Document ID: 31375.1
Subject: Windows Performance Tips
Last Modified: 06 Nov 95
Author: DBOOTH
PERFORMANCE TIPS FOR WINDOWS
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The following suggestions should assist you in maximizing the
performance of your Windows 386 Enhanced mode installation:
1. If using Windows 3.1 use SMARTDRIVE. The Microsoft SMARTDrive disk
caching driver can produce the largest single Windows 3.1 performance
improvement.
Use SMARTDrive whenever possible. You can enable SMARTDrive by
loading the SMARTDRV.SYS driver in your CONFIG.SYS or by loading
SMARTDRV.EXE in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. There are a variety of options
available on these drivers. I recommend turning OFF the Write caching
if you have a LOCAL Oracle RDBMS on your PC. For basic information
on SMARTDrive installation and operation, refer to the "Microsoft
Windows User s Guide" version 3.1 manual or even SMARTDRV /? at the
DOS prompt.
Caution: If you run into a a lot of GPFs in your Windows applications
you will most likely have cross linked files on your hard
disk due to SMARTDrive not being able to flush its write
buffers before the crash. Run CHKDSK or SCANDISK at least
once a week to guard against losing these files. Even
better, run something like the Norton Disk Doctor.
NOTE:
====
There is no need to use smartdrv with Windows 3.11 as you will get the
same performance benefits from enabling Windows' own file cache by
turning on 32-bit file access and 32-bit disk access in the 386 Enhanced
section of control panel. You will still need smartdrv if using Windows
3.1 as this doesn't have the 32-bit file access feature.
Whatever you do, don't use both as this is extremely wasteful on
valuable physical RAM which could be better employed reducing swap file
usage.
If you do use smartdrv in conjunction with a local Oracle database
ensure that you turn off write caching on the drive holding the
datafiles as this could result in loss of data in the case of a power
outage.
2. KEEP YOUR HARD DISK OPTIMIZED. A fragmented hard disk greatly
impacts Windows's performance, especially when a temporary swap
file and/or SMARTDrive is installed. Use a hard disk optimizer
program on a weekly basis to keep your disk contiguous.
3. CREATE A PERMANENT SWAP FILE. Using a permanent swap file improves
performance over using a temporary one. Under Windows 3.1, if
supported by your hardware, also select the Use 32-Bit Disk Access
check box in Control Panel by choosing the 386 Enhanced icon,
choosing the Virtual Memory button, then choosing the Change
button.
4. TURN OFF GRAPHICS PORT TRAPPING. The speed of MS-DOS applications
running under 386 enhanced mode can be noticeably improved by not
selecting any of the Monitor Ports options in the Advanced section
of the PIF Editor. The High Graphics option provides the widest
range of MS-DOS application compatibility but is not required for
most applications.
5. TURN OFF THE FILESYSCHANGE=SETTING. Windows 3.1 386 enhanced mode
can monitor disk access by MS-DOS applications and send directory
update messages to File Manager. This allows File Manager to be
automatically updated by changes MS-DOS applications have made to
files or directories. However, this option is not a necessity, and
leaving it off (the default) speeds file access by MS-DOS
applications. To disable this feature, set FileSysChange=no in the
[386enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file.
6. TURN OFF THE RESERVEPAGEFRAME=SETTING. Turn this setting off if
you do not require expanded memory support for MS-DOS
applications. Turning this option off ensures that you're getting
the most possible memory in virtual MS-DOS machines. To disable
this feature, set ReservePageFrame=no in the [386enh] section of
the SYSTEM.INI file.
7. USE THE RIGHT NUMBER OF MS-DOS BUFFERS. If you are using
SMARTDrive, set the number of MS-DOS disk access buffers in your
CONFIG.SYS file to 15 (that is, BUFFERS=15). Using a greater
number of buffers with SMARTDrive will actually decrease
efficiency. If you are not using SMARTDrive, use BUFFERS=30.
8. USE THE LOWEST COMMON DISPLAY DRIVER. Using a display driver with
a high resolution or large number of colors results in slower
display performance. If you do not require the extra features of
the display driver, use a driver with less capability. Usually
this suggestion applies to display systems that are VGA compatible
but offer an extended mode driver, such as the Video Seven or
8514. Using the standard VGA driver instead offers faster display
performance but less resolution and/or color support.
Some additional tips for Oracle tools performance:
1. If using networked installation, use a local copy of the oracle.ini file
as this saves repeated reads of this file over the network
2. To reduce network traffic make sure you have TMP and TEMP environment
variables pointing at a local drive. Also, make sure the following
ORACLE.INI params point at a local drive: ORACLE_TEMP, REPORTS25_TMP
3. To reduce startup time run CDEINIT to preload the common DLLs
4. For report intensive applications preload the Oracle Reports Server at
startup. This will reduce report execution time by avoiding having to
load the reports runtime and connecting to the database for every
report.
On the hardware side:
1. Use a graphics accelerator card to speed up graphics, preferably one
using PCI-bus technology (if your PC supports it) as PCI-bus is much
faster than the traditional EISA-bus.
2. If possible, steer clear of XGA graphics cards as these are known to
cause performance problems with CDE.