Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Path: utzoo!utgpu!cunews!bnrgate!bmerh2!bmerh768!yiky
From: yiky@bmerh768.bnr.ca (YikHon Yu)
Subject: Re: Stacker questions?????
Message-ID: <1991May09.152836.27973@bmerh2.bnr.ca>
Sender: news@bmerh2.bnr.ca (Usenet News Admin)
Organization: Bell Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada
References: <20550003@hpsgm2.sgp.hp.com>
Date: Thu, 09 May 91 15:28:36 GMT

In article <20550003@hpsgm2.sgp.hp.com> vanmick@hpsgm2.sgp.hp.com (Van Der Beek Michael-Leo) writes:
>Hi,
>
>	I am considering getting the stacker. It is a compression software and
>hardware which creates another partition so that it acts like another drive.
>It is supposed to double you disk space.
>
>	Any comments on it? I will be grateful for any information you can give.
>Is it very slow (software only, I have a 386-33Mhz)? I guess it will slow
>down disc access if you use the compress partition, how about the other 
>"normal" partitions, does it slow down too? 


I am running the coprocessor version of Stacker on my 386-33 and I haven't
noticed any slowing down in disk access. I also tried using the software
only and I would say the increase in disk access time is negligible (to
me anyway. The uncompressed partition is not slowed down at all.


>	There is supposed to have a very good disk cache software incorporated,
>how does it compare to other software like hyperdisk, PC-cache and others?
>Hyperdisk can return memory space to windows can the stacker do the same. Also
>can I run hyperdisk (or any other disk cache) with stacker? 


Instead of using the disk cache in the Stacker software, I use PC-Cache
because it allows me to setup a MUCH BIGGER disk cache in extended memory.


>	When the compression is done, if you get a error sector, do you lose the
>entire partition or just several files (this is very important, I usually keep
>several copies of my important data in several directories (troublesome
>but safer), so a lost of a couple of files is tolerable but not the entire
>directory.)


I had run a problem where the Stacker partition was corrupted and the
whole partition was locked up into read-only mode by the Stacker software.
But this was OK because I was able to backup my files and recreate the
partition. Normally, you can run CHKDSK (yes, CHKDSK!) to clean up errors
in the Stacker partition just like any DOS partitions.


>	Is there any know problems with other software (it is supposed to be
>pretty compatible with almost anything)?


I haven't run into any software problems. All my applications and games
work and I can even load the Stacker software into high memery with
386^max.


>
>	Thanks for all the help.
>
>
>Regards,
>
>
>Michael

YikHon Yu
Bell-Northern Research, Ltd.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada