SYSINI.WRI: Microsoft Windows & MS-DOS 5 for IBM PS/2

• Microsoft Windows & MS-DOS 5 for IBM PS/2

SUMMARY

The following information was taken from the Windows & MS-DOS 5 for IBM PS/2 SYSINI.WRI file.

MORE INFORMATION

SYSTEM.INI File Settings

Windows initialization files contain information that defines your
Windows environment. Windows and Windows applications can use the
information stored in these files to configure themselves to meet your
needs and preferences.

There are two standard Windows initialization files:

  WIN.INI, which primarily contains settings that Windows maintains to
customize your Windows environment according to your preferences.

  SYSTEM.INI, which primarily contains settings that customize Windows
to meet your system's hardware needs.

This document describes only a few of the settings in the SYSTEM.INI
file. You can get a more complete listing of the SYSTEM.INI settings
by purchasing the Windows Resource Kit for the Microsoft Windows
Operating System Version 3.1. The Resource Kit provides complete
technical information about Windows version 3.1 for the support
professional. It includes a technical reference manual and a disk
containing helpful utilities, system resource viewers, drivers, and
accessories.

To order the Windows Resource Kit within the United States, dial:

                 1-800-642-7676

To order outside of the United States, dial the phone number for your
area. You can find this number on the International Subsidiary card.


Format of the SYSTEM.INI File

The SYSTEM.INI file contains several sections, each of which consists
of a group of related settings. The sections and settings are listed
in the SYSTEM.INI file in the following format:

[section name]
keyname=value

In this example, [section name] is the name of a section. The
enclosing brackets ([ ]) are required, and the left bracket must be in
the leftmost column on the screen.

The keyname=value statement defines the value of each setting. A
keyname is the name of a setting. It can consist of any combination of
letters and digits in uppercase or lowercase, and it must be followed
immediately by an equal sign (=). The value of the setting can be an
integer, a Boolean value, a string, or a quoted string, depending on
the setting. There are multiple settings in most sections.

You can include comments in initialization files. You must begin each
line of a comment with a semicolon (;).

How to Read the Listings in This Document

In this document, settings in SYSTEM.INI are listed alphabetically
within sections. However, the settings do not appear alphabetically in
the SYSTEM.INI file. To change a setting, you need to search for it in
the appropriate section.

The syntax, default value, and purpose appear in the following format.

SettingName=<value-type>

Default:  The Windows default value for this setting.
Purpose:  A brief description of the function of the setting.

<value-type> indicates whether the value should be an integer, a
letter, a range of numbers, a Boolean value, or something else. If you
want to enable a Boolean setting, you can set the value to: True, Yes,
On, or 1. If you want to disable the Boolean setting, you can set the
value to: False, No, Off, or 0.

Changing Settings

When the Setup program creates the SYSTEM.INI file, it assigns default
values to many of the settings. Other settings have values that
correspond to the type of hardware you are using.

Some settings listed in this document do not normally appear in your
SYSTEM.INI file. Most of these settings have a built-in default value
that is present whether or not the setting appears in SYSTEM.INI. You
might need to change one or more of these values to improve the
performance of Windows or applications with your system.

To change the values of the settings described in this document, open
the SYSTEM.INI file and edit it by using a text editor, such as
Windows Notepad. Do not use a formatting editor, such as a word
processor in document mode; it can corrupt your SYSTEM.INI file. For
more information on how to use Notepad, see Chapter 12, "Additional
Accessories," in the Microsoft Windows User's Guide.

Any changes you make to SYSTEM.INI settings do not take effect until
you restart Windows.

Caution:  Do not change any settings that are not described in this
document. If you need to change additional settings, refer to the
Windows Resource Kit for the Microsoft Windows Operating System
Version 3.1. Always back up your SYSTEM.INI file before you change any
of its settings. That way, you can restore the original file if you
make incorrect changes. Be careful when making changes to the
SYSTEM.INI file. Your system will not work properly if you edit this
file incorrectly.


[boot] Section Settings
-----------------------

All settings in this section, except for CachedFileHandles, are
required. If you modify or delete one of these settings, Windows might
not work properly. There are no specific default values for these
settings; Setup assigns values based on your system configuration.

