Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!umriscc!mcs213f.cs.umr.edu!mcastle From: mcastle@mcs213f.cs.umr.edu (Mike Castle {Nexus}) Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.apps Subject: Re: using share in dos4 Message-ID: <2247@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> Date: 24 Feb 91 05:49:38 GMT References: <4870@ruuinf.cs.ruu.nl> <12330@helios.TAMU.EDU> Sender: news@umriscc.isc.umr.edu Organization: University of Missouri - Rolla Lines: 77 In article <12330@helios.TAMU.EDU> jlr1801@aim1.tamu.edu (Jeff Rife) writes: >OK, now IGNORE THE MESSAGE. Straight from Microsoft technical support, as >I had a problem with SHARE.EXE conflicting with another program, there are >exactly two reasons to run SHARE. > > 1. An applications program (such as network stuff) explicitly states that > you MUST run it. MS Windows advises it, but you don't have to if you > don't try anything fancy, like editing the same file twice. > > 2. If you are creating files > 32 MB. The logic to handle these is in > SHARE. > >That's it. Don't run it. Remove it from your hard disk, and ignore the error >message. Not sound advice. What I'm about to write here is information I've obtained from reading (but not necessarily keeping) previous posts about SHARE. This really should be placed in a FAQ somewhere, as I see this same request about once a week (hi Timo! :-). I've no guarantee that this information is completely correct, but I hope it will get the point across as why to run SHARE. DOS 1.0 used File Control Blocks (FCBs) to do file accesses. Later versions used file handles, but supported FCBs to maintain the ubiquitous "Backwards Compatibility." However, since FCBs are supposedly faster than using file handles, some non "well behaved" DOS programs still use them (that is, programs written for DOS 2.0 or later cheat and use FCBs). Versions of DOS prior to 4.00 could only support disk partitions that are less than 32MB. Evidently DOS 4.00 can handle partitions of anysize. Now the problem comes in when you mix programs that use FCBs on a machine that has disks partitioned greater than 32MB. If you use FCBs to access data beyond the 32MB mark, they "wrap around" and trash you disk partition. Not good. One of SHARE's functions is to look out for that. I don't know how it handles such attempts (ie doing to task for the program, or just not allowing to program to do it), but it supposedly works. Moral: If you have a partition greater than 32MB, and you don't run SHARE, only you are to blame if a program using FCBs trashes you disk partition. Personally, I hate SHARE. I don't use it. I have my 40 Meg hard drive formatted as 1 partition. Yes, I live dangerously. However, I plan on repartioning my drive as soon as I get enough floppies to back up my drive (and the time to do it). The reason I hate SHARE is because it's a real pain. When you start a program, it checks the label on the disk and makes sure that the same disk is in the drive (floppy, of course) throughout the execution of the program. Guess what happens when you try to install an application that requires multiple disks?? Now, there is supposed to be a program (shareware or freeware, I'm not sure) called NOSHARE.EXE. It's supposed to resolve the FCBs problems without doing the file sharing and disk verification that SHARE does. I just looked on my list of files on Simtel-20 and didn't find it there. I'm not sure where it is (Timo, I don't have your list online, do you have it there? Could you send it to Keith?). Anyway, there may be other fixes that I don't know about. That's all I have to say on it. I'm not sure if there's a FAQ posting for this group or not (I read so many msdos oriented groups that they all sort of run together... :-), but if anyone wants to add this info to one, feel free to use it. I know I've stolen most of this information from other posts. Btw, you may want to verify all of this as I'm sure there are more than a couple mistakes (esp about history of DOS). Make your own decisions about SHARE. I know I've made mine and will be acting accordingly soon. Regards, Mike -- Mike Castle (Nexus) S087891@UMRVMA.UMR.EDU (preferred) | XEDIT: Emacs mcastle@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu (unix mail-YEACH!)| on a REAL Life is like a clock: You can work constantly, and be right | operating all the time, or not work at all, and be right twice a day. | system. :->