How to solve MYST problems

   I have noticed many of you have had problems w/ MYST.  Most of them involve
Myst locking up at certain points.  I have left messages reguarding how to
solve these problems.  However, you may not have seen them so I thought I'd
write a message you could see.  I have explained why Myst locks up and how so
solve this problem here in this message.  It involves Booting from a floppy
diskette and changing your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat....Attempt this only if
you feel comfortable and know what you're doing...I make no  guarentees about
how this information will affect your particular computer.


   Myst was designed to run on top of the line systems.  If you are not
fortunate enough to own one, and most of us aren't, then you will have to do
some memory modifications in order to make Myst run properly.

    Myst runs in Windows (IBM-PC version).  So, XMS memory and a large Virtual
swap file are the main items Myst needs to run correctly.  The BIGGER the
BETTER.

   There are 3 things you can do so speed up and smooth out Myst's Quicktime
animation and general game play.

    1. Boot your computer and Windows without unecessary TSR's

    2. Set your CD-ROM driver and MSCDEX up with 55 or more buffers.

    3. Lower the amount of XMS memory Smartdrv.exe uses.

  Here's how to do it.

  1. Create a BOOT disk.

  2. Copy your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat from the C-Drive to the Boot Disk.

  3. Modify your Config.sys to include only 2 device drivers.
      HIMEM.SYS and your CD-ROM Driver  (If your sound, video, or HD has a
device driver then load it as well)  Don't load DBLSPACE.SYS, all this device
does is load the Dblspace driver into high memory.
      Don't load EMM386.EXE, YOU DON'T NEED IT! Windows will run just fine
without it...It might even run faster.  ALL EMM386 does is allow you to load
programs into the UMB's.  You don't want to do this when playing MYST because
you need to save that space for MYST.

  4. Modify your Autoexec.bat to include only a Path statement, Any video,
sound card, or harddrive TSR's, and Smartdrv.exe.
      Smartdrv.exe should be set up like this for 4 MEG machines:
          Smartdrv.exe  /B:32768 /E:8192 384 384
       Set it up like this for 8+ MEG machines:
          Smartdrv.exe  /B:65536 /E:8192 1024 1024
      Smartdrv can only help smooth out Myst's animation sequences. It dosen't
really help Myst run faster since most Myst files are 5 MEG or larger.
Smartdrv eats XMS memory as well. Cutting down Smartdrv's memory requirements
really helps.

 5. Unload all Windows TSR's like ICONDOIT, Afterdark, and Adobe Font Manager.

 6.  Load all TSR's and Device drivers in both the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat
into Conventional memory.  Windows dosen't use conventional memory to run
programs.  It saves it for DOS programs.  By loading all devicedrivers and
TSR's low, you can free up a lot of XMS memory.

   The basic idea here is to enlarge your XMS memory pool by cutting your
Config.sys and Autoexec.bat down to the Bare Bones.  Doing this you can free up
about 1 to 2 MEG of memory that Myst can use to run itself.  Type MEM at any
prompt to see how large your XMS memory Pool is.  You should have at least 2.5
MEG free for Myst to run properly.

   You might also consider enlarging your Windows Swap File...To do this:

   1. Defragment your HD...MS-DOS users can use Defrag.exe
       Norton utilities has one also.

   2. Go to your Control Panel and select the 386 options (the micro chip icon)

   3. Select the Virtual Memory button.

   4. Select the Change button.

   5. If you can create a Permanent Swap file that is larger than the one you
are using then do it.  If not then keep it the same as before.  32 bit disk
access  can also speed up Myst.


  I hope these modifications can improve your Myst game.  If you have any
questions reguarding my methods or settings then EMail me...

   USCitizen                (AOL address)
   USCitizen@aol.com (Internet address)