On 21 Mar 00, at 23:52, Gary Perkins wrote:

> In the 'MSDos.sys' file, there is a reference to 'Doublebuffering'
> (it's on).
>
> I've heard that the machine runs faster when it's turned off.
>
> Is that true?  And just what is Doublebuffering?

  Buffering is a way of coping with I/O when connecting two processes
of different speeds.  For instance, a buffer may be filled with data
from a slow device and then handed off for a faster application to
deal with all at once.
  Double-buffering extends the concept a bit; while the first buffer
is handed off to the application, the device starts work to fill a
second buffer.

Points to note:

  This only makes sense for an input-only device.  The refernece in
MSDOS.SYS is intended for CD-ROM drives (might apply to DVD, but
doesn't apply to HDs or floppies).

  It probably won't buy you anything if you use some other form of CD
caching.  It won't buy you anything if you don't use RO devices.  It
shouldn't slow you down unless you are frightfully short of RAM.

  I'd leave it set.

David G

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