                     TriBBS Setup under Windows `95
                          September 15th, 1995
                                J Mullen
                            Brazen's HELL! bbs
                               301.776.8259


     This is a simple description of how my TriBBS bbs is setup under
     Windows `95.  The board is running fantastic, and amazingly, most
     "DOS" based utilities such as TriDog and TriPack run FASTER in a
     correctly setup Dos window!  The suggestions below are just that;
     this works for my 2 dial-in, 1 local nodes on a DX-50 w/8mb RAM,
     and 2 Zoom 28800 vfc modems.  You can tinker with these settings
     as I have, BUT I'm pretty sure this is about the best you're
     going to get, from a DOS based BBS software.  ;]  This setup is
     based on the "final release" of Windows `95, but should work
     equally as well with the later BETA's.  Here we go.............


                           FOSSIL DRIVERS

 First, you'll need to find a copy of BNU Fossil Driver.  I'm using
 version 2.02 (BNU202.ZIP) but I've also tested these settings on 
 v1.88 and v1.89 with no difference in performance.  You can probably
 use X00 as well, (though I'm not familiar with it's commands) but in
 any case, you WILL need a Fossil Driver if you want to run any kind
 of DOS-Based BBS under Win `95!  The serial drivers that come with
 Win `95 are not suitable for a multi-line DOS BBS environment.

  ͻ
    Keep in mind that if you use these settings for your TriBBS setup,  
    then you should setup ALL of your DOS windows in Win `95 using the  
    same settings.  This will ensure that you are maintaining maximum,  
    even performance, throughout your system!                           
  ͼ


STEP 1                          AUTOEXEC.BAT

  @ECHO OFF

  PROMPT $P$G

  SET PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\DOS;C:\;C:\TriBBS

Make sure your main BBS directory (In this case C:\TriBBS) is in the path.

  BNU /P2 /L0:57600 /L1:57600 /T:4096 /R:5120 /F /M-

This is the recommended commandline that I use to load BNU 2.02.
Refer to your BNU documentation for an explanation of all of the switches.
Note the Transmit/Receive buffers (/T & /R)  Use These to start off with!




STEP 2                          CONFIG.SYS

  DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
  DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS HIGHSCAN

Load the memory management drivers for Windows 95.
For maximum conventional memory in a DOS window, use Emm386.Exe!
After all settings are complete, run MemMaker.Exe that comes with `95!

  FILES=150

Win95 uses a LOT of file handles. Set this number high.....
somewhere between 100-200, depending on the # of nodes setup
FILES=150 works fine with my "3" nodes.

  DOS=HIGH,UMB

  LASTDRIVE=*

Replace the asterik (*) with your last "physical" drive letter

  SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /P /E:1536

This sets the command interpreter to use as well as the environment size.
You can bump this up (ie:2048) if you load alot of variables (SET commands)

  DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ANSI.SYS

Loads the ANSI driver so you can view callers in doors.  (optional)

  DEVICE=blah, blah, blah.....

Of course, you will probably have other drivers specific to your system
ie: CDROM, SoundCard, Network Card drivers.



                     WINDOWS `95 SERIAL PORT & MODEM SETUP

  Ŀ
  Step 1   
  
A:  Right-Click on the "My Computer" shortcut on your desktop
B:  Select "Properties"
C:  When "System Properties" appears, click on the "Device Manager" tab
D:  You will now see a list of all of your hardware
E:  To make things easier, select the "View Devices By Connection"
F:  You will now see a list of all of your COM and LPT ports
G:  Please make the following changes to all of your COM ports:

  Ŀ
  Step 2   
  
A:  Double-Click on your first COM port (usually Communications Port 1)
B:  Now click on the "Port Settings" tab
C:  Set "Baudrate" to 57600.
D:  Leave the Data bits, stop bit, and parity selections at their defaults
    of "8, None, 1"
E:  Set your "Flow control" to "Hardware"
F:  Click on the "Advanced" button
G:  Make sure the "Use FIFO buffers..." is Checked
H:  Set the Receive & Transmit Buffers to Maximum
I:  Click on "OK" to save those changes
J:  Click on "OK" to complete the setup

>*********  Repeat the above process for ALL of your COM ports  **********<

    ͻ
     TIP: Win95 provides an excellent utility to view which IRQ's are 
     currently being used. To view them, click on the "Computer" icon 
     under system properties --> device manager.                      
    ͼ


