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SNOOPER(TM)The System Checker

Version 3.10November 17, 1993

Copyright 1989-93 John ViasAll rights reserved.

Here's how to reach us:

Mail: Vias & AssociatesP.O. Box 8234Gainesville, FL 32605-8234

Phone: 800-332-8234 (orders only, please)904-332-8234 (international orders, and tech support)Monday through Friday, 10AM to 8PM, Eastern time

Compuserve: 72260,1601 (for E-mail inquiries)You can find the latest copy of Snooper (SNOOPR.ZIP)in the IBM Hardware Forum (GO IBMHW), General Hardware

library (4)

PCBoard BBS: A.C.C.U.G.* 904-335-7289 (V.32bis)Greg Barton, sysop

*New BBS. Enter your real name and a password when prompted. Later inthe logon procedure, you will be asked if you have called for Snoopersupport. Answer yes. You can find the newest version of Snooper, readand send us E-mail (to John Vias), and read the bulletins. Snooper isnamed SNOOPmnn.ZIP, where "mnn" is the version number (e.g., ahypothetical version 6.57 would be named SNOOP657.ZIP).

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The ACCUG BBS supports the Alachua County Computer Users Group andother PC enthusiasts. Give it a call!

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VIAS & ASSOCIATES

This program and its documentation were created by Vias & Associates,a computer consulting, programming, and technical writing firm basedin Gainesville, Florida. If you, or someone you know, needs softwareor documentation written, edited, or designed, please contact us.

Do you need a customized system reporting program? Perhaps onethat writes comma-delimited files? Call us! Our rates are affordable.

Whether it's a computer program, a newsletter, softwaredocumentation, or anything in between, we look forward to workingwith you!

ASSOCIATION OFSHAREWARE PROFESSIONALS

___________|__ | (tm)

--| | |-------------------| ____|__ | Association of| | |_| Shareware|__| o | Professionals

-----| | |---------------------|___|___| MEMBER

This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware

Professionals (ASP). The ASP wants to make sure the sharewareprinciple works for you. If you are unable to resolve ashareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the memberdirectly, the ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help youresolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not providetechnical support for members' products. Please write to the ASPOmbudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a Compuservemessage via Compuserve Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.

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Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Exit Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Help Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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Order/registration Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Consecutive Drive Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Drive Letter Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22File Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Edit CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT Keys . . . . . . . . . . . 23Edit SNOOPER.LOG Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Log Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Log to Printer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Log CONFIG.SYS/AUTOEXEC.BAT Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Log to Clipboard Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

ERRORLEVEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

BUGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Known Bugs and Anomalies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

WISH LIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

MAIN SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Advanced Power Management (APM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Central Processing Unit (CPU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27CPU Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Virtual-86 Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Numeric Data Processor (NDP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Conventional Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Free Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Used Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Extended Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Ext Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29XMS Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29eXtended Memory Manager Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29High Memory Area (HMA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30A20 Line Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Upper Memory Block (UMB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Enhanced Memory Specification Total . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Enhanced Memory Manager Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30EMS Memory Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Floppy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Hard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Physical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Logical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Video Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32VGA Adapter Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32VESA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Monitor Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Video Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

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Serial Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Parallel Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Game Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Sound Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

ROM BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Plug-N-Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Brand and Driver Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Brand and Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Buffers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Verify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Disk Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Disk Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Drive List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39IDE Drive Model/SCSI Host Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Drive Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40CMOS Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Sectors/cylinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Sector Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Cluster Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Total Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Free Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Used Space (bytes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Used Space (%) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Used Space (bar graph) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

DIAGNOSTICS SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Serial Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42UART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

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IRQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Fax Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Parallel ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44IRQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Sound Card Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Interrupt Request (IRQ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Direct Memory Access (DMA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

BUS SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

NETWORK SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Network Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Network Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Node Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Socket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47User Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Network Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

CMOS SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49CMOS Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Date and Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Floppy Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Coprocessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Saving Your Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

BENCHMARK SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52CPU Throughput . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Video Throughput . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Disk Throughput . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

SETUP SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Mono Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Desqview Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55License Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Saving Your Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

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6 Snooper, the system checker

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A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SNOOPER'S AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SNOOPER'S CREATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

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Copyright 1989-1993 John Vias 7

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WHAT IS SNOOPER?

Snooper is a system information utility that "snoops around" yourcomputer to report its configuration and operating characteristics.

WHO NEEDS SNOOPER?

You

You can use Snooper to keep an eye on your memory and disk usage.Snooper also can help you when you are installing new peripherals orsoftware. And when you are talking to technical support personnel,

Snooper can help you answer many of their questions about yourcomputer.

MIS Managers/Network Administrators

If you are in charge of keeping a large installation of PCs up andrunning, Snooper can lend a hand. For example, it's perfect forcollecting hardware inventory information. Add Snooper to a user'slogin script with the right command line parameters, and it willcollect information on that node into a file on the server. You canthen assemble the files into a database of configuration information.

Afterward, you can tell at a glance which users need DOS upgrades

simply by referring to the database, without visiting each site orcalling each user. Major corporations are already using this methodto collect inventory data with Snooper.

Also, we would be glad to create a customized version of Snooperto assemble all the information you need, and in the format youspecify.

Consultants, Technicians, Support Personnel

You'll find Snooper helpful for showing at a glance what kind ofmachine you are dealing with when you must troubleshoot or upgradeit. Also, you can use Snooper to help you ensure the machine

recognizes equipment you installed. If you installed a mouse, forexample, ensure Snooper's display shows mouse information. If itdoesn't, the mouse may not work. Snooper also can help you maintain alog of machines you've worked on. Then, the next time a customercalls, you already have a good idea of the configuration of thatcustomer's computer.

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Hardware and Software Vendors, Programmers

After you buy an appropriate license, you may give away copies ofSnooper with each computer or software package you sell. You'llreceive several benefits. First, Snooper will make troubleshootingover the telephone faster, easier, and less expensive. As you know,many computer problems are caused by incompatible DOS versions,incorrectly-installed hardware, and the like. You can find out muchabout a customer's system by asking her to run Snooper, then relaythe relevant information. Also, because we can make your company'sname appear on Snooper's screen, every time your customers run it,they will remember it was you who gave them this useful utility.

Computer Dealers

Snooper's display is useful in providing a continuous at-a-glancedisplay for potential customers of a machine's specifications. Nomore scrambling to learn a machine's specs. Simply run Snooper. Youalso can determine easily the configuration of used computers you'reconsidering buying.

REQUIREMENTS

You may want to postpone reading the rest of this manual to runSnooper. Go ahead! Snooper normally doesn't affect your computer in

any way except to write a log file if you ask it. Here are itsrequirements:

* IBM PC or 100% computer* 256K RAM* DOS 3.1 or higher* a video card

In short, Snooper should run on your computer. Make sure Snooper isin your current directory or on your path. Then just enter "snooper"at the DOS prompt. See below for keystrokes you can use in theprogram. Press to exit Snooper.

FILES ON THIS DISK

All of the following files should be on this disk or in thiscompressed file. If any are missing, or if they don't all have thesame date and time, please don't redistribute the remaining files.

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Contact one of the distribution points listed on the front page for a

complete (and possibly newer) version.

Filename DescriptionSNOOPER.EXE Snooper, the system checker. To order, press , .SNOOPER.CFG Sample configuration file (not required to run Snooper)SNOOPER.DOC Snooper's main manual (this file)SNOOPER.HST Snooper's revision historySNOOPER.ICO Icon file for Windows 3.xSNOOPER.PIF PIF file for Windows 3.xVENDOR.DOC Information for disk vendors and sysopsFILE_ID.DIZ Description file some BBSs will use automatically.

Thanks for uploading!SNREAD.ME Brief quick-start material

INSTALLATION

DOS Installation

Installation couldn't be easier. Simply copy all files to asubdirectory on your hard or floppy disk. Switch to thatsubdirectory. You can print this manual by copying it to yourprinter. The command:

copy snooper.doc prn

usually works, assuming SNOOPER.DOC is in the current directory andyour printer is attached to your first parallel port. Of course,Snooper shows you how many parallel ports you have. My, what a usefulutility!

