Re: XyWrite & Windows 2000

["Martin J. Osborne" osborne@xxxxxxxx]

Robert Holmgren wrote:

> What version of XyWrite are you using? v4.018?

  yes

> What make and model
> machine?

  Dell Precision 340

> How slow is "slow", and are you talking slow at typing, or
> at execution, or what?

  The slowness is well-describe by Paul Breeze: what is supposed to appear on the
screen appears jerkily. When holding down the cursor-down key, for example, the
cursor doesn't move for a fraction of a second, then skips down several lines, then
momentarily stops or slow down again, then again goes down several lines rapidly. The
screen response doesn't quite keep up with the key, so that the screen continues
scrolling for a fraction of a second after you take your finger off the key.
  Program execution speed seems fine. (A program that takes 21 seconds on my old
600MHz or so W98 machine takes 16 seconds on the new 2GHz W2000 machine.)

> If you type as fast as you can, does Xy lag
> behind? What's the buffer size of the Window (Properties==>Layout,
> if I recall correctly)?

  Properties===>Memory says everything is "Auto".

> If you open an empty DOS box window and type
> at the C:\> prompt, is that also "slow"? Do you have other DOS apps
> you can test for speed in a DOS window?

  Yes and yes: the screen response in all DOS environments (including an empty DOS
box window) is jerky.
  I'm using a flat panel monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 191T), but exactly the same
problem occurs if I hook the new computer up to my old CRT.


> Are you sharing your keyboard off one
> PS/2 port with a mouse

  No---the keyboard is plugged directly into its own port.

> Have you upgraded W2K to Service Pack 3 yet?

  No ... but I will do so soon. (Microsoft's page makes the task look daunting....)

> Is printing
> fast?

  Seems fine.

> Is some app hogging
> the CPU -- look at Task Manager's Processes list to see what's
> active, and what % of the CPU they're using.

  When nothing is happening on the computer, the CPU usage is either 0% or 2%.

> It sounds very odd. Do you hear a clicking noise from your drive?

  No.

> Has the machiune been stable, or crashing occasionally? Does Xy
> crash occasoinally?

  Everything has been stable (though I haven't used it much---with the slow response
in DOS programs, I find XyWrite unusable on the new computer, so I'm using the old one
still.

--
Martin J. Osborne
Department of Economics
150 St. George Street
University of Toronto
Toronto
M5S 3G7
Canada
http://www.economics.utoronto.ca

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