FastTips: Applications Questions & Answers for Windows 3.1

SUMMARY

This article contains the complete text of the "Applications Questions & Answers" fax script.

This fax script is available to customers who call the Microsoft FastTips Service for Operating Systems at (800) 936-4200.

MORE INFORMATION

  Microsoft(R) Product Support Services Application Note (Text File)
               WW0577: APPLICATIONS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

                                                  Revision Date: 12/92
                                                      No Disk Included

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| INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT AND ANY SOFTWARE THAT MAY    |
| ACCOMPANY THIS DOCUMENT (collectively referred to as an            |
| Application Note) IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY      |
| KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO    |
| THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A     |
| PARTICULAR PURPOSE. The user assumes the entire risk as to the     |
| accuracy and the use of this Application Note. This Application    |
| Note may be copied and distributed subject to the following        |
| conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and    |
| all pages must be included; 2) If software is included, all files  |
| on the disk(s) must be copied without modification [the MS-DOS(R)  |
| utility DISKCOPY is appropriate for this purpose]; 3) All          |
| components of this Application Note must be distributed together;  |
| and 4) This Application Note may not be distributed for profit.    |
|                                                                    |
| Copyright 1992 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.         |
| Microsoft and MS-DOS are registered trademarks and Windows         |
| is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.                           |
| Digital Research is a registered trademark of Digital Research,    |
| Inc. IBM and PS/2 are registered trademarks of International       |
| Business Machines Corporation.                                     |
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1. Q. Since I upgraded from Microsoft Windows version 3.0 to 3.1,
      I can no longer use the object-linking-and-embedding (OLE)
      features in Microsoft Excel for Windows or Microsoft Word for
      Windows. What is causing this problem?

   A. When you upgrade to Windows 3.1, Windows may not recognize the
      OLE database, which is named REG.DAT. If Windows cannot
      recognize REG.DAT, you cannot use OLE features in your Windows-
      based applications. To use OLE applications in Windows 3.1, you
      must update REG.DAT with the following five steps:

      1. From the Program Manager File menu, choose Run.

      2. In the Command Line box, type "regedit" (without the
         quotation marks) and choose the OK button to open the
         Registration Information Editor.

      3. From the File menu, choose Merge Registration File.

      4. Select the registration file that corresponds to the OLE
         server application you are using. (For example, if you are
         using Microsoft Publisher, choose MSPUB.REG.)

      5. Choose the OK button.

2. Q. When I try to upgrade to Windows 3.1 using Digital
      Research(R) (DR) DOS version 6.0, I receive the error message
      "Standard Mode: Fault in MS-DOS Extender." Why is this error
      occurring?

   A. Microsoft can ensure the stability of Windows 3.1 only when it
      is running on Microsoft MS-DOS or IBM(R)  PC-DOS versions 3.1 or
      later. Digital Research has announced the availability of a
      software upgrade for running Windows with DR DOS; however,
      Microsoft does not recommend using Windows 3.1 with DR DOS,
      either with or without the Digital Research software update. We
      cannot ensure the stability of Windows with DR DOS.

3. Q. When I try to run one of my MS-DOS-based applications, the
      MS-DOS screen briefly displays a message; but before I can read
      it, the Windows screen returns. Does this message tell me why my
      MS-DOS-based application cannot run?

   A. This message may tell you why your application cannot run. To
      suspend the message so that you can read it, use the PIF Editor
      to create a program information file (PIF) for the application.
      Make sure the Close Window On Exit check box is not selected.
      (This forces any error messages to remain on the screen when you
      run your application.)

      Try running the application using this new PIF. Read the message
      when it reappears and then try to correct the problem based on
      the error message information. After you correct the problem and
      want to resume normal work in your application, reopen the PIF
      using the PIF Editor and select the Close Window On Exit check
      box so that you do not have to quit the program manually each
      time you exit.

4. Q. My Windows-based applications run correctly under Windows
      3.1, but my MS-DOS-based applications have display problems.
      (These programs run correctly under Windows 3.0.) I am using the
      standard Windows 3.1 VGA driver. How can I correct these
      problems?

   A. The Windows 3.1 VGA video driver causes problems for some video
      cards (mostly older ones) when you are running MS-DOS-based
      applications in 386 enhanced mode. To work around this problem,
      use the following three steps:

      1. Quit Windows.

      2. Change to the WINDOWS directory.

      3. Type "setup" (without the quotation marks). When the
         hardware options are displayed, select the VGA (Version 3.0)
         option.

      Using the VGA (Version 3.0) option should correct this problem.

5. Q. Does SMARTDrive make my system run more slowly with Windows
      3.1 than with 3.0?

   A. SMARTDrive runs more slowly with double buffering than without
      it. To make SMARTDrive run faster with double buffering, try
      adding the /L switch to the SMARTDrive command line in
      AUTOEXEC.BAT. This switch forces SMARTDrive to load its buffer
      low (that is, into conventional memory).

       Note: If your hard disk requires the use of double buffering,
       Windows places a SMARTDrive command in your CONFIG.SYS file as
       well as in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You must place the /L switch
       on the command line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

6. Q. Why is the line "DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE
      /DOUBLE_BUFFER" in my CONFIG.SYS file and why can't I run
      Windows in 386 enhanced mode when I have a 386 computer with 4
      megabytes (MB) of memory?

   A. When you install Windows, Windows Setup tests to see if it can
      recognize the hard disk drive. If the hard disk drive uses a
      SCSI controller or a caching controller, Windows adds the line
      "DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE /DOUBLE_BUFFER" to the
      CONFIG.SYS file. Sometimes, double buffering may not be
      activated even though you have that line in the CONFIG.SYS file.
      If you have a controller and double buffering is not active, you
      may be unable to run Windows in 386 enhanced mode. To force
      double buffering, add a plus sign to the end of the SMARTDRV.EXE
      line so that it reads as follows:

        DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE /DOUBLE_BUFFER+

7. Q. I have an IBM PS/2(R) model 55 SX with a SCSI hard disk
      drive. Every time I try to boot Windows 3.1 in 386 enhanced
      mode, my machine stops responding (hangs). The Windows logo is
      displayed briefly, but then the screen goes blank. I added
      SMARTDrive with the /DOUBLE_BUFFER+ option, but it did not have
      any effect. How can I correct this problem?

   A. Windows 3.1 has a switch called MCADMA designed specifically for
      the PS/2 model 55 SX. To correct this problem, disable the
      switch using the following two steps:

      1. Edit the SYSTEM.INI file with a standard ASCII text
         editor.

      2. Locate the [386Enh] section and add the line "MCADMA=OFF"
         (without the quotation marks).

       Note: Do not use this switch with any computer other than the
       IBM PS/2 55 SX, even other PS/2 computers.

      For more information on the MCADMA switch, please refer to the
      SYSINI.WRI file.