Windows Installation

To use Snooper under Microsoft Windows, follow the instructions under"DOS Installation." When all files have been copied:

1. Invoke Windows.2. In Program Manager, select an appropriate program group.

3. Select New from the File menu.4. Click on New Program Item.5. For Description, type "Snooper."6. For Command Line, type Snooper's full path. For example, if

Snooper resides on your C: drive in your "\UTILS" directory,use the command line "C:\UTILS\SNOOPER.EXE" here. (If youwant to use the .PIF file, edit it with PIFEDIT to point toSNOOPER.EXE. Then follow these instructions but make CommandLine point to the .PIF file instead.)

7. Click on Change Icon and enter the path to SNOOPER.ICO.8. Last, click the OK buttons until you return to the Program

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Manager's main screen.


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Snooper's icon should appear in the selected program group. You're

done! To run it, double click on its icon.

Upgrading from a Previous Version

If you are using an older version of Snooper, simply copy the newfiles over the old. Read the history file, SNOOPER.HST, to find outwhat has changed since the version you were using was released. Ifyou need more details, refer to appropriate sections of this manual.

Future configuration files are likely to be backward compatiblewith older ones. The documentation will state if they aren't.

THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND SNOOPER

As we designed and wrote Snooper, we kept several designconsiderations in mind:

* We wanted it to be useful to both beginners and experiencedusers, for the casual user and the technocrat. If you don't knowwhat "NDP" means, don't worry. This manual will help you.

* We wanted Snooper to run instantly, and to show everything itknows on one (well, maybe a few) screens. With Snooper, youneedn't wait for lengthy searches and you needn't pull down sixmenus to find what you want.

* We strived for accuracy in its reports. This fact sometimes can

explain differences between Snooper's reports and those ofsimilar but inferior programs.

* We tried to make Snooper as aesthetically pleasing as possible.Too often an otherwise excellent program is ruined by a garish(and permanent) color scheme. Snooper's display is, we think,attractive and easy to read. If you don't like its color scheme,you can always change it. To reduce clutter, when the answer toa report would be zero, none, or not applicable, Snooper simplyleaves that report area blank.

* We wanted to make Snooper intuitive and easy to use. We made thekeystrokes and command line switches similar to other programsso you wouldn't have to learn yet another interface. Forexample, typing "snooper/?" at the DOS prompt or pressing

from the Main screen displays help screens, just as you'dexpect.

LEGALITIES

Here's the nasty part. Please bear with us while we assault you withthe usual barrage of disclaimers and legal mumbo-jumbo. It is anunfortunate but necessary addition to every software manual publishedin our litigious society. End of lecture.

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Warranty, Copyright, Liability

* SNOOPER IS SUPPLIED AS-IS. IT IS NOT GUARANTEED FOR FITNESS ORSUITABILITY FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

* USE SNOOPER AT YOUR OWN RISK. NEITHER JOHN VIAS, NOR VIAS ANDASSOCIATES, WILL BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES--ACTUAL,CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHERWISE--FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITYTO USE, SNOOPER, OR FOR ERRORS IN ITS DOCUMENTATION.

* VIAS AND ASSOCIATES WARRANTS THE MEDIUM UPON WHICH WE DISTRIBUTESNOOPER, IF GIVEN REASONABLE CARE, TO BE FREE OF DEFECTS INMATERIALS AND WORKMANSHIP FOR AS LONG AS YOU USE THE PRODUCT.

* ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE HEREBY EXPLICITLYDISCLAIMED. YOUR RIGHTS MAY VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

* SNOOPER, THE SYSTEM CHECKER, AND ITS DOCUMENTATION ARE

COPYRIGHTED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.* THE BRAND NAMES USED IN THIS MANUAL ARE TRADEMARKS OR REGISTEREDTRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE MANUFACTURERS.

* ANY DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT SNOOPER WILL BE SUBJECT TO THE LAWS OFTHE STATE OF FLORIDA.

License

We encourage individuals, user groups, shareware vendors, and othersto use, copy, and distribute Snooper in compliance with the followingrestrictions:

* You are hereby granted a limited license to use Snooper for anevaluation period not to exceed thirty (30) days. After thatperiod, you must either discontinue use of Snooper or registerwith the author (see below).

* You are encouraged to pass Snooper along, but please distributethe program and its related files together, intact andunmodified.

* Don't reproduce the printed documentation in any way.* Don't distribute Snooper as part of any product or servicewithout our prior written permission.

Shareware vendors, rack vendors, CD-ROM and book publishers, andother businesses are also subject to the following restrictions:

* Your advertisements, catalogs, and other literature must clearlyexplain that the user must pay the author for shareware he orshe uses, and that the money paid the vendor for the disk doesnot satisfy the user's obligation to the author.

* If the version you have is over six months old, please ensurethat you have the most current version by finding Snooper onCompuserve or on its distribution BBS (see the first page ofthis manual for distribution points).

* If we ask you to stop distributing Snooper, do so.

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OK, enough legal stuff.


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WHAT IS SHAREWARE?

Snooper is distributed by a marketing method called shareware. Thoseof us who distribute software via this technique believe:

* People should be able to evaluate a program in its actualoperating environment, which a computer store is not;

* They should have a reasonable time to evaluate it, which islonger than a computer salesperson's patience will allow (trustus, we know);

* Users are honest enough to register the program with the author.The user not only will gain a clear conscience, but also willencourage the programmer to improve the software, which in turn

is good for the user;* Commercial software is too often overpriced. Because manyshareware authors don't have to pay for advertising, fancypackaging, toll-free numbers, and other commercial marketingnecessities, we are able to keep costs down.

Keep in mind that shareware is not free. We shareware authors expectthose of you who use our programs to pay us for our efforts just asyou pay writers of commercial software for theirs. We're just nicerabout collecting it.

REGISTRATION/ORDERING

As stated above, you are granted a limited license to evaluateSnooper. If you continue to use Snooper after a 30-day evaluationperiod, you must pay the author for it. Although you may have paid ashareware vendor a few dollars for this disk, you should know theauthor gets none of that money. Just as you have to pay forcommercial software you use, you must pay for shareware you use. Thisis called registration. You can think of it as ordering theregistered version of the program.

Volume discounts, and customized versions are available andencouraged. Please contact us for details. We will need to know howyou wish to use or redistribute Snooper and how many copies youexpect to use or distribute.

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Registration Benefits

Your registration fee entitles you to:

1. A printed 60-page manual.2. The most recent version of Snooper on disk.3. Notification by mail of the next update.4. Lifetime free technical support (see the first page of this

manual for contact information). This is a toll call.5. A license number to personalize your copy and prevent the

Registration Reminder Screen from appearing.6. The peace of mind in knowing you have legitimized your use of

Snooper and supported the shareware concept.7. Our undying gratitude.

Pricing

For pricing, please consult the following chart. You will receive onedisk and one manual.

Users Discount Price per user----- -------- --------------1-9 $39.0010-49 20% $31.2050-99 40% $23.40100-249 60% $15.60

250+ BIG call!

If you need more disks or manuals, or you have some special need,please contact us for further information.

Updates

Updates are available to registered users for a significant discount.Currently, they are only $15 for the latest version on disk, and aprinted manual. The disk also will include the history file, so youcan see what changes have been made. You can order an upgrade anytime, and a new version will be sent to you. We will delay shipment

until the next release, if necessary.

How To Order

It's very quick and easy. You can order by phone with a credit card.Or send your registration in US funds drawn on a US bank with abusiness, personal, traveler's, or cashier's check; or a money order,Postal Money Order, or American Express International Money Order.You can send cash through the mail, but we can't guarantee we'llreceive it.

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To pay by Visa or MasterCard, just call our tollfree order line

(listed on the first page of this manual). If you prefer, you canhave Snooper print an invoice (see below). Then fill it out and mailit.

