>>> This is the English version of     Dies ist die englische Version von
    agSI. If you want the German       agSI. Am Ende dieser Datei finden
    version, see at the end of this    Sie Informationen darber, wie Sie
    file.                              die deutsche erhalten knnen.




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                                  SystemInfo


                             English Version 1.0.1


                      Copyright (c) 1994-95 Andreas Grgel


                                  Brief Guide
                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~



    WHAT IS agSI?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    agSI is a system information tool running under DOS which gives dozens
    of items of information about hardware/system, operating system, memory,
    software, and drives, for example
     - processor (incl. Pentium specific things), BIOS, BIOS extensions,
       CMOS RAM, interrupt vectors
     - interfaces, graphics and sound cards, IRQ assignments
     - operating system version, system file tables, country settings,
       Windows modules (e.g. VxDs)
     - DOS memory usage, EMS,XMS,DPMI etc.
     - mouse driver, many installed resident programs and operating system
       services and extensions
     - logical drives (A: to Z:) with many details, including directory
       tree, table of contents for CDs
     - connected hard disks, including benchmark and IDE drive detection
     - disk cache and online compressor

     - optional continuous updating of the information in the current window
       (where sensible)
     - some actions can be done (e.g. change date/time, disk cache settings)
     - also offers formatting floppy disks - with higher capacity
     - option to print to COM1-4, LPT1-3, or a file
     - runs of course under several operating systems and versions, like
       MS-DOS, Novell DOS, PTS-DOS, a DOS session under Windows or
       OS/2 since version 2.

    I must admit that many of what agSI shows will be of no interest to
    average users, but useful for users with interest in internal stuff.


    IMPORTANT NOTES
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    The faultless working of agSI can, especially because several
    undocumented things are used, not be guaranteed, for there are many
    different system configurations possible.
    Should agSI crash on your system, try to localize the reason for
    the error, and notify my about it, for I cannot adapt agSI if you
    don't.


    I (THE AUTHOR) DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITIES OF ANY KIND!
    Not for the suitability of the program for any particular purpose,
    nor in particular for damage which may result from the use of the
    program or its documentation.

    Use agSI at your own risk.


    All trademarks belong to their respective owners.


    SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Minimum:
     - an "IBM-compatible" computer with 80286 processor or better
     - MS-DOS from version 3.3 or so, or compatible
     - ca. 500 KB free DOS memory
     - runs also from floppy disk (but slow due to overlay use)

    Recommended:
     - 80386 processor or better
     - Mouse
     - sufficient XMS memory and/or cache to load the overlay part of
       the program
     - on hard disk, ca. 650-750k are needed


    SHAREWARE
    ~~~~~~~~~
    agSI is distributed as SHAREWARE, i.e. you have to keep to the
    following rules:

    You may:
     - give the shareware version to anybody (taking only a fee for
       handling); this has to be done completely and unmodified
       (recommendedly the original ZIP archive files)
     - upload it to any BBS or software server, or put it on a CD-ROM
       (here also: completely); if the latter, it would be kind of you
       to inform me so I can keep track about how far agSI is spreading
     - use (test) it for a period of 21 days; if you want to use agSI
       after this period, you must register with the author, paying a
       small amount of money.

    You may NOT:
     - pass the full version, i.e. a registration code, to anyone, any way
     - use a single license on more than one computers, unless you make
       sure that only one at a time can be used.

    agSI is no "crippleware", i.e. there are no limitations to the
    shareware version; you are just being reminded about that by a window
    at startup and a blinking title line.
    Further information about registering can be found at the end of this
    file.


    PACKAGE CONTENTS AND INSTALLATION
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    agSI is distributed in ZIP archives, with the name AGSIxxxD.ZIP for
    the German and AGSIxxxE.ZIP for the English version; xxx means the
    version number. (Exception: you ordered agSI on a diskette from me.)

    As you are reading this file, you already have the files in an
    unpacked state; you should have the following files:

        AGSI.EXE     - the program file
        AGSI.OVR     - overlay program file
        AGSI.HLP     - file for the online help
        README.TXT   - this file
        ORDERFRM.TXT - order form for registration
        FDREAD.COM   - TSR to allow DOS to read high-capacity floppies
                       (taken from the FDFORMAT 1.8 package by C.H.
                        Hochsttter, available as FDF18.ZIP from, e.g.,
                        SimTel in msdos/diskutil)

    (The first two files are needed for agSI to run; strongly recommended
    is the help file.)

    You may place the files in a directory of your choice (but all in
    the same); during execution, the file AGSI.INI will be created which
    contains several settings; including the registration code - so don't
    pass it to someone else (without editing)!


    START FROM THE COMMAND LINE
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    The command line of agSI has the following syntax:

      [d:\path]AGSI[.EXE] {[/|-]Option}

    with:
      d:\path   is where agSI is located
      Option    is one of the followin options (optionally with a
                preceding slash (/) or dash (-)):

                ?   and
                H   shows a brief help text

                I   disables usage of bright background colors

                U   disables continuous updating of the info windows

                D   runs agSI in debug mode: the amount of free heap
                    memory is displayed in the lower right corner

    The options I and U may also be set in the Options dialog in the main
    menu; these and other settings are stored in the AGSI.INI file,
    further information about which you may find in the online help.


