re: LPT1 conflict (DOS apps)
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 11:29 am
Windows 98 Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by gewg_
(4444 messages posted)
Anders (1 messages posted) wrote:
|[...]DOS applications[...]
|Windows for some reason (every 60s) is trying to use LPT1,
|which is already in use by [a DOS app]
|
Heh. It looks like it's been so long since you visited, you forgot your password
(...assuming
you're the same Anders).
Use of the communications ports is one of the best known failures of backwards-compatibility
WRT M$'s emulated "DOS Command Prompt".
(All that does is invoke another copy of COMMAND.COM
--but it's **still** running under Windoze.)
The most commonly cited deficiency here is *timing* that is complete trash.
You have spotted *another* problematic symptom that comes from
those subordinate processes depending on Windoze as an intermediary to handle tasks.
Solutions to problems with DOS apps commonly include Free(dom) Software DOSBox
(a better DOS emulator than M$'s cheesy DOS emulator[1],
as DOSbox emulates the entire x86 architecture).
DOSBox runs under Free(dom) Software
Linux[2] and other
Unix-like OSes.
Another common solution is Free(dom) Software
FreeDOS
(an entire OS and a better DOS than M$ DOS).
If you were to use one of the Free(dom) Software boot managers available,
http://google.com/search?q=SmartBootManager+PLoP
you could set up one of those as a dual-boot with Windoze.
(As that is done below the level of the OS,
there is no reason those aren't "Windoze-compatible".
Those also allow a box whose BIOS doesn't allow it to boot to a CD drive
to do that. Very cool.)
[1] Folks often cite M$'s backwards-compatibility as a strong point
but that's constantly shown to be pretty marginal.
Lately (Vista 7), it's become obvious that the emperor has no clothes in this regard.
[2] If you aren't inquisitive about how superior Linux is
and don't want to use it beyond your single task,
you could even go for a minimalist
install.
- Written in response to:
- LPT1 conflict (Anders: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 1:20 am)
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 |  | re: LPT1 conflict (DOS apps) (gewg_: Tue, Aug 10, 2010, 11:29 am) |
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