Windows 3.1 Resource Kit SYSTEM.INI [386ENH] Section A-Z
The [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file contains information
specific to running Windows 3.1 in 386-enhanced mode, including
information used for virtual-memory page swapping.
The [386Enh] section can contain the following settings:
32BitDiskAccess=<boolean>
Default: Off if your hard disk is capable of supporting 32-
bit disk access. Otherwise, this setting is not
present in the SYSTEM.INI file.
Purpose: Turns 32-bit disk access on or off.
To change: Choose the 386 Enhanced icon in the Control
Panel window. If this setting is not present in
the SYSTEM.INI file, the 32-bit Disk Access
check box will not appear in the Control Panel
Virtual Memory dialog box.
A20EnableCount=<number>
Default: The value computed by the Win386 loader.
Purpose: Specifies the initial A20 enable count. (For more
information about the A20 enable count, see your
Extended Memory specification).
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting.)
AllVMsExclusive=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: If enabled, this setting forces all applications
to run in exclusive full-screen mode, overriding
all contrary settings in the applications' program
information files (PIFs). Enabling this setting
might prolong the length of the Windows session
when you are running network and memory-resident
software that is incompatible with Windows.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
AltKeyDelay=<seconds>
Default: .005
Purpose: Specifies how much time Windows waits to process a
keyboard interrupt after it processes an ALT
interrupt. Some applications expect a slower
processing rate than Windows in 386 enhanced mode
normally uses. Increase this value if such an
application has trouble handling the ALT key.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
AltPasteDelay=<seconds>
Default: .025
Purpose: Specifies how much time Windows waits before
pasting any characters after the ALT key has been
released. Some applications may require more time
for recognition of the ALT keystroke.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
AllEMSLocked=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: If enabled, this setting locks the contents of
expanded memory used by all Windows and non-
Windows applications into memory (instead of
swapping it to disk) and overrides the non-
Windows application PIF settings for EMS Memory
Locked. Set this value to True if you are using a
disk cache program that uses expanded memory.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
AllXMSLocked=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: If enabled, this setting locks the contents of the
extended memory used by all Windows and non-
Windows applications into memory (instead of
swapping it to disk), and overrides non-Windows
application PIF settings for XMS Memory Locked.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting).
AutoRestoreScreen=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: Specifies whether the display for non-Windows
applications should be restored by Windows or the
applications themselves when they become active.
If enabled, Windows saves the display information
for a non-Windows application in memory when you
switch away from the application. When you switch
back to the application, Windows uses this
information to restore the screen. If disabled,
the application must restore its own display by
repainting the screen. This requires less memory,
but can slow down performance since Windows can
usually restore the screen faster.
Note: This setting only applies to VGA displays and affects
only applications that notify Windows that they can
update their own screen automatically when Windows
initiates a display update call.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
BkGndNotifyAtPFault=<Boolean>
Default: True for VGA displays; False for 8514 displays.
Purpose: Specifies when a notification should be sent to a
non-Windows application or to Windows to prevent
the application from attempting to access the
display (which might corrupt the display of a
different application). This notification can be
sent while switching to a different application or
when attempting to access the actual display. If
disabled, Windows sends a notification when
switching between applications. Disable this
setting if you are using a display that has
special hardware, (for example, 8514 and TIGA). If
you are using a VGA display, enabling this setting
should work in most cases.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
CGA40WOA.FON=<filename>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies the filename of the fixed-pitch display
font used for non-Windows applications with a
display of 40 columns and 25 or fewer lines.
To change: Quit Windows and run Setup from the MS-DOS
prompt. Change the Codepage or Display
setting.
CGA80WOA.FON=<filename>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies the filename of the fixed-pitch display
font used for non-Windows applications with a
display of 80 columns and 25 or fewer lines.
To change: Quit Windows and run Setup from the MS-DOS
prompt. to change the Codepage or Display
setting.
CGANoSnow=<Boolean>
Default: No
Purpose: If enabled, causes Windows to do special handling
to avoid snow appearing on an IBM CGA display
device.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
COM1AutoAssign=<number-or-seconds>
COM2AutoAssign=<number-or-seconds>
COM3AutoAssign=<number-or-seconds>
COM4AutoAssign=<number-or-seconds>
Default: 2
Purpose: Indicates the contention detection values for each
connected serial port. These values are used by
Windows to determine how to arbitrate requests for
the use of a device by more than one application,
at least one of which is a non-Windows
application. If the value is -1, Windows will
display a warning message that asks you which
application should be given control of the port.
If the value is zero, any application can use the
device at any time. If the value is a positive
integer less than 1,000, this value represents the
number of seconds after an application stops using
the device before another application can use the
same device.
To change: Choose the 386 Enhanced icon from the Control
Panel window.
COM1Base=<address>
COM2Base=<address>
COM3Base=<address>
COM4Base=<address>
Default: COM3Base=3E8h and the port address values located
in the BIOS data area for COM1, COM2, anc COM4.
Purpose: Specifies the base (first) port for the serial
port adapter you are using. Check you hardware
documentation for the appropriate value.
Note: Windows uses these values for both standard and 386
enhanced mode.
To change: Use the Advanced Settings dialog box for the
Ports option in Control Panel.