If you want to run a different application when you start Windows,
change the following setting.

shell=<filename>

Default:  None (Setup initializes this value as PROGMAN.EXE.)
Purpose:  Specifies the Windows application that runs when you start
Windows. Unless you change this setting, Program Manager will run when
you start Windows. For example, if you want to run File Manager
instead of Program Manager when you start Windows, you could change
this setting as follows:

shell=winfile.exe


[NonWindowsApp] Section Settings
--------------------------------

The [NonWindowsApp] section contains settings that affect the
performance of non-Windows applications.

The [NonWindowsApp] section can contain the following settings.

CommandEnvSize=<bytes>

Default:  0 for MS-DOS versions earlier than 3.2. Otherwise, the
default is the value for the /e: option in the shell= command line in
the CONFIG.SYS file.
Purpose:  Specifies the size of the COMMAND.COM environment. Note that
running batch files with the extension .BAT starts COMMAND.COM, so
this setting also applies to batch files. The value for this setting
must be either 0 or between 160 and 32768. A value of 0 disables this
setting. If the value is too small or too large, it will be rounded up
to 160 or down to 32768. If the value is less than the current size of
the actual environment, this setting will be disabled, as if it were
set to 0. If you have specified the environment size in a PIF file for
COMMAND.COM, the PIF-file setting overrides this setting.

DisablePositionSave=<Boolean>

Default:  0
Purpose:  When this setting is disabled, the position and fonts used
by a non-Windows application are saved in the DOSAPP.INI file when you
quit the application. If this setting is enabled, the position and
fonts used by a non-Windows application whose settings have not been
previously saved in the DOSAPP.INI file will not be saved. If enabled,
the setting can be overridden for each non-Windows application by
selecting the Save Settings On Exit check box in the Font dialog box
in the application.

FontChangeEnable=<Boolean>

Default:  1 on systems that use Windows version 3.1 grabbers. 0 on
systems that use Windows version 3.0 grabbers.
Purpose: Provides the ability to change fonts when running a non-
Windows application in a window on a system that uses version 3.0 of
the grabbers (usually 3.0 display drivers). Windows version 3.1 video
grabbers (used in 3.1 display drivers) include built-in support for
changing fonts when running a non-Windows application in a window. If
you are using a 3.0 grabber that has not been updated to include the
ability to change fonts and you want to use this feature, enable this
setting. However, with this setting enabled, your screen may lose
characters and the cursor may change size and position slightly.

LocalTSRs=<list-of-TSR-applications>

Default:  DOSEDIT, CED
Purpose:  Specifies which terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs
work properly if they are copied to each instance of a virtual
machine. When you start Windows, it detects any TSR programs that are
currently running. If the TSR is on the LocalTSRs list, Windows copies
the TSR to each virtual machine you run. Many TSRs will not run
properly if they are added to this list. Make sure your TSR is fully
compatible with Windows and can be copied to a virtual machine before
adding it to the list.

MouseInDosBox=<Boolean>

Default:  1 if an MS-DOS mouse driver is loaded that has the extension
.COM or .SYS and supports the use of a mouse with a non-Windows
application. Otherwise, the default is 0.
Purpose: Specifies whether the mouse is supported when running a non-
Windows application in a window. Mouse support for a non-Windows
application running in a window is automatically available if you are
using a Windows 3.1 version of the grabbers. If you are using a
Windows 3.0 version of the grabbers and you want mouse support, enable
this setting. If you do not want mouse support, disable this setting.

NetAsynchSwitching=<0-or-1>

Default:  0, unless an application is running that supports the use of
the Task Switcher API by the NetBIOS.
Purpose:  Specifies whether you can switch away from an application
(running in standard mode) after it has made an asynchronous network
BIOS call. If this setting is disabled, you cannot switch away.
Switching away from some applications that make these calls might
cause your system to fail. Once Windows detects an asynchronous
NetBIOS call, you cannot switch away from the application, even if no
more of these calls are made. Enable this setting only if you are sure
that the applications you use will not receive network messages while
they are inactive.

ScreenLines=<number>

Default:  25
Purpose:  Specifies the number of lines that will be displayed on the
screen when you run a non-Windows application. An application that
specifies a different screen mode can override this setting.

SwapDisk=<drive-colon-directory>

Default:  The directory that the TEMP environment variable points to;
if there is no TEMP variable, the default is the root directory of
your first hard drive (usually labeled C:). If you do not have a hard
disk, the default is the root directory of your first floppy disk
drive (usually labeled A:).
Purpose:  Provides the name of the disk drive and directory to which
Windows running in standard mode swaps non-Windows applications.


