The following programs are all free (gratuities are gladly accepted, however). I have written them over the last several years. They are all DOS TSR (Terminate but Stay Resident) programs. They are all in a ZIP format.
They are very small and very fast (written in Assembly Language), and, as you will hopefully find, very useful as well. The ALL file contains the latest versions of all the other programs, and will only take a few minutes (at the most) to download. It's well worth the effort!
I'm also making available the Source Code for some of my programs. You can use it to begin writing your own Assembly Language TSR's. I've also got some Links to Other Places where you may be able to find other useful utilities, or information on how to start writing your own utilities.
These utilities are pretty complete and will do most anything you ask of them. If they don't do exactly what you want, contact me ( bretjohn@juno.com or bretjohn@aol.com ). Many times, there is a way to do what you want with the program as it is (you just may need help figuring out how). If not, I can sometimes add options to an existing program to have it do exactly what you want. I'm also available to do custom programs.
The table below contains two columns of file names, labeled "FTP" and "HTTP". Both columns will download the same file. The only difference between the two columns is which method will used to try and download the file. FTP is the appropriate way to transfer files, but, for some reason, some browsers don't seem to FTP correctly all of the time (go figure). If FTP doesn't work, try HTTP.
NOTE: These are DOS programs, and are designed to work with DOS programs. They are not specifically designed to work with MS-Windows. However, Windows is itself a DOS program, even though Microsoft successfully hides this fact from the majority of users. Therefore, under certain circumstances, some of these programs can work with Windows-native programs. For instance, SCANCODE can "type" automatically while you are in Windows, JOYKEYS can let you use your Joysticks in Windows, and SLOWDOWN will actually Slow Down Windows. Don't assume that you can't use these programs just because they're not Windows-native!
| FTP | HTTP | VER | DATE | SIZE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALL | ALL | n/a | 2002-11-24 | 404k | All of the files listed below. |
| CLOCK | CLOCK | 2.12 | 1998-03-06 | 20k | Shows a clock on your screen all the time. Also has two alarms that beep at you when it's time for an appointment. |
| JOYKEYS | JOYKEYS | 2.00 | 1999-09-27 | 84k | Lets you use your Joysticks with any program. Can also be used to test your Joysticks, and to "fix" your Joystick BIOS so that it will work with other programs. |
| MOUSKEYS | MOUSKEYS | 3.05 | 1996-11-22 | 43k | Lets you use your mouse with any program. |
| PRTSCR | PRTSCR | 1.10 | 1996-02-28 | 9k | Sends all of your PrintScreens to a file instead of a printer. A good way to transfer data between two programs, even if they won't normally "talk" to each other. |
| PRTSCRFF | PRTSCRFF | 1.03 | 1997-10-09 | 4k | Modifies your PrintScreen so that each new PrintScreen gets put on a new sheet of paper (especially useful if you have a Laser or InkJet printer). |
| SCANCODE | SCANCODE | 5.90 | 1999-04-23 | 122k | Automatically "types" for you when you are in the middle of another program. Can also be used to create macros, create screen savers, or to "remap" the keyboard. Now includes support for over forty different keyboard layouts, and can even work with Windows. NOTE: This is a beta version! |
| SDWRGMPD | SDWRGMPD | 1.10 | 1999-11-08 | 33k | DOS Driver for a Microsoft SideWinder digital GamePad. Microsoft doesn't make a DOS driver for any of their SideWinder products - they want to force you into using Win95. SDWRGMPD will let you use your GamePad in just plain old DOS. |
| SERIAL | SERIAL | 2.02 | 1999-09-30 | 18k | Shows the status of your serial (COM) ports on screen. Shows the bit rate, parity, status of the leads (DTR, DSR, etc.). An excellent way to troubleshoot modem problems. |
| SLOWDOWN | SLOWDOWN | 3.10 | 2002-11-19 | 75k | Slows down a fast computer so you can run older programs, or as a troubleshooting aid. |
The documentation for all of my programs contains a mailing address and phone number for my old home in Colorado. I have now moved to New Mexico, and here is my new contact information. My e-mail addresses have not changed.
Some computers are reported to have a problem with the SLOWDOWN program above. The problems are related to SLOWDOWN's ability to manipulate (Disable/Enable) the CPU's L1 Cache. More specifically, the problems are related to bugs in certain versions of Microsoft's HIMEM.SYS & EMM386.EXE, the Extended & Expanded Memory Managers. The details on exactly what the problem appears to be are described in the SLOWDOWN documentation, so I won't explain them here.
On certain computers, the problem can be fixed by replacing the "buggy" versions of HIMEM.SYS/EMM386.EXE with newer versions of HIMEM.SYS & EMM386.EXE (such as the ones included here). These particular versions of HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE are the ones that Microsoft distributed with Windows 98 Second Edition (a.k.a. "MS-DOS 7.10"). These are some of the last versions of the programs that Microsoft ever made, so they should be fairly bug-free. If you're not currently having a problem using SLOWDOWN, you probably don't need to download this one.
The versions of JOYKEYS (2.00) and SCANCODE (5.90-beta) above contain a problem that has been reported on certain computers. When you first run the program, the computer will totally lock up, and the only way to restore it to normal is with a power boot. This does not happen on all computers, but it does happen on some.
What is happening is that the keyboard BIOS on those particular computers is incompatible with Scan Code Typing Method 2 (if you have absolutely no idea what a "Scan Code Typing Method" is, you need to read the program documentation). When you run the JOYKEYS or SCANCODE programs, one of the things they do is perform a Test to see which of the 3 Scan Code Typing Methods they should use. As a part of the Test, the program must actually "type" a Scan Code using the Typing Method it is trying to verify.
If your computer locks up, it means your computer is not compatible
with Scan Code Typing Method 1 (if it was, neither JOYKEYS or SCANCODE
would even perform the Method 2 Test).
Obviously, your computer is not compatible with Scan Code
Typing Method 2, either, or your computer would not lock up.
What you have to do is FORCE the program to use Scan Code
Typing Method 3.
If you tell the program which Typing Method to use either from the
command-line or from the appropriate environment variable,
it will never perform the test that locks up the computer.
To fix JOYKEYS, do one of the following:
JOYKEYS /Method:3 {other command-line Options}
SET JOYKEYS=/Method:3 {other environment variable Options}
To fix SCANCODE, do one of the following:
SCANCODE M3 {other command-line Options}
SET SCANCODE=M3 {other environment variable Options)
I will try to figure out a fix for this and update the programs accordingly. I am very sorry if this has caused you any problems!