EddyHawk's Info List --- CyberRax's DOS Software Review for EddyHawk's Info List --- 13 Dec 2000: Re-formatted by EdH :) 17 Feb 2001: EdH: add progs 09 Apr 2001: Cyr: 2nd review 15 Oct 2001: EdH: re-format & absorbs some into EHIL --- -HiRAM (High RAM) By: JVP Last known Ver: 1.9a(?) Year: 1992-1993 Type: device driver Desc: device driver to use shadow RAM as UMBs Adv: CPU in RM can have as much UMBs as you have shadow RAM universal (unlike URAM which works only on known chipsets) includes utility for enabling shadow RAM (for cases when BIOS doesn't have this feature), for creating system files table (FILES) in UMB, extended 'mem' command and a 'loadhigh' clone (for DOS 4.x) uses no additional memory(?) allows the use of UMBs on 286s (with the appropriet chipset) Disadv: no built in EMS, DPMI, VCPI won't work on machines w/o shadow RAM program/documentation in German development has ended(?) Alt: VeK's URAM, QEMM Note: most of the 'adv/dis' arguments from URAM's documentation I couldn't get it working with DR-DOS 7.03 or PTS-DOS 2000 the XMEM crashes on my PC -ZANSI (Zephyr ANSI driver) By: Thomas Hanlin III Last known Ver: 1.2(?) Year: 1986 - 1987 Type: device driver Desc: ANSI driver Adv: small, fast no string assigning to keys (thus most(?) ANSI bombs won't work) Disadv: SYS file (thus can't be unloaded) only for personal/educational use (companies must obtain NANSI) development has ended Alt: NANSI, NNANSI, ANSI Note: based on NANSI 2.2 -OpenDOS Loading Screen Toolbox By: Joseph P. Morris, Blackout by dr. G. Lokhorst Last known Ver: 1.2(?) Year: 1993/1997 Type: util Desc: utils for showing a picture at startup (as by Win95 and above) includes 3 tools: Blackout for disabling output of device drivers/programs which are loaded, Banner for showing the picture, GIF2RAW for converting from GIF to RAW format Adv: the startup is much more pleasant now :) Blackout and Banner come with sources Disadv: Banner uses RAW format the size of picture is limited to 320x200 pixels by 256 colors for using another name/path for the picture Banner has to be recompiled Blackout only disables int 29h (so programs which use int 10h will screw up the screen (but can be overcome through the use of jTSR) development has ended Note: Banner comes with ASM (NASM) and C source -PUSHDIR / POPDIR By: Ziff-Davis Publishing Co Last known Ver: 1.0(?) Year: 1986 Type: TSR Desc: records the current direcory (PUSHing) so it would be possible to quickly return to it (restore, POPing) Adv: small freeware Disadv: TSR only current directory can be pushed the poping order must be reverse to pushing (as by real ASM :) a 'one version only' program(?) Note: published in PC Magazine(?) -ASCII (ASCII Input Program) By: Compact Soft (Ukraine) Last known Ver: 4.23(?) Type: TSR Desc: a resident ASCII chart Adv: relatively small can show the value of character in HEX, DEC, OCT can 'paste' the character Disadv: very annoing hotkey (ALT-A) no possibility to change the hotkey can't paste several characters at once Alt: RAT, other ASCIIs Note: 4.23 is CS_TSR specification compilant everything beside the version number is about 2.06 -QCRT By: RADON Software Last known Ver: 2.1(?) Year: 1988-1992 Type: TSR Desc: speeds up certain int 10h functions dealing with text modes Adv: relatively small includes a benchmarking program for those functions Disadv: shareware development has ended probably useless if you've got a high-end up-to-date the-best-there-is with-64MB-memory videocard Alt: ZENO, Warp Driver Note: actually just eats up memory :) -ZENO By: Public Domain Year: 1986-1998 Type: tsr Desc: screen output accelerator V2.0 V4.0.3 [1998] by Javier Guti‚rrez Chamorro/De Trans Software (Spain) 3 ver: optimized for 8086,8088/186,188,286/386-686 eats only 1kb mem note: if GameWizard is running, cursor is gone -LISA THE BOX By: Mission Control compiler: TP V7.0 Type: tsr, pc speed up util, 286+, fpu V10.0 performance-optimized V10.5 [Feb 1996] lisa.exe eats 9kb mem on my cpu adv: for DOS V3.2+, Win(31x/95) speeds up HD transfer rate, gfx mode scr manipulation & RAM-intensive fpu calculation (forces emulated fpu operation to be done in fpu) disadv: can't run on OS/2 prog x shouldn't be x-presed or disk-presed no 'unload' note: the package includes ZENO V2.0 -FASTBOOT By: Normaunds Saumanis Year: 1991 Type: TSR Desc: enables fastboot (reboot without peripherals/memory checking) Adv: easy to install Disadv: a little bit to big