN ITS MEANS TO VERIFY THIS INFORMATION. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY. NOVELL MAKES NO EXPLICIT OR IMPLIED CLAIMS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS INFORMATION. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISSUE: These are some sample configuration files for 386sx, 386 and 486 computers. The following configurations offer basic guidelines to give the user ideas on what can be done with Novell DOS 7. Proper configurations vary and are dependent on the computer hardware and software. 386 and 486-Based Computers with 1 MB of RAM CONFIG.SYS SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /E:512 /P BREAK=ON BUFFERS=20 FILES=30 FCBS=4,4 FASTOPEN=256 HISTORY=ON, 256, ON DEVICE=C:\NWDOS\HIMEM.SYS DOS=HIGH AUTOEXEC.BAT @ECHO OFF :NWDOSBEG PATH C:\;C:\NWDOS;C:\NWDOS\NWCLIENT VERIFY OFF PROMPT [NWDOS] $P$G ?"Load Personal NetWare (Y/N)?" call STARTNET.BAT ?"Enable DelWatch TSR (Y/N)?" DELWATCH C: /F:200 :NWDOSEND This configuration will allow a 386 or 486 based computer to relocate the operating system into High Memory (HMA). IMPORTANT: EMM386.EXE can be used on some 1 MB systems; however, the majority of these computers will not have extended memory, which is required by EMM386 to create Upper Memory. HIMEM.SYS is used instead because it does not create Upper Memory with the switches indicated in the example shown. How Upper Memory Is Created on a 386 Computer: In a 1 MB 286 computer, there is a break in RAM between A000 (640 KB decimal) and FFFF (1 MB decimal). The 384 KB above 640 KB actually begins at FFFF instead of at A000. In a 1 MB 386 computer, however, all RAM is contiguous from 0 to A000. Unfortunately, this additional 384 KB is usually reserved for the use of memory mapping support chips (ROM) and is not available as system RAM. The EMM386.EXE file goes through Upper Memory Addresses searching for ROMs, Shadows, or other devices. Then it determines how much free unused space exists between these used blocks of memory and remaps XMS memory to fill these spaces. In fact, the technical definition for the Upper Memory created by EMM386 is XMS-UMBs. This is also why a MEM /A report will indicate a reduced amount of available XMS when using EMM386 to create Upper Memory compared to when Upper Memory is not created (by adding a /W switch on EMM386). The missing amount has been used to create Upper Memory plus a small amount for overhead. Because of the need to remap XMS memory, it is not possible for EMM386.EXE to create Upper Memory on a 1 MB computer, because it has no extended memory. 386/486-Based Computers with Greater than 1 MB of RAM CONFIG.SYS SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /E:512 /P BREAK=ON BUFFERS=20 FILES=30 FCBS=4,4 FASTOPEN=256 HISTORY=ON, 256, ON DOS=HIGH,UMB DEVICE=C:\NWDOS\EMM386.EXE /F=NONE /R=AUTO DEVICE=C:\NWDOS\DPMS.EXE AUTOEXEC.BAT @ECHO OFF :NWDOSBEG PATH C:\;C:\NWDOS;C:\NWDOS\NWCLIENT VERIFY OFF PROMPT [NWDOS] $P$G ?"Load Personal NetWare (Y/N)?" call STARTNET.BAT ?"Enable DelWatch TSR (Y/N)?" DELWATCH C: /F:200 :NWDOSEND This configuration will allow a 386 or 486 based computer to relocate the operating system into High Memory. With an average of 120 KB of RAM in Upper Memory, the Personal NetWare drivers will be able to fit into Upper Memory. 