Is there a way to integrate Winstep into windows so there isn't such a load time? So winstep is taking place of the windows themes? I hope I'm asking this right LOL I just know when i restart my computer it takes forever to load up everything because windows has to load first then winstep loads after it.

Thanks

Hi!

In a word, no. What kind of loading times are we talking about here (also, what are your system specs?)?

Anyway, Winstep acts (and is) just like any other application, so it loads at startup together with all your other startup applications.

Windows startup is always a very 'busy' time, because so much stuff is being loaded simultaneously into memory, with the CPU/hard disk system struggling to keep up with demand and spreading itself thin so your system remains minimally responsive. Windows Vista, for instance, acknowledges this fact by having some, non-essential, services start 'delayed', i.e.; only when most of the initial system activity has died down.

The fact remains that, independently of WHEN or HOW it actually gets loaded, Winstep Xtreme would still consume the same slice of CPU time to fully install itself in memory. The 'apparent' loading time could be greatly decreased, of course, if Windows did nothing else but load Xtreme at startup BEFORE every other application and/or without multi-tasking so other applications/services/etc have a chance to run as well. Alas, this is not how Windows works.

When Xtreme loads, it must read all its settings from the Registry (and there are a lot of them, we're talking setting for menus, task management, shelves, docks, eight desktop modules, current theme settings, etc...) and it must also load all the bitmaps into memory, etc, etc... All this takes a bit of time, which is even more apparent when the system is 'simultaneously' loading everything it must load at startup as well.

Thing is, how many times do you reboot your system, anyway? These days Windows is so stable that there is very little need to frequently reboot your system.

Granted, leaving your PC on 24/24 consumes more energy than turning it off when you don't really need it, even with all the modern power saving options - but on the other hand it vastly increases component longevity because the PC is subjected less often to the thermal stressing and hard disk spin up/down cycles that always occur when booting from cold (ever wondered why 99.9% of the time that a lamp blows out is when you turn the light switch on? ).

You made a Very Good Point. I am one that leaves the PC on (3 of them) 24/24 unless a Lighting Storm comes up. That is the only time I power my computer down. On an average I reboot my computer about once a Week!

Back in the old days I started that with my TRS-80 better known as the trash 80 but I am here to tell you that the Z-80 processor was one of the Best if not the Best on the market then and Now!! No Windows just plain Dos...LOL

Ahaaa the Good Old Days when the programs...Games, utilities ...etc could run with 16k of Ram.....

Just Dreaming...

3flash

And talking about the Z80 processor, see if you recognize this:

LD HL,16384
LD D,H
LD E,L
INC E
XOR A
LD(HL),A
LD BC,6144
LDIR

Ah, the good old days of Assembly Z80.

The above would clear the screen of a Zx-Spectrum using the minimum amout of T-States possible (you needed all of them considering the poor CPU was running at only 3.5 MHz).

I use to program in Basic ! out of a Book that I typed in the Basic Code..LOL

One thing I could do is Run the program that you put up..that much I could do after it is compiled that is. I couldn't compile it either...

Wish they had Basic program that will run on the PC..modern day PC that is.

I am sure I have a copy of it on one of my 5 1/4 floppies but can't get to it right now....Even if it would run on Windows 3.1

I am not sure but I don't think I had Basic on the PC, I think that was on the Trash-80 !!

I had a Radio Shack Color Computer that had Basic on it. but that is the best my memory can do. After 40 years things go dim a little or out altogether...LOL


Just a shot in the Dark:

Have you (or anyone else for that matter) ever heard of the BBS in Memphis that was Named "TUG"? T.U.G. stood for "TBBS Users Group"?

that BBS ran from 1981 to 1994!! Believe it or not Google still lists some of the BBS's back in those days with my Name as owner of it. The Dates or wrong but the name is Right!!!

When I first started there were only 3 BBS's in Memphis,Tn. when I pulled my BBS off-line there were something like 250+ BBS's In Memphis,Tn!!