If you want Snooper to print an invoice for you, run Snooper andpress for help, then for ordering information. Then press

and read the invoice-printing screen. Make sure your printer isready. Finally, select the port you want Snooper to print the invoiceto. You may print to any valid parallel or serial port, or to a filecalled SNOOPER.INV. (You can then edit SNOOPER.INV with a wordprocessor and print it.) Make checks payable to "Vias andAssociates."

If you're ordering Snooper for a business, you can pay via apurchase order. Just send a copy of the invoice you just printed to

your Purchasing department and have them forward a purchase order tous. When we receive the P.O., we'll send your manual, disk, andlicense number, and send an invoice to your Accounts Payabledepartment. This is faster than having to contact us first to sendyou an invoice.

Thank you for registering! We hope you enjoy and benefit fromSnooper for years to come.

SYNTAX

There are several switches and options you can use to changeSnooper's operation. Enter them after Snooper's name at the DOS

prompt. They are all optional and all case-insensitive. You maypreface them with hyphens or slashes if you wish.

Some have long-name forms, so in a batch file, you can easily seewhat the switch is for. They all have single-letter forms, as well,for faster entry on the command line. In fact, Snooper only noticesthe first character (except where it expects filenames), so you cancreate your own long-name forms (e.g., "Black-and-White" instead of"B/W").

If you enter an invalid parameter, Snooper will display its firsthelp screen (command line syntax), and show you the invalidcharacters. Here is a diagram of Snooper's command line options. Alloptions are in brackets to indicate they are optional. Each isdescribed fully in the following sections.

SNOOPER [H(elp)/?] [B(/W)] [D(esqview)] [N(on-interactive)] [Q(uiet)][D:]

[C(PUSkip)] [M(athChipSkip)] [F] [C[file]] [L[file]]

Help Switches (H|?)

"H" and "?" are help switches. If a help switch is specified, Snooperdisplays help screens that show command line syntax and examples andkeystrokes you can use while in the program. Press from a help

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Black-and-white Mode Switch (B)

Normally, Snooper senses if it is being run on a machine with amonochrome card and automatically uses its black-and-white backgroundcolor. However, Snooper can't tell if your PC emulates a color cardbut has a monochrome, color composite, or LCD display, such as mostlaptops. If you use such a machine, you should try using theblack-and-white switch. Usually, Snooper's display will be morelegible, but it depends on the particular display. Also, you canconfigure Snooper's colors to create the most readable color schemewithout using this switch (see Setup key, below).

Desqview Mode Switch (D)

Snooper automatically detects Desqview and uses the BIOS to write tothe screen instead of writing directly to the video map. If you havean old CGA adapter (on which you may see "snow" when Snooper drawsits screen) or if something interferes with Snooper's detection ofDesqview, you may want to use this switch.

Non-interactive Mode Switch (N)

Use the non-interactive mode switch, "N," when you want to runSnooper from a batch file and don't want to have to press to

exit. Snooper will get information from only one disk drive andreturn to DOS. This command is especially useful when combined withthe logging switch (explained below).

Quiet Mode Switch (Q)

When Snooper runs in quiet mode, it suppresses its screen output, andreturns the user to DOS (as if the N switch had been used). It willonly gather information for the Main screen. The ERRORLEVEL variableand logging features operate as usual. ANSI detection is disabled.This mode is great for batch files, networks, software installation,and so on, when you don't want the user seeing Snooper's display.

Disk Drive Argument (D:)

D: represents a disk drive letter followed by a colon. Use it tospecify the disk drive whose information you want to see first. Youcan, however, see information from each of your drives, explainedunder "keystrokes" below. If you don't specify a drive, or if youspecify an invalid one, Snooper will use the current drive.

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Chip Detection Bypass Switches (C, M)

A few machines lock up during Snooper's microprocessor or mathcoprocessor detection routines. When this happens, Snooper will drawits background and then stop. The message box in the lower rightcorner of the display will indicate which switch to use. If you havethis problem, all you need to do is rerun Snooper, specifying one orboth of the compatibility switches. The "C" switch prevents Snooperfrom checking the CPU (microprocessor) type (it also keeps Snooperfrom being able to determine certain computer types and otherinformation). The "M" switch prevents Snooper from determining whichmath coprocessor your computer has. We hope these switches are nowobsolete.

Configuration File (Sfilename])

A configuration file contains options to be used for Snooper'sdefaults. Colors, license number, B/W mode--these options and otherscan be specified in the configuration file. To create one, see theinstructions under Setup key, below.

When it starts, Snooper looks for the environment variableSNOOPCFG (see below), which points to a configuration file. IfSNOOPCFG hasn't been defined, Snooper looks in its home directory(i.e., the directory in which SNOOPER.EXE resides) for a file calledSNOOPER.CFG.

Use the Configuration File option to load a different

configuration file, useful if you have multiple files, as on anetwork. Note that the filename is required if you use this switch.If Snooper can't find the file you specified, it will say so in themessage box. Also, if the configuration file's size is incorrect (asmay happen with an old configuration file and a new version ofSnooper), it will report the file to be invalid. To maintain itsintegrity, don't attempt to modify the configuration file manually.Use the Setup screen.

Configuration File Environment Variable

Snooper searches the environment for a variable called SNOOPCFG. You

can set the SNOOPCFG variable by typing:

set snoopcfg=variable

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at the DOS prompt. "Variable" can be any valid filename.

Command line parameters that follow the specified configurationfilename override the config file's options. Those that precede itare overridden by the config file's options. In the followingexample, Snooper would load a configuration file calledC:\UTILS\SNOOPER.BOB.

snooper /Sc:\utils\snooper.bob /b

Despite its contents, Snooper would run in B/W mode because the B/Wmode command line switch was specified after the configurationfilename.

Logging Switch (L[filename])

"L" is the logging switch. When you use the logging switch, Snoopercopies its display to a file or port just before it terminates. Theoptional filename tells Snooper the file you want it to log to. Thedefault is SNOOPER.LOG. Logging is especially handy to use in batchfiles for getting printouts of Snooper's output for later reference.

If no log file exists, Snooper will create one. If one alreadyexists, Snooper will append the new data to the end of the old file.In this way, you can create one file with system information for allthe computers at your site.

The log file grows by 2000 bytes each time Snooper copies a screen

to it. Thus, you easily can tell by looking at the file's size howmany screens you have already logged. For example, if the log file is8000 bytes, you've logged four screens (8000/2000 = 4). Of course, ifyou use the Log System Files key, which copies the CONFIG.SYS andAUTOEXEC.BAT files to the log file, it will no longer follow thisconvention.

The file is formatted to be easily readable with the DOS "TYPE"command, as in:

type snooper.log

Snooper first checks for a log filename on the command line. Simplytype it immediately following the "L" like this:

snooper /Lc:\files\snoop.dat

If you want Snooper's output to go to your printer, just specify theport it's connected to (omit the trailing colon). So if your printeris on LPT1:, type:

snooper -Llpt1

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snooper sd:\utils\snoop.cnf e:

Snooper will load the configuration file named C:\UTILS\SNOOP.CNF,then show information from drive E: and wait for keystrokes. quits.

snooper -B/W c: non-interactive log

Snooper will use its monochrome display colors, get drive informationfrom drive C:, write a log file named SNOOPER.LOG, and return to DOS.

set snooplog=prnsnooper -l\snoop.dat

Snooper will show information for the current drive and wait forkeystrokes. After you press , it will write a log file in theroot directory of the current drive called SNOOP.DAT. Recall that alog filename on the command line overrides the SNOOPER environmentvariable, so Snooper does not log to "prn." There will be a quizlater.

OPERATION

After the following brief account of Snooper's operation, we willdescribe a few parts in greater detail.

When you first invoke Snooper, it looks for its default

configuration file and configures itself accordingly. Then it readsits command line, looking for switches. It loads a configuration fileif you specified one. Recall that command line switches that follow aspecified config file override that config file's options.

Because of the EGA's notoriously buggy cursor routines, we thoughtit would be wise to leave the EGA cursor alone, so it stays on. Onall other video systems, Snooper turns off the cursor to make thedisplay a little cleaner.

