208 - NewDeal and Windows 3.1

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.

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Last Modified 15 Feb 1999