EddyHawk's Info List
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CyberRax's DOS Software Review for EddyHawk's Info List
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 13 Dec 2000: Re-formatted by EdH :)
 17 Feb 2001: EdH: add progs
 09 Apr 2001: Cyr: 2nd review
 15 Oct 2001: EdH: re-format & absorbs some into EHIL
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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 Guti‚rrez Chamorro/De Trans Software (Spain)
  3 ver: optimized for 8086,8088/186,188,286/386-686
  eats only 1kb mem
 note: if GameWizard is running, cursor is gone

-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 doc
  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 setting 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: 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 VBE V2.0 & V3.0
  VBE/AF: hw 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)
  contains UniVBE/(Core/Ultra/Lite/Pro/Spawner)

-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

-4GS
 by: Kirill Joss
 adv: smallest DOS4GW stub (384b)
 note: part of CCDL180

-DMinder (Disk Minder)
 By: Helix Software Co., Inc.
 V1.0
  Adv:
   fast
   can discover/repair several Win32 based errors like those related to LFNs
   can check date/time of files
   uses XMS but can work without it
  Disadv:
   uses 386 code but doesn't check for appropriate CPU
   can't save configuration
   doesn't like XOSL (and perhaps other OS loaders) (complains the Initial Program Loader code in MBR is damaged)
   checks the floppy drive (even if only '/?' parameter is given)
 Note: part of Nuts&Bolts(?)