Windows 3.x 16 Bit OS Tweaks and Tuneup tips make windows more stable, faster, and have better internet access by tuning Winsock.

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Memory Management	COM Ports	W31 and WFWG Updates
AUTOEXEC.BAT	WIN.INI	SYSTEM.INI
32bit HD Access	SOUND	TAME

W31 support has not been completely removed from the Microsoft support webpages!

COM Port Settings

Load Control Panel and look for an icon of the plug on the end of a modem (serial) cable. Click on that icon to set the comports for W31. This graphic shows only my internal modem jumpered to port COM4 but you can also select COM1, COM2, or COM3 if your machine uses those ports. I set my COM1 (my mouse comport) to the same settings but with xon/xoff as flow control for my serial port mouse.

Locked speeds as high as 115.2K baud are only possible with a third-party driver. The Microsoft generic commport driver is somewhat limited. This 'locked speed' is how fast your computer's memory can transfer data to your modem. The modem will communicate over the connection to the other modem at whatever speed your initialization string has told the modem to attempt to connect at limited to a maximum of 53kbps by the USA's FCC for dialup users. This 115.2k transfer from your computer to it's modem guarantees that your modem will not be wating for your computer to 'send' the data for transfer over your connection.

The communications driver supplied with W31 will only do 19.2K and not particularly well even at that low speed. I have CyberCom as my driver and lock my computer's comport at 115.2K baud, 8 bit, parity none, 1 stop bit. NOTE: The 115200 must be typed into this display, it will not display on the W31 menu as an option but it will work if entered manually and you have the Cybercom driver installed (a bug?). Always use hardware flow control for your modem when you have the option to select it. (in Windows or in DOS software)

There are additional TWEAKS for comports in the commented versions of WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI accessible in plain text format from the menu at the top of this page.

Windows v3.x Sound - Troubleshoot

The following are the sound driver files included with Windows 3.1 :

Description	Driver File
Ad Lib	MSADLIB.DRV
Creative Labs Sound Blaster 1.0	SNDBLST.DRV
Creative Labs Sound Blaster 1.5	SNDBLST2.DRV
Media Vision Thunder Board	SNDBLST2.DRV
Midi Mapper	MIDIMAP.DRV
Roland LAPCI	MPU401.DRV
Roland MPU_401	MPU401.DRV
Timer	TIMER.DRV
[MCI] CD Audio	MCICDA.DRV
[MCI] MIDI Sequencer (2-9 seconds)	MCISEQ.DRV
[MCI] Sound	MCIWAVE.DRV

The setting for MCISEQ.DRV is allowed a range of from 2 to 9 seconds of MIDI file buffering. If there are interruptions while playing a MIDI file a larger value here may help.

Alternately, you can modify the size of the wav audio buffer in the SYSTEM.INI file. The numeric parameter on the WaveAudio line in the [mci] section specifies the size of the buffer. The following is a sample of the SYSTEM.INI file :

[mci]
WaveAudio=mciwave.drv 4

If operating W31 in standard mode is successful, try the following debug mode to check for problems with the 386 enhanced device drivers (especially non-Microsoft VDMAD.386) in the SYSTEM.INI file

win /d:xvfs

where x excludes all of the adapter area from the range of memory that Windows scans to find unused space; v specifies that the ROM routine handles interrupts from the hard drive controller; f Turns off 32-bit disk access; and s specifies that Windows should not use ROM address space between F000:0000 and 1 MB for a break point.

If starting Windows in the above debug mode corrects the problem, try using each parameter individually to narrow the testing scope (for instance, win /d:x). Add the following lines to the SYSTEM.INI file depending on which parameter worked correctly :

[386enh]
- If x worked add : emmexclude=A000-FFFF
- If v worked add : VirtualHDIRQ=off
- If s worked add : SystemROMBreakpoint=off
- If f worked add : 32BitDiskAccess=FALSE

Windows v3.x Updates

Microsoft's FTP Server will no longer respond here. I am now using FTP links to a server in Poland that has mirrored the Microsoft server files.

