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Hi Colin,
Perhaps I can weigh in with some information, which may or may not
help.
For a start Software Carousel is a multi-task switching environment shell
much like QuarterDesk's old DESQview product - generally for task
switching DOS application. I have never used Software Carousel but
used to be a great fan of DESQview, and I assume alot of it will be similar.
DESQview and probably Software Carousel, sit on top of DOS with the
processor runnin in real mode (as opposed to protected modes that later
processors and Operating Systems used). DOS program only have 640k Addressable
RAM (plus tiny bits called Upper Memory Blocks). To give access to memory beyond
the 640k mark (or more correctly above the 1024k mark) the memory management
specifications EMS Expanded Memory Specification, and XMS Extended Memory
Specification. EMS memory used a bank switching mechanism to
move data between the expanded memory (where the data could not
execute) to conventional memory. XMS on the other hand created
addressable memory space but needed later processors to access it. Programs have
to be expressly written to use EMS or XMS Memory. Some programs such as
WordPerfect were able to use EMS for storing its working data, and its
presence would vastly improve its performance as instead of using disk for
overflow files, it could use RAM, and so scrolling through a document espeically
in print preview is dramatically improved with EMS.
Microsoft had an EMS manager named EMM.EXE which gave access to the
UMBs or Upper Memory Blocks (ie pockets of ram between 640k and 1024k),
HMA or High memory Area a 64k bonus bug with the 80286 chip (they have had to
replicate the bug in every 80xxx since as it was very popular), plus EMS.
EMM.EXE was pretty basic, and so products such as QuarterDeck's QEMM, and I
presume Techram's TREMM, are more sophisticated memory managers.
WordPerfect Shell, is an EMS enabled program, and it works by switching
tasks into expanded ram using EMS, but the tasks stop running, as the space they
are in is no longer addressable. DESQView and presumably Software
Carousel, use EMS or XMS Memory, to create multiple virtual machine, where
multiple programs can run in their own address space, ie it turns the processor
into a Protected Mode operation.
Ok, now I have baffled you with this, what does that mean in
practice...
It is a slight worry to me that you would use Shell and Software Carousel
on the same machine, as they are both task switchers, working in different
modes. But having said that, many people run Shell under Windows which is
essentially doing the same thing, ie virutalising a machine and task
switching. Unless you are using the integration or macros provide for in
Shell, or at least leveraging something other than just menuing, I would use
just the Software Carousel, and have some other real mode menu...
The warning about backing up the files before installing TREMM is probably
just a generic warning, and very often DOS programs told you to back everything
up, because FAT corruption could easily occur. But it does not sound like you
have scrambled your FAT or even your directories. Can you see the files you need
on the drive?? I wouild have thought the installation of a memory manager
would have been relatively benign, however I might be wrong, I do not know
HP Palmtop and their operating systems at all.
I think however it is more likely that something in the environment has
gone wrong. For instance the installation might have changed PATH or SET
statements in the Autoexec.bat, or may have changed a PATH order. Sometime you
might find you environment (which by DOS default was 512 bytes from memory) was
too small, and so data is not able to be set in the environment. You can
increase your environment through instructions in the config.sys.
I know this doesn;t help your DP and Shell problem, but perhaps there will
be something in there to help you out
Bye
Brian
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