It then gets country-dependent information from DOS, based on theCOUNTRY command in your CONFIG.SYS file. (You don't have to use itunless you live outside the U.S.) The information tells Snooper howto arrange and punctuate the date, time, and numbers.

At the bottom of its display, Snooper shows the day, date, and

time according to DOS. This feature comes in handy when you want toview a log file of Snooper's output and you wouldn't otherwise knowwhen it was made. It also allows you to check your computer's dateand time for accuracy (Some AT clocks run slow).

After Snooper shows you its display, it awaits certain keystrokes.Invalid keystrokes may cause Snooper to beep. This feature, addedpartly to aid visually-impaired users, can be turned off via theSetup screen.

When you press , Snooper writes a log file if you told it to,turns the cursor back on, sets the ERRORLEVEL batch file variable,may display its Registration Reminder screen if you haven't yet

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registered (and why not?), and returns you to DOS.


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Windows Operation

Snooper performs somewhat differently under Windows. If Snooper isidle, it gives up its time slice immediately. What this means isSnooper won't slow down your other running programs. The onlydrawback is that the time display freezes. Just press the spacebarwhen Snooper's window is active to update the time.

In Windows 386 enhanced mode, Snooper turns off IDE modelchecking, which interferes with 32-bit disk access. Also, if youinvoke the Diagnostics screen (in Windows or any other detectedmultitasker or network), a message pops up warning you that what theDiagnostics screen must do may disrupt other currently runningapplications. You are given the option of continuing or returning to

the Main screen.You can paste Snooper's display, as text, into the Clipboard (see

Paste to Clipboard key, below).

Keys

Run without any options or switches, Snooper shows information fromthe default drive and continuously displays the current time and dateat the bottom of its screen. While Snooper is running, it awaitscertain keystrokes that affect its operation.

On the last line of each of Snooper's displays, there is a list ofavailable keystrokes to jog your memory. Note that on the Main

screen, because of space limitations, not all the available keys arelisted. However, they are all listed on the help screen (press from the Main screen to view it). Explanations of Snooper's secondaryscreens are given after those for the Main screen, below.

Exit Key

The key returns you to the Main screen if you're not alreadythere. If you are, it exits Snooper and returns you to DOS.

Help Key

The key, when pressed from Snooper's Main screen, displays thesecond of two help screens: keys available while you're in Snooper.The first help screen, accessible with , , or , showsSnooper's command line syntax, just as if you had used Snooper's helpswitch at the DOS prompt. Press to see registration information:benefits of registration, prices, contact points, etc.

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Order/registration Key

Pressing from either help screen takes you to Snooper's orderinginformation screen. Once there, if you'd like to print an invoice tofill out and send to us, press

. Along the bottom of your screenis listed every parallel and serial port in your system. You also mayprint to a disk file named SNOOPER.INV, which you can then printyourself. Press the corresponding number and Snooper will print aninvoice to that port. Normally, you would type for LPT1. This isan easy and fast way to register Snooper; we hope you find itconvenient (soon!).

Consecutive Drive Keys

You can use the , , and keys to tell Snooper to getdisk information for the next lower-lettered disk. For example, ifyou're looking at C:'s info, press to see drive B:. ,, and do the opposite. takes you to drive A: and takes you to the last valid drive in your computer. The list atthe top right of the display shows you which drives are available onyour system, and which drive's info you are looking at.

Drive Letter Keys

Alternatively, you can press the letter corresponding to the drive

you want to see. If you want the A: drive's data, for example, justpress .

If you press an invalid drive letter, Snooper will beep (if soundis enabled) and display a message in the message box.

File Editing

From the Main screen you can invoke a text editor to edit yourCONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, and SNOOPER.LOG files.

Snooper has a simple but capable editor built in. Press whenyou're in it to view a help screen of its keystrokes. The obviousadvantage of using the internal editor is it's always available. If

you wish, however, you can have Snooper load an external editor,perhaps one with special features you like. The Setup screen lets youchoose which editor Snooper will use, internal or external.

Whatever editor you choose, Snooper ensures the file you want toedit exists before attempting to load the editor. The message boxwill alert you if the file is missing.

After you exit the editor, Snooper asks if you want it to rebootyour computer, necessary for changes in the CONFIG.SYS andAUTOEXEC.BAT files to take effect. If you choose to reboot, Snooperwill delay a few seconds to ensure the file is actually written tothe disk. Otherwise, a disk cache with write-delayed caching may not

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have time to save the edited file.


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If you don't wish to use the built-in editor, you may use one of your

choosing. It must be named EDIT.COM, EDIT.EXE, or EDIT.BAT. It mustbe in the current directory or on the path. If it's not already namedEDIT, you can simply rename it or create a batch file called EDIT.BATthat calls it. You can, of course, add other commands in the batchfile. Use a replaceable parameter for the filename. Here's a sampleEDIT.BAT file that would work for any of the three files Snooper letsyou edit:

echo offcopy %1 c:\backups\%1ed /r %1

In this example, the original file is copied to another directory for

safe keeping. Also, a hypothetical switch (/r) is passed to an editornamed ED. This should give you some ideas about what can be put inEDIT.BAT.

Edit CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT Keys

Press to edit CONFIG.SYS or to edit AUTOEXEC.BAT.Snooper looks for the file in the root directory of whatever driveyou're looking at on its Main screen. So if you want to loadC:\AUTOEXEC.BAT, ensure drive C:'s information is showing before youpress . Check the highlighted letter in the drive list to besure. Snooper will tell you if the file you want to edit doesn't

exist in the root directory of the drive you're looking at.

Edit SNOOPER.LOG Key

From Snooper's Main screen press and Snooper will invoke aneditor so you can edit an existing SNOOPER.LOG file. You may want todo this to compare earlier screen dumps with recent ones, or to addcomments to the log file. See above for editor-naming conventions.

Log Key

Use to write a log file to disk or to a port, such as aprinter port (see also Log to Printer key, below). You may log anyscreen with this key. It works similarly to the logging command lineswitch except that it works immediately, not after you exit. If youalso specified the logging switch with a filename, it will use thatfilename (the display will be logged again when you exit). If not, itwill use the SNOOPLOG environment variable if it exists; otherwise,SNOOPER.LOG.

The information you're looking at when you press the logging keyis the information that will be logged. Because of this, you canpress in the Main screen, then ,, and so

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on until you have a log file containing snapshots of all the screens


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you're interested in. This log file can be very useful when you need

to remember what kind of computer someone has.

Log to Printer Key

will print the screen you're looking at and it works with allscreens. It sends its output to PRN. If your printer is on LPT2:,simply set the SNOOPLOG environment variable to LPT2 and use .

Log CONFIG.SYS/AUTOEXEC.BAT Key

Pressing causes Snooper to copy your CONFIG.SYS and

AUTOEXEC.BAT files to the log file. Again, the files on the drivewhose information you're viewing are the ones that will be added tothe log file. The message line will tell you if neither file wasfound. If only one file is found, it will be logged. If no log fileis found, it will be created.

Log to Clipboard Key

When Snooper is running under Windows, you can press to paste a copy of Snooper's display to the Windows Clipboard.(, the copy key, would have been more appropriate, butit's only available on enhanced keyboards.) Because many Windows

fonts don't include high-ASCII characters, Snooper will translate itsline-drawing characters into low-ASCII characters as usual. You canthen paste the display into a Windows document. Of course, for thecharacters to align, you must use a monospaced font such as Courieror OEM.

ERRORLEVEL

If certain errors occur, upon exit Snooper sets the ERRORLEVEL batchfile variable and shows the value of ERRORLEVEL on the screen in themessage box. Here are the errors ERRORLEVEL reports:

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Errorlevel Explanation

0 Successful completion--there were no errors.1 Drive door was open or there was no disk in a requested

(or default) disk drive, or a disk was bad orunformatted.

2 User specified an invalid drive on the command line.4 DOS version is older than 3.1.8 Error occurred while Snooper was writing a log file.16 User specified an invalid command line parameter.32 Abnormal termination--Snooper encountered an

unanticipated problem and terminated.