[standard] Section Settings
---------------------------

The [standard] section contains settings that are specific to running
Windows in standard mode.

The [standard] section can contain the following settings.

FasterModeSwitch=<0-or-1>

Default:  0
Purpose:  Enabling this setting causes Windows running in standard
mode to use a faster method of switching from protected to real mode
on many 80286-based computers. When this setting is enabled, Windows
responds quicker to hardware interrupts, allowing better throughput
for interrupt-intensive applications, such as communications
applications. In addition, you should enable this setting if you are
using a Zenith Z-248 system and are losing characters while typing, or
if you are using an Olivetti M-250-E and lose mouse functionality.

Note: This setting has no effect on 80386-based computers. Some early
IBM AT and compatible computers do not have the BIOS support necessary
to use this setting. Enabling this setting on these computers may
cause them to lock up when starting Windows.

Int28Filter=<number>

Default:  10
Purpose:  Specifies the interval of INT28h interrupts, generated when
the system is idle, that are made visible (or reflected) to software
that is loaded before Windows. Windows will reflect every nth
interrupt, where n is the value of this setting. For example, a value
of 1 reflects every INT28h interrupt, a value of 2 reflects every
second INT28h interrupt, and so on. Increasing this value might
improve Windows performance, but may interfere with some memory-
resident programs, such as network software. Set this value to 0 to
prevent any INT28h interrupts from being reflected. Setting this value
too low (from 1 to 9) might interfere with communications
applications.

NetHeapSize=<kilobytes>

Default:  8
Purpose:  Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the data-transfer
buffer that Windows running in standard mode allocates in conventional
memory for transferring data over a network. If an application is not
running correctly, your network may require a larger buffer than the
default value. Increasing this value will decrease the amount of
memory available to applications. If no network software is running,
this setting will be ignored and no memory will be allocated.


[386Enh] Section Settings
-------------------------
The [386Enh] section contains information specific to running Windows
in 386 enhanced mode, including information used for virtual-memory
page swapping.

The [386Enh] section can contain the following settings.

AllVMsExclusive=<Boolean>

Default:  False
Purpose:  If enabled, this setting forces all applications to run in
exclusive full-screen mode, overriding all contrary settings in the
applications' program information files (PIFs). Enabling this setting
might prolong the length of the Windows session when you are running
network and memory-resident software that is incompatible with
Windows.

COMBoostTime=<milliseconds>

Default:  2
Purpose:  Specifies the amount of time (in milliseconds) to allow a
virtual machine to process a COM interrupt. If, while running a
communications application, you lose keyboard characters on the
screen, you can try increasing this value.

COMdrv30=<Boolean>

Default:  False
Purpose:  If enabled, the Virtual COM Driver (VCD) uses its own copy
of the interrupt handler for the serial communications driver. This
improves performance of your COM ports. Enable this setting if you are
using a Windows version 3.0 serial communications driver. Disable this
setting if you are using the standard Windows 3.1 serial
communications driver.

COM1FIFO=<Boolean>
COM2FIFO=<Boolean>
COM3FIFO=<Boolean>
COM4FIFO=<Boolean>

Default:  True
Purpose:  Specifies whether the FIFO buffer of a COM port's 16550
Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) should be enabled
(True) or disabled (False). If a serial port does not have a 16550
UART, this setting is ignored.

Note:  These values are used by Windows for both standard and 386
enhanced modes.

COMIrqSharing=<Boolean>

Default:  True for Micro Channel and EISA machines; False for all
other machines.
Purpose:  Specifies whether COM interrupt lines are sharable between
multiple serial ports or with other devices. Enable this setting if
your machine uses the same interrupt for COM3 or COM4 as it does for
COM1 or COM2.

DOSPromptExitInstruc=<Boolean>

Default:  Yes
Purpose:  If this setting is enabled, when you start the MS-DOS prompt
a message box appears with instructions on how to exit and switch away
from the MS-DOS prompt. Disable this setting if you do not want to see
the message.

DualDisplay=<Boolean>

Default:  See "Purpose" below.
Purpose:  Normally, when running in 386 enhanced mode, the memory
between B000:0000 and B7FF:000F is used by the general system unless a
secondary display is detected. Enable this setting if you are using a
VGA-based color display and want EMM386.EXE to include this
address space as an upper memory block (UMB). In addition to
enabling this setting, you must include the i= option in the
device=EMM386.EXE command line in your CONFIG.SYS file as
follows:

device=EMM386.EXE i=B000-B7FF

If this setting is disabled, the address range is available on EGA
systems, but not on VGA systems, because the VGA display device
supports monochrome modes, which use this address space.