COMBoostTime=<milliseconds>
Default: 2
Purpose: Specifies the amount of time (in milliseconds) to
allow a virtual machine to process a COM
interrupt. If a communications application is
losing keyboard characters on the display, you can
try increasing this value.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
COM1Buffer=<number>
COM2Buffer=<number>
COM3Buffer=<number>
COM4Buffer=<number>
Default: 128
Purpose: Specifies the number of characters that the device
on the corresponding serial port will place in the
buffer. Before changing one of these settings, see
the corresponding COMxProtocol setting to make
sure that it has the proper value. Buffering may
slow down communications on a port, but might be
necessary to prevent some communications
applications from losing characters at high baud
rates. The size of the buffer required will depend
on the speed of the machine and the application's
needs.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
COMMdrv30=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: If enabled, indicates that the Virtual COM Driver
(VCD) uses its own copy of the serial communica-
tions driver's interrupt handler. This improves
performance of your COM ports. Enable this setting
if you are using a Windows 3.0 serial communica-
tions driver. Disable this setting if you are
using the standard Windows 3.1 serial communica-
tions driver.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
COM1FIFO=<Boolean>
COM2FIFO=<Boolean>
COM3FIFO=<Boolean>
COM4FIFO=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: Specifies whether the FIFO buffer of a COM port's
16550 Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter
(UART) should be enabled (true) or disabled
(false). If a serial port does not have a 16550
UART, this setting is ignored.
Note: These values are used by Windows for both standard
and enhanced modes.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
COM1Irq=<number>
COM2Irq=<number>
COM3Irq=<number>
COM4Irq=<number>
Default: COM1Irq=4; COM2Irq=3; COM3Irq=4; COM4Irq=3 for ISA
and EISA machines. COM1Irq=4; COM2Irq=3;
COM3Irq=3; COM4Irq=3 for MCA machines
Purpose: Specifies which interrupt line is being used by
the device on the corresponding serial port. Check
your hardware documentation for the appropriate
value. If there is a hardware conflict between
ports, set this value to -1 to disable input for a
COM port.
Note: Windows uses these values for both standard and 386
enhanced mode.
To change: Use the Advanced Settings dialog box for the
Ports option in Control Panel.
COMIrqSharing=<Boolean>
Default: True for Micro Channel (TM) and EISA machines;
False for all other machines
Purpose: Specifies whether COM interrupt lines are sharable
between multiple serial ports or with other
devices. Enable this setting if your machine uses
the same interrupt for COM3 or COM4 as it does for
COM1 or COM2.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
COM1Protocol=<XOFF-or-blank>
COM2Protocol=<XOFF-or-blank>
COM3Protocol=<XOFF-or-blank>
COM4Protocol=<XOFF-or-blank>
Default: (Default is no entry, which is the same as any
entry other than XOFF)
Purpose: Specifies whether Windows in 386 enhanced mode
should stop simulating characters into a virtual
machine after the virtual machine sends an XOFF
character. Set the value for a port to XOFF if a
communications application using that port is
losing characters while doing text transfers at
high baud rates. Windows will resume simulating
characters when the virtual machine sends another
character after the XOFF character. Leave this
setting disabled if the application is doing
binary data transfers; enabling this switch might
suspend binary transmissions. Windows will not
check for XOFF characters if this setting is blank
or set to anything other than XOFF. If the
application continues to lose characters after
this setting is properly set, try increasing the
corresponding COMxBuffer value.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
Device=<filename-or-*devicename>
Default: None (Setup assigns appropriate values based on
your system configuration.)
Purpose: Specifies which virtual devices are used with
Windows in 386 enhanced mode. This value can
appear in two ways: either the name of a specific
virtual device file, or an asterisk (*) followed
immediately by the device name. The latter case
refers to a virtual device that is in the
WIN386.EXE file. Filenames usually include the
.386 extension. Multiple device lines are required
to run Windows in 386 enhanced mode.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
Display=<filename-or-*devicename> (See "Device=", above)
Default: None (Setup assigns an appropriate value based on
your system configuration.)
Purpose: Specifies the display device that is being used
with Windows in 386 enhanced mode.
To change: Choose the Windows Setup icon from the Main
Group window.
DMABufferIn1MB=<Boolean>
Default: No
Purpose: If enabled, Indicates that the direct memory
access (DMA) buffer memory should be in the first
1MB of memory (above 640K, if possible) in order
to be compatible with 8-bit bus master cards.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
DMABufferSize=<kilobytes>
Default: 16
Purpose: Specifies the amount of memory (in kilobytes) to
be reserved for the direct memory access buffer
(DMA). This memory will be allocated above 640K,
if possible. Windows in 386 enhanced mode will
default to a DMA buffer size that will handle disk
access.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
DOSPromptExitInstruc=<Boolean>
Default: Yes
Purpose: If enabled, when you start the MS-DOS prompt a
message box appears, with instructions on how to
exit and switch away from the MS-DOS prompt.
Disable this setting if you do not want to see the
message.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
DualDisplay=<Boolean>
Default: See "Purpose."
Purpose: Normally, when running in 386 enhanced mode, the
memory between B000:0000 and B7FF:000F is used by
the general system unless a secondary display is
detected. Enable this setting if you are using a
VGA-based color display and want EMM386.EXE to
include this address space as an upper memory
block (UMB). In addition to enabling this setting,
you must include the i= option in the
device=EMM386.EXE command line in your CONFIG.SYS
file as follows:
device=EMM386.EXE i=B000-B7FF
If this setting is disabled, the address range is
available on EGA systems, but not on VGA systems,
because the VGA display device supports monochrome
modes, which use this address space.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
EBIOS=<filename-or-*devicename> (See "Device=", above)
Default: None (Setup assigns an appropriate value based on
your system configuration.)
Purpose: Specifies the extended BIOS device that is being
used with Windows in 386 enhanced mode.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
EGA40WOA.FON=<filename>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies the filename of the fixed-pitch display
font used for non-Windows applications with a
display of 40 columns and more than 25 lines.
To change: Quit Windows and run Setup from the MS-DOS
prompt. Change the Codepage or Display setting.
EGA80WOA.FON=<filename>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies the filename of the fixed-pitch display
font used for non-Windows applications with a
display of 80 columns and more than 25 lines.
To change: Quit Windows and run Setup from the MS-DOS
prompt. Change the Codepage or Display setting.
EISADMA=<Boolean> or <channel>,<size>
Default: 0,8; 1,8; 2,8; 3,8; 5,16w; 6,16w; 7,16w (Each pair
goes with its own EISADMA setting.)