Notice the numbers aren't consecutive. This numbering scheme allowsSnooper to add the numbers to indicate multiple errors.

For example, if you specified an invalid drive and Snooperencountered an error writing a log file, it would set ERRORLEVEL toten, the sum of two and eight. The ERRORLEVEL variable can be testedin batch files; for example:

if errorlevel 24 goto LOGERROR_DOOROPEN

See your DOS manual for details of the ERRORLEVEL variable and how touse it.

BUGS

Snooper has been under development for over six years, but it mayhave a bug or two lurking in it. To debug Snooper thoroughly, wewould need access to a huge array of computers and peripherals. Wedon't. We have tested it on over a hundred machines but such testingis never comprehensive.

If you think you've found a bug, please let us know by sending theinvoice with a specific description of the bug. Include a printed logfile if you can. Of course, an inaccurate report may mean yourhardware, BIOS, DOS, TSRs, or something else is incompatible or isinterfering with Snooper, especially on older machines. We'd like tohear from you anyway.

Known Bugs and Anomalies

* A few machines lock up when running Snooper. The culprit issometimes the CPU and/or NDP detection routines. Simply specifythe "C" or "M" command line switch (the message box will tellyou which, or try both). We've fixed this problem more than oncebut there's always one more machine out there. . . .

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* Because of the way NDOS and 4DOS allocate memory in their

non-swapping modes, Snooper can't find the environment, and willgive an incorrect Environment report such as:Free 65,536 Total 0.

WISH LIST

Snooper will never be complete, of course. We have continually foundnew reports and features to add to make it an easy-to-use andpowerful utility. There are a few things we still want from Snooper:

* Brand detection of more non-Intel CPUs and NDPs* Detection of VL local bus

* Detection of tape drives* Differentiation of ST506, IDE, ESDI, and SCSI hard drives* Lots of registration fees

If you think you can help us with the above challenges, please call,write, or leave E-mail. With your help, Snooper can become an evenmore-powerful utility. Also, we're likely to make you a registereduser for your help. We will at least mention your help in theacknowledgments (All together: "Oooh, aaah!").

MAIN SCREEN

Following, roughly in the order they appear on-screen, is a detailedlist of Snooper's Main screen reports, followed by the reports on theother screens.

Computer

The type of computer Snooper is being run on. On some XT and ATclones, Snooper can't tell if it's running on an actual IBM machineor a compatible, so it will report the IBM equivalent (e.g. "PC AT").Snooper can recognize over 110 machines by name, including many IBMs,Dells, Toshibas, ATTs, and Olivettis.

NOTE: If you are not skipping CPU detection and Snooper reportsComputer Type as "Unknown ID: . . ." please drop us a note with theID numbers, and the exact model and brand computer Snooper wasrunning on. Thanks.

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Advanced Power Management (APM)

If your computer implements the Advanced Power Management (APM)specification for conserving energy, Snooper will say so after thecomputer type.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The computer's microprocessor chip. Snooper can report the presenceof: 8088/86, V20/V30, 80286, 80386SX, 80386DX, 80486SX, 80486DX,Pentium, and Hexium (or whatever they'll be called) CPUs.

If you have a math coprocessor, and you disable CPU detection butleave math coprocessor detection on, Snooper will try to guess what

CPU you have by the NDP type.

NOTE: If Snooper reports "80386," it means your 386SX or 386DX CPU isin virtual-86 mode (explained below). Some operating environments andexpanded memory managers (e.g. EMM386) would report an error ifSnooper tried to determine which of the two chips is present.Instead, Snooper skips the determination and shows you have one ofthe two chips. If you unload the program that puts your CPU intovirtual-86 mode, Snooper can then tell you which CPU you have.

CPU Speed

The number after the hyphen (e.g., the "16" in "80386SX-16") is anestimate of your computer's speed in Megahertz. This benchmark isvery accurate, especially since it doesn't induce a noticeable delayin execution.

Virtual-86 Mode

If "V86" appears in the CPU report, your computer's CPU is operatingin virtual-86 mode, instead of real mode (what DOS normally uses).The 80286 and newer microprocessors implement a protected mode, whichis sometimes used by memory managers, multitaskers (includingMicrosoft Windows), and other software. Multitaskers which put the

CPU in protected mode actually run the programs in virtual-86 mode,which lets each running program believe it has total access to themachine, when in fact the multitasker is controlling its access.

Numeric Data Processor (NDP)

The Numeric Data Processor (NDP), also called the math coprocessor,or Floating Point Unit (FPU). Math coprocessors significantly speedcalculations involving floating point numbers (i.e., numbers withdecimal portions). Snooper can detect 8087, 80287, 80387SX, 80387,

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80486DX and better CPUs, since they have math coprocessors built into

them.Some computers have a switch inside which the user sets to reflect

the presence (or absence) of a math coprocessor. Because theseswitches are often set incorrectly, Snooper's report is not dependenton this switch setting. But Snooper does check the switch. If Snooperfinds that its NDP report and the switch setting don't agree, itdisplays a check mark in the NDP report. This lets you know youshould check (and reset) the switch (and/or system configuration, ifyou have an AT-class computer). If you don't see a check mark, theswitch or configuration is set properly.

Bus

The architecture of the bus your computer uses. The bus is the partyou plug expansion cards into--the slots. Most computers report"ISA," which stands for Industry Standard Architecture, the bus inPCs, XTs, ATs, and most clones.

Most IBM PS/2 computers will report "MCA," or Micro ChannelArchitecture. The MCA is entirely different and cards based on it areincompatible with those for the ISA standard, but MCA does addfeatures and increase performance in some cases. Some computers haveboth MCA and ISA buses, in which case Snooper reports "MCA+ISA." Fora list of the Micro Channel adapter cards in your system, invoke theBus screen by pressing .

A consortium of companies worked out a different standard. It is

called "EISA," (pronounced EES uh) meaning Enhanced ISA. It retainscompatibility with the older ISA bus, but like the MCA, it addsfeatures and power. Snooper can detect all three bus types.

Memory

Conventional Memory

Bytes of conventional RAM (the infamous 640K) in your computer.

NOTE: A few computers use more RAM than most for their videodisplays, so Snooper may not report all the memory the computer has

(e.g., it may report 624K instead of 640K on some Tandys).

Free Memory

Bytes of conventional RAM still available for programs and data. Thisreport allows you to see, for example, the effect of changing theBUFFERS statement in your CONFIG.SYS file, and loading and unloadingmemory resident programs.

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Used Memory

Bytes of conventional memory DOS and memory resident programs areusing (total minus free memory).

Extended Memory

Extended memory is available only on AT-type machines; that is, thosewith 80286 or newer microprocessors. (If you have an XT-typecomputer, this report will always be blank.) Programs written to doso can store data and programs in extended memory. This report showsthe total amount of extended memory installed, despite how you'veconfigured it. Even if a program is using it all, Snooper will still

show the total amount installed. This report is taken from the CMOS.See the CMOS screen section below for an explanation of the CMOS.

Ext Free

This report shows how much extended memory you still have available.Snooper gets this report from the computer's BIOS. This memory isonly available to mostly older programs that don't use the eXtendedMemory Specification (see below).

XMS Memory

As we mentioned above, programs written to do so can store dataand/or programs in extended memory. The trouble is, differentprograms handle extended memory differently. This is because untilthe eXtended Memory Specification (or "XMS"), there was no standardfor accessing extended memory, and the computer's built-in facilitiesare crude at best. Some programs are polite enough to decrease theamount of extended memory they report to other programs by the amountthey themselves are using. Some aren't so polite, leaving themselvesopen to having their memory overwritten by another program. As youmight imagine, this leads to problems.

If you have loaded an eXtended Memory Manager, or XMM (e.g.,Microsoft's HIMEM.SYS)--that is, if you have XMS memory, Snooper will

report how much is still available.

eXtended Memory Manager Level

The number displayed after "XMS" is the version of the eXtendedMemory Specification the loaded XMM supports. This is different fromthe internal version number of the XMM program itself. Differentversions support different features, so be sure you have an XMM thatsupports the program you want to run.

