MDGx MAX Speed WinDOwS
WinDOwS Tricks - Part 18

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• 7-26-00 Updated Win9x/ME Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


CD-ROM/DVD + HARD DISK MAX CACHE
[UPDATED 7-26-2000]


These cool [and completely UNDOCUMENTED!] Windows 95/98/ME Registry hacks appear courtesy of Thomas B. Tompkins (ICQ# 3001681).
With the author's approval I have compiled Thomas' 5 e-mails into this stand alone article, and added more details and explanations. :) Many thanks!

NOTES:

  1. "BOOST CD/DVD READ AHEAD CACHE:

    I found out that a Windows 9x/ME cd-rom cache of 8 MB (8192 KB) is a little over the top. :) I even had it at 64 MB and my machine locked up, so I "downsized" it to 4 MB (4096 KB) and guess what, it rocks! Caching every CD folder is like killer open speed!
    This is the REG file to create a 4 MB CD/DVD cache (copy & paste it in Notepad) by modifying/creating the "Required Pause Tolerance" Binary [hex] Value:

    -----Begin cut & paste here-----
    REGEDIT4

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CD-ROM]
    "Required Pause Tolerance"=hex:e7,13,00,00

    ------End cut & paste here------

    NOTE: The "CD-ROM" Registry key above may NOT exist on "clean install" Windows 98/ME systems, in which case you need to create it by running this REG file.
    [Thank you Gavin!]

    If you want to use a larger cache, this is how to figure it out:
    Create a new "dummy" DWORD Value which you can delete later (the name is of no importance), and start up with a Decimal Value of 5000. You will see a new setting: 5 MB (5120 KB) = 5083 in Decimal to be exact. Now use the 4 Hexadecimal double digit groups in reversed order in your "Required Pause Tolerance" Binary [hex] Value box. Example:

    • DWORD [Decimal] = 5083
    • DWORD [Hexadecimal] = 000013db
    • Binary [hex] = db,13,00,00

    Just don't type the commas. :)
    You can go on up from there, but BEWARE of using larger values that might slow down the access, or even generate lockups if your computer has less than 64 MB RAM!
    After applying the desired values by running (merging) your saved REG file into the Registry (using Explorer or File Manager), a reboot is necessary for the new settings to take effect.
    Now you can even see the change in Control Panel → System → Performance tab → File System button → CD-ROM tab → Settings:

    "Windows will use 4096 kilobytes of physical memory to optimize CD-ROM performance during data access."

    This seems to help greatly with CD-R/CD-RW burning, eliminating potential buffer underruns.

  2. BOOST HARD DISK READ AHEAD CACHE:

    The best part is that you can also increase the "ReadAheadThreshold" Binary [hex] Value (which applies to ALL drives installed in your Windows 98/ME system, NOT available on Windows 95/OSR1/OSR2!) under this Registry key (as displayed in a REG file):

    -----Begin cut & paste here-----
    REGEDIT4

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\control\FileSystem]
    "ReadAheadThreshold"=hex:00,00,00,0f

    ------End cut & paste here------

    In this case the read ahead threshold is set to 1.87 MB (1920 KB).
    The beauty is that Windows uses this memory dynamically to read ahead, only when opening files/folders, returning it back to the system afterwards.

    As far as I'm aware these are the maximum values allowed by Windows 9x/ME for "ReadAheadThreshold", "NameCache" and "PathCache" (save this as a REG file):

    -----Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"ReadAheadThreshold"=hex:00,00,00,ff
"NameCache"=hex:00,ff,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:ff,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Maximum Performance]
@="Maximum Performance"
"NameCache"=hex:00,ff,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:ff,00,00,00

------End cut & paste here------

    In this case Windows will cache up to 65280 files (the "NameCache" Value) and up to 255 folders (the "PathCache" Value).