Purpose: Specifies the mode of operation of an extended DMA
channel for Extended Industry Standard
Architecture (EISA) machines only. This setting's
value can take one of two forms. If you disable
this setting, Windows will treat the machine as
non-EISA, therefore avoiding all EISA-related
logic. You can try disabling this switch if you
cannot run Windows in 386 enhanced mode on your
EISA machine. If you are using an EISA machine,
you can specify the default transfer size for one
or more DMA channels. The channels can operate in
the following modes: 8-bit (8), 16-bit specified
in words (16w), 16-bit specified in bytes (16b),
or 32-bit (32). If you are not using an EISA
machine, Windows will ignore this setting.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
EMMExclude=<paragraph-range>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies a range of memory that Windows will not
scan to find unused address space. This has the
side effect of turning off the RAM and ROM search
code for the range. The range (two paragraph
values separated by a hyphen) must be between A000
and EFFF. This scanning can interfere with some
adapters that use the same memory area. The
starting value is rounded down and the ending
value is rounded up to a multiple of 16K. For
example, you could set EMMExclude=C800-CFFF to
prevent Windows from scanning the addresses
C800:0000 through CFFF:000F. You can specify more
than one range by including more than one
EMMExclude line.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
EMMInclude=<paragraph-range>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies a range of memory that Windows will
treat as unused address space regardless of what
may be there. EMMInclude takes precedence over
EMMExclude if you specify ranges that overlap. The
range (two values separated by a hyphen) must be
between A000 and EFFF. The starting value is
rounded down and the ending value is rounded up to
a multiple of 16K. For example, you could set
EMMInclude=C800-CFFF to ensure that Windows can
use the addresses C800:0000 through CFFF:000F.
You may specify more than one range by including
more than one EMMInclude line.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
EMMPageFrame=<paragraph>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies the starting paragraph where the 64K
page frame will begin when Windows in 386 enhanced
mode cannot find a suitable page frame. Allows an
EMM page frame in an area containing some unused
RAM or ROM. For example, you could set
EMMPageFrame=C400 to start the page frame at
C400:0000.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
EMMSize=<kilobytes>
Default: 65,536
Purpose: Specifies the total amount of memory available for
mapping as expanded memory. The default value
allocates the maximum possible amount of system
memory as expanded memory. Specify a value for
this setting if you run an application that \
allocates all of the available expanded memory. If
this is the case, you cannot create new virtual
machines. If this value is zero, then no expanded
memory will be allocated, but the EMM driver will
be loaded. To disable EMM and prevent the EMM
driver from loading, use the NoEMMDriver setting.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
FileSysChange=<Boolean>
Default: Off in 386 enhanced mode; Not supported in
standard mode.
Purpose: Indicates whether File Manager automatically
receives messages anytime a non-Windows
application creates, renames, or deletes a file.
If disabled, a virtual machine can run
exclusively, even if it modifies files. Enabling
this setting can slow down system performance
significantly.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
Global=<device-name>
Default: (all devices)
Purpose: Defines DOS devices loaded in CONFIG.SYS that need
to be global to the system. The default setting
for all devices is global. However, certain
virtual devices might specify that a DOS device be
local (for example, MS$MOUSE). Use this setting to
override that local specification. The <device-
name> value must exactly match the case of the
device name, or setting will not work. (Most
device names are in all capital letters, therefore
this value must usually be in all caps.)
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
HardDiskDMABuffer=<kilobytes>
Default: 0 for AT architecture computers; 64 for micro-
channel computers or computers that use Direct
Memory Access (DMA) channel 3 (unless you are
using SMARTDrive and double-buffering is turned
on. In this case the default is 0.)
Purpose: Specifies the amount of memory used for the DMA
buffer. If you are using SMARTDrive and double-
buffering is turned on, this amount is determined
automatically. You may need to change this value
if you are using a hard disk that supports DMA and
are not using SMARTDrive, or if you do not have
double-buffering turned on.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
IdleVMWakeUpTime=<seconds>
Default: 8
Purpose: Causes timer interrupts to periodically "wake up"
idle virtual machines after the specified number
of seconds have elapsed. If a virtual machine does
not use timer interrupts (Int 8 or Int 1Ch),
Windows will not usually force timer interrupts
into a virtual machine unless it is active. This
setting forces the timer interrupts to occur. The
value for this setting is rounded down to
the lowest power of two (for example, 1, 2, 4, 8,
16, 32, 64).
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
IgnoreInstalledEMM=<Boolean>
Default: No
Purpose: If enabled, Windows will start in 386 enhanced
mode, even when there is an unknown expanded
memory manager (EMM) running. This can cause the
system to fail if memory-resident software was
using EMM before Windows was started. Enable this
setting only if no such software is installed or
you are sure will not be active when you are
running Windows. This setting applies only to
expanded memory managers servicing physical EMS
hardware; Windows will not disable unrecognized
80386 expanded memory emulators.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
InDOSPolling=<Boolean>
Default: No
Purpose: If enabled, prevents Windows from running other
applications when memory-resident software has the
InDOS flag set. Enabling this setting is necessary
if the memory-resident software needs to be in a
critical section to do operations off an INT21
hook, but will slow down system performance
slightly.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
INT28Critical=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: Specifies whether a critical section is needed to
handle INT28h interrupts used by memory-resident
software. Some networks do internal task switching
on INT28h interrupts. These interrupts might hang
some network software, indicating the need for an
INT28h critical section. If you are not using such
software, you might improve Windows' task
switching by disabling this setting.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
IRQ9Global=<Boolean>
Default: No
Purpose: If enabled, converts IRQ9 masks to global. Enable
this setting if your system hangs when accessing a
floppy drive. Or make sure your system accesses
the floppy drive before starting Windows.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
Keyboard=<filename-or-*devicename> (See "Device=", above)
Default: None (Setup assigns an appropriate value based on
your system configuration.)
