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From: vsarkela@csc.fi
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms
Subject: Re: ---Catch-All for Windows Problems---
Message-ID: <1991May26.125729.1@csc.fi>
Date: 26 May 91 12:57:29 GMT
References: <3463@travis.csd.harris.com> <colfelt.674956491@tramp.Colorado.EDU> <4389@inews.intel.com> <1991May24.154429.2302@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
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In article <1991May24.154429.2302@rodan.acs.syr.edu>, 
ggreenbe@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Gerald Greenberg) writes:
 
>I, too, had problems with Smartdrive.  I liked the idea of being
>able to have a bigger cache outside of Windows, but
>unfortunately Smartdrive just kept trashing my drive.  I've
>just finished trying Hyperdisk421 (or is it Hyperdrive?),
>which is supposed to have the same capabilities as
>Smartdrive...unfortunately, it trashes my drive, too!  Maybe I
>just cannot use one of these caches that will shrink under
>windows...I know I'm not going to spend $$$ for PCKwik's cache
>unless I know it won't trash my drive.

I have been using PC Kwik Power Pack version 2 by Multisoft with Win3
and it works fine. My configuration is 20 MHz 386 8 MB RAM, 
MS-DOS 3.3 + QEMM 5.11, 105 MB IDE drive.

Nice thing with PC-Kwik is that it loads itself into upper memory, thus
saving precious conventional memory for windows.

I haven't had any problems with Smartdrive so you should
        1. check that your hard disk is partitioned with MS-DOS's 
           Fdisk (3.3 or 4.01)
        2. try inserting
           EMMExclude=A000-EFFF
           VirtualHDIrq=false
           in the 386Enh section of your SYSTEM.INI file

>I just recently got a copy of PC-Tools v.6.  I 
>didn't really get it for the cache, since I figured Smartdrive
>would work...also, I wanted the flexible cache.  Since it
>started to look like a flexible cache wouldn't work, however,
>I thought I'd give the pc-tools cache a try.  I came up with a
>different problem, which maybe someone out there can answer:
>When pc-tools cache starts to run, I get an error message
>which states something like "boot sector drive contradicts
>BIOS" and then it asks me to continue.  So far I've been too
>chicken to continue (tired of rebuilding my drive).  Does
>anybody know what all this means?  Perhaps what I have to do
>is use the PC-Tools formatter to reformat my drive?

PC-Tools is just saying that information in BIOS's battery backup
CMOS ram is not same as information in boot sector of disk about
cylinders, heads and sectors/track. You can safely continue. 
PC-Kwik even lets you select which information to use, it may
have some impact on the performance of the cache.

BTW PC-Tools' PC-Cache is simpler version of Super PC-Kwik-cache,
which Central Point licensed from Multisoft.

And if anything else doesn't help, you should partition your hard disk
with fdisk that came with MS-DOS...

>Maybe some day I'll have a cache that works!  It would be
>nice!
>--Gerry
>ggreenbe@rodan.acs.syr.edu
>



Vesa Sarkela                       Keskuslaboratorio Oy
vsarkela@csc.fi   Finnish Pulp & Paper Research Institute