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KnowledgeBase (KB) Archived MedARKS Topic
** THE FOLLOWING KB TOPIC SHOULD BE TREATED AS LEGACY INFORMATION **
** THESE TOPICS ARE NOT ACTIVELY UPDATED BY ISIS **
** THE INFORMATION FOUND IN THESE TOPICS SHOULD BE USED WITH CAUTION **
Running MedARKS from inside Windows 3:
You must have at least 8 Mb of random access memory (RAM) to run MedARKS 5.xx from inside Windows® 3.x. Remember that memory is not the same as hard disk space. Data is stored on the hard disk, but a program must fit into available memory to function. The amount of storage space (disk space) is irrelevant if there is not enough memory to run the program. The instructions that follow will help you to configure your computer to run MedARKS from inside Windows®. Checking the total amount of memory (skip if you are certain that you have 8 Mb or more of RAM). Make sure that Windows® is running and go to the Program Manager window. If you are not sure how to get to this window, hold down the <Ctrl> key and press the <Esc> key. A small window, labeled "Task List" should appear in the center of your screen. One of the "tasks" will be "Program Manager"; double click on this choice to switch to the Program Manager window. Find either a window labeled "Main" or an icon with this label. If you have an icon, double click on the "Main" icon to open the Main window. Now double click on the icon labeled "MS-DOS Prompt" that is in the Main window. Now type "mem /c" (without the quotes) and press the <Enter> key. You will get a summary of the memory divided into rows and columns. Locate the intersection of the column labeled "Total" and the row labeled "Total memory". The number shown should be roughly 8 million or higher. If the number is closer to 4 million, you probably only have 4 Mb of RAM. Type in "exit" to leave the MS-DOS prompt and return to Windows®. Double click on the box in the upper left corner of the "Main" window to close this window (or press <Ctrl><F4>). Assuming that you found that you have sufficient memory, continue with the rest of these instructions.
1. Checking the CONFIG.SYS file. Find either a window labeled "Accessories" or an icon with this label. If you have an icon, double click on the "Accessories" icon to open the Accessories window. Now double click on the icon labeled "Notepad" that is in the Accessories window. Click on the choice "File" at the top left of the window to get a drop-down menu of choices. Click on "Open" and the "Open" window will appear. In the box labeled "File Name:", type in "C:\CONFIG.SYS" (without the quotes) and click on the "Ok" button. You should now be looking at the contents of the Config.sys file. Look for the following items.
a. The line containing "EMM386.EXE". This is the memory manager supplied with Windows® (if you know that you are using a different memory manager, do not worry about this line). On the same line as "EMM386.EXE", should be the parameter "NOEMS"; if this is not present, add it to the end the EMM386.EXE line.
b. The line containing "Files=". The number to the right of the equals sign is the maximum number of files that may be open simultaneously. That number should be 120 or higher. If the number is less than 120, change it to 120. If the Files line is not present, add the line "Files=120" (without quotes) to the bottom of the CONFIG.SYS file.
c. The line containing "Buffers=". There will be one or two numbers to the right of the equals sign; when 2 numbers are present, they are separated by a comma. The first number to the right of the equal sign is the number of file buffers available and that number should be about 40. If the number is much less than 40 (or much higher), change it to 40; ignore the second number if it is present. If the Buffers line is not present, add the line "Buffers=40,0" (without quotes) to the bottom of the CONFIG.SYS file.
d. Look for a line that contains the file name "SHARE.EXE". If this file is being loaded within your system configuration (config.sys file), place an asterisk at the start of the line to disable the loading of the SHARE.EXE file.
e. Look for a line that contains the file name "SMARTDRV.EXE". If this file is being loaded within your system configuration (config.sys file), place an asterisk at the start of the line to disable the loading of the SMARTDRV.EXE file.
If you modified the CONFIG.SYS file, click on File, and then Save, to save the new file.
2. Checking the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Click on the choice "File" at the top left of the Notepad window to get a drop-down menu of choices. Click on "Open" and the "Open" window will appear. In the box labeled "File Name:", type in "C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT" (without the quotes) and click on the "Ok" button. You should now be looking at the contents of the Autoexec.bat file. Look for the following items.
a. Look for a line that contains the file name "SHARE.EXE". If this file is being loaded within your autoexec.bat, place an asterisk at the start of the line to disable the loading of the SHARE.EXE file.
b. Look for a line that contains the file name "SMARTDRV.EXE". If this file is being loaded within your autoexec.bat file, place an asterisk at the start of the line to disable the loading of the SMARTDRV.EXE file.
