Quarterdeck MagnaRAM 97

Welcome to MagnaRAM 97!

Before you complete the installation of MagnaRAM 97, please take a
moment to read this informative file, designed to help you get the most
out of the package and understand it better.  It also contains
compatibility notes and some last-minute information that did not make
it into the manual.


Windows and Disk Space
======================

As programs running under Windows allocate memory, Windows swaps data
out of memory and into the virtual memory swap file.  If Windows runs
out of disk space for its swap file, its performance can become
unpredicatable and unstable.  Therefore, under any circumstances, it is
important to make sure that Windows always has plenty of hard drive
space for the swap file.  MagnaRAM encourages programs to allocate more
memory than they otherwise might; thus, when MagnaRAM is active, it is
more even more important to ensure that there is sufficient disk space.


MagnaRAM 97 and QEMM 8
======================

MagnaRAM 97 will not be set up properly by the QEMM Setup program.
QSETUP is not aware of the new features in MagnaRAM 97.  You may run
QSETUP to configure other aspects of QEMM, but before rebooting, you
should run MagnaRAM 97's Control Panel, choose Setup, and verify that
MagnaRAM's settings are correct.  This problem will be addressed in a
future release of QEMM.


MagnaRAM's Dynamic Compression Buffer
=====================================

MagnaRAM's compression buffer is dynamic -- it grows and shrinks
according to the amount of memory that Windows and its applications need
from moment to moment.  Until your applications begin to demand memory,
MagnaRAM's compression buffer will be quite small.  This means that the
amount of memory that MagnaRAM has added to the system, as displayed by
the MagnaRAM Control Panel, will also be small immediately after you
have started Windows.

MagnaRAM's normal buffer management should be appropriate for almost all
systems.  However, if you wish to specify your own buffer size using the
MagnaRAM Control Panel Setup screen, note that the size that you choose
will be the maximum size, and that the buffer may be smaller than the
maximum at any given time.

You can set MagnaRAM's buffer to a fixed size by adding a key to the
Windows 95 Registry.  Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key, go to the subkey

System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VXD\Quarterdeck_MagnaRAM

Beneath this, add the key name Dynamic_Buffer, and the string data "False".

Under Windows 3.1, add the setting

Dynamic_Buffer=False

to the [Quarterdeck_MagnaRAM] section of the SYSTEM.INI file.

Note that, in both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, this setting will not be
removed by MagnaRAM's uninstallation procedure.


System Monitor Extensions
=========================

For those who would like to view MagnaRAM's performance along with other
aspects of the system, MagnaRAM statistics can be viewed from the
Windows 95 System Monitor, SYSMON.EXE.  This applet is included on the
Windows 95 CD, or can be obtained from Microsoft's World-Wide Web Site,
http://www.microsoft.com.  To display MagnaRAM data, start the System
Monitor, and from the menu choose Edit / Add.  The options under MR97
pertain to MagnaRAM.  For an explanation of each item, highlight it and
then choose the "Explain" button.  You may also view other aspects of
Windows' performance by choosing options from other categories.


Compatibility Notes
===================

High Resolution Displays and Large Fonts

Some advanced video cards capable of displaying in high resolution
provide a range of fonts, some of which are very large indeed.
MagnaRAM's Control Panel resizes itself according to the size of the
default fonts in Windows.  If you use exceptionally large fonts at a
relatively low resolutions (e.g. 640x480), the bottom of the MagnaRAM
Control Panel screen may disappear below the bottom of the screen.  If
this happens, press Alt-C to close the window, or double-click on the
control in the upper corner of the window.


Help File
=========

The Help file suggests that the largest amount of Pre-Windows memory
displayed by the Control Panel will be .5MB, or the approximate amount
of conventional memory available at a DOS prompt before Windows starts
up.  In fact, the Pre-Windows figure may include any kind of memory
alloacted before Windows starts up -- the extended or expanded memory
associated with a disk cache or RAM disk, or other program loaded before
Windows.


And Finally...
==============

Many thanks to our beta testers, whose reports and suggestions
contributed to making MagnaRAM a better product.

We hope you'll enjoy MagnaRAM and the extra performance that it can
bring to your system!

The MagnaRAM Team
