######################################################### Barry, Try these settings (below) for the Fractint .PIF file (the new file: 'Shortcut to Fractint' that has a 'DOS' icon that is automatically created when you first try to run DOS Fractint) in WinXP. I can't guarantee that these settings will work for you. I have not had the problem that you describe -- perhaps because I have not calculated a fractal that takes long enough to have the problem happen. By the way, your:

'...after rendering the screens other than those with the image are randomly coloured and usually hardly legible.'

sounds like a problem that inserting the line: TEXTSAFE=SAVE into your SSTOOLS.INI file after the [fractint] line might possibly have fixed. See the Fractint docs for further info on SSTOOLS.INI and TEXTSAFE= Please let me know if you still have the "rude message from Windows saying that the pesky MD-DOS application was too slow responding to something and must be cancelled" after using the changes to the .PIF file I give below. - Hal Lane ######################### # hallane@earthlink.net # ######################### ######################################################### ============= START OF PREVIOUS POST BY HAL LANE ========== jackoftradez said: ------------------

I simply run it [Fractint] in the XP command shell, with the properties set to emulate Win95. Fractals will start to generate, and quite quickly. But after a few seconds it slows down to an unacceptable level Thanks for the tip and the warning.

I was able to hand modify the Cmd Line & Directory parameters of the Properties window of Fractint's .pif file (see below) & got Fractint running. (I had a DOS path length longer than the allowed maximum of 60 characters.) The .PIF (Program Information File) is named: Shortcut to Fractint.exe [Unfortunately my graphics adapter only supports up to 640 x 480. But I typically use Disk Video to calculate Jim Muth's images anyway, so its not a complete disaster...] I set the Idle Sensitivity in the .pif file's Properties to 'High' and Windows seemed to give more CPU time to Fractint. But with a really time consuming fractal Fractint never uses more than 50% of the Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz CPU as shown in the Task Manager -- even when I raised the priority of the task to 'Real Time' -- the highest setting. The other 50% of the CPU is allocated to the System Idle task -- in other words, the CPU does nothing 1/2 of the time. :-( The full list of changes I made to the default Properties on the various tabs of the Fractint .pif file were: - Idle Sensitivity: High - 256 colors - full screen - emulate Win98 [sic] - disable 'termination warning' - disable 'Visual themes' - disable 'allow screen saver' - disable 'background always suspend' Note: The .pif file is automatically created the first time that a DOS program is run. So, - run the DOS program in a command shell (in a 'DOS' window), Get the DOS window by typing 'cmd' (no quotes) into the: Start > Run 'Open' text box and click 'OK'. - the DOS program will probably not work, - the .pif file will be created, - modify the .pif file's Properties (Right Click on the .pif file), - run the .pif file (which will now run the DOS program correctly) ============= END OF PREVIOUS POST =================== Since you have modified your Shortcut to Fractint .PIF file from the default, I recommend that you: - Rename your current .PIF file, - Run Fractint again to create a new .PIF file with all the parms set to defaults, - Apply the list of changes (above) to the newly created .PIF file, - Run Fractint and your problem fractal, - <ctrl><alt><del> to run the Task Manager, - On the 'Processes' tab watch the percentage of the CPU time that is allocated to Fractint . I also click the column heading 'CPU' to sort all the processes using the most CPU time together at the bottom of the list of processes. If the "must be cancelled" problem still happens, you could try right clicking Fractint in the Task Manager and raising its priority some -- use: 'Set Priority'. I am able to ignore the warning WinXP gives when changing priorities without any problem. Please let me know if you still have the "rude message from Windows saying that the pesky MD-DOS application was too slow responding to something and must be cancelled" after using the changes to the .PIF file I gave above. #########################################################

Message: 5 Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 15:42:54 +1000 From: Barry Smith <barrys@grapevine.net.au> Subject: [Fractint] Problems with XP To: fractint@mailman.xmission.com Message-ID: <46245E5E.1050505@grapevine.net.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

On 8 April 2006 I wrote:

'I have a puzzle. I've been using Fractint since 1991 and greatly appreciate the work of Jim Muth and Paul N Lee, as well of course the Stone Soup team.

'My current (my sixth) PC is a Pentium III 800E bought in December 2000 and came with Windows 98 SE. I recently had to accept the inevitable and upgrade to Windows 2000 -- not without hassle, ...

'Secondly, if I render a fractal the process seems to go very slowly unless I move the mouse, when it speeds up. I find this odd.

'Third, after rendering the screens other than those with the image are randomly coloured and usually hardly legible.'

Paul N. Lee kindly replied, saying, in part:

'You may also need to play with the various property settings that can be set for running the application, especially on the MISC and COMPATIBILITY tabs of the PROPERTIES, such as the IDLE SENSITIVITY.'

I have now again had to accept the inevitable and upgrade to Windows XP Home -- again not without hassle, including among many things eventually having to junk my HP scanner as after 10 hours work and consulting HP support three times I couldn't get a driver for it. (The Canon replacement is much better.)

I was surprised and delighted to find that I could run Fractint much as before, despite doing a clean install and letting Windows reformat my C drive as NTFS. I fiddled with the various property settings as Paul N. Lee suggested.

However /*there is a problem*./ If I render some fractals that take a fair time, like Lee H Skinner's 6090168 (thank you for these), then unless I move the mouse every few minutes, I get a rude message from Windows saying that the pesky MD-DOS application was too slow responding to something and must be cancelled.

How can I avoid this? -------------------- Barry W Smith P O Box 442, Jamison Centre ACT 2614, Australia Tel. (Home & answering machine) (02) 6251 2119 International +61 2 6251 2119 e-mail: barrys@grapevine.net.au