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COMPUTER BITS BY JENNIFER BONNITCHA Windows 3 & the dreaded UAE Ever got the dreaded Unrecoverable Application Error (DAE) message while working in Windows? There are several reasons why this pesky bug sometimes appears. Most of the time, you can start Windows applications by simply double clicking on the required icon. However, you can also load an application as an icon instead of running it by holding down the <Shift> key and double clicking on the required icon. Even DOS programs like WordPerfect can use this technique. The program's icon sits quietly at the bottom of the screen, waiting for your next instruction. Saving changes When you exit the Program Manager, you are given the opportunity to save any changes made to the layout of the Program Manager. Occasionally, the changes made may need to be saved, however exiting Windows to save changes and then restarting is then either double click or click on Switch to; (4). Select the File menu then choose Exit Windows; (5). Click OK to save the changes. A dialog box called COMMAND now displays. Its message tells you an Application is still active; to complete the operation, exit the application then try closing Windows; (6). Select OK and the FROGMAN.IN! file will be updated and Windows will still be active. If you are not running Windows in 386 Enhanced Mode, you don't have the opportunity to run your DOS programs in a window. You can, however, switch back and forth between Windows and Non-Windows applications by pressing the <Ctrl Esc> combination to activate the Task List. "The majority of UAEs can be traced to configuration problems. These include disc caches, Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs loaded before Windows, some font managers, and older 286 & 386 computers (usually clones) unable to run Windows successfully". time consuming. When you exit Windows, the PROGRAM.IN! file is saved; you can force Windows to save any changes but not exit the program by following these steps: (1). Double Click on the DOS icon; (2). Press <Ctrl Esc> to activate the Task List; (3). Choose the Program Manager 64 SILICON CHIP Choose the program you require and hey presto, multi- tasking. The UAE - what to do Windows comes complete with an equivalent to the helpful DOS message: "Bad command or file name". The "UNRECOVERABLE APPLICATION ERROR - Terminating Current Appli- cation" message is just as meaningful. Its general meaning is that an application has intruded on the area of RAM set aside for another application, thus corrupting the area. The "best" solution is to reboot your computer and start again - hopefully you save your work regularly and this won't cause too much anguish. Working towards a UAE-free world, Windows 3 .1 is supposed to include parameter validation designed to made Windows more robust and so help eliminate the dreaded bug. Possible causes So what causes the UAE in the first place? There are several possibilities, including: (1). Running the incorrect version of DOS on your computer. Windows requires DOS 3.1 or higher; (2). Using a version of an application designed for earlier versions of Windows. (3). Selecting the wrong machine or network during setup. (4). Using memory-resident software incompatible with Windows. (5) Plain bad luck. While the above seems to cover a fair amount of ground, the plain truth is that it's usually just one of those things. It's not necessarily the application itself that causes the problem; the message simply tells you that there has been a RAM collision, rather than which application was at fault. The majority of UAEs can be traced to configuration problems, according the Microsoft technical support. These include disc caches, Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs loaded before Windows, some font managers, and older 286 and 386 computers (usually clones) unable to run Windows successfully. Remem- Application Compatibility Warning The application you are about to run, EXCEL.EXE, was designed for a previous version of Windows. (l) You should obtain an updated version of the application that is compatible with Windows 3.0. To run the current version of the application, choose Cancel. Then, exit Windows, restart it by typing Win /r, and start the application again. If you choose OK and continue to start this application, you might encounter compatibility problems that could cause the application or Windows to terminate unexpectedly. OK This "Application Compatibility Warning" message is displayed if you try to load a version of Excel that was designed for an earlier version of Windows. If you choose OK, an Unexpected Application Error message appears & this eventually causes both the application & Windows to terminate. ber that Windows operates in different ways, depending on your computer. If you have a 386 or 486 machine, Windows can run several applications at the same time - DOS or Windows. 286 machines, on the other hand, run in standard mode where one program only is active, although other programs can be loaded but inactive. With all this happening at the same time, Windows needs to make sure one program's RAM requirements don't conflict with any others. Although this is not an especially difficult task, sometimes programs are not as well-behaved as they could be, thus the UAE problems. Not all UAEs cause severe problems. While the message indicates that the application will terminate, you can often click OK, then close the application in an orderly manner. The suggestion is that memory has been corrupted, so you are well advised to heed the message, close the application and reboot. , Should you choose to continue, the initial UAE could cause other applications to crash with UAE messages, even though they are not actually the cause of the problem. Remember that the UAE doesn't apportion blame; it just tells it how it is. There is also the possibility of data corruption, so to be on the safe side, choose the "Save As" option and give the data file another name. A voiding UAEs While Microsoft acknowledges the UAE problem, Windows 3.1 hopefully will see the end of this annoying pest. Tracking the source of the problem is difficult if you get them right from the start, but not impossible. Normally, Setup examines your hardware and displays the components you are using in the Windows Setup window. Some computers and networks are not detected correctly by the Setup program. Some machines from several manufacturers, including NEC, NCR, Toshiba and all HewlettPackard, must be specifically selected in Windows setup. If you select incorrectly, Windows will not work correctly. You can exit Windows and run the DOS version of Setup from the WINDOWS directory, this time choosing the correct hardware. Sometimes an unusual hardware configuration can leave your system hanging. Should you experience this problem, run Setup using the /I switch; ie, type SETUP/I at the DOS prompt to prevent Setup from doing any hardware detection. Windows requires DOS 3 .1 or higher to function correctly. DOS 5's new features include advanced memory management, an enhanced graphic shell, disc partitions to 2Gb, a full-screen editor, command history utility and a new version of the Smartdrive disc cache. A nice feature of DOS 5 is its ability to check your current DOS version then install itself with all the special features your computer requires. Your computer's BIOS may not be compatible with Windows. It is a relatively simple matter to upgrade the BIOS chip if you have a "brand name" computer; clones could be more difficult to upgrade. Windows supplies drivers for the most commonly used display adaptors and network cards - but some inevitably miss out and you could be the unlucky owner. If you are having problems, remove all the driver software then re-install them one at a time, noting the result. This may indeed be tedious, but it is better than continual UAEs. Hopefully you will find the culprit, then you can check whether the supplier has a later version, suitable for Windows 3. Microsoft's Supplemental Driver Library could also be of assistance if Windows doesn't have a particular driver. Sometimes even Windows applications cause UAEs. Excel has a nasty habit of creating UAEs when too many (how many is too many?) features are added to a chart embedded in a worksheet - but not always! The UAE is often preceded by a low/out of memory message and will also appear if you have other applications active (like Solitaire!). Solution? - same as all the rest. Save the worksheet/chart, etc using File Save As, then exit Windows and reboot. The main culprit is RAM collision, so even if you think the UAE has passed on by, reboot. Microsoft also has available the Microsoft Windows Resource Kit which contains detailed information on solving unrecoverable application errors. Finally, an interesting book from Brian Livingston (IDG Books) called Windows 3 Secrets reveals many undocumented "features", workarounds and bugs of Windows 3. Some are just, well , "gee that's cute", while others can improve Windows' performance quite markedly. The book also includes two discs with shareware and public domain software covering virus detection, communications programs, various utilities and, of course, the inevitable games. SC DECEMBER1991 65