Speed it up!

[cynik]

I've been hard at work trying to optimize win98 on my 98/redhat61 dual boot.

I'm wondering about a couple of things:

- What exactly is double buffering? Sandra says to turn it off (scsi devs only). Some tech sites say to leave it on no matter what. What gives? (sys specs below)

- Why is ems disabled in my config.sys? I never put the command line switch (-noems) to config. Norton perhaps? Should I erase the switch (thus enabling ems)?

- What is write behing caching on removable drives? It was disabled .. i enabled it .. not any discernable dif anyway...

- I've seen over and over that assigning "network server" as the typical role for the computer in the file sys props increases performance in desktops. I've *never* seen an explanation as to why this is, and I've seen this recommandation lots of places. Anyone care to share the secret with me? http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif Will this decrease my security?

- Speaking of security - how can I beef it up in win98? Linux makes it a breeze ... win98 doesn't let me touch it. grrrrr


My system:

-333 k6-2 66mhz fsb
-gvc in5598/pb fr850 mobo (one and the same)
-96 megs edo ram
-8 gig maxtor (master1)
-2 gig wd caviar (slave 1)(linux - win dont see it)
-1.8 gig quantum (master2)(linux again)
-hp 8250 cdrw (slave2)
-vd3 2000 pci
-sb live mp3 (ie sblive value + fun music sw)
-realtek trl 8029 ethernet

Got Norton sysworks 4.0 running amongst other things...

Thanks for the patience dudes http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif I know it's a long post but I've been saving up.

Regards

cynik

[cynik]

oops - forgot to add:

no scsi devices whatsoever.

[Underclocked]

I think the best advice where Sandra's recommendations are concerned is to generally ignore them. Very nice, informative program but don't put too much faith in its recommendations. Leave double-buffering alone IMHO.

[BFlurie]

Double buffering's enabled in Msdos.sys & usually used just for SCSI devices or PCI-IDE cards in DOS mode -- so it'd have no effect in any case except when you start or restart into DOS mode. Loading it doesn't hurt anything, tho.

Enabling EMS won't have any effect in Windows, as above; only in DOS mode (not a DOS window). I enable EMS in Config.sys so I can load & run Smartdrv better if in DOS mode. Plus there's a couple other DOS programs that run better if EMS is enabled.

Write-behind caching for removable drives is just that -- for Floppy, Zip, etc. drives (W95 doesn't have this option, but I certainly never suffered from that). If you don't use these types of drives often, disabling it won't affect you.

As for the "Network Settings" issue, look at the program CacheMan here:
http://www.outertech.com/english/products/cacheman/cacheman.html

Since you have 96MB ram, you can set the values well above the "Network Server" settings. The program's good just for the learning experience also.

[cynik]

Thanks for the replies guys. I found the msdos file (didn't touch double buffering - just didn't know about the file).

I'd turn off the gui boot (msdos.sys) but then I'd have to give up my awe inspiring "Big Brother is Watching You" 1984 startup splash http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Btw - the 8250i was giving me problems with power consumption (resetting the psu every once in a while). I traded it in for a plexwriter 8-4-32 on defect waranty today (only 50 more $). Anyone else have this problem? Although it's led me to having this plex - this thing is a dream (fast and reliable) ... still weird that I havn't seen this issue posted about the 8250.

Got the cacheman. Now I'm gonna drain my lean mean 256k off die cache for every bit it's worth >:-)

Regards

cynik

[This message has been edited by cynik (edited 07-01-2000).]