STEP 3                        
 
While still in the "System Properties" window, find the icon that
represents your modem(s), and Double-Click on the first one listed.
You will now be at the "Modems properties" page. Make the following
changes to "EACH"  of your modems... one at a time:

A:  Set the Baudrate to 57600
B:  Click on the "Advanced" button
C:  Make sure that "Use Error Control" and "Compress Data" are checked
D:  Make sure that "Use Flow Control" and "Hardware (RTS/CTS) are checked
E:  Click the "OK" button to save these settings
F:  Click the "OK" button to complete the setup for "this" modem

>*********  Repeat the above process for ALL of your Modems  **********<




                     WINDOWS `95 DOS SESSION SETTINGS


  What follows are the settings for your Win95 DOS Sessions. These are
  accessed by right-clicking on the icon that is set up to load your BBS
  nodes, and then selecting "properties". If you have multiple nodes, you
  will need to modify the properties for each of your sessions.

  Huh?  You don't know how to make the Shortcuts (icons) for your BBS
  nodes?  ;]  No problem... this is very easy to do...........

A:  Click the "Start" button and move your cursor to "Programs"
B:  Click on "Windows Explorer"
C:  Find your node #1 BOARD.BAT file and click it ONCE to Highlight it
D:  HOLD down the Control Key and Drag the file to an open area on your
    desktop.  Release your mouse button first, then the Control key
E:  Whala!  You now have a DOS program shorcut, for your first node!
F:  Repeat this operation for each node of your BBS!


  Now....Right-Click on Node 1's shortcut icon and select "Properties"

  Tab 1 - General: 
  
    Tab 1 Gives information about the program itself. No modification needs
    to be done to this page.

  
  Tab 2 - Program: 
  
    To the Right of the icon, there is a space to enter in the name that
    you want displyed on the title bar when this session is running. An
    example for node 1 would be your BBS name and node number;
    (Brazen's HELL! Node 1)

    Cmd Line.....: C:\COMMAND.COM

    You'll always want to start your BBS using a batch file, so instead
    of placing the program .EXE in this line, place the path and filename
    of the command processor you wish to use for this session. It defaults
    to the Windows 95 DOS Mode command interpreter, which should be left
    alone unless you are using a third party program such as 4DOS.

    Working......: C:\TriBBS

    Provides a space for you to type the name of the folder that this
    program will load files from, and where it will save files. If necessary,
    include the drive letter.

    Batch File...: C:\TriBBS\NODE1.BAT

    This is where you will place the path and filename of the batch file
    that you are using to start each of the BBS nodes with.

    Shortcut Key: None

    Provides a space for you to define a keyboard shortcut to start or switch
    to this program from Windows. Shortcut keys must include CTRL and/or ALT
    and another key (for example, CTRL+Y). You cannot use ESC, ENTER, TAB,
    SPACEBAR, PRINT SCREEN, or BACKSPACE.
    No other program can use this key combination. If the shortcut key
    conflicts with an access key in a Windows-based program, the access key
    will not work.

  
  Tab 3 - Font: 
  
    This is where you specify what font you would like to use when displaying
    this session in a window, either by starting it windowed, or by using
    ALT-ENTER. The 6 x 8 bitmap font is what I use, however the choice is up
    to you.

  
  Tab 4 - Memory: 
  
    Set Conventional, EMS, XMS, and MS-DOS protected mode all to "Auto".

    Set Initial Environment to 1024.

    Place a check in the box "Uses HMA" under "Extended" (XMS) Memory.

    Do NOT place a check in the "Protected" Box. Having "Protected" checked
    only seems to slow the session down, and does not seem to provide
    any greater level of protection than when it is turned on.

  
  Tab 5 - Screen: 
  
    Usage - This is the setting for how you want this program loaded.
            Choose full-screen to start. Initial size should be set at
            "Default".

    Window and Preformance - Display toolbar, restore settings on startup,
                             fast ROM emulation, and dynamic memory
                             allocation should all be checked.

  
  Tab 6 - Misc: 
  
    Allow screen saver, QuickEdit, Exclusive Mode, Always Suspend, and warn
    if still active should NOT be checked.

    Idle Sensitivity - Set it to Low. Move the slider as far to the left as
    you can.

    Fast pasting - should be checked.

    All of the Windows Shortcut keys should be checked.
  
  That's it! All of the DOS settings are taken care of.



                          FINISHING IT ALL UP!