I wonder why I still Remember the TUG's Phone Number. 901-358-8227(TBBS):lol:



Times Changes everything but the Memory of Humans...!!

3flash

Ahaha, your post really got me going down memory lane, although my 80's experience was a bit different from yours since I am in Europe (Portugal).

Here the most popular microcomputer ever was the Sinclair 48K Zx Spectrum, based on the Z80 processor, as you might have guessed by now. On the US, a modified version was sold under the Timex Sinclair something badge, but it never became even mildly popular.

Anyway, thanks to your post I ended up searching the web and reading interviews with authors of the most popular games at the time, and refreshing my memory with what those games looked like in the 80's.

Ah, that amazing 'The Hobbit' adventure game for the Speccy, with the first independent AI characters and incredible true language parser - that's what started it all for me, the one thing that made me switch from illustrations for magazines to actually programming computers (I must have been 15 at the time or so ).

Those were really exciting times, where everything was new and moving at an incredible pace!

yep, it sorta of got me to thinking also. Dreaming is more the word I think...

Bill Gates quit or got fired from IBM in 1977 and started MicroSoft Corp. I got my 1st Trs-80 in 1980. Using Cload and Csave...(I think that was the command?) Sit there before I went to work playing MicroChess (with 3 levels) took almost 30 minutes for it to load so I didn't have but about an hour before I left for work. I was about 24 yrs old then...Grin!! I think...

From there I went to software books with Basic Programs and type them in and troubleshooted them to get the to run.

Met a guy (can't remember his name) at Radio Shack shopping for Computer programs. Arranged for him to come to my house and it turned out that he Worked for a Public Account and was one his self.

Well, to make a long story short(if that is possible?) We became good friends and his Company sent him on a Bussiness Trip to Calf. He had a Friend that was Reading TRS-80 Magizine at the time. Well, there was an Ad in the Mag that said you could buy a TBBS (Completely Machine Lang) Bulletin Board System for $100 bucks.


He came over as soon as he got back in town and told me about it. I said Hey, I can afford that!! What I didn't realize at the time was I had ONE Floppy at Cap. of 160 k!! A manual Modem at 300baud rate!! and One phone line!!!

I don't remeber how I managed to get the money to upgrade besides my Income tax check. A friend (Charles Grissem I think was his name that told me about the TBBS !) Loaned me a AutoAnswer Hayes 300baud Modem. Another friend loaned me a Double sided Floppy which put my storage space to a Grand total of 720K!!

It took me about 3 weeks to get another phone line and set up the BBS!!
From that point on the rest is History. I met a LOT of Friends had a user base of over 1000. and it was the Fastest BBS in Memphis,Tn durning that time period. Was Written up in the Local Newspaper 3 times. One in the Press Semiptar(sp) and 2 times in the Commerical appeal. Seems one of my users was a Reporter and worked for the paper. His Boss assigned him to do a Story on All the BBS's in Memphis,tn. I think there were about 5 at that time there.

I had all the papers that was written up about TBBS at that time but my house was burned down in Sept 2000 and I lost not only the newspaper but most everything else I had. We had a Sysop Club that was called "MASO" ! Midsouth Area Sysop Organization".

There was also another Club that concerned the BBS's in Memphis and that was HAH!! Never did know what that stood for. Never belonged to that one either...

I was the 1st BBS in Memphis,Tn to have a Hard Drive A BIG 5 meg Hard Drive!! And believe you me I had A lot more on that 5 Meg HD than I do now with 350 gig HD!!


T.U.G. Tbbs Users Group BBS was so popular that I got a lot of Long Distance Calls. The Phone rang 24/7!! There was Never a Dull Moment back then. Someone was always coming over or calling me on my home phone to talk to me till the person on the BBS signed off so they could call it... TUG went up in 1981 and came down in 1994!! 3 BBS's when I started and over 250 when I went off line!!LOL

Yep, those were the good ole days back then. I wish I could make contact with some of the sysops back then. That would really bring back memories.

Later...

3flash

P.S. there is a lot more to that story on How I got the Hard Drive but will save that for later...