EMMExclude=<paragraph-range>

Default: None
Purpose: Specifies a range of memory that Windows will not scan to
find unused address space. This has the side effect of turning off the
RAM and ROM search code for the range. The range (two paragraph values
separated by a hyphen) must be between A000 and EFFF. This scanning
can interfere with some adapters that use the same memory area. The
starting value is rounded down and the ending value is rounded up to a
multiple of 16K. For example, you could set EMMExclude=C800-CFFF to
prevent Windows from scanning the addresses C800:0000 through
CFFF:000F. You can specify more than one range by including more than
one EMMExclude line.

EMMInclude=<paragraph-range>

Default:  None
Purpose:  Specifies a range of memory that Windows will treat as
unused address space regardless of what may be there. EMMInclude takes
precedence over EMMExclude if you specify ranges that overlap. The
range (two values separated by a hyphen) must be between A000 and
EFFF. The starting value is rounded down and the ending value is
rounded up to a multiple of 16K. For example, you could set
EMMInclude=C800-CFFF to ensure that Windows can use the addresses
C800:0000 through CFFF:000F. You may specify more than one range by
including more than one EMMInclude line.

EMMPageFrame=<paragraph>

Default:  None
Purpose:  Specifies the starting paragraph where the 64K page frame
will begin when Windows (running in 386 enhanced mode) cannot find a
suitable page frame. Allows an EMM page frame in an area containing
some unused RAM or ROM. For example, you could set EMMPageFrame=C400
to start the page frame at C400:0000.

EMMSize=<kilobytes>

Default:  65536
Purpose:  Specifies the total amount of memory available for mapping
as expanded memory. The default value allocates the maximum possible
amount of system memory as expanded memory. Specify a value for this
setting if you run an application that allocates all of the available
expanded memory. If this is the case, you cannot create new virtual
machines. If this value is zero, no expanded memory is allocated, but
the EMM driver will load. To disable EMM and prevent the EMM driver
from loading, use the NoEMMDriver setting.

FileSysChange=<Boolean>

Default:  Off in 386 enhanced mode; not supported in standard mode.
Purpose:  Indicates whether File Manager automatically receives
messages anytime a non-Windows application creates, renames, or
deletes a file. If this setting is disabled, a virtual machine can run
exclusively, even if it modifies files. Enabling this setting can slow
down system performance significantly.

InDOSPolling=<Boolean>

Default:  No
Purpose:  If enabled, prevents Windows from running other applications
when memory-resident software has the InDOS flag set. Enabling this
setting is necessary if the memory-resident software needs to be in a
critical section to do operations off an INT21 hook, but will slow
down system performance slightly.

INT28Critical=<Boolean>

Default:  True
Purpose:  Specifies whether a critical section is needed to handle
INT28h interrupts used by memory-resident software. Some networks do
internal task switching on INT28h interrupts. These interrupts might
lock up some network software, indicating the need for an INT28h
critical section. If you are not using such software, you might
improve Windows task switching by disabling this setting.

LocalReboot=<on-or-off>

Default:  On
Purpose:  Specifies whether you can press CTRL+ALT+DEL to quit
applications that cause an unrecoverable error in 386 enhanced mode.
If this setting is enabled, you can quit the applications without
restarting Windows. If this setting is disabled, pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL
will restart your entire system.

MaxCOMPort=<number>

Default:  4
Purpose:  Specifies the maximum number of COM ports supported in 386
enhanced mode. Change this value if you have more than four COM ports
installed in your computer.

NetAsynchFallback=<Boolean>

Default:  False
Purpose:  If this setting is enabled, Windows attempts to save a
failing NetBIOS request. When an application issues an asynchronous
NetBIOS request, Windows attempts to allocate space in its global
network buffer to receive the data. If there is insufficient space in
the global buffer, Windows typically fails the NetBIOS request. If
this setting is enabled, Windows attempts to save such a request by
allocating a buffer in local memory and preventing any other virtual
machines from running until the data is received or the timeout period
(specified by the NetAsynchTimeout setting) expires.

NetAsynchTimeout=<seconds>

Default:  5.0
Purpose:  Specifies the timeout period (in seconds) when Windows will
enter a critical section in order to service an asynchronous NetBIOS
request. It is used only when the NetAsynchFallback setting is
enabled. This value can include a decimal (such as 0.5).

