This file is included to help those of you who experience occasional
crashes due to insufficient memory or experience unexplained freezes.
Since most Harpoon users do not experience any problems, many of you
can ignore this entire file.

If you are experiencing "insufficient memory" messages, then there are
several things you can do to eliminate the problem.  

First, switch to MS-DOS 5.0 or later if you have a 286 or 386 based
system.  If you have an 8088/8086 system (which is really not fully
capable of running Harpoon), then you should use MS-DOS 3.3.  This
is not a formal product endorsement by Three-Sixty, Inc.  However,
switching to these versions of MS-DOS will solve many memory problems.

Second, make sure you have relatively clean CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
files.  This means that you should not be loading anything you do not
need.  As an example, many of you probably have the ANSI.SYS driver 
being loaded in your CONFIG.SYS.  Do you have anything that actually
needs it (almost no program does)?  If not, eliminate it from your
config.sys.  Are you loading any TSRs or other memory resident drivers?
Do you actually use them?  If not, eliminate them.  Also note that some
drivers and memory resident programs will not "LOADHIGH" properly with
MS-DOS 5.0 or other Extended memory managers.  If you are loading some
drivers into higher memory and are experiencing problems, eliminating
some of the programs may solve the problem.  

If you are using MS-DOS 5.0, make sure that the very first line in your
config.sys file is DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS (or a similar line loading your 
memory manager through a path).  Under DOS 5.0, also make sure you are
loading DOS high in your CONFIG.SYS if you are using a 286 or better 
computer.  For further information, refer to your MS-DOS reference manual.

Many memory resident programs will not only take up vital memory space,
but can also interfere with the proper operation of the Harpoon program.
Many TSRs and DOS shells (and other "menuing" programs) fall within this
category.  If you do not wish to modify your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
files, then you may wish to create a "boot" disk to use before playing
Harpoon.  To do this:

1.  Insert a disk into your "A" drive.

2.  Type:  FORMAT A: /S [enter]

3.  Create a "clean" CONFIG.SYS file on the newly formatted disk.
    In this "clean" CONFIG.SYS file, load only the necessary drivers
    to run your system.  If you are using DOS 5.0, this would be the
    HIMEM.SYS file and the DOS=HIGH line.  Other versions of DOS before
    version 5.0 will not need (and should not have) a CONFIG.SYS file.

4.  Create a "clean" AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the newly formatted disk.
    In this "clean" AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you should only be loading your
    mouse driver (the driver itself; do NOT load any other mouse utilities).
    If your mouse driver is a MOUSE.SYS file instead of a MOUSE.COM file,
    then it should be included in the CONFIG.SYS file and you should not
    have a AUTOEXEC.BAT file except to set the path and prompt.

Once you have created this disk, you should put it in your "A" drive
whenever you want to play Harpoon and re-boot your computer.  DOS will
load the configuration information from the floppy instead of the hard
drive, leaving you with a clean system that should give you enough memory
to play Harpoon.  Once the MS-DOS "A" prompt comes up, switch to your hard
drive and to your Harpoon subdirectory and start Harpoon normally.

If you are experiencing "freezes" or similar problems (and creating and
using a boot disk does not completely solve the problem), then there are
some items that you may wish to correct in your computer's setup.

First, make sure that you are using a mouse driver that is completely 
Microsoft compatible.  Many mouse drivers are not, and will cause very
abnormal things to happen when playing Harpoon.  If possible, make sure
you are using a Logitech version 4.10 or later, or a Microsoft version
6.02-7.04 series driver.  Other mouse drivers may be compatible, but many
are not.

Also make sure that your mouse is set up to use COM1 and IRQ 4 (or IRQ 3)
and that NOTHING else is set up to use the same COM port or IRQ line.
If you do not have the mouse set up properly, you could experience lock-ups
or erratic mouse behavior.  If you are experiencing erratic mouse 
behavior, you should also check to make sure that your mouse does not
have a frayed or damaged cord and that the mouse ball element is clean
and that the ball chamber is free of debris.

Some computer systems that can shadow the BIOS or Video BIOS do not do
so properly, and an addressing error can result due to this.  If you
experience lock-ups and the above suggestions do not help, then disable
the shadowing feature in your computer's setup.

If your video board does not have the IRQ line enabled, enable it.  See
your video card manual for more information.  Make sure that you do not
have any IRQ conflicts (make sure you do not have multiple expansion cards
using the same IRQ line).

If you are experiencing lock-ups and have a joystick, remove it and re-boot
your computer before playing Harpoon.  Some systems can experience a timing
problem when a joystick is present (this is rare, but does happen).