    WARNINGS:
    • Together the settings above will "eat up" up to 64 MB of your system memory! Use them ONLY IF your computer has at least 128 - 256 MB RAM!
    • If using an AGP video controller you may also need to decrease the "AGP Aperture/Memory Size/Range" setting in the BIOS (the name depends on motherboard/BIOS manufacturer) to 32 MB, or 16 MB (which actually disables the use of system memory for video tasks through the AGP bus), or even lower (minimum allowed is 4 MB). Otherwise you may experience machine lockups!

    If you decide to use them [with CAUTION!]: after merging this REG file into your Registry, start using the "Maximum Performance" setting from: Control Panel → System → Performance tab → File System button → Hard Disk tab → Select "Maximum Performance" in the "Typical role of this computer" box → click OK/Apply twice → reboot when prompted."

UPDATE: "SmartBuffer [shareware, $10 :(] can also set the HD cache buffer in the Registry, which maxes out at 2 MB:

-----Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"DriveWriteBehind"=hex:ff,ff,ff,ff
"NameCache"=hex:ff,ff,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:ff,00,00,00
"ReadAheadThreshold"=hex:ff,ff,ff,ff
"ContigFileAllocSize"=dword:00000200

------End cut & paste here------"

[Thank you sToRmMoNkEy!]

More info @ MS TechNet.

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• 6-21-00 Win9x Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


TELNET TWEAKS


Courtesy of Andrew Bourdon.

"There are still a lot of people who use Windows Telnet to access remote computers. It seems slow, ugly, and a general pain in the neck.
Luckily, while I was tweaking my *very* old x486 laptop, I discovered some interesting Registry keys. Open Regedit and go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Telnet

There you will see several DWORD and String Values which should be fairly self-explanatory. Here are a few helpful settings:

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• 6-14-00 Win9x Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


FASTER INTERNET


... As brought to you courtesy of Richard.

"It seems that in addition to the new entry for the Win98 Global TCP/IP bug fix (also in TIPS98.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE) in the MSTCP parameters, as well as all the described Registry fixes in your other articles, not only improved the speed of my Internet connection, but also dramatically improves my browsing speed if you add these three new entries under the "MSTCP" Registry key, as shown in this REG file:

-----Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP]
"Tcp1323Opts"="1"
"SackOpts"="1"
"BSDUrgent"="1"

------End cut & paste here------

Copy this text in Notepad, save it with the .REG extension, then right-click on it in Explorer and select Merge.
These are ALL String [REG_SZ] Values, and the recommended numeric value is 1 for ALL three.

All above settings (and more) are described in this MSKB article."

NOTE:
MSKB incorrectly lists "Tcp1323Opts" as DWORD Value for Windows 9x/ME.
Correct Value Type for "Tcp1323Opts" is String [REG_SZ].
[Thank you Ashley!]

MEANING:

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• 6-8-00 Win9x/ME Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


ENABLE EDITFLAGS


Courtesy of Neil.

"This is a list of "EditFlags" functions to control how items appear in the Windows Explorer Folder Options dialog:

Here is a list of File Types which Windows 9x/ME "hides" by default:

Example of Registry key containing the "EditFlags" Binary [hex] Value, as it appears in a .REG (registration, plain text) file:

-----Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@="exefile"
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"
"EditFlags"=hex:00,00,01,00

------End cut & paste here------

A known "issue" with these is that changing the value for Applications (.EXE files) has no effect. I haven't checked some of the other executable types.
These Registry tweaks are also available as separate plug-ins (6 plug-ins, each covering one file type: .386, .CPL, .DLL, .DRV, .PIF, .SYS and .VXD) for X-Setup Pro, the best Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7 power user system tweaker (freeware for personal use)."

FYI: More info:

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• 5-25-00 Win9x/DOS6/DOS7 Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


PLAY DOS GAMES WITH SOUND BLASTER LIVE!


Do you use MS-DOS 6.xx and/or Windows 95 or 98 [a.k.a. MS-DOS 7.xx]?
Do you own a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! PCI card?
Do you still play DOS based games that require native MS-DOS mode?
If you answered YES to these questions, you're in for a treat. ;)
First, to learn how to boot directly to native MS-DOS to play your favorite games, see "2 DOS OR NOT 2 DOS", also in MYTIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE].

