PC/CD Gamer UK 6/PCGAMER06.bin/bits/cheet/1cguru.txt

Text File | 1995-01-06 | 7KB | 212 lines

~The PC Guru's Toolbox

By Neil Hopkins

It's a common enough phenomena - you've had a PC for a while,
tinkered around a bit with the config.sys and autoexec.bat files to
get a game running, mentioned it to someone and before you know it
you've aquired a reputation as a techie PC guru.  Now, whenever a
friend, workmate or distant relation takes the plunge and buys a PC
you find yourself on the recieving end of plaintive cries for help
in setting up, configuring and just plain sorting out their new toy.
Fortunatly, there is a way to do this that involves the minimum of
fuss and long winded training of the PC novice - the PC guru's
toolbox.

Over the ten years or so that I have been using PCs for work
and play I have accumulated a useful selection of utilities that I
keep neatly bundled together in a directory that I call 'util'.  It
doesn't really matter what you call it as long as it is included in
the path command in your autoexec file :-

PATH=C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\UTIL

The utilities fall into several categories :

Setups and Configurations
-------------------------
Autoexec and config files cause more bewilderment for the average PC
user than everything else put together.  Every game seems to insist
on a subtly and inexplicably different combination of EMMs, BLASTERS,
HIMEMS and MOUSES (or should that be mice!!).  Relax.  99% of setups
fall into one of three categories.  The bare minimum (for games like
Doom that use dos extenders or in built memory managers), EMM setup
for most other games that use emm386 and windows setup for running
windows.  How do you swap between them ?  Well there are several
options, you can set up a boot disk for each alternative - this is
actually quite a good option for complete novices.  You can combine
all of the options in one file with a boot time menu - the drawback
to this is that installations that update these files usually can't
cope with boot menus and up wreaking all sorts of havoc.  The most
practical option is to keep copies of each setup, and switch between
them with batch files (see later).  The setups are as follows,
obviously these may need tweaking with diffent mouse or sound card
drivers, or possibly vesa drivers and mscdex for windows/multimedia.

1. The Bare Minimum
-------------------
autoexec.min

prompt $p$g
path c:\dos;c:\util

config.min

device=c:\dos\himem.sys
devicehigh=c:\dos\mouse.sys
dos=high
buffers = 30
files = 30

2. EMM setup
------------

autoexec.emm

prompt $p$g
path c:\dos;c:\util

config.emm

device=c:\dos\himem.sys
device=c:\dos\emm386.exe
devicehigh=c:\dos\mouse.sys
dos=high
files=30
stacks=9,256

3. Windows
----------

autoexec.win

c:\dos\smartdrv.exe /x
@echo off
prompt $p$g
path c:\windows;c:\dos;c:\util
set temp=c:\tmp
win

config.win

device=c:\dos\setver.exe
device=c:\dos\himem.sys
device=c:\dos\emm386.EXE noems
device=c:\dos\mouse.sys
dos=high
files=30
stacks=9,256

It is also worth backing up windows .INI files from time to time,
particularly before you install a new bit of software.

Batch Files
-----------

To switch between setups, all you need is a simple batch file to
overwrite the existing setting with the appropriate one from the
util directory.

emm.bat

copy \util\autoexec.emm \autoexec.bat
copy \util\config.emm   \config.sys
cls
@echo EMM set up - now press Reset ...

You can set up a minimum.bat and a windows.bat in a similar fashion.

It may be worth setting up simple batch files to run various games
and programs, so that all your friend has to do to run doom for
example is type 'minimum', reboot the PC and type 'doom'. It is
probably best to avoid using menu front ends to launch games, unless
you can find one that makes minimal demands on memory.

File compression utilities
--------------------------
Your util directory should certainly include a copy of pkzip,
pkunzip and pkzipfix as this is probably the most widely used format
for compressed files. The other two that are worth having are arj
and lha, as they do crop up on some BBS systems.

I use two batch files for zipping up and unzipping directory
structures as follows :

zipdir.bat

pkzip -Pru c:\zip\%1 %1/*.*
pause
deltree %1

unzdir.bat

pkunzip -d c:\zip\%1
cd %1

These files can be used as follows. Suppose that you have a game
with various subdirectories that you want to compress and leave on
your hard disk to come back to later. All you need to do is type

zipdir xwing

which will then create xwing.zip in your c:\zip directory, and
remove the uncompressed files to save space. To get the game (and
it's directories) back simply type

unzdir xwing

which will uncompress the game and put you in the right place. Note
that if you are using doublespace or stacker, this will not save you
a great deal of space, but it may still be convenient to archive
directory structures before backing something up. Also, the zipdir
command won't re-compress files if they haven't changed (assuming
that the archive is still in place), so you can, for example, play
xwing for a bit, zipdir it, and it should just save your pilot files.

If you use windows, a front end for zip is useful - my personal
preference is winzip. It is very useful to be able to select a
zipfile, look at the contents, unzip it to a check-out directory,
virus scan it and have it set up in a program group, all from a
single mouse click. Winzip will also manage arj and lha archives.

Disk Utilities
--------------
These are obviously a matter of preference, scandisk and defrag from
dos 6 are fine for most instances, but norton utilities or PC tools
disk fix are worth having on a separate disk. As an aside, it is a
wise precaution to have boot disks with all of your disk fixing
utilities to hand in case of extreme hard disk disasters.  Unlikely,
but it is always better to be safe than sorry!

File Viewers/Editors
--------------------
A byte editor is useful, as is a simple text editor in case dos edit
is not present. PC vi is my own somewhat idiosyncratic choice, as I
am used to using UNIX, probably not recommended for casual users.
As for graphics files, cshow is the compuserve file viewer that will
let you look at all GIFs, BMPs etc. A MOD file player may come in
handy, but these items are not crucial - it depends what you use your
pc for in day to day use.

Other Files
-----------
Always make sure that you have a copy of any SVGA vesa drivers that
you use - univesa is a good general purpose driver that seems to
work well with most SVGA cards that I have used. Also, any sound
card set up files and drivers should be backed up to util.


Conclusion
----------
PC gurus don't necessarily have to know more about the more esoteric
bits of a PC than other people, it is just a case of finding which
things work well, making a note of them and pulling them together.
So, when you have collected all of your favorite utilities together,
as opposed to being scattered through the DOS and WINDOWS
directories, and copied them onto a handy disk, it should be a
simple task to set up a new PC (or restore one after a disaster)
with the minimum of hassle.

Now all you need to worry about is setting up Windows 95 when it
arrives!