NetDMASize=<kilobytes>

Default:  32 on Micro Channel machines (IBM PS/2 or compatible); 0 on
non-Micro Channel machines (IBM PC/AT or compatible).
Purpose:  Specifies the DMA buffer size (in kilobytes) for NetBIOS
transport software if a network has been installed. In this case, the
buffer size is the larger of this value or the value of DMABufferSize.

NetHeapSize=<kilobytes>

Default:  12
Purpose:  Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the data-transfer
buffers in conventional memory that Windows allocates for transferring
data over a network when running in 386 enhanced mode. All values are
rounded up to the nearest 4K.

Network=<filename-or-devicename>

Default:  None (Setup assigns an appropriate value based on your
system configuration.)
Purpose:  Specifies the type of network you are using with Windows in
386 enhanced mode.

PSPIncrement=<number>

Default:  2
Purpose:  Specifies the amount of additional memory, in 16-byte
increments, that Windows should reserve in each successive virtual
machine when the UniqueDOSPSP setting is enabled. The setting that
works best for your machine might vary depending on your memory
configuration and the applications you are running. Valid values are 2
through 64. See the UniqueDosPSP setting for more information.

ReflectDosInt2A=<Boolean>

Default:  False
Purpose:  Indicates whether Windows should consume or reflect DOS INT
2A signals. The default means Windows will consume these signals and
therefore run more efficiently. Enable this setting if you are running
memory-resident software that relies on detecting INT2A messages.

SyncTime=<Boolean>

Default:  True
Purpose:  If this setting is enabled, Windows periodically
synchronizes its time with the computer's CMOS clock. If this setting
is disabled, Windows usually maintains the correct time, unless
TrapTimerPorts is disabled and you are running applications that can
cause the system time to run faster or slower than the actual time.
This setting is related to the TrapTimerPorts setting.

TimerCriticalSection=<milliseconds>

Default:  0
Purpose:  Instructs Windows to go into a critical section around all
timer interrupt code and specifies a timeout period (in milliseconds).
Specifying a positive value causes only one virtual machine at a time
to receive timer interrupts. Some networks and other global memory-
resident software may fail unless this setting is used. However, using
this setting slows down performance and can make the system seem
to stop for short periods of time.

TrapTimerPorts=<Boolean>

Default:  True
Purpose:  Specifies whether Windows should trap read and write
operations to the system timer ports that are performed by
applications. If this setting is disabled, Windows will not trap these
operations, allowing applications that frequently read or write to the
timer to run faster. However, this may interfere with ability of
Windows to keep accurate system time. If this setting is disabled,
Windows can usually detect when an application has changed the timer
interrupt interval and then make any adjustments to the time. If your
system's time appears to be running fast or slow, enable this setting.
If you do not want to enable this setting, enable the SyncTime
setting. This causes Windows to check the time periodically and then
make any necessary adjustments.

UniqueDOSPSP=<Boolean>

Default:  True if you are running a network based on Microsoft Network
or LAN Manager. See the NETWORKS.WRI online document to find out
whether the network you are running is one of these. False for all
other networks. Purpose: If this setting is enabled, Windows starts
every application at a unique address (PSP). Each time Windows creates
a new virtual machine to start a new application, Windows reserves a
unique amount of memory (i bytes) below the application. For example,
if the first application is loaded at address M, the second
application is loaded at address M+i, the third at M+2i, and so on.
The amount of memory (i) is determined by the PSPIncrement setting.
These settings ensure that applications in different virtual machines
all start at different addresses. Some networks use applications' load
addresses to identify the different processes that are using the
network. Disabling this setting on such networks might cause one
application to fail when you quit another, because the network
interprets them as the same application. When this setting is enabled,
slightly less memory is available for non-Windows applications.

VirtualHDIrq=<Boolean>

Default:  On for AT-compatible computers; Off for all other computers.
Purpose:  If enabled, Windows in 386 enhanced mode can terminate
interrupts from the hard disk controller, bypassing the ROM routine
that handles these interrupts. Some hard disk drives might require
this setting to be disabled in order for interrupts to be processed
correctly. If this setting is disabled, the ROM routine handles the
interrupts, which slows down system performance.
 

Additional query words: 3.10 3.1 5.00a 5.0a WIN31 DOSWIN

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