These are the necessary steps to successfully play your old DOS games that require native/real/true/pure MS-DOS mode (and canNOT be run from a Win9x DOS box/session!) with sound enabled:

It is known that the SB Live! cards (ANY flavor: Full, Value, OEM/1024, X-Gamer, MP3, Platinum etc) provide only SB16 FM synthesis emulation support in all DOS modes. This means you won't be able to play any fancy Wavetable or Extended MIDI sequences, only basic sounds, and eventually CD audio, if your software can emulate it. :(

Back to SB Live!:
By default, when you first install the Win9x Live! drivers from your CD, you will be asked to setup the "Creative SB16 emulation" for DOS programs. Answer "Yes" to let Setup enable DOS support. Then edit (using Notepad in Windows or EDIT in DOS) your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (found in C:\ root), or create one if it is not present, though this should not be necessary, because the SB Live! installation routine will create one for you, and will add these lines at the top (your paths may differ):

SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
SET CTSYN=C:\WINDOWS
C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\SBLIVE\DOSDRV\SBEINIT.COM

in this EXACT order. The "SET <variable>" lines MUST appear BEFORE the SBEINIT line, because SBEINIT.COM uses these environment values to determine your SB Live! DOS hardware settings.
Note that drive letter/directory name and/or hardware assignments [memory address: A220, interrupt line: I5, low/high DMA channel: D1/H5 etc] may be different on your computer, depending on your custom setup.
This should get you started in some cases, but [there's always a "but" :)] there are a couple of things you need to do first, to ensure that SBEINIT initializes the card correctly upon boot.
Edit (using Notepad in Windows or EDIT in DOS) your CONFIG.SYS file (found also in C:\ root), or create one if not present, to include these lines at the top:

DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF /Q
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE I=B000-B7FF RAM D=256 AUTO

Note that SBEINIT will NOT load without expanded memory (EMS) enabled by EMM386.EXE's "RAM" parameter! And make sure your EMM386.EXE command does NOT contain the "NOEMS" switch, because this disables EMS, and SBEINIT will abort!
See this MSKB article for more details.
Do NOT try to use another 3rd party enhanced/expanded memory manager like QEMM, NetRoom, 386MAX etc. SBEINIT works ONLY with Microsoft's EMM386.EXE! :(
Also, you need to load SBEINIT at the beginning of your AUTOEXEC.BAT, BEFORE ANY OTHER drivers/TSRs (especially SMARTDRV or RAM disks), because it uses a huge amount of free upper memory to initialize.
SBEINIT takes about 5 KB of low (conventional) RAM after loading.
SBEINIT canNOT load in upper memory (UMA), therefore you may NOT use the "LOADHIGH" ("LH" for short) command. If you do, your machine will freeze, and you will have to press the Reset button to reboot. :(

To tweak your SB16 emulation hardware settings to your liking (but make sure to avoid a hardware conflict if another device in your computer uses the same interrupt or DMA channel!), you can use SBESET.EXE, a DOS based configuration tool, also located in the same \DOSDRV subfolder. Run:

SBESET /?

