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From: wagner@chepil.weru.ksu.edu (Larry Wagner)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.apps
Subject: Re: QEMM, etc Recommendation Sought
Message-ID: <1991Mar22.044143.3819@maverick.ksu.ksu.edu>
Date: 22 Mar 91 04:41:43 GMT
References: <1991Mar21.173016.27609@ssd.kodak.com> <13690@darkstar.ucsc.edu>
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noesis@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (60276000) writes:


>QEMM will allow you to move drivers and TSRs into expanded memory. better
>yet, it will relocate some DOS resources (FILE and BUFFERS) into expanded
>to free up even more space! idiot-proof installation program included
>--noesis

QEMM386 is a good product but I don't believe it is idiot proof.  I think
it is very difficult to make something like this completely idiot proof.

For example, I bring up a UNIX-like shell from within autoexec.bat, thus
autoexec.bat never finishes executing unless I exit that shell.  Their
optimize program cannot handle that and they even say so in the manual.
I read it in the manual, but still forgot to fix it in my haste to try
QEMM386 out.  Thus, I spent some time scratching my head before I realized
what the problem was.  Also, here at our lab, we use 'bootcon' a program
that allows us to select different options in a config.sys and autoexec.bat
files during the boot process.  Again, QEMM386 can't handle it and I would
not expect it to.  We also had one machine that was shadowing the video bios
in hardware.  This was also a head scratcher since QEMM386 thought
everything was ok since it didn't detect it on this machine (thus no error messages)
and would go ahead and use the shadowed memory location for its own use.

I guess what I am trying to say is it is nearly impossible to make this type of
program completely idiot proof in the sense that if something doesn't work right
you still may need to reboot your machine from a floppy disk and copy back the
config.sys and autoexec.bat files if something goes drastically wrong.
However, I do believe Quarterdeck approached the problem from the right direction
and did as good a job as one could expect, but there is no way they can guarantee
the optimizing operation will work under all possible situations.


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Larry E. Wagner                     | wagner@chepil.weru.ksu.edu
USDA-ARS Wind Erosion Research Unit | wagner@matt.ksu.ksu.edu
105B East Waters Hall, KSU          | ...!{rutgers,texbell}!ksuvax1!weru!wagner
Manhattan, KS 66506                 |phone (913)532-6807
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