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Grex Micros Item 136: Expanded memory and config.sys?
Entered by raven on Thu Aug 24 06:09:49 UTC 1995:

        I just bought a game program that needs expanded memeory as opposed
to extended memory.  According to this I have to install the emm386.exe
driver in config.sys.  I have a couple of questions being new to the IBM
world 1)  Will this effect the ammount of memory availible to Windows?
2) Will it eect the amount of memeory availible to DOS.  3)  Do I use
the standard DOS editor (edit) to edit the file?  How do I make a backup
config.sys in case i don't get it right.  BTW this is DOS 6.2 and Windows
for Workgroups 3.11 running on a 386 notebook.  Many thanks in advance
for any help rendered.

7 responses total.

#1 of 7 by scott on Thu Aug 24 11:27:17 1995:

1) yes, although it might be possible to now run some other stuff in expanded
memory and therefore improve the amount of low memory available.

2) see #1

3)  Yes, use the standard DOS editor, and to make a safety copy:
copy config.sys config.bak
copy autoexec.sys autoexec.bak

Another handy thing to do before starting this change is:
insert a blank (or floppy you can afford to erase) floppy (lets assume drive
A:), and enter the following:
format /u /s a:
and answer "y" when it asks if you want to format.  When formatting is done
(drive light goes out), enter:
copy autoexec.bat a:
copy config.sys a:
This creates an "emergency boot" floppy,  so that if your system on the hard
drive gets hosed you can use this floppy to boot up your system, and it also
gives you another safety copy of your startup files.

#2 of 7 by ajax on Thu Aug 24 12:49:14 1995:

What Scott said (esp #3)!  Also, after you make the boot disk,
write-protect it (flip the switch on a 3.5", or use a piece of
tape on a 5.25" disk), so that it won't catch any viruses.
 
Also, you can press F5 or something when booting to have it skip
your config.sys and autoexec.bat, in case you get them in a
configuration that hangs your system on boot-up.
 
Another thing you can do with MS-DOS 6.0 on up is use a "multiple
configuration" config.sys.  When you boot, you'll get a menu of
your different configurations.  I'm including a pared down version
of my config.sys to show the basic idea...you define your menu
items, the menudefault=Normal,2 means choose the Normal config
by default, and wait two seconds before automatically choosing it.
The stuff after the [Common] sections is used by all the configurations,
while the stuff after [Normal], for example, is only run by the
"Normal" configuration.
 
 [Menu]
 menuitem=Normal         ,Normal configuration (no network)
 menuitem=Tight          ,Normal config with more memory, but 80x25
 menuitem=Min            ,Loads minimalist configuration
 menudefault=Normal,2
 [Common]
 FILES=40
 BUFFERS=25
 DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
 DOS=HIGH,UMB
 [Normal]
 DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE 4096 RAM
 [Tight]
 DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE 4096 RAM I=A000-AFFF
 [Min]
 [Common]
 SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /P /E:1024
 DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE
 
This is how I normally deal with games that need particular memory
settings or other config.sys customizations.  You can also control
autoexec.bat execution in a related way, but I won't go into that.

#3 of 7 by raven on Thu Aug 24 16:20:24 1995:

        Do I need to change autoexec.bat as well to access expanded memory?
        Thanks for all these great detailed responses.

#4 of 7 by raven on Thu Aug 24 19:23:14 1995:

        I tried modifying my config.sys and did manage to get expanded
memory working, but it seemed to stay on all the time, so I ended up
reinstalling the original config.sys.  Here is the modified config.sys,
what did I do wrong?

[Menu]

menuitem=normal

menuitem=tight

menuitem=min

menudefault min,2

[common]

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM

BUFFERS=25,0

FILES=30

DOS=UMB

[normal]

DEVICE=EMM386.exe

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE 4096 RAM

[tight]

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE 4096 RAM I=A000-AFFF

[min]

[common]

LASTDRIVE=N

FCBS=16,0

DEVICE=C:\TURBOCOM.SYS

DEVICEHIGH /L:1,12048 =C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE

DOS=HIGH

DEVICEHIGH /L:0 =C:\DOS\INTERLNK.EXE

DEVICEHIGH /L:1,39360 =C:\DOS\DBLSPACE.SYS /MOVE

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS

STACKS=9,256

#5 of 7 by raven on Thu Aug 24 19:24:44 1995:

        ps Thanks again for all help rendered, the system has 4 megs of
ram if that helps.

#6 of 7 by ajax on Thu Aug 24 20:12:00 1995:

The reason it was always on is due to the "DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM"
line in the first [common] section.  If you remove that line, it will only
load it if you choose "normal" or "tight" (not "min") configurations.
Also, the number "4096" could be removed from the other EMM386.EXE lines, 
as those say to use 4 megs of RAM...if you don't give a value, it'll pick
something reasonable by default.  Also, that "I=A000-AFFF" in the [tight]
section may or may not work on your system...it depends on your video card.
I think it only works if you don't use any go into any graphics mode, so 
it's not too useful for gaming.
Oh, one more thing: You can remove the "DEVICE=EMM386.exe" from the [normal]
section, since the next line after it also loads EMM386.

#7 of 7 by raven on Thu Aug 24 20:23:45 1995:

        Thanks I'll give that a try.

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