from native MS-DOS to display all available parameters.
To see all your free hardware resources (IRQ, DMA, Base Address etc) that can be safely used by SBESET, run (with Windows GUI started!): Control Panel → System → Device Manager tab → (double-)click on Computer → scroll through the IRQ, DMA, I/O and Memory resources lists → write down the ones that appear NOT to be used by ANY hardware device → exit Windows 9x to native MS-DOS [see "DOS NOW!", also in MYTIPS95.TXT (part of W95-11D.EXE)] → run SBESET with the appropriate switches to reflect one of your free Device Manager resources for each setting → reboot into Windows → reopen the resources lists → check for ANY question or exclamation marks. If you find any, try different settings for SBESET until all conflicts are resolved. Then reboot one more time.
You can also add a line for SBESET in your AUTOEXEC.BAT to keep these settings "alive" at all times. But BEWARE: if you later add new hardware to your machine that needs an IRQ, DMA channel, I/O and/or memory address to function, or for some reason you or your OS change(s) ANY hardware resources, you need to repeat ALL above steps afterwards, to ensure "smooth" operation.
If using SBESET from AUTOEXEC.BAT, make sure the SBEINIT line appears AFTER the SBESET command, and BEFORE the SMARTDRV.EXE and/or RAM Disk (i.e. XMSDSK.EXE/EMSDSK.EXE) lines, if any!
This is my AUTOEXEC.BAT SBESET line (example) which enables SB FM emulation and the use of joystick/flight-stick (connected to the SB Live! 16 pin joystick/MIDI port) in native MS-DOS mode for all my DOS based games:

E:\LIVE\DOSDRV\SBESET.EXE -d0 -j1 -w0 -A220 -I5 -D1 -H5 -J200 -P330

All SBESET command line parameters are case sensitive.
Any hardware assignments altered by SBESET require a reboot to take effect.
If everything goes well, you should be able to enable sound and music in your favorite DOS games from now on, by choosing the appropriate sound card (try first Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster 16, SB16, AWE32 or similar) in your game's Setup/Options menu. Wrong sound board selection may lockup your game and most likely your computer too. :(

BTW: If you'd like to have more than one boot choices, for example one for running Win9x GUI without EMM386.EXE, or with EMM386.EXE but without EMS enabled (only upper and extended memory support: add "NOEMS"), and another for playing native MS-DOS games (and eventually include the SB Live! lines detailed above), you can create multi-boot CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. Take a look at mine [both included with W95-11D.EXE] to learn how to do this.

FYI:
Sound Blaster Windows 95/98/ME + DOS audio drivers forum.
Sound Blaster Windows/WfWG 3.1x/95/98/ME + DOS audio drivers.

Have fun!

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• 5-18-00 Win9x/ME Original Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


ENABLE UDMA/RAID HARD DISK DMA


This tweak applies to ALL Windows 95/98/ME users who own add-on/3rd party/proprietary UDMA/UATA 66/100/133 EIDE and (most likely, because the principle is the same) RAID hard disk controllers installed into their PCs.
FYI: You may not observe any disk access improvement (and you do NOT need to alter your Registry) with some UDMA/66/100/133 controllers, like the ones manufactured by Promise Technology, because these have the DMA setting enabled by default into the drivers.
[Thank you Bob!]
I'm not going to detail here the meaning of U(ltra)DMA/U(ltra)ATA/66/100/133, EIDE or RAID, because it is not the purpose of this article. ;) See my Glossary, also found as GLOSSARY.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for terms definitions.
I have tested and am using successfully this Registry workaround with my High Point Technologies UDMA100 IDE hard disk controller (model HPT370) (running Win98 SE) built into my Abit BE6-II v2.0 Pentium II/III Slot 1 PCI/AGP motherboard.
The HPT370 updated drivers for Windows 95/98/ME can be downloaded from High Point Tech.
So far so good. But what I didn't quite like is that after properly installing the HPT370 drivers (any version!) in Windows 98 SE, the DMA option, usually available for all (E)IDE drives (hard disks, CD-ROMs, CD-R(W)s, DVDs etc) connected to the standard motherboard (E)IDE controller (NOT add-on!), which can be enabled in: Control Panel → System → Device Manager tab → Disk drives (or CDROM) → Your "Drive Name + Model Number" here → Settings tab → DMA toggle check box, was NOT present!
Not a problem though. I've found a simple way [read Registry tweak :)] to bring back the DMA setting for both my IBM Deskstar 22GXP UDMA66 (22 GB) EIDE hard drives, hooked up to the HPT370 ATA/100 controller.
Fire up Regedit and go to the add-on disk controller Registry key(s), in this case the HPT370 "SCSIAdapter" key(s):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\SCSIAdapter\0001

and:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\SCSIAdapter\0002

which MUST show the respective adapter name on the "DriverDesc" String Value, in this case: "Highpoint Technology Inc. HPT370 Ultra DMA 100 Controller".
There are two keys here because I have two UDMA66 EIDE hard drives connected to my add-on adapter. You might have only one key if using only one drive [jumpered as master, of course :)].
In the right hand pane of both keys above: right-click → select New → Binary Value → name it "IDEDMADRIVE0" (don't type the quotes) → click OK → (double-)click on it → type 01 → click OK. This will enable the DMA box on the master (single or primary in 2 drives setup) hard drive. I have two, so I created another Binary Value (by performing same steps) named "IDEDMADRIVE1" (secondary or slave in 2 drives setup), and I gave it the same value: 01.
Then you need to point Regedit to the HKLM\Enum\PCI\ and HKLM\Enum\SCSI\ keys that contain the "incriminated" add-on bus adapter and disk subsystem registered vendor serial numbers (refering here to the same example above):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\PCI\VEN_1103&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_01\BUS_00&DEV_13&FUNC_01

and respectively:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\SCSI\IBM-DJNA-372200_________J\PCI&VEN_1103&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_01&BUS_00&DEV_13&FUNC_0000   

which MUST show the respective adapter name on the "DeviceDesc" String Value, in this case: "Highpoint Technology Inc. HPT370 Ultra DMA 100 Controller".
In the right hand pane: right-click → select New → Binary Value → name it "DMACurrentlyUsed" (don't type the quotes) → click OK → (double-)click on it → type 01 → click OK.
Close Regedit when done and restart Windows.
Now go to: Control Panel → System → Device Manager tab → Disk drives → Your "Drive Name + Model Number" here → Settings tab → DMA box → left-click it once to place a checkmark in it → click OK/Apply twice. Repeat these steps for ALL your drives connected to the add-on adapter → reboot your system when prompted.
Voila!

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• 5-8-00 Win9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


LOVE(LY) VIRUS FIX


Two great friends kindly sent in these fixes for the notorious "ILOVEYOU" e-mail virus and its "lovely" clones:

  1. Captain's FIXes:

    "Read this MSKB FAQ about securing MS Outlook.

    Xteq has released a plug-in [3.3 KB, free, unzip the XPL file into your Xsetup\Plugins subfolder] for X-Setup Pro 6.6 [freeware for personal use].
    Essentially this lowers the risk and increases your system security against potentially dangerous Microsoft Visual Basic (VB) Script files (such as .VBS, .VBE, .JS, .JSE, .WSH, .WSF), by changing their default action (when these files are clicked on) to view their contents in Notepad, instead of running their executable code, which is the default behavior in Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT4/2000/ME/XP. And you can still run such script files if you wish: right-click on the one you want → select Open.
    The plug-in can also be turned off by unchecking its settings in X-Setup from: System → Security → Script Files.
    To uninstall the plug-in: start X-Setup → follow the path above → highlight Script Files → right-click on it → click Delete."

  2. Chris' FIX:

    "In Windows Explorer → File Association dialog box, move down the list of "Registered File Types" until you find two entries both titled "VBScript Script File". Select the first one and click Edit now. In the Actions list select Edit and then click "Set Default". Now do the same for the second "VBScript Script File" entry.
    From now on each time a VBS or VBE file is executed it will be opened with Notepad instead of being processed, protecting you from harmful code. To run a VBS or VBE file, right-click on it and select "Open".
    NOTE: Using this tip may have side effects with any software that depends on its own VBS files and expects them to execute normally."

FYI: Check out these "ILOVEYOU" anti-virus pages + tools:

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• 4-14-00 Win9x/ME Original ©Trick in MYTIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


SCANDSKW HIDDEN SWITCHES


I finally [:)] decided to list here all, including hidden (some are NOT even documented!) Windows 95/98/ME ScanDisk (SCANDSKW.EXE = located in your main Windows folder) command line parameters, the "de facto" Microsoft disk scanning + repair tool.

