EddyHawk's Info List
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CyberRax's First DOS Software Review for EddyHawk's ProsInfo
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13 Dec 2000: Re-formatted by EdH :)
17 Feb 2001: EdH: add progs
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-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 Gutiļ¼³rez Chamorro/De Trans Software (Spain)
3 ver: optimized for 8086,8088/186,188,286/386-686
eats only 1kb mem
-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 documentation
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 seting 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: a 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 V2.0 & V3.0
VBE/AF: 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)
-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