NewDeal Technical Support Document 208
NEWDEAL AND WINDOWS 3.1
How to run NewDeal software from Windows 3.1 or
Workgroups 3.11
Run NewDeal software from Windows
If you have any difficulties installing your NewDeal software from
within Windows, exit Windows and install it from
the DOS prompt.
Once your NewDeal software is installed, you can run it
from Windows, or you can run Windows from your NewDeal software.
We have included an icon and a PIF file that you can use when running
NewDeal from Windows. To set up NewDeal to run from Windows, enter
the following commands at the DOS prompt:
copy c:\newdeal\newdeal.ico c:\windows
copy c:\newdeal\newdeal.pif c:\windows
copy c:\newdeal\newdeal.grp c:\windows
(If you have installed your NewDeal software in a directory other
than C:\NEWDEAL, or Windows in a directory other than C:\WINDOWS,
substitute the appropriate drive and directory in these commands.)
The next time you enter Windows Program Manager:
- Choose File and then New.
- Click New Program Group. Click OK.
- In the Program Group Properties dialog box leave Description
blank and change Group File to C:\WINDOWS\NEWDEAL.GRP.
Run Windows from your NewDeal software
It is very easy to create a launcher to run Windows (or any DOS
program) from NewDeal. In NewManager choose Utilities
and then Create Launcher. Highlight the file WIN.COM in the Select
DOS File for Launcher dialog box and click Use This File. Choose
a picture and click OK.
Technical Notes about the PIF file
To speed up your NewDeal software when running it
from Windows, run the Windows PIF Editor, edit the NEWDEAL.PIF
file, and change the value of the Foreground Priority in the Advanced
Options dialog box. You can use any value between 1 and 10,000.
Higher numbers provide faster performance.
Recommended settings in the main PIF Editor window
If you have installed NewDeal in a directory other than C:\NEWDEAL,
adjust the path accordingly.
- Program Filename: LOADER.EXE
- Path: C:\NEWDEAL
- Window Title: NewDeal
- Start-up directory: C:\NEWDEAL
- Execution: Exclusive
- Video Memory: HIGH GRAPHICS
- Memory Requirement: KB REQUIRED=512
- Display Usage: FULL SCREEN
Recommended settings in the advanced options PIF Editor window
- Multitasking Options: Do not select DETECT IDLE TIME.
- Memory Options: You might need to deselect Uses High Memory
Area if your computer is on a network.
- Monitor Ports: Do not select 'Emulate text mode' in the Monitor
Ports section as this uses ROM BIOS services for the screen display and
screen updates will be slower.
- Display Options: Video Memory High Graphics (All other display
options should be de-selected)
- Other Options.... Reserve Shortcut Keys: Alt+Space, Alt+Enter,
and CTRL+ESC. Be sure ALT+TAB is NOT selected, this will be your hot key
to switch from NewDeal to Windows.
Other Suggestions
The following suggestions and tips about serial ports and memory
configuration, along with the supplied .PIF, .ICO, and .GRP files,
represent all the information that we here at NewDeal have ever
needed to successfully run our software from Windows 3.1
or 3.11.
If you need further help with configuring Microsoft Windows, please
consult your Windows documentation or call Microsoft's technical
support for assistance.
Mouse and Modem
If your mouse doesn't work when you launch your NewDeal software
from Windows, launch NewDeal from a DOS prompt and
go into Preferences. Click on the Mouse button and install either
"No idea" or "Nothing else works" for your
mouse.
If your mouse doesn't work in Windows, make sure that you are loading a
mouse driver in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS file. If the driver is
currently being loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file, try loading it in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file and vice versa. Also, try loading the mouse driver using
the /Y parameter. Open the Control Panel in Windows and try adjusting the
mouse sensitivity in the Mouse section.
If your mouse or modem does not work properly in your NewDeal
software when you're running NewDeal from Windows, you may
need to explicitly define your port addresses and IRQs in the Windows
SYSTEM.INI file. Change to your \WINDOWS directory and use a text
editor to modify the SYSTEM.INI file.
In the [386 Enh] section, delete the lines:
COMxxAutoAssign=nn
where xx is 1 for COM1, 2 for COM2, etc. and nn is a positive
or negative number. You may see several such lines, one for each
serial port on your computer.
Now, add the following lines to the [386 Enh] section:
COM1Irq=4
COM1Base=03F8
COM2Irq3
COM2Base=02F8
COM3Irq=4
COM3Base=03E8
COM4Irq=3
COM4Base=02E8
Then save the changes to your SYSTEM.INI file.
Memory Conflicts
If running your NewDeal software from Windows gives you messages
like, "This application has violated system integrity"
then there may be a conflict between the way NewDeal
and Windows are using extended memory.
In NewDeal, run Preferences, click on the button named
Computer, and choose only XMS, Himem.sys, not EMS (LIM 4.0). In
your \WINDOWS directory, use a text editor to modify the SYSTEM.INI.
Add this line to the [386Enh] section:
EMMExclude=A000-FFFF
Windows normally attempts to store some of its code in upper memory,
the area between 640k and one megabyte, where it potentially can
conflict with some TSRs or device drivers. The EMMExclude line
above will prevent Windows from using this area.
On some systems, Windows will not run if you exclude the full
range from A000-FFFF and you may need to determine the specific
portion of memory to exclude by studying your memory usage with
the MEM command in DOS or by trial and error.
Permanent Swap File
Use a Permanent Swap File to improve Windows' performance, especially if
you have less than 8 MB of RAM.
To create the Permanent Swap File in Windows 3.0
- Run Windows in Real Mode using the WIN /r command.
- Close all open applications.
- Choose Run from the File menu.
- Type the filename "Swapfile" and click OK.
- In the dialog box, type in a new value or accept the recommended
value as your swap file size. Click OK to create the swap file.
- Exit Windows and run it again using the WIN command.
To create a Permanent Swap File in Windows 3.1 or 3.11, choose Control
Panel, Enhanced, Virtual Memory, Change and set the values there.
Printing
Printing from NewDeal software while running under Windows may be
slower than normal. To improve printing speed for Lasers, increase the
amount of printer memory and select Fast Printing To Port for Laser and
Dot Matrix printers.
KR-29 "No valid font files
" and Windows for
Workgroups (Windows 3.11)
If you get this error message when trying to run NewDeal software
from Windows for Workgroups or Windows 3.11, do the following:
- From Windows' Program Manager, run Control Panel.
- In Control Panel, double click on the Enhanced icon.
- Choose Virtual Memory, Change . . .
- Turn OFF 32 bit file access.
- Save your change.
If you do not disable 32 bit file access, you can still run your NewDeal
software from the DOS prompt outside of Windows 3.11, but NewDeal
will then not be able to access the WFWG network unless you have the
DOS version of the WFWG client loaded.
NewDeal software is compatible with 32 bit access implemented via
special hardware, such as the DTC 2278VL VESA Local Bus IDE controller
which uses its own DOS driver.
Last Modified 15 Feb 1999