Ok.... now that you have a shortcut created and configured for each
node, there is one more thing you'll need to do to get the nodes to
run correctly in the background.  Fire-up all of your nodes (or one
at a time) and force them into a "windowed" session.  From a Full-
Screen session, hold down the ALT key and press the ENTER key.
Notice that on the toolbar at the top of the window, there is a
button that looks like two overlapping windows.  (it's the button
second from the right)  Make SURE that this is clicked IN for EACH
node's window!!  If it's not, the nodes running in the background
will just sit there!  ;(  Press the ALT-ENTER key combo to return
to a Full Screen session, for maximum performance.  

To switch to a different node in full screen, hold down the ALT key
and press the TAB key.

To get back to your desktop so that you can do other tasks, hold down
the ALT key and press the SPACEBAR.  This will minimize ALL current
windows onto the taskbar, so that you have full access to your desktop.

Remember that we used COMMAND.COM and a batchfile to start our nodes?
Below is an example of what I use here, so that you can see what can
be done prior to loading BOARD.BAT.  NOTE the lines that delete the
WHOSON.1 and DOORS.TMP files.....these, in my opinion, are a MUST
so that if your board bails for whatever reason and you reset it,
following callers will not have a problem logging on.

NODE_2.BAT
--------------------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO OFF
SET COPYCMD=/Y
SET TSCFG=C:\TS5\TS5_2.CFG
SET TSPORT=P1,FOSSIL
if exist C:\TriBBS\Mwork\Whoson.1 del C:\TriBBS\Mwork\Whoson.1
if exist c:\tribbs\nwork\doors.tmp del c:\tribbs\nwork\doors.tmp
if exist c:\tribbs\inuse. del c:\tribbs\inuse.
CD\TRIBBS
BOARD


One more VERY IMPORTANT note......... If your doors and utils were setup
at a different locked baud rate (ie: 38400) then you'll HAVE to go thru
each program's config file (CFG, CTL, etc) and change it to 57600!
The old rule-of-thumb is... keep ALL programs locked at the SAME speed!
Of course... you can lock the Fossil, Windows COM ports, and Windows
modem setups all at 38400, but 57600 "seems" a lil bit more stable, at
least on my board.

Also, don't forget to run MEMMAKER after all is setup.  Be sure to use
Windows `95's Memmaker...located in the \WINDOWS directory.  Just click
the START button, select RUN, then BROWSE for MEMMAKER.EXE.  Try:

1: Scan Himem agressively
2: Optimize use for Windows
3: Don't use monochrome region
4: No EMS


  And last, but certainly not least, Win `95 has a new command called
START.EXE.  This is especially of interest to all you DesqView SysOps
who use the "SPAWN" utility, or OS/2 SysOps who use utilities like KISS
or 4DOS' "START" command.  I toss all my mail and run AllFix in a seperate
window in the background, and also take down my 2nd, 3rd, etc nodes during
my nightly maintenance events.  To do this under Win `95, I now use it's
START command.   Here are a few examples of such uses:

MAIL TOSSING
-------------------------------------
:Loop
cd\fd
FD.EXE
if errorlevel 101 goto Mail

:Mail
START /M c:\command.com /C c:\Fd\Dog.Bat
goto Loop
=====================================
NIGHTLY EVENT
-------------------------------------
:Loop
cd\fd
FD.EXE
if errorlevel 102 goto Nightly

:Nightly
rem (I have my other nodes create a semaphore file called NODE2.DWN, etc)
if not exist c:\tribbs\NODE2.DWN goto End
if not exist c:\tribbs\NODE3.DWN goto End
rem (run nightly events here!)
del c:\tribbs\NODE2.DWN
del c:\tribbs\NODE3.DWN
START c:\windows\desktop\Brazen~2.Pif
START c:\windows\desktop\Brazen~3.Pif
rem (note the call to the ^^^^^^^^^^ .PIF files here!)
goto Loop

===========================================================================

A very special thanx goes out to Tony Harrison, who wrote the "original"
SETTINGS.W95 that I based "many" of my BBS settings on!  Tony is a
WildCat! Alpha/Beta sysop, and one hell of a master at getting DOS based
BBS software to run under hi-end operating systems.  He can be reached at:

  Tony Harrison, Sysop
  Shadowgate BBS
  BBS (815) 622-9639


I (Jim Mullen) can be reached via the following means:

BBS.......(301) 776-8259
NetMail...1:109/574
I'Net.....Brazen@usa.pipeline.com
FAX.......(301) 490-1242
Voice.....(301) 317-8743
FIDO......TriBBS_Support

Have fun!