for this kind of program (1488 bytes according to VC but most of this is just empty space) has to have certain interrupts thus has problems when there are many TSRs loaded no doc (?) Alt: CyberWare's FastBoot, QEMM QuickBoot, PTS-DOS SOFTREBOOT Note: I only use it because together with FastBoot it actually performs fastboot -FastBoot By: CyberWare, Inc Last known Ver: 2.13(?) Year: 1995 Type: device driver Desc: re-boots the computer without the peripherals/memory checking Can also flush all(?) existing caches and boot from floppy (no matter how the boot order has been set in BIOS) Adv: nice doc the floppy-boot feature is really useful free (actually AnyWare) includes free AT&T calling card numbers Disadv: installs itself temporarily(?) in MBR(?) machine specific (thus might say 'Couldn't find original handlers' by machines other than the one it was originally installed) development has ended Alt: FASTBOOT, QEMM QuickBoot, PTS-DOS SOFTREBOOT Note: doesn't perform FASTBOOT on my computer (I guess it's because I've so many TSRs loaded). I got it working by using additionally FASTBOOT -SMONITOR PROGRAM By: Trident Microsystems, Inc Year: 1991 Type: video util Desc: sets the type of monitor Adv: the setting disables the 'turns gray' 'feature' which accours by some monitors (when the monitor is blac&white and the videocard is for color) after exiting some programs (MS-DOS Edit for example) Disadv: rather big executable (considering to the code which is actually needed to perform this operation) impossible to find(?) no documentation(?) Note: useless if you don't have the bug (I guess it only exists on Philips' 7BMxxx black&white monitors) -LINK By: Oliver Fromme/TBH-Softworx Last known Ver: 1.1(?) Year: 1994 Type: TSR Desc: a TSR which enables the use of links (0 byte companion EXEs/COMs which point to real porgrams) Adv: shorter PATH because only the LINKS directory(ies) must be present small TSR quicker execution of programs because of less directories in PATH thus DOS wastes less time scanning them Disadv: shareware the TSR is needed. If you haven't loaded it and the needed directory ain't in PATH (or is after links directory) then you'll get an 'Error in EXE file' errormessage you have to create all the links (which is annoing if you want them to have different names then the original) in case you're using TBAV you have to set the 'flags' also to the links Alt: EXELINK (according to LINKs documentation) Note: actually a pretty useless proggy -MCLK By: liaor@uci.edu Last known Ver: 0.91b Year: 1995-1996 Type: 'overclocker' Description: utility for setting your SVGA card to maximum performance Adv: comes with Turbo C 3.0 source really works (according to AT Performance my videocard's speedindex is 2 times higher than it was) no TSR Disadv: works only on some chipsets no use for VGA card users the working parameters have to be tested by yourself development ended Note: useful if you tend to use graphics programs in DOS (or Win also) -NOISE.SYS By: Robert Rothenburg Walking-Owl Last known Ver: 0.6.3 beta Year: 1995-1996 Type: device driver Desc: a clone of the 'random' device (known from Linux) for DOS systems. Adv: interesting :) AMIS compatible comes with source detailed description how to get random bytes from the device in your own programs Disadv: could be smaller (takes about 4kB memory) no programs which actually use it (PGPi still says 'Random device something else than /dev/random') to use all the possible 'randomness sources' you have to re-compile the program comes as SYS so for EXE device driver re-compiling is needed development has ended(?) a little bit hard to find needs a 386 no CD-R*M sampling yet documentation is too much oriented to programmers Note: if you don't use PGP or any other programs which use a 'random seed' file then this program is rather useless -CD-Quick Cache By: Circuit Systems Last known Ver: 1.30 Type: cache Desc: a cache for CD-ROMs. Adv: a cache is always good :) especially useful for owners of slow CD-ROMs (like me) good if your main cache doesn't support CD drives (NCache for example) easy to use comes with a CD test program and status viewer for Win Disadv: shareware with nag (actually 'print order-form') screen (but can be 'fooled' through the use of jTSR) no DOS versions anymore uses much memory (ca. 26kB) altough it's usual by caches can't be unloaded must be installed before MSCDEX Alt: CD-Blitz if you can find it (I haven't succeeded in this) Note: the company is an ASP member so the manual is awful as by all ASPs -> half of the whole thing is devoted to the list of contens and disclaimers) -NCache2 (Norton Cache) By: Symantec Corp. Last known Ver: 8.0(?) Year: ?