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High Memory Area (HMA)

The high memory area is the 64K (less 16 bytes) block beginning atthe one megabyte boundary, immediately above the ROM BIOS. It, likeall types of extended memory, can only be used on AT-type computers,and only by programs written for it. This report shows if a HMAexists (you must have an XMM loaded to provide it), and if it isavailable for use ("free") or is in use by a program ("in use").

A20 Line Status

Shown after "HMA," this report shows if the address line called A20is enabled. Snooper shows "(A20)" is the A20 is enabled, nothing if

it's not. Usually, the A20 is handled automatically by memorymanagement software. At times, you may need to know the A20's status,perhaps while debugging your memory setup.

Upper Memory Block (UMB)

With DOS 5 and some third party memory managers, you can load most ofyour device drivers and memory resident programs above conventionalmemory, into what are called upper memory blocks. Snooper reports thelargest available UMB. You must have the line "DOS=UMB" in yourCONFIG.SYS file for this report to work.

Enhanced Memory Specification Total

The amount of enhanced memory (EMS) installed. Lotus, Intel, andMicrosoft developed EMS to break DOS's 640K memory barrier (kind of).Some programs, which have been written to do so, can use EMS to storedata. Not surprisingly, many spreadsheet programs use EMS. Unlikeextended memory, EMS is available on XT and AT-class machines.

Enhanced Memory Manager Level

Shown after "EMS," the version of Enhanced Memory Specification the

hardware and/or software is implementing. As of this writing, thisreport probably should be either 3.2 or 4.0. Some programs requireEMS 4.0, which has enhanced capabilities. Like the XMM version, thisreflects the specification version, not the EMM program's version.

EMS Memory Free

The amount of EMS still available for programs and data.

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Drives

Floppy

The number of floppy drives installed. Despite what some peoplebelieve, 3.5" diskettes are floppy disks, not hard disks, despitetheir hard plastic shells. Thus, they will be counted in this report.

Hard

The number of hard disks (also called fixed disks) installed. Eachphysical hard disk adds one to the total, regardless of itspartitioning. That is, if you have one hard disk split into C: and D:

drives, it will count as only one hard disk.

Physical

Simply the sum of floppy and hard disks. These are physical drivesattached to your computer.

Logical

The total number of disk drives DOS recognizes. These include floppy,hard, RAM, CD-ROM, and network drives. Also included are simulated

disk drives made with the DOS ASSIGN and SUBST commands, all harddisk partitions, and possibly other types. This report includes thedrives identified in the Physical Drives report (above).

Sometimes software splits a hard disk into two or more"partitions" (usually C: and D:), usually because the disk is biggerthan 32M, a limit imposed by DOS versions before 4.0. A hard disklike this will count as two. If you have a single floppy disk drive,the number given will not include drive B:, as it's simply anothername for drive A:. But every other available drive letter counts.

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Video

Video Type

The type of video adapter, and, mostly for VGAs, either the adapterbrand or the type of monitor used. Snooper can detect:

Report Video cardMDA Monochrome Display Adapter, probably a text-only card (one

that doesn't provide any graphics capability)Hercules Hercules Graphics Card (a monochrome card with graphics

capability) or a Hercules-compatible; Snooper can detectHercules Graphics, InColor, and Plus cards

CGA Color Graphics Adapter

EGA Enhanced Graphics AdapterPGC Professional Graphics ControllerMCGA Multi-Color Graphics ArrayVGA Video Graphics ArraySVGA VGA card with more than 256KXGA(-2) eXtended Graphics Adapter, detected on Micro Channel

systems

VGA Adapter Brand

Snooper recognizes several VGA cards by brand, and many specificmodels.

VESA

A few years ago, several video hardware manufacturers formed theVideo Electronics Standards Association, or VESA (pronounced"VEE suh" or "VEH suh"). Their purpose is to standardize the PC videomarketplace, making recommendations for standardized resolutions,frequencies, and so on. If the Video report begins with "VESA," yourVGA card seems to comply with their recommendations. Snooper alsoshows you the VESA specification version your card complies with.

Monitor Type

Snooper can sometimes tell what type of monitor you are using. IfSnooper has room, it shows which of three kinds of monitor you have:monochrome (usually displays green or amber), color (digital withEGAs or analog with VGAs or MCGAs), or digital color (for someMCGAs).

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Video Memory

On EGA and some VGA cards, Snooper reports how much video memory isinstalled on the card. EGAs can have 64K to 256K; VGA cards, 256K to2.5M and beyond. The amount of video memory, the video card, and themonitor together determine the maximum resolution and colors you cansee on your computer. With some VESA cards, Snooper may show a littleless memory than is actually installed (e.g., 1.5M versus 2M).

NOTE: There is no correlation between your video card's memory andyour computer's memory, or RAM. You can have, for example, a 256Kmachine with a 2M VGA card, or a 4M machine with a 64K EGA card, ormany other combinations.

Ports

Serial Ports

The addresses of all serial, or RS-232, ports installed. Usually, youwould use these ports for modems, pointing devices (such as mice),some printers, plotters, and a variety of less common equipment.More-advanced serial port information is available in the Diagnosticsscreen, accessible via .

Parallel Ports

The addresses of all parallel ports (also called printer ports)installed. Parallel ports are usually used for printers, occasionallyfor scanners or network adapters. More-advanced parallel portinformation is available in the Diagnostics screen, accessible via.

NOTE: Novell networks trick software (including Snooper) intothinking there are more parallel ports than are actually present. Ifyour system is part of a Novell LAN, don't be surprised to see threeor more parallel ports, some with the same address. To find out howmany parallel ports there really are, take your machine off thenetwork and rerun Snooper.

Game Port

The presence of a game port, or joystick adapter. The word "Game"will appear next to "Ports" if Snooper detects a joystick. On AT andlater computers, Snooper asks the BIOS if a joystick is present. OnPCs and XTs, Snooper uses a different method. These methods seems towork well, but may not be perfect. Also, a joystick has to be pluggedinto the port for the report to work.

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Sound Cards

The presence of Sound Blaster, Adlib, or Roland MPU-401 MIDI soundcards, or their compatibles, such as the Thunder Board. TheDiagnostics screen will show the port address of some sound cards.Press for this screen.

ROM BIOS

Brand

The brand (i.e., manufacturer) of the computer's ROM BIOS. Snoopercan recognize several BIOS brands: American Megatrends, Inc. ("AMI");

Award; Chips and Technology ("C & T"), Compaq; DTK; IBM; Phoenix; andZenith.

How well the BIOS was written has much to do with how compatibleyour computer is. A poorly-written BIOS plagues its owner withcompatibility problems: programs won't run or they lock up thecomputer, new hardware refuses to install properly, etc. Awell-written BIOS is, of course, a joy to behold.

Date

The date stored in the ROM BIOS, which provides an indication of yourcomputer's age. The computer was built since that date.

Plug-N-Play

With limited hardware resources such as IRQ lines and DMA channels(described in the Diagnostics screen section below) to go around,many users endure hours of configuration nightmares when installing anew adapter card. Although the Micro Channel and EISA buses solvethis problem with semi-automatic configuration, nothing has helpedthe ISA bus. Plug-N-Play hopes to do just that. With Plug-N-Playextensions in your system's BIOS, your computer can arbitratepotential hardware conflicts for you, automatically. Ahhh!

Extensions

The segment addresses (places in memory) of any BIOS extensions inthe computer. These extensions, which supplement the computer'sbuilt-in BIOS, are usually found on add-in cards. An EGA or VGA BIOS,for example, adds routines not found in the computer's own ROM BIOSvideo routines, and are often found at C000. An XT's hard drive BIOSis usually found at C800. Snooper searches for an extension every 256bytes from C000 to FE00 (i.e., C000, C100, C200, etc.). This reportcomes in handy for telling your memory manager to avoid addresses

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used by adapter cards.


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Mouse

Brand and Driver Version

Shows what brand of mouse is installed (Microsoft, Logitech, Z-NIX,and Mouse Systems), and the driver version.