    USING THE PROGRAM
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    agSI presents itself in a, as I think, nice look in DOS text mode
    (with mouse support). On the left side is the menu, from which you
    may select items the usual way; sub-menus are shown with a little
    triangle to the right. If a menu item is to show an information page,
    there are different options:
    Press the Space key to open the info window, but leave the (main)
    keyboard control at the menu;
    press Tab to open the info window AND activate it;
    for the Enter key, you may select which of the above functions
    (default: like Space) it should do in the Options dialog (in the main
    menu).
    Pressing Esc brings you back one menu level.
    This all works of course also with the mouse; simply click. (There
    is no need to explicitly activate the info window when using the mouse,
    of course.)

    The Info Window:
    Depending on the type of the displayed information, you may scroll
    the contents of the info window just up/down, or you may highlight
    each line seperately; for this you may use the cursor keys (including
    PgUp/PgDn, Home/End, etc.), but the up/down and home/end keys only when
    the window is active (see above), as they are used for the menu
    otherwise.
    Of course you may use the mouse here, too.
    For the lines in the info window that are marked with a triangle to
    the right you may get more, detailed information by pressing Enter (if
    the window is active) or Ctrl-Enter (mouse: double click).

    With the key combination Alt-X you can leave agSI at any time.
    (Exception: inside the help system; when a dialog is active; if a
     sub-info-window is active.)

    The following actions may be performed with the mouse by clicking the
    status line (the bottom-most line), or by pressing the corresponding
    key:

    F1 - Help:   With this you get a help page for the current context.

                 If the highlighted menu item is the same that is displayed
                 in the info window, you get a help page (or a certain
                 position inside a help page) for the currently-highlighted
                 line of the info window; otherwise, you get a page for the
                 menu item.

    F2 - Print:  This opens a dialog window in which you may choose what
                 to print to where with which options and highlighting.

    F7 - previous page:  jumps to the previous information page
                 (considering the order of the menu).

    F8 - next page:  jumps to the next page.

    Alt-U - Update:  This key performs two actions: first, the current
                 info window will be updated immediately; second, any
                 further automatical countinuous updating of this window
                 will be suppressed (until you select a new window).

                 Continuous updating may be controlled globally in the
                 Options dialog.

    Also, the status line sometimes displays some short hints.


    IN THE HELP SYSTEM you may get help about using the help system by
    pressing F1 a second time, review the previous topic with Alt-F1,
    get to the alphabetical index with Shift-F1, and close the help window
    with Esc.

    To jump to a cross reference, first highlight the desired cross
    reference using the cursor keys (the help window will be scrolled if
    necessary), or a single click with the mouse. To jump to the connected
    topic, press Space or Enter, or click again.



    For further information, please see the online help.



    ATTENTION: Like in any "proper" program, there is something hidden
               to be discovered in agSI...



    KNOWN BUGS
    ~~~~~~~~~~
    - (generally:) Some items may cause agSI to hang up or crash the
      system under certain conditions.
    - On a beta tester's system, when selecting Media Information for
      a floppy disk drive, agSI crashed with an Invalid Opcode exception
      under Novell DOS (but not on my system).
    - Under OS/2, the Speed info list (menu Hardware/System) sometimes
      led to a run-time error 200 or 207.
    - On my new system (with 16550A-compatible IO chip), the serial
      mouse is disturbed when the serial ports are tested: handling
      becomes strange, and other programs could not use the mouse
      because the driver doesn't detect it anymore (?) until the next
      cold boot. If anyone knows more about this, please tell me.
      (This problem is not specific to agSI, also MSD causes it.)
    - agSI crashed under some conditions under the Russian PTS-DOS
      when selecting the DOS-memory list, and others.
    - Some colour highlightings of the help system may look bad in
      monochrome modes.


    REVISION HISTORY
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    1.0.1 (Jan 24, 1995):
      - Added IDE drive info.
      - CMOS list for Award BIOS.
      - Corrected some bugs.
      (See online help for details)

    1.0.0 (Dec 18, 1994):
      first public release version.


    REGISTRATION
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    As you know, agSI is distributed as shareware. The registration fee
    is US-$ 15 or DM 20 for a single license; you will then recieve a
    registration code (which consists of eight letters) which you enter
    along with your name in the Register dialog (in the main menu).
    Normally, no disks will be sent; but if you want it that way, that's
    possible, of course (price: US-$ 4 / DM 5 per disk).
    As payment you may either mail me a cheque (or cash), or you order -
    inside of Germany only! - by C.O.D., which adds a DM 5 fee.
    You may also let me inform you about new "major" upgrades (by letter
    or - preferably - e-mail accessible from the Internet).

    Please use the order form in ORDERFRM.TXT which you may print and mail
    to me, or (C.O.D. delivery) e-mail to me.


