Microsoft KB Archive/35870

Cursor-Speed Feature Not Working on Wyse 286/386 Computers

PSS ID Number: Q35870 Article last modified on 11-02-1994

4.00

MS-DOS

= SUMMARY =

When Word Version 4.00 was originally released, the Wyse 286 was available on the market. However, the Wyse 286 had a problem that didn’t allow Word, with the cursor-speed feature, to detect a key-up event; the cursor would not stop after the key was released. Therefore, Word Version 4.00 scanned the computer hardware and disabled the cursor speed if it detected a Wyse 286 with the enhanced keyboard. (This problem only occurred with enhanced keyboards.)

When Wyse released the Wyse 386, they corrected this BIOS problem; however, the 386 machine looked the same to Word Version 4.00, and the fast-cursor feature was still disabled.

To enable the cursor-speed feature on a Wyse 286, start Word with WORD /K. This procedure causes the Wyse 286 to work like a nonenhanced keyboard, and will enable the fast-cursor feature.

If you use a Wyse 386, use one of the two following workarounds to this problem:


 * 1) Start Word with WORD /K, as suggested for the Wyse 286.
 * 2) Patch WORD.COM using the DOS-supplied utility DEBUG, replacing the letters “WY” used to detect a Wyse with anything else.

Word Version 5.00 corrected this problem and the cursor speed option functions correctly.

= MORE INFORMATION =

Below are the locations to patch that will enable the fast cursor on Wyse 386 machines. Note that many Wyse 286s may still have the BIOS problem and this patch shouldn’t be used on these computers. Also, this patch is untested, so it should be used cautiously.

Note: Make sure you make a copy of WORD.COM before doing this; do not use the original.

The following are the locations to patch:

Word 4.00:

DEBUG WORD.COM -e 60b0 “XX” -w -q

where “XX” (include the quotation marks) can be any two letters other than “WY”.

KBCategory: kbother KBSubcategory: Additional reference words:

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================================================================ Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1994.