wpw_w32_misc_95.html

VC programing

>@#&%.  I used Stacker for quite some time, but it seems the life of that
>product is about to be cut short by Win95.  I recently changed my drives
>back to vanilla FAT drives, and with 32k clusters it's a major pain.

>Now, I tried WinNT and LOVED the 4k clusters.  It also had integrated,
>real time compression.  WOW!  Of course, in true MS fashion, they didn't
>tell you how SLOOOOOOOOW it is.  

Well, in NT 3.5.1 you can select which subdirs to compress. This helps a lot.

>So here I am, torn between 3 operating systems, feeling like a fool...
>(sorry, spent too much time listening to music in the 70's...) and
>wondering why we programmers can't just tell the users to go back to plain
>ole DOS...

>I'm more than ready to embrase a new operating system if I can get
>everything to perform with some semblance of solidity.  

>So, anyway, I guess what I'd like to know is a) is there any way to speed
>up NT HPFS,
See above.
 b) Does Win95 have anything to help with compression or an
>alternative to 32k clusters

yes. Look for "Drivespace". It isn't compatible with NT, however.

, and c) what's the best environment to develop
>32-bit AND 16-bit software?

NT is by far the most stable environment for development. But keep a
DOS configuration (use dual-boot) to make sure that your programs
really runs under 16 bit.

If you have the HD space to spare, also have a Win95 partition - this
will help you ensure that your 32 bit apps really runs under Win95.

>Ryan

>PS  Did I mention, whatever operating system I use has to also be
>compatible with Watcom C++...  Well, I did now...

Well, I don't know Watcom C++ so I can't guarantee anything on that account.


-- 
   Niels Ull Jacobsen, Dep. of CS, U of Copenhagen ([e-mail])
   Roenne Alle 3 st.th, 2860 Soeborg, Denmark, tel. [phone]
<HR>
In article <3u14rg$[e-mail]>
           [e-mail] "GameWriter" writes:

>Okeedokee.  I'm certain by now that many of you gurus have had ample
>opportunity to test Windows NT and Win '95.  I have had (some) experience
>with both, and have reservations and problems with BOTH systems.  Perhaps
>someone else has had the same problems.... anyway...
>
>I want to use VC++ 2.0.  I am told that I can use VC++2.0 with both Win95
>and WinNT.  Is that correct?  

Yes.

>Also, I have become accustomed to not having to deal with the FAT cluster
>@#&%.  I used Stacker for quite some time, but it seems the life of that
>product is about to be cut short by Win95.  I recently changed my drives
>back to vanilla FAT drives, and with 32k clusters it's a major pain.
>
>Now, I tried WinNT and LOVED the 4k clusters.  It also had integrated,
>real time compression.  WOW!  Of course, in true MS fashion, they didn't
>tell you how SLOOOOOOOOW it is.  

Slow? NT definitely isn't slow on my machine (486/66 with 32MB RAM).
How much memory have you got? The more memory you give NT, the faster and
the better it gets!

>I'm more than ready to embrase a new operating system if I can get
>everything to perform with some semblance of solidity.  
>
>So, anyway, I guess what I'd like to know is a) is there any way to speed
>up NT HPFS, b) Does Win95 have anything to help with compression or an
>alternative to 32k clusters, and c) what's the best environment to develop
>32-bit AND 16-bit software?

The best way to speed things up on NT is DEFINITELY to add more memory.
NT uses all free memory as a dynamic disk cache, and once VC++ stops
paging it runs a LOT faster. Also, use NTFS, not HPFS. HPFS is just
there for compatibility with OS/2; unless you're also running OS/2 on
the same machine NTFS is better in every way.

NT is a far better environment than Windows 95 for software development;
it's VERY stable and application crashes don't crash the operating
system. With Windows 95 you'll find yourself having to reboot frequently.