Purpose: Specifies the keyboard driver that is being used
with Windows in 386 enhanced mode.
To change: Choose the Windows Setup icon from the Main
Group window.
KeyBoostTime=<seconds>
Default: .001
Purpose: Specifies the amount of time (in seconds) an
application runs with increased priority when it
receives a keystroke. You can use this setting to
increase the response to keystrokes when several
background applications are running.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
KeyBufferDelay=<seconds>
Default: .2
Purpose: Specifies the amount of time (in seconds) to delay
pasting keyboard input after the keyboard buffer
is full. Some applications might require more than
.2 seconds.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
KeyIdleDelay=<seconds>
Default: .5
Purpose: Specifies how much time Windows ignores idle calls
after simulating a keystroke into a virtual
machine. You can set this value to 0 to speed up
keyboard input, but some applications might slow
down significantly.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
KeyPasteCRSkipCount=<number>
Default: 10
Purpose: Specifies the number of times that a read status
INT 16 call should return a status of empty for
the keyboard buffer after pasting a carriage
return before pasting another character. When
Windows pastes information from the Clipboard to a
non-Windows application, it must first paste the
information to the BIOS keyboard buffer before
pasting it into the application. This setting is
used to slow down fast pasting from the Clipboard
to the keyboard buffer so that the application can
handle all incoming characters from the buffer. If
you seem to lose characters, or if the screen does
not update often enough while pasting information
from the Clipboard, increase this value. This
setting is related to KeyPasteSkipCount.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
KeyPasteDelay=<seconds>
Default: .003
Purpose: Specifies how much time (in seconds) to wait
before pasting any characters after a key has been
pasted. Some applications might require more time
than .003 seconds for recognition of a keystroke.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
KeyPasteSkipCount=<number>
Default: 2
Purpose: Specifies the number of times that a read status
INT 16 call should return a status of empty for
the keyboard buffer before pasting another
character. When Windows pastes information from
the Clipboard to a non-Windows application, it
must first paste the information to the BIOS
keyboard buffer before pasting it into the
application. This setting is used to slow down
fast pasting from the Clipboard to the keyboard
buffer so that the application can handle all
incoming characters from the buffer. If you seem
to lose characters, or if the screen does not
update often enough while pasting information from
the Clipboard, increase this value. This setting
is related to KeyPasteCRSkipCount
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
KeyPasteTimeout=<seconds>
Default: 1
Purpose: Specifies how much time (in seconds) to allow an
application to make the necessary BIOS calls for
reading keyboard input before Windows will change
from the fast paste (INT16h) to the slow paste
(INT9h) mechanism.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
KybdPasswd=<Boolean>
Default: True for IBM PS/2 computers; False for all other
computers
Purpose: Specifies whether the virtual keyboard device
(VKD) should support PS/2 8042 commands that
implement password security. This setting only
applies to 8042 keyboard controllers that are
compatible with the PS/2 computer.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
KybdReboot=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: If enabled, Windows will attempt to reboot the
computer using a keyboard controller command. On
some computers this method is unreliable. If your
computer hangs while rebooting, then disable this
setting. In this case, Windows will quit and then
display a prompt to press CTRL+ALT+DEL a second
time.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
Local=<device-name>
Default: None (In a standard SYSTEM.INI file, Setup will
set Local=CON. See "Purpose.")
Purpose: Defines MS-DOS device drivers that need to be
local to each virtual machine. The <device-name>
value must exactly match the case of the device
name, or this setting will not work. (Most device
names are in all capital letters, therefore this
value must usually be in all caps.) If a device
driver is local, a separate copy of it will exist
in each virtual machine, and each will keep
different state information. Most device drivers
will not function properly when this setting is
used. An exception is CON, the DOS console device,
which should be local to avoid filling a buffer
with input from multiple virtual machines.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
LocalLoadHigh=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: Determines how extra memory in the UMB (Upper
Memory Block) area is used when Windows in running
on MS-DOS version 5.0. If disabled, then Windows
uses all of the UMB area, leaving no extra UMB
space available for Virtual Machines. If enabled,
then Windows does not use all of the extra UMB
area. In this case, UMB area is available locally
to each Virtual Machine.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
LocalReboot=<on-or-off>
Default: On
Purpose: Specifies whether you can press CTRL+ALT+DEL to
quit applications that cause an unrecoverable
errors in 386 enhanced mode, without restarting
Windows. If this setting is enabled, you can quit
the applications. If this setting is disabled,
pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL will restart your entire
system (as it normally does.)
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
LPT1AutoAssign=<seconds>
LPT2AutoAssign=<seconds>
LPT3AutoAssign=<seconds>
LPT4AutoAssign=<seconds>
Default: 60
Note: These settings apply to Windows version 3.0 only. If
you have upgraded to Windows 3.1, these settings may
still appear in your SYSTEM.INI file, but will have
no affect.
LRULowRateMult=<number>
Default: 10
Purpose: Specifies the value used for determining the low
paging rate sweep frequency. The low paging rate
sweep frequency is computed by multiplying the
value for LRUSweepFreq by the value specified for
this setting. Values between 1 and 65535 may be
used.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting).
LRURateChngTime=<milliseconds>
Default: 10,000
Purpose: Specifies the length of time that the Memory
Manager stays at high rate with no paging before
switching to low rate, and the length of time the
Memory Manager stays at low rate with no paging
before turning the Least-Recently-Used (LRU) Sweep
off.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting).
LRUSweepFreq=<milliseconds>
Default: 250
Purpose: Specifies the time between sweep passes. This is
also the high paging rate sweep frequency.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting).
LRUSweepLen=<length-in-pages>
Default: 1024 (Windows computes this value by dividing the
value of LRUSweepReset by the value of
LRUSweepFreq)
Purpose: Specifies the length in pages of the region swept
on each pass. The value must be at least 1.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting).