NOTE: The files listed below are just my choices from the many files available for W31 and WFWG directly from Microsoft. The DOS update files from Microsoft are listed on the DOS Versions page of this website. If you have not updated your DOS files it would be best to start by improving your DOS files first as W31 is dependent on DOS for many of it's functions. I would recommend downloading the INDEX.TXT (a 206K files list) and do a thorough search for any service pack files or updates for your particular setup.

Recent lack of access to the FTP server at Microsoft has prompted me to create a (73.5 kb) RAR self-extracting executable containing this same INDEX.TXT file and make it available from the DOS Ghost server. This same INDEX file is available on an HTTP server as online HTML. Be prepared to wait for this to load it's a 600K+ page of HTML code! A few of the update files are also listed at THIS Microsoft website page.

When you've downloaded all these patch and information files you may want to update your splash screen with a new bootup LOGO display?

W31 and WFWG updates for 16 bit Windows direct from Microsoft

Windows 3.1 Help Compiler - The Windows 95 Help Compiler included with the "Microsoft Windows 95 Help Authoring Kit" book creates Help files in the Help Compiler 4.0 file format. You cannot use these files on Windows 3.1 systems without Win32s; instead, you must compile these Help files with the Windows 3.1 Help Compiler (hc505.exe 225K download).
Updates MS Windows 3.1 to 3.1.1 but requires that you have the original W31 install diskettes or it won't install. I could not find this at the Microsoft site, this link is to another FTP server where the file is stored.
NEW FONTS -- Verdana, Arial, and other fonts not included with W31 or WFWG installs can be downloaded here. Verdana, Arial, and others are popular with webmasters which means that if you do not have them you're not seeing text within your browsers as it was intended to be displayed. NOTE: Microsoft has recently removed this font package from their website and server - Thanks to a recommendation from Bill Weller we have this alternate URL where we can find these fonts.
W31FILUP.EXE (FTP) -- Y2K FILEMANAGER update for Windows v3.1 corrects the Y2K errors and adds a new command INFO to the menu of filemanager (it is showing on my new setup for filemanager graphic). INFO displays the number of files selected and the total bytes allocated to those files. Installation instructions.
WW1138.EXE -- Corrects rounding errors in CALC.EXE the calculator supplied with W31. Installation instructions.
For both W3.x and WFWG versions of W31 and W311
WW1000.EXE (HTTP) -- Contains VSHARE.386 version 3.11.0.402 (dated: 1999). This version of VSHARE.386 is compatible with Microsoft Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups 3.1 and 3.11.
WDVW9716.EXE (HTTP) -- With the Microsoft® Word Viewer 97/2000, Microsoft Word users can share documents with those who do not have Word and users without Word can open and view Word documents. Requires 6mb free space to install and occupies 3mb of hard drive space (2266 KB download).
Remaining files are for WFWG only
WFWG 3.11 Resource Kit Doc Errors -- This article contains information about the documentation errors in the manual "Microsoft Windows for Workgroups Resource Kit Addendum for Operating System version 3.11."
WFWFILUP.EXE (FTP) or WFWFILUP.EXE (HTTP) -- Y2K FILEMANAGER update for WFWG. Installation instructions.
WFWFILES.EXE -- Necessary to log on to a Windows NT domain over routers when using TCP/IP-32 for Windows for Workgroups version 3.11b. Installation instructions.
WFWTCP.EXE -- MS TCP/IP Protocol for WFWG 3.11. Microsoft has updated its TCP/IP and DLC protocols to function with Microsoft Windows for Workgroups version 3.11. Installation instructions.
WFWDLC.EXE -- Microsoft DLC Protocol for WFWG 3.11 Installation instructions.
WFWVSRVR.EXE -- Updated VSERVER.386 for WFWG v3.11 Installation instructions.
TCP32B.EXE -- TCP/IP-32 v. 3.11b for Windows for Workgroups Installation instructions.
WFWPTP.EXE -- v3.11 P(oint)T(o)P(oint) server update Installation instructions.
CST_WG3X.EXE -- Customizing Windows for Workgroups for impaired persons Installation instructions.

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