Anyway, back to the topic. Yesterday, I managed to install HoMM4 and the expansion without a single glitch. I guess it warries on how the manufacturer sets up the system.

Well, it's quite obvious, isn't it? MS-DOS directly addresses the x86 commands and if the P4 would support those 'natively', it would run at native speed. If it runs slower, there has to be something between the command call and the execution and what apart from a translation into another command format should that be on a chip?

To be honest, I have absolutely no idea, but it's an issue worth looking at. I may do so in the next few months

Hmmm.... that sounds like the effects of some bad hardware emulation if you ask me

It means that running anything else than WinXP slows it down considerably. By the time they release a 4GHz processor, the processor speed in DOS should reach the equivalent of a 386-33MHz .

Okay, the last part was made up. However, when I asked around, I found that everybody was telling me that DOS under Pentium 4 is a really bad idea for the computer. Athlons are fine, though.

By "it doesn't support DOS" you mean it isn't compatible to the x86 set of commands anymore?

I never liked WinXP, which is why I got an Athlon now. Pentium IV does not support DOS anymore, as I found out today, so in a couple of years only people with old machines will be able to play old games. So I figured I rather get used to WinXP and try to tweak it for the old games.

Oh...... it's like a..... quiz

My computer died yesterday, so I went to get a new one today. I don't have the time to remove WinXP right now, so I'll be installing HoMM4 there. I'll see whether I'm able to figure it out .

Problem solved. Now I can rest...

Hmm... Whatever.
Anyway, I managed to disable Autorun and DMA now, which took me to parts of the control panel I had never seen before, but with no result. The only ways I found to disable read-ahead is by messing around in the registry or using some shareware program called TweakXP, which I think are both pretty sick (isn't read-ahead just a simple buffer setting?) but I'm going for it anyway (as if I have a choice).

Your operating system sucks, so it's all your own fault





















(You asked for it!)

I'm trying to install Heroes of Might & Magic 4 and the installer always crashes with the following error while copying files from the second cd-rom: "An error has occurred during the move data process". At first I thought the cd was probably damaged or dirty, but I found out the readme mentions this error in the troubleshooting section...

Basically it says I should try disabling read-ahead and/or Autorun and/or DMA for my cd-rom drive, but apparently the included instructions apply to another Windows version, because these options are not where they're supposed to be, and now I can't find them anywhere...

So if anyone here knows where I could find these options (if they still exist at all), that would really make my day!

P.S.: Please spare me your comments about my operating system, no-one thinks less of it than me at the moment...