LRUSweepLowWater=<number>
Default: 24
Purpose: Specifies when the Least-Recently Used (LRU)
sweeper should be turned on. When the number of
free pages drops below this value, the sweeper is
turned on.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting).
LRUSweepReset=<milliseconds>
Default: 500
Purpose: Specifies the time desired for an ACC bit reset
divided by 4 megabytes of pages. Therefore, the
time to reset all ACC bits is: (number of pages in
system+1023/1024) where 1024 pages = 4megabytes.
The minimum value is 100.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting).
MapPhysAddress=<range>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies the address range (in megabytes) in
which the memory manager preallocates physical
page-table entries and linear address space. Use
this setting if you are using a DOS device driver
(such as an older version of RAMDrive that uses
extended memory) that needs contiguous memory.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
MaxBPs=<number>
Default: 200
Purpose: Specifies the maximum number of break points (a
method for transferring control to 386 Enhanced
Windows) that can be used by the Virtual Memory
Manager. You may need to increase this value if
you are using a third-party virtual device driver
that requires more break points than the default
value.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
MaxCOMPort=<number>
Default: 4
Purpose: Specifies the maximum number of COM ports
supported in enhanced mode. Change this value if
you have more than 4 COM ports installed in your
computer.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
MaxDMAPGAddress=<address>
Default: 0FFFh (non-EISA computers); 0FFFFFh (EISA
computers)
Purpose: Specifies the maximum physical page address that
can be used for Direct Memory Access (DMA). This
setting works only with hard drives that support
DMA.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
MaxPagingFileSize=<kilobytes>
Default: 50 percent of available disk space
Purpose: Specifies the maximum size (in kilobytes) for a
temporary swap file.
To change: Choose the 386 Enhanced icon from the Control
Panel window.
MaxPhysPage=<hexidecimal-page-number>
Default: Determined by Windows based on the highest
physical page number detected by the Memory
Manager during initialization.
Purpose: Specifies the maximum physical page number that
the Memory Manager can manage as a useable page.
This setting allows pages to be added at a
physical address beyond what the Memory Manager
recognized during initialization. If the value
specified is less than what the Memory Manager
determines, the Memory Manager will ignore several
physical pages that it would normally use,
preventing the use of memory. This is useful if
you are using a hardware device that cannot
recognize all of the physical memory in your
computer (for example, ISA DMA Network cards
cannot access physical memory above 16 megabytes.)
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
MCADMA=<Boolean>
Default: True for MCA computers; False for all other
computers
Purpose: Specifies whether Windows should use the MCA
extensions to direct- memory access (DMA). This
setting only applies to MCA computers. Disable
this setting if you are using an MCA computer, but
the DMA extensions are not implemented.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
MessageBackColor=<vga-color-attribute>
Default: 1 (for blue)
Purpose: Specifies the background color of message screens,
such as the screen that appears when you press
Ctrl+Alt+Del.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
MessageTextColor=<vga-color-attribute>
Default: F (for white)
Purpose: Specifies the color used to display text in
message screens, such as the screen that appears
when you press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
MinTimeSlice=<milliseconds>
Default: 20
Purpose: Specifies the minimum amount of time (in
milliseconds) a virtual machine is allowed to run
before other virtual machines can take over. A
smaller value (such as 10 milliseconds) will make
multitasking appear smoother, but will decrease
overall system performance.
To change: Choose the 386 Enhanced icon from the Control
Panel window.
MinUnlockMem=<kilobytes>
Default: 40
Purpose: Specifies the amount of memory that must remain
unlocked and available for use when resuming a
virtual machine if more than one virtual machine
is running.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting.
MinUserDiskSpace=<kilobytes>
Default: 500
Purpose: Specifies how much disk space (in kilobytes) to
leave free when creating a temporary swap file.
Use this setting if your system's paging drive has
less available space than Windows can use for
paging. This setting does not apply if a permanent
swap file exists.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
Mouse=<filename-or-*devicename> (See "Device=", above)
Default: None (Setup assigns an appropriate value based on
your system configuration.)
Purpose: Specifies the virtual device that controls the
mouse hardware in 386 enhanced mode.
To change: Choose the Windows Setup icon from the Main
Group window.
MouseSoftInit=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: Specifies whether Windows should convert INT 33h
function 0 hard initialization calls to function
33 soft initialization calls, which do not reset
the mouse hardware. If enabled, you can use a
mouse with a non-Windows application that you
start in a window. Disable this setting if the
cursor and screen information appear garbled or
distorted when using the mouse with an
application. If you disable this setting, you may
not be able to use the mouse when running a non-
Windows application in a window.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
NetAsynchFallback=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: If enabled, Windows attempts to save a failing
NetBIOS request. When an application issues an
asynchronous NetBIOS request, Windows will attempt
to allocate space in its global network buffer to
receive the data. If there is insufficient space
in the global buffer, Windows will normally fail
the NetBIOS request. If this setting is enabled,
Windows will attempt to save such a request by
allocating a buffer in local memory and preventing
any other virtual machines from running until the
data is received or the timeout period (specified
by the NetAsynchTimeout setting) expires.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
NetAsynchTimeout=<seconds>
Default: 5.0
Purpose: Specifies the timeout period (in seconds) when
Windows needs to enter a critical section in order
to service an asynchronous NetBIOS request. It is
used only when NetAsynchFallback is enabled. This
value can include a decimal (such as 0.5).
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
NetDMASize=<kilobytes>
Default: 32 on Micro Channel (TM) machines (IBM PS/2 or
compatible); 0 on non-Micro Channel machines (IBM
PC/AT compatible).
Purpose: Specifies the DMA buffer size (in kilobytes) for
NetBIOS transport software if a network has been
installed. In this case, the buffer size is the
larger value between this value and the value of
DMABufferSize.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
NetHeapSize=<kilobytes>
Default: 12
Purpose: Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the data-
transfer buffers in conventional memory that
Windows allocates for transferring data over a
network when running in 386 enhanced mode. All
values are rounded up to the nearest 4K.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
Network=<filename-or-*devicename> (See "Device=", above)
Default: None (Setup assigns an appropriate value based on
your system configuration.)