A mouse usually requires a software-based driver (program). Itsfile is usually called MOUSE.COM or MOUSE.SYS. If a driver is loaded,Snooper will report its version. This report is useful for debugging,because if you're having trouble with your mouse, you may find that anew driver solves the problem. Also, forcing the driver to load intoconventional, and not high, memory also can solve other problems.Drivers are often available free or at low cost from the vendor.

Some drivers, such as Genius and Logitech, report aMicrosoft-equivalent version rather than their own internal version.Snooper can detect a Logitech mouse driver's true version.

Port

Possible reports are: "bus" (the mouse connects to an expansion cardinside the computer), "Microsoft Inport" (a Microsoft-brand busmouse), "serial" (the mouse plugs into a serial port), "HewlettPackard," and "PS/2."

If you have a serial mouse, Snooper tries to guess which serialport it is connected to by knowing what resources the mouse is using.

If it isn't using IRQ4 (COM1 or COM 3) or IRQ3 (COM2 or COM4),Snooper displays which IRQ it is using. The Diagnostics screen showswhich IRQ the mouse is using, and if it's a serial mouse, which portit's on. This can help in troubleshooting.

Keyboard

Present

The first number in the Keyboard report. Shows what kind of keyboardyou have attached to your machine. Possible answers are "84" (non-enhanced), "101" (enhanced), or, if your computer only supports

84-key keyboards, "N/A" (if your computer doesn't support enhancedkeyboards, Snooper can't test for one).

Support

Reports what type of keyboard your computer's BIOS supports. If "101"appears after the keyboard type, your computer's ROM BIOS supports anenhanced keyboard, usually with function keys along the top and aseparate cursor keypad. It will recognize the keys an enhancedkeyboard adds to the standard (XT) keyboard, such as F11, F12 and

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certain cursor key combinations.


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conventional memory it would normally use. If "HMA" appears after the


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DOS type, DOS is loaded there. If "ROM" appears, DOS is stored in the

computer's ROM, as with some laptops.

Shell

A DOS shell is a program that either provides features DOS doesn't,or makes DOS easier to use. Snooper can report the presence of:Windows Real, Standard, or 386 Enhanced modes; Concurrent DOS;DoubleDOS; 4DOS and NDOS (only in swapping mode); Desqview; Taskview;Topview, DOS 5's task switcher, the Virtual Control Program Interface(VCPI), the DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI), and ANSI.SYS. It canoften report the DOS shell's version number as well. If Snooperdetects Desqview, it uses the BIOS to write to the screen.

If Snooper detects 4DOS or NDOS, it tells what shell level it isrunning under. This kind of shell has a different meaning. When youshell from a program (it can be called something else, such as "DOSprompt"), you leave the program in memory but return to the DOSprompt. You type "exit" to return to your program. This is fasterthan exiting, then reloading the program, and lets you perform asimple task such as formatting a diskette. "Root" means you're notshelled out of a program; "1" means you've shelled out of oneprogram; "2" means you shelled out of one program, loaded and shelledout of another; and so on. Snooper doesn't have a shell feature.

Files

The number of files DOS will allow to be open at once, as defined bythe line "FILES=" in your CONFIG.SYS file. DOS always reserves somefiles for itself. Usually, your computing activity will requireseveral files to be used at once, especially if you use amultitasking environment or a database. Most software vendorsrecommend you make at least 20 files available, requiring the line"FILES=20" to be in your CONFIG.SYS file. A few programs, notablyWindows, may increase this number, so don't be surprised if thenumber is higher in Windows than in DOS.

Buffers

Number of buffers DOS uses for disk operations, as defined by theline "BUFFERS=" in the CONFIG.SYS file. When your computer requestsdata from a disk, DOS transfers the data from the disk into RAM,where the program can access it. Subsequent requests for the samedata are read from RAM, not from the disk. The reason is simple: RAMis fast, the disk is comparatively slow, so disk operations are spedup. Snooper detects the number of primary and secondary buffers (ifdefined). Consult your DOS manual for more details.

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Break

Break status (on or off). Pressing Ctrl-Break can force your computerto stop what it's doing in an emergency. Normally, DOS only checksfor a Ctrl-Break keystroke when it's writing to the screen or readingfrom the keyboard. However, if break is on, DOS checks more often.

Verify

Disk verify status (on or off). If verify is on, DOS uses a checksummethod to confirm (in theory) what it writes to a disk is valid. Ofcourse, when verify is on, disk operations are a bit slower.

Disk Cache

Reports the presence of a disk cache, and often, its version.Recognized caches (and sources) include: Smartdrive (which comes withDOS and Windows); Norton Cache (Norton Utilities); PC-Cache 6.0 andabove (PC Tools); Super PC-Kwik 3.20 and above, Hyperdisk, andQuickCache II (shareware products); and IBMCache (from you know who).

NOTE: Because PC-Cache and Qualitas's QCache are versions of SuperPC-Kwik, they respond to the same detection method and so may bereported as Super PC-Kwik. PC-Cache 5.1 would be reported as SuperPC-Kwik 3.20, PC-Cache 5.5 as Super PC-Kwik 3.27. QCache 4.00 would

be reported as Super PC-Kwik 4.00.

Network

A network is a combination of hardware and software that enablesusers to share peripherals and data. Snooper can detect severalnetworks: Novell, LANtastic, Microsoft, Invisible, PC LAN, andEasy-Net. It also detects SHARE.EXE, which is often loaded innetworking environments. Sometimes this report only tells you thecomputer has a LAN card, not that a network is up and running. OnLANtastic, it also shows the version. For more information about yourNovell network, invoke the Network screen by pressing .

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Disk Information

Drive List

Snooper reports the letters of all valid disk drives in the upperright corner of Snooper's display, enclosed in brackets. The currentdrive's letter is highlighted and capitalized. If you have asingle-floppy system, the list will not include drive B:, as itmerely references drive A:. If your system has at least 20 logicaldrives, Snooper will list them in two rows.

Label

The volume label of the current drive. You can change the label withthe LABEL program, supplied with DOS.

Directory

Shows the default directory of the selected drive. If the firstcharacter shown is a plus sign, Snooper has omitted the first part ofthe directory to make it fit.

IDE Drive Model/SCSI Host Adapter

On most IDE hard drives, Snooper can report the model name. Sometimesyou can clearly see the actual model, sometimes the brand.Occasionally, Snooper is fooled by a non-IDE drive and this reportcontains gibberish. This shouldn't happen often, though, and thisreport can save you the trouble of opening the computer to check thedrive model. Recall that Snooper skips detection of the IDE modelunder Windows 386 Enhanced mode.

Snooper also can recognize Adaptec SCSI host adapters, and willreport the model number in this report. It also will report the slotthe card resides in if it's an EISA adapter.

NOTE: The next reports (Drive Type through Cylinders) concern thedisk drive, and not the diskette in it, if it's a floppy drive. Forexample, if you have a 1.2M floppy disk drive and you have a doubledensity (360K) diskette--or no diskette at all--in the drive, Snooperwill report 15 Sectors Per Cylinder. That's because high densitydrives can handle disks with 15 sectors per cylinder, although 360Kdisks only have nine.

The report works this way so you can tell if the drive is highdensity without needing a diskette to be in it. You can determine thetotal capacity of a diskette (and thus its type) from the Total Spacereport.

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Drive Type

Reports what type of disk drive you're examining. Snooper usuallybases this report on a BIOS report for the drive, but it also usesother methods. Snooper can detect the following capacities for 5.25"drives: 1.2M, 360K, 320K, 180K, and 160K. For 3.5" drives, it candetect: 2.88M, 1.44M, and 720K drives. Other possibilities are:"fixed disk" (probably a hard disk), "CD-ROM" (if it's local), "RAMdisk," "Bernoulli," or "ID: nnh" (meaning Snooper doesn't recognizethe disk type and shows the actual disk type byte instead).

CMOS Type

Snooper queries the CMOS to find out what hard drive type (expressedas a number), or what size and capacity floppy drive is installed.