    CONTACTING THE AUTHOR AND SOURCE OF NEW VERSIONS
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    My address:

        Andreas Grgel
        Gildenstr. 4
        D-74074 Heilbronn
        Germany

    Internet e-mail:

        ag@studbox.uni-stuttgart.de

    Anyway, if you encounter any problem with agSI - as it is partially
    programmed very close to the hardware, this is pretty likely (I can't
    test hundreds of systems and configurations - or anything you don't
    like, tell me; only this way agSI can be more and more improved.
    If too much in agSI doesn't work on your system, you may even postpone
    registration if you think it's not worth the money now.

    New versions of agSI will primarily be uploaded to the Stuttgart FTP
    server, as files AGSIxxxD.ZIP (German version) and AGSIxxxE.ZIP
    (English version):

    anonymous ftp server:
      ftp.uni-stuttgart.de

    in the directory
      /pub/systems/pc/util/system

    I'll also upload the english version to SimTel, in the directory
    msdos/sysinfo. There are several mirror sites of SimTel, *the* ftp
    server for DOS; ask your Internet access provider about the nearest.
    (SimTel is also available on CD-ROM.)

    If you have no access to new versions the above-mentioned way, you
    can have me inform you about new major upgrades (see the order form
    ORDERFRM.TXT), and I can send you new versions then.


    Have fun with agSI!

                                                        Andreas Grgel



                          (End of English description)

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------

    DEUTSCHE KURZINFORMATIONEN
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    agSI ist ein unter DOS laufendes System-Informationsprogramm, das
    Dutzende von Informationen aus den Bereichen Hardware/System,
    Betriebssystem, Software, Speicher und Laufwerke ermittelt, z.B.
     - Prozessor (inkl. Pentium-Spezifisches), BIOS, BIOS-Erweiterungen,
       CMOS-RAM, Interrupt-Vektoren
     - Schnittstellen, Grafikkarten, Soundkarten, IRQ-Belegungen
     - Betriebssystem-Version, System-Dateitabellen, Landeseinstellungen,
       Windows-Module (z.B. VxDs)
     - DOS-Speicherbelegung, EMS,XMS,DPMI etc.
     - Maustreiber, viele installierte residente Programme und Betriebs-
       systemdienste und -erweiterungen
     - logische Laufwerke (A: bis Z:) mit vielen Einzelheiten, inklusive
       Verzeichnisbaum, Titelinhaltsverzeichnis von CDs
     - angeschlossene Festplatten, inklusive Benchmark und IDE-Laufwerks-
       Erkennung
     - Disk-Cache und Online-Kompressor

     - optionale fortwhrende Erneuerung der Infos im aktuellen Fenster
       (wo sinnvoll)
     - ein paar Aktionen knnen durchgefhrt werden (z.B. Datum/Zeit ndern,
       Disk-Cache-Einstellungen)
     - bietet auch die Mglichkeit, Disketten zu formatieren - und das mit
       hherer Kapazitt
     - Druck-Mglichkeit auf COM1-4, LPT1-3, in Datei
     - luft natrlich unter verschiedenen Betriebssystemen und Versionen
       wie MS-DOS, Novell DOS, PTS-DOS, einer DOS-Sitzung unter Windows
       oder OS/2 ab Version 2.

    Zugegeben, vieles, was agSI anzeigt, wird den durchschnittlichen
    Benutzer kaum interessieren, den an Interna interessierten dann schon
    eher.


    agSI wird als Shareware vertrieben (mit einer Registrierungsgebhr
    von 20 DM (oder 15 US-$); nhere Infos hierzu (in deutsch) finden Sie
    in der deutschen Version.

    Es gibt eine deutsche (in AGSIxxxD.ZIP) und eine englische
    (AGSIxxxE.ZIP) Version von agSI.
    Neue Versionen werden primr ber den Anonymous-FTP-Server
        ftp.uni-stuttgart.de

    im Verzeichnis
        /pub/systems/pc/util/system

    vertrieben (englisch und deutsch; die englische wird auch auf SimTel
    (*dem* Server fr DOS) hochgeladen (Verzeichnis msdos/sysinfo).


    Wenn Sie auf ein Problem stoen - da agSI stellenweise sehr Hardware-
    nah programmiert ist, kann das schon mal vorkommen; ich kann ja nicht
    hunderte von Systemen und Konfigurationen testen - oder auf irgendetwas,
    das Ihnen nicht gefllt, teilen Sie es mir ruhig mit; nur so kann
    agSI immer weiter verbessert werden.
    Sollte zuviel an agSI bei Ihnen nicht funktionieren, knnen Sie vorerst
    auch auf eine Registrierung verzichten, wenn Sie agSI dadurch nicht
    fr preis-wert erachten...

    ICH (DER AUTOR) BERNEHME KEINERLEI GARANTIE ODER HAFTUNG JEDWEDER ART!
    Weder fr die Eignung des Programms fr einen bestimmten Zweck, noch
    im besonderen fr Schden, die durch die Benutzung des Programms oder
    seiner Dokumentation entstehen knnten.

    Meine Adresse:

        Andreas Grgel
        Gildenstr. 4
        D-74074 Heilbronn
        Deutschland

    Internet E-Mail:

        ag@studbox.uni-stuttgart.de


    Tsch!

                                                       Andreas Grgel


                                   (Ende)