-1994 Type: cache Desc: a cache for floppy and hard drives Adv: fast 3 different 'strategies' for caching (optimize for speed/memory/effectivness) a multitude of options can save the current configuration unloadable uses SMARTDrive API Disadv: can't cache CD-ROMs commercial no more DOS versions (any versions?) Alt: any decent cache Note: part of Norton Utilities -CALC By: 1.0 - Ziff Communications 1.1 - CyberRax Last known Ver: 1.1 Year: 2000 Type: TSR Description: a TSR calculator Adv: can switch between HEX, DEC, OCT, BIN not too big unloadable comes with source AMIS compatible Disadv: 1.1 is not public (yet) Alternatives: EE, DTown Utilities Note: original published in PC Magazine -UniVBE (Universal VESA VBE) By: SciTech Software (USA) Year: 1993-1998 Type: driver, 386, SVGA Compiler: BC++, TASM Desc: universal VESA 2.0/3.0 driver V5.1a [May 1995] VESA V2.0 power management & DPMS eats 8kb mem V6.53 b168 [Jul 1998] VESA VBE V2.0 & V3.0 VBE/AF: hw accelerator VBE/SCI: serial control can control or auto-calculating refresh rate stereo support eats about 20kb mem no more update Adv: universal(?) plug & play also fix svga card bug with test & profile utils Disadv: shareware only for svga with 512+ kb mem Note: now part of SDD (SciTech Display Doctor) contains UniVBE/(Core/Ultra/Lite/Pro/Spawner) -EjectCD By: CyberRax Last known Ver: 1.01 beta 7 Year: 2000 Type: TSR Desc: allows to open/close the CD drive's door through a hotkey Adv: small (ca. 550 bytes) AMIS compatible can automatically refresh the drive in a 'commander' (VC, NC or DN), set the active panel to the drive, change to root directory beeps on open/close should come with source code Disadv: hotkey is fixed (F11) 1.01 non-public (yet), 1.0 VERY hard to find (impossible even...) written in SPHINX C-- so the source is quite useless lame and overbloated documentation, this guy just doesn't know how to write :) Alt: RXeject(?) Note: part of CSDTSRS packet -SHSUCDX (Sam Houston State University CD Extension) By: John H. McCoy Last known Ver: 1.4b Year: 1994-2000 Type: driver Desc: a replacement for MSCDEX Adv: needs only half of memory that MSCDEX wants unloadable doesn't generate 'Error reading disk. Retry, Fail, Abort...' message by read/access error, but simply says 'Not ready' (this feature can be very useful by hard to read CD-ROMs) comes with MASM source comes with several other utils (CD image creator, etc.) still being developed Disadv: it's not MSCDEX so a couple of programs might refuse to work (the only one I've seen so far is RXplay(?)) Alt: MSCDEX, SUPERCDX perhaps (haven't checked this) -jTSR By: CyberRax Last known Ver: 1.0 beta 16 Year: 2000 Type: TSR Desc: a set of utilities which includes a screen blanker, bell intercept, a primitive 'stackey' function, int10h/int21h video disabler, num 5 to ESC converter, mousecursor hider, keyboard filling preventer and setting the speed of keyboard to maximum after specified number of keystrokes Adv: the TSR is small (1120 bytes according to VC's Memory Information) AMIS compatible supports Blackout and NOISE.SYS and can be used to 'hit a key' by 'naggers' like CD-Quick currently being developed should come with source Disadv: the executable could be smaller (only imortant by loading high, but the problem can be easily solved by compressing the COM) no documentation (yet) non-public (yet) Alt: combination of 5in1/YZATKEYB/YZBELL/STACKEY/RHESC/HyperKey Note: part of CSDTSRS packet -PTSMOUSE by: PTS (Russia) adv: eats 4kb mem disadv: slow init sometimes cursor doesn't show up note: part of PTSDOS 2000 -MORE by: PTS (Russia) adv: x size = 999b note: part of PTSDOS 2000 -4GS by: Kirill Joss adv: smallest DOS4GW stub (384b) note: part of CCDL180 -DMinder (Disk Minder) By: Helix Software Co., Inc. V1.0 Adv: fast can discover/repair several Win32 based errors like those related to LFNs can check date/time of files uses XMS but can work without it Disadv: uses 386 code but doesn't check for appropriate CPU can't save configuration doesn't like XOSL (and perhaps other OS loaders) (complains the Initial Program Loader code in MBR is damaged) checks the floppy drive (even if only '/?' parameter is given) Note: part of Nuts&Bolts(?)