TIP: ALL Windows 95/98 users: see "USE WINME DEFRAG + SCANDSKW WITH WIN95/98", also in TIPS98.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], to learn how to obtain a •faster• disk scanner!

    LIMITATIONS:
    • WinME DEFRAG.EXE + SCANDSKW.EXE maximum supported hard drive/partition size is ~ 800 GB ONLY IF formatted with default cluster size!
    • WinME DEFRAG.EXE + SCANDSKW.EXE maximum (experimental) supported hard drive/partition size is ~ 2 TB ONLY IF formatted with non-default 64 KB cluster size!

Valid syntax (multiple switches each separated by a space are accepted on a single command line):

SCANDSKW [C: D: E: ... Z:] [/A] [/N] [/O] [/P] [/SAGERUN:x] [/SAGESET:x] [/SILENT] [/SURFACE]

Registry keys used by Scandskw.exe:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Check Drive
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Check Drive\LastCheck
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Check Drive\LastSurfaceAnalysis
HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Check Drive

Registry keys used by Scandskw.exe + Task Scheduler (System Agent):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Plus!\SystemAgent\SAGE\Scandisk for Windows
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Plus!\SystemAgent\SAGE\Scandisk for Windows\Setn
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Plus!\SystemAgent\SAGE\Scandisk for Windows\Result Codes

System Agent also saves these settings in Schedlog.txt (located in %windir%, usually C:\WINDOWS).

More info:

FYI: See also these topics [also part of W95-11D.EXE] for more ScanDisk issues:

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• 4-14-00 Win9x/DOS6 ©Trick in TIPS95.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE, and in MYTIPS31.TXT, part of W31-11D.ZIP:


BACKUP MBR WITH DEBUG


Another cool tip from... Da Drk Sde. May Da Force B with U. :)

NOTES:

FYI: Things you can do with DEBUG.EXE:

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• 4-6-00 Win9x/ME Original Registry ©Trick in REGISTRY.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


DIRECTX TWEAKS


Below are listed most of the DirectX DirectDraw 5/6/7/8/9 2D + 3D video settings that allow maximum performance and/or stability under Windows 95/98/ME, all of which can be tweaked also by using:Grab DX9 Control Panel applet (CPL) [free].
Grab DXInfo.exe + DXTool.exe [free].

Install the current Microsoft DirectX APIs + Drivers to take advantage of all these settings in Windows 98/ME.

NOTE: DX9 does NOT support Windows 95/OSR1/OSR2. If using any of these OSes, get DirectX 8.xx APIs.

But enuff talking... let's see the "goods"! :)

Fire up Regedit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectDraw

Under this Registry key you can add/modify the following DWORD values (listed here as they would show in a REG file).
To create a new DWORD value: right-click → New → DWORD → Name it to one of the values listed below.
To modify one of these DWORD values: right-click on the one you want → select Modify → check the Decimal box → give it a value of 1 or 0 to enable or disable it, except "ForceRefreshRate", which requires an integer number to match the video card AND monitor frequency.
All changes to these settings become effective immediately.

CAUTION: BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY FILES FIRST!

Here they are:

"ForceNoSysLock"=dword:0

Enables [1] or disables [0] NoSysLock on Lock for lower resolution 3D video modes.

"DisableNoSysLock"=dword:0

Enables [0] or disables [1] NoSysLock on Lock for lower resolution 3D video modes.

"DisableMMX"=dword:0

Enables [0] or disables [1] extra MMX extensions support for Intel Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III and Pentium IV CPUs.

"DisableWiderSurfaces"=dword:0

Enables [0] or disables [1] 3D Wide Surfaces support on newer/faster PCI/AGP video controllers that support this feature, like: 3dfx Banshee/Voodoo3/Voodoo4/Voodoo5/Voodoo6, NVidia TNT/TNT2/GeForce/Geforce2/GeForce3, S3 Savage, Matrox G200/G400/G440/G450, ATI Rage/Fury/MAXX/Radeon etc.

