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More MSDOS Compatability Solutions |
FAQ on DOS Compatibility Mode Problems Exclamation marks on IDE ports and forced DOS compatibility mode problems.
The problem is that the first time you booted you machine with the new
IDE ports, the correct drivers were not installed. As a result, Windows
added an entry to your registry which essentially disables 32-bit disk
access and forces DOS compatibility mode.
You must remove this registry entry to correct the problem. The followng
is an excerpt from Microsoft document Q151911
(run Regedit.exe in the C:\Windows subdirectory and click the [+] sign
until you reach the following):
To cause Windows 95 to attempt to reinitialize the protected-mode IDE
driver, delete the NoIDE entry from the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\SERVICES\VXD\IOS
After you update the registry, restart Windows 95. Windows 95 will then
attempt to initialize the protected-mode driver for the controller. If
no problems are encountered, the file system and virtual memory will operate
in 32-bit mode, and Device Manager will not display an exclamation point
in a yellow circle for the IDE channels.
PCI IDE bus troubles with Abit / QDI or any advanced motherboards?
One of the commonest problems in configuring the above mainboards is the incorrectly loaded IDE ports driver. The problem may be corrected by editing Win95 registry and delete the NoIDE as described above. Usually, the board manufacturer would include a master ide driver diskette for each motherboard. You can use the diskette to load in the proper ide port driver. Some hard drive brand (such as WD) would load the partitioning software (EasyBIOS) automatically to emulate the LBA mode for large hard drives. This would be in direct conflict with the motherboard LBA mode. Read the hard drive instruction and disable the LBA jumper.
Does IBM/Cyrix 6X86L require Win95 SR2?
It is highly recommended. Otherwise your Cyrix 6X86 is seen only as a fast 486 chip by the original Win95. Win95 SR2 recognizes the chip as Cyrixalternative.
Disappearing memory after an upgrade?
Have you ever experienced disappearing memory after an upgrade? You installed 32M. On turned the power. The diagnostic shows that you only have 16Meg. What had happened?
Chance is you were mixing different fast page DRAMs. First test each set (old and new) independently. If they work fine, try to swap the memory banks: move the old to lower bank(s) and the new simm to the first bank. Also read the system board manual to see if there are memory bank switch jumpers. Some board may not accept dual side SIMMs without changing the jumpers. Change the jumpers if needed. The possibility of bad simm socket should be last considered after checking all the above.
Multimedia (CDROM, sound card) and network conflicts with motherboards?
The following are known I/O conflictory problems:
1. ESS sound board and VXPro chipsets: keyboard locking, files corruption, booting problem.
2. Sis 50X chipsets and virtually all sound cards except Creative Lab Vibra: shutting NE2000 lan card, shutting Adaptec SCSI 15XX interface.
3. Generic NE2000 Compatible using UMC 900X chip , or D-Link compatible, network cards are in conflict with Abit mainboards at i/o 300 irq 3 (default). Before installing these cards, plug the card into a nonconflictory board (VXPro, TXPro, Intel VX,TX or any jumpered (not jumperless) motherboard). Set the network card at i/o 240 and irq 10. Reinstall into the ABIT board.
4. TXPro conflict with JAZZ, STB old PCI Video (not Lightspeed one) cards.
5. Abit board freezes with certain generic 16bit sound cards.
6. TXPro, VXPro lock up with Opti sound cards.
7. Symphony chipsets and all sound cards: interfer with all ide CDROMs. Slow video and audio signals making choppy and distorted audio video. The only way Symphony chipsets would allow IDE CDROM to work is a removal of the sound card.
If you are upgrading your OLD pc, and you are experience ide CDROM non-reading or choppy audio video signals check the following:
a) First make sure your ide hard drive slave present (SP) jumper ON is required (many old hard drive will not allow ide CDROM unless this jumper is ON).
b) Remove the sound card to see if the choppy video/audio would disappear.
c) Contact the dealer to find out conflict potential.
Computer keeps remembering old multimedia dos files?
After upgrading your sound card or CDROM, you click a DOS software which requires a working DOS multimedia (CDROM, sound drivers). But the system locks up because old multimedia drivers were loaded, even you already remove from config.sys and autoexec.bat. Solution:
Go into Windows subdirectory and edit DOSSTART.BAT. Remove old drivers and install new ones. Paste the MSCDEX line from your current Autoexec.bat less REM - by windows 95 into DOSSTART.BAT. This should cure the problem.
If you view the information on the Performance tab (Control Panel > System), you may see a message:
Compatibility Mode Paging reduces overall system performance
Some drives are using MS-DOS compatibility
This means that your floppy disk drive or CD-ROM drive are operating in MS-DOS compatibility mode. We'll discuss only hard disks operating in MS-DOS compatibility mode here.
To force Windows to attempt to reinitialize the protected-mode IDE driver you'll have to remove the noide entry from the registry:
1.Start the Registry Editor
2.Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services
\ VxD \ IOS
3.Delete the NoIDE entry
4.Search your registry for BAD_IDE (You can Search the registry by
pressing F3 while working in the registry editor.
5.Delete any BAD_IDE values you find
After you update the registry, restart Windows. Windows will then attempt to initialize the protected-mode driver for the controller. If no problems are encountered, the file system and virtual memory will operate in 32-bit mode, and Device Manager will not display an exclamation point in a yellow circle for the IDE channels.
If the protected-mode driver is not initialized properly, an error message will be displayed and the NoIDE registry entry will be re-created.
There are several reasons why your Hard Disks might be running in MS-DOS compatibility mode:
An "unsafe" device driver, memory-resident program, or virus hooked
the INT21h or INT13h chain before Windows loaded
The hard disk controller in your computer was not detected by Windows
The hard disk controller was removed from the current configuration
in Device Manager
There is a resource conflict between the hard disk controller and another
hardware device
The Windows protected-mode driver is missing or damaged
The Windows 95 32-bit protected-mode disk drivers detected an unsupportable
configuration or incompatible hardware
Microsoft recently released an update for Windows 95 OSR 2 & OSR 2.1, to fix a problem that would stop the computer from responding (hang) while the hard disk was being accessed, when using an IDE (ATA) hard disk and controller that support Ultra DMA mode.
To install this update, follow these steps:
1.Download
the Remideup.exe [143KB] file to an empty folder
2.In Windows Explorer, double-click the Remideup.exe file you downloaded
in step 1
3.Follow the instructions on the screen