Chris
-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Chris Marriott, Warrington, UK      | Author of SkyMap v2 shareware    |
| [e-mail]            | astronomy program for Windows.   |
|      For more info, see http://www.winternet.com/~jasc/skymap.html     |
|      Author member of Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP)     |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
</PRE>

<HR><A NAME=WIN32_W95_BOOT_WIN31>
Return to <a href="wpw_w32_index.html#TOC">Table of Contents for this chapter</a><br>
<H4>Subject: Boot Win3.1 after Win95 is installed</H4><PRE>
In article <3u4ngt$[e-mail]>,
   [e-mail] (Rich Johns) wrote:
>I currently have win31 and would also like to have win95. I need both 
>because my app needs to run under both. What is the best way to make 
>this happen? 
>
>Should I partition my disk into a dos part(win31) and a win95 part? Is 
>this possible? wise?
>
>I believe I can run the app under win95 in a win31 window, right? I need 
>to make sure my app runs in this case. But, don't I also need to run it 
>under stand alone win31? In otherwords, running a win32s app under win95 
>in a win31 window doesn't guarantee that the app will run cleanly in 
>standalone win31, right? This means that I need both win31 and win95 and 
>since I have only one machine, I need a partition. Is this reasoning 
>correct?
>
>I'm hedging my bet. My app is geared toward win95, but if win95 is too 
>slow out of the gates, I need to be able to deliver under win31. Anyone 
>else in this boat? I'd love to hear about others experiences.

If you install Win95 to a different directory than the one Win3.1 is in, you 
can get to both.  One way is to boot into your old DOS (press F4 when it says 
'starting Windows 95', as long as you have the line 'BootMulti=1' in the 
'Options' section of you MSDOS.SYS file), then run win3.1 as usual.  Another 
way is to restart in MS-DOS mode, then run Win3.1 as usual (you probably will 
have to change to the Win3.1 directory to get the correct win.com trying to 
load).  You can go straight to MS-DOS mode by pressing F8 at boot-up and 
selecting it from the menu.

Steven M.

****************************************************************************
* Steven McCluney    | "Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords, *
* [e-mail] |  is no basis for a system of government!"           *
************************************************** Dennis, to King Arthur **
<HR>
On 14 Jul 1995 03:15:41 GMT, [e-mail] (Rich Johns) said in article <3u4ngt$[e-mail]>:
>I currently have win31 and would also like to have win95. I need both 
>because my app needs to run under both. What is the best way to make 
>this happen? 
>
>Should I partition my disk into a dos part(win31) and a win95 part? Is 
>this possible? wise?

I've done this, and haven't run into any major problems.  Keep in mind that 
Win95 is still a DOS + Windows, no matter what the magazines say.  What I 
did was to install Win95 on a separate drive, but my system still boots up 
with DOS 7.0 (the DOS that comes with Win95) in both setups.  I installed 
Win95 in a directory other than my Windows for Workgroups directory by 
using the DOS version of the Win95 setup.

In my config.sys, I made two configurations, one for Windows for Workgroups 
3.11 and Win95.  The reason for the difference is that the ifshlp.sys for 
each is incompatible with the other.  In your autoexec.bat, using the 
config environment variable, set up your path to search either one windows 
directory or the other.

You also must turn off 32 BFA in WFWG, otherwise DOS 7.0 chokes as you 
start it, because it wants to protect the long file names.  You must also 
use a temporary partition.  You may able to get around this by calling 
using the lock command before starting Windows for Workgroups.

That's about it to running both versions of Windows.  One neat trick, 
(which demonstrates the smoke and mirrors of Win95) it to create a batch 
file to run Windows 95 that calls "mode co80" for instance:

   cd d:\win95
   win
   mode co80

This way, when  you "Shutdown Windows", you are back at the DOS prompt
instead of the graphics screen that says "You may turn your computer off 
now."  Actually, you always have been at the DOS prompt, it's just not 
visible.

--
Robert Mashlan             R2M Software Company           Programmer for Hire
mailto:[e-mail]    http://www.csn.net/~rmashlan     PGP key available
Resources for Windows Developers    -     http://www.csn.net/~rmashlan/windev
Windows Developers FAQ    -    http://www.csn.net/~rmashlan/win-developer-FAQ
</PRE> 

</HTML>