"EnablePrintScreen"=dword:1

Enables [1] or disables [0] the use of the Print Screen key to capture current window/full screen, which can be afterwards pasted and saved as JPG/BMP/GIF/etc into any OLE2 capable graphics program like MS Paint, PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro, IrfanView, XNview, LView Pro etc.

"DisableInactivate"=dword:0

Enables [1] or disables [0] Multi-Monitor Debugging for troubleshooting purposes, if using a dual-monitor head capable video controller.

"ShowFrameRate"=dword:0

Enables [1] or disables [0] the display of frame rate for 3D apps/games that support this feature, and available only on 3D video cards.
Note that this setting may slow down slightly your Direct3D programs.

"ModeXOnly"=dword:0

Enables [0] or disables [1] ModeX support for 320x200 (EGA) on older/slower video cards that may present incompatibilities in this low resolution mode.

"EmulationOnly"=dword:0

Enables [1] or disables [0] Software Emulation Layer (SEL) for slower performance but better stability on older/slower (i.e. 2D only) video cards.
Newer AGP/PCI 3D video cards use by default Hardware Emulation Layer (HAL), thus it is recommended to disable this setting for maximum "velocity". :)

"DisableAGPSupport"=dword:0

Enables [0] or disables [1] AGP Support, ONLY IF supported by motherboard, video hardware AND video driver.

"ForceRefreshRate"=dword:00000064

Forces [hex number: 60 - 300 decimal in Hz (100 Hz used in this example)] custom 2D (and 3D if supported by the video card) video Refresh Rate (redraw vertical frequency) for BOTH the multi-scan CRT monitor AND the graphics accelerator in current video mode [1024x768 in 65,000 colors (16-bit) used here].
Note that selected frequency MUST be supported by BOTH video card AND monitor, otherwise you may damage one or the other!
That's why it is VERY IMPORTANT to select the appropriate monitor type in: Control Panel → System applet → Device Manager tab → Monitors → Your Monitor Name → Driver tab → Update Driver...!

With the Registry Editor open, go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Direct3D

Here you'll find:

"DisableDP2"=dword:0

Enables [0] or disables [1] enhanced DirectX 6/7/8 3D features on ALL PCI/AGP 3D video accelerators. It is strongly recommended to keep this setting enabled for maximum performance in Direct3D apps/games.

Then go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Direct3D\Drivers

The only setting of interest here is:

"SoftwareOnly"=dword:0

Enables [0] or disables [1] the use of Hardware Acceleration on ALL PCI/AGP 3D video cards. It is strongly recommended to enable this feature for optimal performance.

FYI: See "WIN.INI DIRECTX + VIDEO SETTINGS", also in MYTIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for more DirectX + video tweaks.

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• 4-6-00 Win3.1x/9x/ME AOL ©Trick in AOLTIPS.TXT, part of both W95-11D.EXE and W31-11D.ZIP:


AOL.EXE SWITCHES


AOL.EXE command line parameters work with ALL Windows 3.1x/9x/ME releases.
To learn how to start AOL using command line switches, which allows you to go directly to your area of interest upon running AOL, proceed with these steps:

  1. Start AOL.
  2. Click the Favorites icon.
  3. Open Favorite Places.
  4. Click the "Add Favorite Place" button to create a new item.
  5. In the "Enter the Place's Description:" box type:

    AOL Logon Scripts

    or any other suggestive name.
  6. In the "Enter the Internet Address:" box type:

    aol://4344:431.scrptaol.1313877.538546639

  7. Click OK.
  8. (Double-)click on "AOL Logon Scripts" and read the topic.

FYI: See "OPEN URL WITH AOL" + "OPEN EMAIL WITH AOL", both also in AOLTIPS.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for examples.

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