Purpose: Specifies the type of network you are using with
Windows in 386 enhanced mode.
To change: Choose the Windows Setup icon from the Main
Group window.
NMIReboot=<Boolean>
Default: No
Purpose: If enabled, causes a reboot to occur when a
nonmaskable interrupt is received.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
NoEMMDriver=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: If enabled, prevents Windows in 386 enhanced mode
from installing its expanded memory driver. This
differs from setting EMMSize to zero, which does
not prevent the EMM driver from being loaded.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
NoWaitNetIO=<on-or-off>
Default: On
Purpose: Specifies whether or not to convert synchronous
NetBIOS commands to asynchronous commands. When
this setting is enabled, synchronous NetBIOS
commands are converted. This can improve overall
system performance when running several
applications.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
OverlappedIO=<Boolean>
Default: Off, if InDOSPolling is enabled; Otherwise, On
Purpose: If enabled, several virtual machines can make read
and write requests to a disk before the first
request has been completed. If disabled, virtual
machines cannot issue a request to read or write
to a disk until any previous read and write
requests have been completed.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting.
PageBuffers=<number>
Default: 4
Purpose: Specifies the number of 4K page buffers used to
store asynchronous read and write pages. This
setting is used only if you are using 32-Bit Disk
Access and a permanent swap file. You can specify
a value between 0 and 32. Increasing this value
can improve Windows' performance.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
PageOverCommit=<number>
Default: 4
Purpose: Specifies the multiplier for determining the
amount of linear address space the Memory Manager
will create for the system. The amount of linear
address space that the Memory Manager will create
is computed by rounding up the amount of available
physical memory to the nearest 4 megabytes and
then by multiplying that value to the value
specified for this setting. You can specify a
value between 1 and 20. Increasing this value
increases the amount of available linear address
space, causing the size of data structures to
increase. This also increases paging activity
proportionately and can slow down the system.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
Paging=<Boolean>
Default: Yes
Purpose: Enables or disables demand paging (virtual memory)
and permanent and temporary swap files. Disable
this setting only if you need the disk space
normally used for a temporary swap file.
To change: Choose the 386 Enhanced icon from the Control
Panel window.
PagingDrive=<drive-letter>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies the disk drive where Windows in 386
enhanced mode will create a temporary swap file.
This setting is ignored if you have a permanent
swap file. If you don't have a permanent swap file
and no drive is specified or the specified drive
does not exist, Windows will attempt to put your
temporary swap file on the drive containing your
SYSTEM.INI file. If the specified drive is full,
paging will be disabled.
To change: Choose the 386 Enhanced icon from the Control
Panel window.
PagingFile=<path-and-filename>
Default: WINDOWS\WIN386.SWP
Purpose: Specifies the path and filename for the temporary
swap file that is created when you start Windows
in 386 enhanced mode. This file is deleted when
you quit Windows. This setting overrides the
PagingDrive setting.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
PerformBackfill=<Boolean>
Default: Auto (Windows automatically checks to see if it
needs to fill in memory based on how DOS is
occupying memory.)
Purpose: Specifies whether or not to allocate a full 640K
of memory to a computer that has less than 640K of
base conventional memory. Enabling or disabling
this setting overrides the automatic checking done
by Windows.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting,
because Windows can automatically detect whether
or not to perform a backfill.
PermSwapDOSDrive=<drive-letter>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies the disk drive where Windows in 386
enhanced mode will create a permanent swap file.
This setting is ignored if you are using a
temporary swap file.
To change: Choose the 386 Enhanced icon from the Control
Panel window.
PermSwapSizeK=<kilobytes>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies the desired size in kilobytes of a
permanent swap file.
To change: Choose the 386 Enhanced icon from the Control
Panel window.
PerVMFILES=<number>
Default: 10; 0 if SHARE is installed.\177
Purpose: Specifies the number of private file handles
Windows should allocate to each virtual machine.
Increase this value if an application does not
have enough file handles to run. The total number
of file handles, including the global handles
specified in the FILES= statement in CONFIG.SYS,
cannot exceed 255. If it exceeds 255, this value
will be rounded down. Set this value to 0 to
prevent the allocation of any private file
handles. If SHARE is installed, then this setting
is ignored in the SYSTEM.INI file.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
PSPIncrement=<number>
Default: 2
Purpose: Specifies the amount of additional memory, in 16-
byte increments, that Windows should reserve in
each successive virtual machine when the
UniqueDOSPSP setting is enabled. The setting that
works best for your machine might vary depending
on your memory configuration and the applications
you are running. Valid values are 2 through 64.
See UniqueDosPSP for more information.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
ReflectDosInt2A=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: Indicates whether Windows should consume or
reflect DOS INT 2A signals. The default means
Windows will consume these signals and therefore
run more efficiently. Enable this setting if you
are running memory-resident software that relies
on detecting INT2A messages.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
ReservedHighArea=<paragraph-range>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies a range of memory that Windows will not
scan to find unused address space. This has the
side effect of turning off the RAM and ROM search
code for the range. The range (two paragraph
values separated by a hyphen) must be between A000
and EFFF. This scanning can interfere with some
adapters that use the same memory area. The
starting value is rounded down and the ending
value is rounded up to a multiple of 4K. For
example, you could set ReservedHighArea=E100-E3FF
to prevent Windows from scanning the first 12K of
memory starting at E100. You can specify more than
one range by including more than one
ReservedHighArea line.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
ReservePageFrame=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: Specifies whether Windows should give preference
to EMS page frame space or conventional memory
when it has to use one of the two to allocate MS-
DOS transfer buffers. This choice is necessary
when Windows cannot find space (other than EMS
page frame space) between 640K and 1MB. If
enabled, this setting will preserve EMS page frame
space at the expense of conventional memory. If
your non-Windows applications do not require
expanded memory, disable this setting to make more
conventional memory available to non-Windows
applications.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
ReserveVideoROM=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: Instructs Windows that video read-only memory
exists in pages C6 and C7. If the text font
appears scrambled when starting non-Windows
applications, enable this setting.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should not need to change this setting, because
the default setting causes Windows to detect
video ROM correctly.)
