Novell's Task Mode Switch Causes Problems in 386 Enhanced Mode

Last reviewed: November 21, 1994
Article ID: Q84085

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.1, 3.11

SUMMARY

When you run the Microsoft Windows operating system version 3.1 in 386 enhanced mode on a Novell network, you may experience "pathing" or incorrect startup directories if the SHELL.CFG file's Task Mode= setting is set to 0 (zero) or 1.

To correct this problem, edit the SHELL.CFG file with a standard text editor, and change the value for Task Mode= as follows:

   Task Mode=2

MORE INFORMATION

The Novell NetWare workstation SHELL.CFG file supports a switch that can be used to effectively disable Windows support features in the NetWare shell. The chart below shows the three valid values and their purposes.

Value     Purpose
-----     -------

  0       This setting disables all support for multitasking
          environments in order to save a conventional memory.

  1       This setting is for use with third-party multitasking
          environments other than Microsoft Windows.

  2       This setting is for use with Microsoft Windows.

The default value is 2; therefore, if this line is not present in the user's SHELL.CFG file, Windows will run correctly.

If you set this value to 0 when you did not have Windows 3.1 installed but are now running Windows 3.1 in the 386 enhanced mode, you will experience problems in MS-DOS boxes. The most common problem is that separate MS-DOS boxes will share the same network connections, including working directories. (This is similar to having the NWShareHandles option enabled in Control Panel or not having VNETWARE.386 loaded in SYSTEM.INI.)

Novell NetWare is manufactured by Novell, vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

KBCategory: kbnetwork kb3rdparty kbusage
KBSubcategory: win31
Additional reference words: 3.10 3.11 novell

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Last reviewed: November 21, 1994
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