SMARTMON.EXE Does Not Report Cache Information

• Microsoft Windows for Workgroups version 3.11
• Microsoft MS-DOS operating system versions 6.0, 6.2, 6.21, 6.22

SYMPTOMS

When you are running the SMARTDrive Monitor tool (SMARTMON.EXE) that is shipped with Microsoft MS-DOS version 6.0 or higher, the tool does not report any caching information for SMARTDRV.EXE even though SMARTDRV.EXE is loaded properly.

CAUSE

The SMARTDrive Monitor tool does not show SMARTDrive caching information for the following types of drives:

• Drives that are not cached.
• Network drives.
• CD-ROM drives.
• Hard disks running in Windows for Workgroups version 3.11 with 32-bit file access enabled.

MORE INFORMATION

Drives That Are Not Cached

SMARTMON.EXE cannot report cache information for a drive if caching for that drive has been disabled.

Network Drives

SMARTDrive does not cache network drives, so SMARTMON.EXE cannot report cache information for these drives.

CD-ROM Drives

SMARTMON.EXE version 1.03 does not recognize the caching of CD-ROM drives because it was not designed to do so. SMARTMON.EXE 1.03 was originally released with Microsoft MS-DOS version 6.0, which includes SMARTDrive version 4.0. SMARTDrive version 4.0 does not cache CD-ROM drives.

Hard Disks Using 32-Bit File Access

The 32-bit file access feature in Windows for Workgroups 3.11 uses a 32-bit protect-mode cache (VCACHE.386) that replaces SMARTDRV.EXE at the Windows level. When you use the 32-bit file access feature, SMARTDRV.EXE caches only floppy and CD-ROM drives. SMARTMON.EXE does not report caching information for hard disks using the 32-bit file access feature because VCACHE.386 has disabled the hard disk caching in SMARTDRV.EXE.

The only way to work around this behavior is to not use the 32-bit file access feature in Windows for Workgroups 3.11. You may not want to disable the 32-bit file access feature, however, because doing so causes you to lose the performance increases that 32-bit file access and VCACHE.386 provide over SMARTDrive's real-mode caching.