ROMScanThreshold=<number>
Default: 20
Purpose: Specifies a parameter used for determining if a
memory area in the adapter region (usually between
C000-EFFF) that has no ROM header or incorrect
header information is read-only memory (ROM). The
number for this setting specifies how many
different values must occur within the memory area
to determine whether or not it is ROM. If the
number of transitions is greater than the value
for this setting, Windows recognizes the memory
as ROM. If the number of transitions is less than
the value, Windows recognizes the memory as usable
memory. A value of 0 disables this setting,
causing Windows to recognize this memory area as
usable.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting.)
ScrollFrequency=<number>
Default: 2
Purpose: Specifies the number of lines you can scroll in a
non-Windows application that is running in a
Window before its display is updated.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting.)
SGrabLPT=<port-number>
Default: None
Purpose: Routes all printer interrupts on the specified
port to the Windows screen rather than to the
current virtual machine.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
SyncTime=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: If enabled, Windows periodically synchronizes its
time with the computer's CMOS clock. If this
setting is disabled, Windows usually maintains the
correct time, unless TrapTimerPorts is disabled
and you are running applications that can cause
the system time to run faster or slower than the
actual time. This setting is related to the
TrapTimerPorts setting.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
SystemROMBreakPoint=<Boolean>
Default: True if Windows is started in real mode of the
80386/486 CPU. False if Windows is started in
virtual mode of the 80386/486 CPU. Most 386 memory
managers, such as QEMM and 386MAX, require this
value to be set to false. If a 386 memory manager
is running Windows is started in virtual mode.
Otherwise, Windows is started in real mode.
Purpose: Specifies whether Windows should use ROM address
space between F000:0000 and 1MB for a break point.
Windows in 386 enhanced mode normally searches
this space to find a special instruction that is
used as a system break point. If this address
space contains something other than permanently
available ROM, you should disable this setting.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
SysVMEMSLimit=<number -or-kilobytes>
Default: 2048
Purpose: Specifies how many kilobytes of expanded memory
Windows is permitted to use. Setting this value to
0 prevents Windows from gaining access to any
expanded memory. Setting it to -1 gives Windows \
all the available expanded memory that it
requests.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
SysVMEMSLocked=<Boolean>
Default: No
Purpose: Specifies whether to swap expanded memory being
used by Windows applications to the hard disk.
Locking expanded memory (enabling this setting)
can improve the performance of a Windows
application that uses it, but can slow down the
rest of the system.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting.)
SysVMEMSRequired=<kilobytes>
Default: 0
Purpose: Specifies how many kilobytes of expanded memory
must be free in order to start Windows. Leave this
setting at zero if no Windows applications require
expanded memory.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
SysVMV86Locked=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: If enabled, causes the virtual-mode memory used in
the system virtual machine to remain locked in
memory instead of swaping it out to disk.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
(Because Windows controls this process, there is
no need to change this setting.)
SysVMXMSLimit=<number-or-kilobytes>
Default: 2048
Purpose: Specifies the maximum amount of memory (in
kilobytes) the extended memory driver allocates
to DOS device drivers and memory-resident software
in the system virtual machine. Set the value to -1
to give an application all the available extended
memory that it requests.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
SysVMXMSRequired=<kilobytes>
Default: 0
Purpose: Specifies how many kilobytes of extended memory
must be reserved by the XMS driver in order to
start Windows. Leave this setting at zero if there
are no XMS users in the system virtual machine.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
TimerCriticalSection=<milliseconds>
Default: 0
Purpose: Instructs Windows to go into a critical section
around all timer interrupt code, and specifies a
timeout period (in milliseconds). Specifying a
positive value causes only one virtual machine at
a time to receive timer interrupts. Some networks
and other global memory-resident software may fail
unless this setting is used. However, it slows
down performance and can make the system seem to
stop for short periods of time.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
TokenRingSearch=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: If enabled, Windows searches for a token ring
network adapter on machines with IBM PC/AT (R)
architecture. Disable this setting if you are not
using a token ring card and the search interferes
with another device.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
TranslateScans=<Boolean>
Default: No
Purpose: If enabled, Windows will translate a keyboard's
scan codes to make them compatible with standard
IBM scan codes. Use this setting only if you have
a keyboard that generates non-standard scan codes.
This setting is used only for the Switcher Screen
and fullscreen message boxes.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
TrapTimerPorts=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: Specifies whether Windows should trap read and
write operations to the system timer ports that
are performed by applications. If disabled,
Windows will not trap these operations, allowing
applications that fequently read or write to the
timer to run faster. However, this may interfere
with Windows' ability to keep accurate system
time. If disabled, Windows can usually detect when
an application has changed the timer interrupt
interval and then make any adjustments to the
time. If your system's time appears to be running
fast or slow, enable this setting. If you do not
want to enable this setting, enable the SyncTime
setting. This causes Windows to check the time
periodically and then make any necessary
adjustments.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
UniqueDOSPSP=<Boolean>
Default: True (If you are running a network based on
Microsoft Network or LAN Manager. See the
NETWORKS.WRI online document to find out whether
the network you are running is one of these);
False for all other networks.
Purpose: If enabled, Windows starts every application at a
unique address (PSP). Each time Windows creates a
new virtual machine to start a new application,
Windows reserves a unique amount of memory (i
bytes) below the application. For example, if the
first application is loaded at address M, the
second application is loaded at address M+i, the
third at M+2i, and so on.The amount of memory (i)
is determined by the PSPIncrement setting. These
settings ensure that applications in different
virtual machines all start at different addresses.