Status

Shows if the disk is being compressed by DoubleSpace (available withMS-DOS 6.0) or Stacker. If Stacker is present, its version isreported. Other reports are "local" and "network." If the DOScommands SUBST or JOIN are affecting the disk, they are reported.

Heads

The number of heads a disk drive has. This number is often the sameas the number of sides the disk has. Most floppy drives will reporttwo; hard drives usually report several.

Sectors/cylinder

The number of sectors per cylinder on the disk drive. Sectors are"pie slices" of the disk; cylinders are concentric rings. Normally,floppy drives report 9, 15, 18, or 36; hard drives, 17, 26, or 34.

Cylinders

The number of cylinders on a disk drive. Cylinders are concentricrings on the disk. Typically, floppy drives report 40 or 80; harddrives, a few hundred to several hundred.

NOTE: Original PCs and some XTs can't report heads, sectors/cylinder,and cylinders. Neither can simulated disk drives (that is, logicalbut not physical drives, such as RAM drives). If they can't, Snooperwill usually leave the appropriate areas blank.

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DIAGNOSTICS SCREEN

This screen, accessed via , shows you details about yourcomputer's hardware status. It can help you diagnose interruptconflicts and other problems. If you have a multitasker or networkrunning, Snooper will pop up a warning and a prompt to continuebefore letting you into this screen. The reason is these routines maydisrupt serial or parallel communications going on in other tasks.For example, if you were transferring a file in one window andSnooper is running in another and you tried to access the Diagnosticsscreen, Snooper would likely disrupt your transfer--or even hangup--forcing you to start over. None of us would want that.

Also, networks and multitaskers sometimes can interfere withSnooper's ability to gather accurate information. Unload the network

or multitasker and you may view the Diagnostics screen safely. Infact, this screen is most helpful when you boot your computer fromplain DOS--no TSRs, no network.

If you try the Diagnostics screen and your computer locks up,simply reboot with minimum CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files and itshould work fine.

Serial Ports

Address

Here Snooper ensures that an actual serial port exists by testing the

serial port chip (see UART, below). It doesn't just rely on a likelyport address; it makes sure the address points to a working port. Iffewer ports appear on this screen than on the main one, you may havea faulty port.

UART

The Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter chip handles thereceiving and transmitting of data through the serial port. Snooperdetects which model is in each serial port in your computer (you mayhave more than one kind). It detects the 8250 (found in most XTs),16450 (found in many ATs), 16550 (found in early PS/2 models 50, 60,

and 80), 16550A (necessary for high-speed communications), and Type 3(supports DMA, found in latter PS/2s and others).

The latter two chips add 16-byte first in, first out buffers(FIFOs) to store characters being sent or received from the serialport. These are necessary for high-speed communications at 9600bits-per-second or faster. The 16550 had defective FIFOs, renderingthe buffers useless. The problem was corrected in the 16550A.Internal modems provide their own serial ports, so if yours isinternal, Snooper will tell you what UART is supplied by the modemitself.

Snooper displays an asterisk next to the UART if the FIFO buffers

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are open, a condition which normally shouldn't occur.


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Classes are specifications that define what capabilities a fax/modem


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has. Class 0 is simply a data modem. Class 1 adds fax capabilities.

Classes are shown as a series of digits under the appropriate port(e.g., "0,1"). Snooper also will check for the presence of two faxinterfaces, the Communicating Applications Specification (CAS) andFaxBIOS. If either of these is found to be active, Snooper will showits name and version on the line below Fax Info.

Parallel ports

Address

The same as the addresses on Snooper's Main screen.

IRQ

Snooper does a live test to determine what IRQ (see Interrupt RequestLines, below) each parallel port would use. Again, these are theactual IRQs the port would use, not just defaults. If software(e.g., a print spooler) configured the port to respond with aninterrupt when, for example, the printer is ready, Snooper displaysjust the IRQ number. If no interrupt would be triggered, Snooperdisplays the IRQ number in parentheses.

Occasionally, a port becomes dissociated from its usual IRQ, andSnooper can't tell what IRQ that port would use. Also, unfortunately,many parallel ports don't generate interrupts correctly. In either

case, Snooper leaves the IRQ report blank.

NOTE: Your printer does not need to be on, or even attached, for thisreport to work. You may hear it make a noise when Snooper checks theport's IRQ. This is normal.

Status

Snooper also indicates the status of the parallel ports. The errorconditions change with different printers, so little can be saidabout what each line really indicates. The only universal seems to beyour printer is ready to print when only the Selected report is

active.

NOTE: To help you debug a printer problem quickly, the parallel portstatus is constantly monitored, so if, for example, you turn on yourprinter or press its On-line button, the status indicators willchange. However, you should never plug in or unplug any peripheraluntil you have turned off power both to the system and peripheral.

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seem to be in use, you may have to disregard Snooper's DMA report.


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BUS SCREEN

With the Micro Channel bus architecture comes the ability to detectadapter cards by name. Snooper can recognize over 1,100 cards.

Snooper will list slots zero through nine, and identify what cardsare in which slots. A slot with no corresponding text is empty.

If you see a message like "Unknown card, please contact author,"please make a note of the four-digit number and the actual cardinstalled (your Reference Diskette will tell you), and let us know.We'll add it to our Micro Channel adapter database.

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NETWORK SCREEN

Press when you're running Snooper on a Novell network (wehope to add other network types), and the Network screen will showyou several reports about your network. See your Netwaredocumentation for more details about items Snooper reports on.

Network Type

This will remind you of the network type from Snooper's Main screen.

Network Address

The network address uniquely identifies the part of the networkyou're on.

Node Address

The node address uniquely identifies the workstation you're on.ARCnet cards need to have their node addresses set at installation,Ethernet cards come with a pre-defined node address. Usually, networkcards in workstations cannot share the same address.

Socket

Users aren't typically aware of this low-level resource, but it maycome in handy in troubleshooting network installations.

User Name

The name with which the user logged into the default server. Note youcan log onto different servers with different names.

Hardware

Network Card

Shows what network card is installed in your system if you have anODI driver loaded. You do not need to be logged into the network.Snooper also shows hardware resources the network card is using:memory addresses, IRQ lines, port addresses, and DMA channels.

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Software

These reports show version numbers, levels, and interrupts in use bydrivers and other network software. Software listed in the secondcolumn are running on the server.

Server

Default

The name of the default server.

Connection

The connection number the workstation is using to connect to thedefault server.

Connections

These reports show the maximum connections (users) allowed on thedefault server, the number of users currently logged in, and the mostusers connected at once since the server was last booted.

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CMOS SCREEN

Every computer based on the PC-AT standard, i.e. all ATs, 386s, 486s,Pentiums, etc., have a small area of memory called the CMOS(pronounced SEE moss), used to store configuration information aboutyour computer. The letters in "CMOS" stand for the material theconfiguration chip is made of (Complementary Metal OxideSemiconductor, if that helps).

CMOS memory is non-volatile, meaning its contents are retainedeven when the computer is turned off. This is accomplished with abattery that constantly supplies power to the CMOS chip.

Each time the computer is booted, it checks that the CMOSconfiguration accurately reflects the actual configuration. If not,the computer warns you the configuration has changed. This may occur

because the CMOS battery is dead, or (more rarely) a renegade programhas wiped out the CMOS. Perhaps after replacing the failing batterywith a fresh one, you are required to change the CMOS information toreflect the actual configuration. Snooper's CMOS screen lets you dojust that.

Most computers now come with a built-in setup facility, accessiblewith a keystroke when the system boots. So why duplicate thatfunctionality in Snooper?

First, Snooper's Setup screen is more friendly. Some built-insetup screens are user-hostile. For example, you may have to choose adrive type without knowing the drive parameters for that type. Youwould have to hunt down the computer's documentation, and hope thedrive table was included and accurate. Snooper shows you the

parameters for the drive type you are about to choose, and you caneasily view each drive type to select the most appropriate one. Also,some built-in setup programs don't let you abandon your changes ifyou want to. Snooper does.

Second, Snooper provide

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