386/486-Based Computers with Greater Than 1 MB of RAM Running Task Manager CONFIG.SYS SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /E:512 /P BREAK=ON BUFFERS=20 FILES=30 FCBS=4,4 FASTOPEN=256 HISTORY=ON, 256, ON DOS=UMB DEVICE=C:\NWDOS\EMM386.EXE /MULTI /F=NONE /R=AUTO AUTOEXEC.BAT @ECHO OFF :NWDOSBEG PATH C:\;C:\NWDOS;C:\NWDOS\NWCLIENT VERIFY OFF PROMPT [NWDOS] $P$G SHARE /L:20 ?"Load Personal NetWare (Y/N)?" call STARTNET.BAT ?"Enable DelWatch TSR (Y/N)?" DELWATCH C: /F:200 ?"Load the Multitasker (Y/N)?" TASKMGR :NWDOSEND This minimal configuration will allow a 386 or 486 based computer to relocate the operating system into Upper Memory with DOS=UMB. Loading the operating system into upper memory rather than into HMA will leave the maximum amount of XMS memory available for TASKMGR. With an average of 120 KB of usable RAM in Upper Memory, network drivers can also be loaded into Upper Memory. If desired, the drivers in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file can be loaded from the command line (such as SHARE, TASKMGR, STARTNET.BAT). TASKMGR.EXE is the built-in multitasker and task switcher, which will allow the user to run multiple applications simultaneously, or swap tasks. The number of applications able to be loaded at one time under the multitasker will vary depending on the application sizes and the amount of total memory on the computer. For the multitasker to be loaded, the /MULTI switch must be added to the EMM386.EXE line in the CONFIG.SYS file. Windows Enhanced Mode Configuration for 386/486 Based Computers 4 MB or Better Running Windows CONFIG.SYS SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /E:512 /P BREAK=ON BUFFERS=8 FILES=30 FCBS=4,4 FASTOPEN=0 HISTORY=ON, 256, ON DOS=HIGH,UMB DEVICE=C:\NWDOS\EMM386.EXE /F=NONE /R=AUTO AUTOEXEC.BAT @ECHO OFF :NWDOSBEG PATH C:\;C:\NWDOS;C:\NWDOS\NWCLIENT;C;\WINDOWS VERIFY OFF PROMPT [NWDOS] $P$G LH C:\NWDOS\NWCACHE 3712 1024 /LEND=ON /DELAY=ON ?"Load Personal NetWare (Y/N)?" call STARTNET.BAT ?"Enable DelWatch TSR (Y/N)?" DELWATCH C: /F:200 :NWDOSEND This basic configuration allows a 386 or 486 based computer to run Windows 3.0 or 3.1 in Enhanced Mode. The operating system is being relocated to the HMA (DOS=HIGH), and the information in the video and system BIOS ROMs is being shadowed from ROM to faster RAM (/R=AUTO). NWCACHE is will have a minimum size of 1 MB (1024), a maximum size of 3 MB (3072), and will use Extended Memory created by EMM386.EXE. The EMM386.EXE driver creates an average of 120 KB of RAM that can be used to relocate network drivers, TSRs, and other drivers into Upper Memory. NOTE: If the performance of Windows appears to be slow, the cache size may be too large for the number of applications being run in Windows. This reduces the XMS memory available to Windows. Windows may then need to use swap files. Even when NWCACHE is used, swapping applications to disk is slower than running from RAM. Try reducing the size of the cache to increase speed. Windows Enhanced Mode Configuration for 386/486 with 2 MB CONFIG.SYS SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /E:512 /P /ML BREAK=ON BUFFERS=20 FILES=30 FCBS=4,4 FASTOPEN=256 HISTORY=ON, 256, ON DOS=LOW DEVICE=C:\NWDOS\HIMEM.SYS AUTOEXEC.BAT @ECHO OFF :NWDOSBEG PATH C:\;C:\NWDOS;C:\NWDOS\NWCLIENT;C;WINDOWS VERIFY OFF PROMPT [NWDOS] $P$G ?"Load Personal NetWare (Y/N)?" call STARTNET.BAT ?"Enable DelWatch TSR (Y/N)?" DELWATCH C: /F:200 :NWDOSEND A 2 MB computer is the MINIMUM system for Windows in Enhanced Mode. System performance may be greatly reduced because Windows will need to use swap files and no cache can be used to help accelerate disk I/O. This configuration will allow a 386 or 486 computer with 2 MB of RAM to run Windows in the Enhanced Mode. Because Windows requires a minimum of 1 MB of available XMS memory, this configuration does not use the HMA. The SHELL statement has the switch /ML to force it into Conventional Memory. HIMEM.SYS is used to create XMS memory. The statement BUFFERS (Upper Memory) is used instead of HIBUFFERS (HMA). Finally, because Windows needs all the XMS memory available NWCACHE is not used in this configuration. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Any trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. 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