133 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
133 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
|
||
DISABLING WRITE CACHING
|
||
|
||
To avoid potential write caching problems, you may want to
|
||
disable the DOS 6 SmartDrive write caching feature.
|
||
However, first you will need to know about the DOS 6
|
||
AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
|
||
|
||
Below is a typical DOS 6 AUTOEXEC.BAT file for an 80286, an
|
||
80386, or an 80486 machine.
|
||
|
||
@ECHO OFF
|
||
PATH C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\UTILS
|
||
PROMPT $P$G
|
||
SET TEMP=C:\DOS
|
||
SMARTDRV
|
||
|
||
You can use EDIT, the built-in DOS editor, to make or modify the
|
||
AUTOEXEC.BAT file or the CONFIG.SYS file. Both of these
|
||
files reside on the root directory of your start-up disk. Remember,
|
||
the changes you make when you modify an existing
|
||
AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS file will not take effect until
|
||
you restart your computer. Never make a modification to either
|
||
the AUTOEXEC.BAT file or the CONFIG.SYS file without first
|
||
making a backup of these important files on diskette. If your
|
||
start-up disk is drive C, you can load the AUTOEXEC.BAT file into
|
||
EDIT by typing:
|
||
|
||
edit c:\autoexec.bat <ENTER>
|
||
|
||
When you are in EDIT, you can press <F1> for more help. If
|
||
you make changes, don't forget to save the file by pressing:
|
||
|
||
<ALT>
|
||
f
|
||
s
|
||
|
||
Note that the last line in the sample AUTOEXEC.BAT file is
|
||
SMARTDRV. SMARTDRV is a disk cache that works with
|
||
computers that have extended memory. If you have an 80286 or
|
||
greater machine with at least 1 megabyte of memory, then you can
|
||
probably use SMARTDRV. A disk cache uses a portion of memory
|
||
to store information that DOS reads from disk. DOS can read
|
||
information from the disk cache much faster than it can read
|
||
information from a drive. The result is that you will get a big
|
||
performance boost if you use a disk cache.
|
||
|
||
The DOS 6 SMARTDRV will cache both floppy and hard drives
|
||
and is faster than the DOS 5 SMARTDRV. The DOS 6
|
||
SMARTDRV is very similar to the one that is included with
|
||
WINDOWS 3.1 and can be loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
|
||
The DOS 6 version of SMARTDRV will automatically calculate
|
||
values by determining how much upper memory exists in your
|
||
machine. It will also automatically load itself into high
|
||
memory if it is available.
|
||
|
||
The DOS 6 SMARTDRV will do read caching and write caching
|
||
for hard drives and read caching for floppies. With write
|
||
caching, you could lose data if you turn your computer off
|
||
immediately after quitting a program.
|
||
|
||
IT IS BEST TO WAIT AT LEAST FIVE SECONDS AFTER YOU QUIT AN
|
||
APPLICATION BEFORE YOU TURN THE MACHINE OFF.
|
||
|
||
On drives that are write cached, SMARTDRV waits until the
|
||
cache is about full, or until there has been about 5 seconds of
|
||
idle time, before writing the data to your hard drive. If you
|
||
want to force the write cache to immediately write the data to
|
||
the hard drive, type:
|
||
|
||
smartdrv /c <ENTER>
|
||
|
||
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
|
||
To avoid potential write caching problems, you may want to
|
||
disable the DOS 6 SmartDrive write caching feature.
|
||
|
||
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
|
||
You can disable write caching by following the SMARTDRV
|
||
command with the letters of your hard drives. Suppose you had
|
||
hard drives C, D, E, and you wanted to disable write caching on
|
||
these drives. Use the DOS EDIT program to change the
|
||
SMARTDRV line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to read the
|
||
following:
|
||
|
||
SMARTDRV C D E
|
||
|
||
The above line tells DOS to allow read caching while disabling
|
||
write caching for drives C, D, and E. Don't try to cache a
|
||
DoubleSpaced drive. SmartDrive will not cache compressed
|
||
drives (DoubleSpaced drives), CD-ROM drives, network drives,
|
||
or RAM drives. If you are running DoubleSpace, you can get
|
||
information on all your drives by typing:
|
||
|
||
dblspace /info <ENTER>
|
||
|
||
If you want to see which drives SMARTDRV is caching, at the
|
||
system prompt type:
|
||
|
||
smartdrv <ENTER>
|
||
|
||
For more information on the DOS 6 SMARTDRV command, type:
|
||
|
||
help smartdrv <ENTER>
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
This section is finished. It is an excerpt from LEARNING DOS FOR
|
||
THE COMPLETE NOVICE, by Steven Woas, copyright 1993. When you register
|
||
this program, you will receive the 336 page book, LEARNING DOS FOR THE
|
||
COMPLETE NOVICE which covers DOS 3.2 through DOS 6. To register send
|
||
$15.95 plus $2.00 for shipping to:
|
||
|
||
|
||
Celestial Press
|
||
4424 Dohrcrest Dr.
|
||
Suite C
|
||
New Port Richey, FL 34652
|
||
|
||
Phone (813) 845-8522
|
||
US customers can order toll-free 1-800-330-3311
|
||
Fax (813) 845-8522
|
||
|
||
We accept Visa & MasterCard
|
||
|
||
Florida orders add 6% sales tax.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|