#CD Slowdown in Windows.
7 messages in this thread
I'm pulling my hair out with this problem, someone please help. I have a
486/33,4mb RAM,sbpro and a sony cdrom (model # CDU7205) running windows 3.1 in
enhanced mode. Whenever I run a CD in DOS I have no problems yet when I run it
in windows I get considerable slowdown. For example, when I view a video
sequence from The Time Almanac it runs smoothly while in DOS yet in windows the
video jerks and skips sections. When I look at the access light on the front of
the cdrom drive it works continually while in DOS yet takes time outs in
Windows. I have the same slowdown while watching video sequences from "video in
windows". If any more system info is needed to help my problem please tell me
and I'll provide it. HELP!!!!!!
I take it the Time Almanac is DOS based and you are running it from a DOS
window under Windows? Windows does impose an overhead on DOS applications
running within it. This might be enough, even on your fast machine, to cause
the problems you are seeing. Especially if there are other applications
running at the same time. Try running the program from a DOS window with the
Exclusive option set (see the System menu for the window), or using a PIF with
the Exclusive option set.
I have the same problem with video (*.AVI) files in Windows applications, the
video is a little jerky.
Paul
Thanks so much Paul, I can put my hair back in! By making a PIF with the
Exclusive option set the videos run smoothly in the Time Almanac. However I
still experience a slowdown with video (*.AVI) files in Windows apps causing
jerky movement. Hopefully someone knows a solution to this.
Bob
Regarding the jerkiness during playback of the .AVI files in Windows apps,
there is a few things you can try. Some cost money! 😉
Close other Apps in Windows, esp DOS apps.
Use a CD ROM Cache suchas CD Speedway. This may improve the playback the
second time around.
Use an accelerator video card for Windows. (ATI Ultra, S3 cards, etc.)
Maybe someone else has tried these or other alternatives and can help us out
here! I don't have CD Speedway or an accelerator card. I did try the first
one, but it didn't seem to help.
Paul
Paul, Bob,
My experience with the ATI Ultra (I had the Plus, 2meg) was not good. Ended up
sending it back. Slower than molasses in my system. Replaced it with a $150
Paradise Windows Accelerator card (based on the WD chipset) and it works just
fine! Haven't yet tried AVI playback yet…
— Samuel
The problem is not with your CD-ROM drive. Your video card is probably the
culprit. Windows has a lot of overhead in writing to the display that does not
exist in DOS. Accelerated video cards help a lot in this. I also recommend an
additional 4 MB of RAM as more RAM can help Windows a lot.
I had a jerky problem with AVI files when I used a SB Pro with the original
drivers for SBPRO, When I used the SB driver, the jerkiness was minimized. I
did not find the same problem with the Pro audio spectrum card. When I tried
the CDU541 drive, it did not do the videos as well as a Hitachi CDR3750 or
Toshiba 3301 or NEC74 using the Future Domain card and drivers. I later bought
a Hitachi CDR3750 and PAS 16 for my 25MHz 386, and the 150K videos work fine
with no jerkiness. My Oak video card is a bottleneck and must be run at
640×480 256 color to get the best video speed. Only the 300KB videos look like
a slid show.