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Important Notice:
We disable 32 bit disk access
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Due to unstability of WINDOWS 3.11 for workgroup
when enable both 32-bit Disk and File Access,
The current advw32.386 disable 32 bit disk access.
If you have WINDOWS for WorkGroup, you should only
enable 32-bit File Accesss. The 32-bit File Access
alone offer the biggest performance improvement
than 32-bit Disk Access alone. Enable both Disk and
File Access will cause both to be disabled.
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Introduction to 32-bit Disk/File Access
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"ADVW32.386" is a WINDOWS Virtual Device Driver
for 32-bit Disk/File Access.
It Supports:
- 32-bit Disk Access ( in windows 3.1 )
- 32-bit File Access ( in windows for workgroup )
It is faster than BIOS for following reasons:
- less switching between real and protected mode.
- supports overlapped i/o
Basically you need two drivers to use
32-bit Disk/File Access.
- advw32.386, loaded in system.ini file
- advaspi.sys loaded in config.sys file
If a disk drive is not controlled by BIOS INT 13
,WINDOWS will not use 32-bit Disk or File Access
on the drive. If the drive associates than one
drive letter, all the drive letters under that
disk drive will not use 32-bit Disk/File Access.
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Note for WIN ASPI
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if you are using WIN ASPI ( WINASPI.DLL )
you must also have advw32.386 loaded in system.ini file
and advaspi.sys loaded in config.sys file
You may enable or disable 32-bit Disk/File Access,
it will not affect WIN ASPI operation.
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Note for Power Saver Feature
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Power Saver automatically turn off your disk drive power
to conserve energy
to enable it you have to create following section in your
windows system.ini
[AdvSCSI]
PowerSaverOn=1
PowerSaveTimeOutMinutes=10
Description of setting:
PowerSaverOn:
set it to one (1) to enable PowerSaver
set it to zero (0) to disable PowerSaver
default is disabled if either "[ AdvScsi ]" section
or "PowerSaverOn" line not found
PowerSaveTimeOutMinutes:
number of time in minutes to turn off power
if device remain inactive
minimum value is 1, maximum value is 127
default is 10 minutes if PowerSaverOn is 1
and timeout value not specified
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How to enable 32-Bit Disk/File Access Support
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1. Open control panel ( usually in "main" window )
2. Double click "386 Enhanced" icon
3. Click "Virtual Memory..." dialog box, you will see
- if 32-Bit Disk Access is enabled
- if 32-Bit File Access is enabled for each driver letter
4. if 32 Bit Disk/File Access is not enabled
click "Change>>" dialog box
- enable "Use 32-Bit Disk Access"
- enable "Use 32-Bit File Access"
"Cache Size" is normally set to 4MB ( 4096 KB ) by Windows
when 32-bit File Access is enabled
* if you do not have Windows For Workgroups,
you will not see information about "32 Bit File Access"
* you must also have "ifshlp.sys" loaded in your DOS
"config.sys" file to make 32-Bit File Access available.
"ifshlp.sys" is included in Windows for Workgroups directory
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How to disable 32-Bit Disk/File Access Support
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1. Open Control Panel
2. Double click "386 Enhanced" icon
3. Click "Virtual Memory" dialog box,
4. Click "Change>>" dialog box,
5. Disable 32-Bit Disk/File Access box
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What is added and changed in Windows "system.ini" file
With 32-bit Disk/File Access
******************************************************************
for 32-bit Disk Access:
in section [386enh]
32BitDiskAccess=on
for 32-bit File Access:
in section [386enh]
device=vfat.386
usually it also make section [vcache] "minifilecache" bigger
in section [vcache]
minfilecache=4096
If you have IDE disk drive
in section [386enh]
device=*wdctrl
For AdvanSys SCSI Host Adapter:
in section [386enh]
device=c:\windows\system\advw32.386
You must make sure int 13 vxd is loaded
in section [386enh]
device=*int13
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Q&A
Disable 32-Bit Disk/File Access Support on IDE drive
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Q: What is the benefit of using 32-Bit Disk/File Access
A: If you are running Windows for Workgroups, you should
take advantage 32-Bit Disk/File Access. We have seen
a big performance gain in using 32-Bit Disk/File Access.
Before Microsoft released Windows for Workgroups version 3.11
it only has 32-Bit Disk Access which does not improve much
disk performance.
To enable 32-Bit Disk/File Access, you must have 32-Bit fast
disk Vxd driver "advw32.386" and a matching DOS ASPI.
Our new installation program will automatically install the
correct driver for you.
Q: What precaution should I take when enable 32-Bit Disk/File
Access ?
A: MicroSoft advised:
"always backup all you files before enabling 32 bit Disk/File Access"
Q: I cannot get Windows to use 32-Bit Disk/File Access
on my Advansys SCSI host adapter, what's wrong ?
A: 32-Bit Disk/File Access only supports drives under BIOS control
( that is INT 13h drives ). This does NOT include drives under
the control of advdisk.sys. AdvanSys SCSI host adapters allow
you to have up to 8 SCSI drives under BIOS control.
You must also use a permanent swap file when you want to use
32-Bit File Access. the reason is temporary swap is opened before
32-Bit driver is initialized and 32-Bit File Access cannot
enable when there is open file. If you are using permanent
swap file but 32 Bit File Access still would not enable, it
maybe the result of some real mode TSR or a 3rd-party VxD
or Even an virus program !
Q: when I start windows, it print a warning message says
"The Microsoft Windows 32-bit disk driver (WDCTRL) cannot be loaded on
this computer because of..."
what's wrong ?
A: If you do not have an IDE disk drive, then you can delete
the line "device=*wdctrl" under [386enh] section of your
"system.ini" file.
If you do have an IDE disk drive, it maybe be there are open file(s)
when the driver initializing. There normally should not be any open
files at the time when 32-bit File Access is initializing. If there
are open files, they are probably the result of some real mode TSR
or a 3rd-party VxD or Even an virus program !
Example:
NuMega's WIN ICE Debugger ( a Vxd driver ) has open file before
windows starts.