If you modified the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, click on File, and then Save, to save the new file.
Double click on the box in the upper left corner of the "Accessories" window to close this window (or press <Ctrl><F4>).
3. Optimize your memory. Restart your computer to bring into effect any changes made in the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files. If you have DOS 6.0 (or higher), exit from Windows® and run the Memmaker program from the DOS prompt to optimize your random access memory (RAM).
4. Virtual Memory Configuration. Restart Windows® and from the Program Manager, select the following choices:
a. Locate the "Main" Program Group icon and open the program group window by double clicking on it.
b. Double click on the "Control Panel" icon to start this program.
c. Double click on the "386 Enhanced" icon to open the "Enhanced" window and click on the bar labeled "Virtual memory".
d. Click on the "Change" choice and make sure the virtual memory has the following settings:
Drive: Choose any uncompressed disk (DoubleSpace and other disk compression technologies cause problems with virtual memory).
Type: Permanent
Size: About 4 to 6% of your hard disk space has been recommended, but less can be used if disk space is in short supply. Some versions of Windows® will specify a maximum allowed size for virtual memory; use this amount when a recommended maximum is present.
Disk and File access: If your computer will support 32-bit access, select these options.
Click on "Ok" and save the changes to your virtual memory manager. Restart Windows® to bring these changes into effect.
5. Create a PIF file. From the Program Manager, select the following choices:
a. Locate the "Main" Program Group icon and open the program group window by double clicking on it.
b. Double click on the PIF Editor icon to start this program. Fill in the fields as follows:
Program Filename: This is the program that will start MedARKS. In this case, specify the FMEDARKS.BAT batch file that is provided with MedARKS.
Window Title: Put MedARKS in this field.
Optional Parameters: Leave this blank.
Start-up Directory: This is the drive and path to locate the Fmedarks.bat file. This file is normally installed in the root directory of the drive containing the MedARKS program (the default is C:\).
Video Memory: Check the "Text" option.
Memory Requirements: Place a -1 (minus one) in the KB required and the KB desired fields.
EMS Memory: Place a 0 (zero) in the KB required and the KB desired fields.
XMS Memory: Place a 4096 in the KB required and the KB desired fields. You can vary these figures depending on the amount of memory on your computer. Other number that can be used are: 3072, 5120 and 6144. The larger the amount of XMS memory specified, the longer the program will take to load, but the faster the program will run once it is loaded. A memory specification of 4096 (4 Mb of RAM) seems to give a good balance between loading time and program performance.
Display Usage: Mark the "full screen" option.
Execution: Leave both options unmarked.
Click on the "Advanced" options choice and make sure the "Allow Fast Paste" option is not marked. Now save the PIF file as Fmedarks.pif. The PIF file must have the same name as the program filename that was specified (i.e., the PIF file that starts Fmedarks.bat must be called Fmedarks.pif). The PIF file can be saved in the windows subdirectory or the same directory as the Fmedarks.bat file.
6. Creating a Program Item: The final step is to link the PIF file (just created in the above step) to an icon in a program group window. Return to the Program Manager window and open the Program Group to which you want to add the MedARKS icon (the "Applications" Program Group is one possibility). Now click on the File option of the Program Manager menu and click on the New choice of the drop-down menu. Mark the Program Item option and click on the "Ok" button. Fill in the fields as follows:
Description: MedARKS 5
Command Line: fmedarks.pif
Working Directory: This is the drive and directory containing the fmedarks.pif file (e.g., C:\WINDOWS).
Now click on "Change Icon" button. You will get a message indicating that no icons are available; click on the "Ok" button. A window labeled Change Icon will appear. Click on the browse button, switch to the \newmed\medarks subdirectory of the drive containing the MedARKS 5 program and choose the MEDARKS2.ICO file. Click on the "Ok" buttons until you are back to the Program Group window. The program group should now contain a new icon that should allow you to run MedARKS 5 from inside Windows®.
written by J. Andrew Teare, DVM
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