README FOR XLOAD.EXE
This utility is intended for NetWare 386 v3.11 (any-user version). 

XLOAD.EXE is a utility which replaces a section of the NetWare 386 SERVER.EXE file known as the loader. The loader is a section of the operating system that contains hardware dependent code. It is this piece of code that is responsible for much of the initialization that occurs when NetWare 386 is first executed. 

Prior to the release of XLOAD, any fixes to the loader had to be done in the form of a static patch to the SERVER.EXE file. Now, fixes are made directly to the loader source code, and a new loader file is generated. XLOAD replaces the old loader with the new loader file containing all of the fixes. Subsequent fixes will be added to the most recent loader file, so that the latest released loader will contain all previous fixes, as well as any new fixes. 

New loader files will have the following file name: LDRxxx.PTF, where xxx can be a number from 001 to 999. This number will begin with 001, representing the first fixed loader released. Subsequent loader files will increment this number. Since it contains all previous fixes, only the latest loader file will available from Novell at any given time.

Documentation for LDRxxx.PTF and what fixes are included are contained in LDR001.DOC included with this .EXE file.

The syntax for XLOAD is as follows:

             XLOAD loaderFileName [serverFileName]

where loaderFileName is the full path name of the LDRxxx.PTF file, and serverFileName is the full path name of the server file (default is SERVER.EXE). There must be at least 1 MB of free space in the same directory as the server file in order for XLOAD to operate correctly.

XLOAD will not directly modify the original server file; however, the extension of the original server file name will be changed to .OLD. Upon completion, two server files will exist in the destination directory. The new server file will have the same name as the original server file. It will have a different file size (since the loader size can be different), and will be stamped with the current date/time. The new server file will contain serialization information identical to the original server file.