Some networks use applications' load addresses to
identify the different processes using the
network. Disabling this setting on such networks,
might cause one application to fail when you exit
another because the network interprets them as the
same application. If you enable this setting,
slightly less memory is available for non-Windows
applications.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
UseableHighArea=<paragraph-range>
Default: None
Purpose: Specifies a range of memory that Windows will
treat as unused address space regardless of what
may be there. UseableHighArea takes precedence
over ReservedHighArea if you specify ranges that
overlap. The range (two values separated by a
hyphen) must be between A000 and EFFF. The
starting value is rounded down and the ending
value is rounded up to a multiple of 4K. For
example, you could set UseableHighArea=E100-E3FF
to ensure that Windows can use the first 12K of
memory starting at E100. You may specify more
than one range by including more than one
UseableHighArea line.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
UseInstFile=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: Specifies whether Windows should look in the
INSTANCE.386 file for information it can use to
determine whether data structures within MS-DOS
need to be local. There are two other methods for
giving Windows this information: internal tables
within the device, and an INT 2Fh call documented
in the OEM Adaptation Kit. Both methods are
preferable to using this setting; it is provided
only for compatibility with Windows/386 version
2.x.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
UseROMFont=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: If enabled, Windows uses the soft font stored in
the video read-only memory (ROM) for displaying
messages that appear when non-Windows applications
are running in a full screen, and for displaying
the text that appears when switching away from a
non-Windows application. Disable this setting if
the font used to display messages is different
than the font used in the application, or if
random dots and shapes appear on your screen.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
VGAMonoText=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: Instructs Windows to ignore the video memory
address space in VGA displays, usually used for
monochrome adapters. When this setting is
disabled, Windows can use the B000h through B7FF
range for upper memory space, provided that no
hardware device is using these addresses and your
applications do not use the monochrome display
mode of your VGA adapter.
Note: This setting applies to VGA displays only.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
VideoBackgroundMsg=<Boolean>
Default: True
Purpose: If enabled, Windows displays a message when a
background application is suspended, or if its
display cannot be updated properly because video
memory is low. Disabling this setting turns off
the warning message. This setting affects all non-
Windows applications that are currently running.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
VideoSuspendDisable=<Boolean>
Default: False
Purpose: Specifies whether or not to suspend applications
running in the background if their display become
corrupted. If this setting is enabled, the
application continues running. If disabled,
applications become suspended and a warning
message appears, if the VideoBackgroundMsg setting
is enabled.
Note: This setting applies to VGA displays only.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
VirtualHDIrq=<Boolean>
Default: On for AT-compatible computers; Off for all other
computers.
Purpose: If enabled, Windows in 386 enhanced mode can
terminate interrupts from the hard disk
controller, bypassing the ROM routine that handles
these interrupts. Some hard drives might require
this setting to be disabled in order for
interrupts to be processed correctly. If this
setting is disabled, the ROM routine handles the
interrupts, which slows down system performance.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
WindowKBRequired=<kilobytes>
Default: 256
Purpose: Specifies how much conventional memory (in
kilobytes) must be free in order to start Windows.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
WindowMemSize=<number-or-kilobytes>
Default: -1
Purpose: Limits the amount of conventional memory Windows
can use for itself. The default value (-1)
indicates that Windows can use as much
conventional memory as it needs. If there is not
enough memory to run Windows in 386 enhanced mode,
try entering a positive value less than 640.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
WindowUpdateTime=<milliseconds>
Default: 50
Purpose: Specifies the amount of time (in milliseconds)
Windows takes before it updates the display oXf
non-Windows applications running in a window.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
WinExclusive=<Boolean>
Default: No
Purpose: If enabled, all of the computer's processing time
is allocated to Windows whenever a Windows
application is in the foreground. If this setting
is enabled and a Windows application is in the
foreground, no non-Windows application will run.
To change: Choose the 386 Enhanced icon from the Control
Panel window.
WinTimeSlice=<number,number>
Default: 100,50
Purpose: This setting contains two numbers. The first
number specifies the relative amount of processing
time (based on the MinTimeSlice setting) given to
all Windows applications running in the
foreground, relative to the time allocated to all
non-Windows applications running in the
background. The second number specifies the
relative amount of processing time given to all
Windows applications running in the background
when a non-Windows application is running in the
foreground. The range of valid numbers is 1
through 10000. The important value is the ratio of
these settings to the corresponding settings in
the PIF's of the active non-Windows applications.
To change: Choose the 386 Enhanced icon from the Control
Panel window.
WOAFont=<font filename>
Default: DOSAPP.FON
Purpose: Specifies which font file(s) are loaded into
memory when running non-Windows applications.
These fonts are also available to your Windows
applications as long as a non-Windows application
is running.
To change: Quit Windows and then run Setup from MS-DOS.
This setting changes when you change the
Codepage or Display setting in Setup.
XlatBufferSize=<kilobytes>
Default: 8
Purpose: Specifies the size of the low-memory buffer used
to map MS-DOS calls from protected mode to virtual
386 enhanced mode. Increasing this value can
improve the performance of protected mode Windows
applications that read or write information in a
large number of bytes (for example, some database
applications). However, this may decrease the
amount of memory available for running non-Windows
applications and may cause problems on networks
that use named pipes. These networks may require a
value of 4. The value you specify is rounded to
the next 4-kilobyte increment. For example, if you
set this value to 5, Windows rounds it up to 8.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file.
XMSUMBInitCalls=<Boolean>
Default: Ususally true, but may be false depending on the
extended memory manager you are using.
Purpose: Specifies whether or not Windows should call the
extended memory driver's upper memory block (UMB)
management routines.
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. (You
should never need to change this setting.)
This file was last changed: August 20 2012 09:21:31.
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