Knowledge Base

Workgroup Add-On for MS-DOS: Sharing and Loading SMARTDrive

PSS ID Number: 114338

Article Last Modified on 11/15/1999

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Workgroup Add-On for MS-DOS 3.11

This article was previously published under Q114338

SYMPTOMS

When you try to load SMARTDRV.EXE from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file after installing the Workgroup Add-On for MS-DOS version 3.11, you may receive the following error message:

Unable to Use a Disk Cache on the Specified Drive

Also, when you type smartdrv at an MS-DOS command prompt, one of your hard disk drives may be missing from the SMARTDrive table that displays disk-caching status. For example, if drive C was shared at the last startup, the table may appear as follows:

              Disk Caching Status

   Drive   Read Cache   Write Cache   Buffering
   --------------------------------------------

   A:      Yes          No            No
   B:      Yes          No            No
   D:      Yes          No            No

CAUSE

These problems occur when you are running the Workgroup Add-On for MS-DOS and have shared an entire drive (or a directory on the drive) because the shared drive appears to SMARTDrive as a network drive. SMARTDrive does not allow you to cache a network resource.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods:

Load SMARTDrive before the NET START command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This allows SMARTDrive to cache the drive before it appears as a network drive. -or-
Set up the shared connections so that they are not saved when you exit Workgroup Add-On for MS-DOS but are shared after you log on again. To disable sharing at startup, add the /saveshare:no parameter to the end of the NET SHARE entry. For example, to share drive C now but not when you restart the system, type the following command at the MS-DOS command prompt:
net share cdrive=c:\ /saveshare:no

MORE INFORMATION

The aforementioned error message also appears if a DoubleSpace-compressed volume file or the host drive for that volume is selected; however, the host or compressed drive is still listed in the SMARTDrive table.

Additional query words: dblspace addon add-on workgroups wgao networked

Keywords: KB114338
Technology: kbAudDeveloper kbWFW311DOS kbWFWSearch