Microsoft KB Archive/75787

= MS-DOS 5.0 and IBM AT with BIOS dated 1/10/84 =

Article ID: 75787

Article Last Modified on 11/16/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0a

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This article was previously published under Q75787



SUMMARY
When Microsoft MS-DOS version 5.0 is installed on an IBM AT with a BIOS dated 1/10/84, disk access may be noticeably slower. Increasing the disk interleave should solve this problem.



MORE INFORMATION
A third-party utility, such as Spinrite or Norton Utilities, can be used to modify a disk's interleave. Increasing the disk's interleave by one should solve the problem. For example; if the interleave is 2:1, change it to 3:1.

Disk interleave is:

&quot;the physical arrangement of data sectors on a disk in such a way that sequentially read sectors are not necessarily contiguous. A disk, especially a hard disk, usually spins so fast that the computer cannot process the data from one sector before the next sector passes the head. Interleaving alternates sectors in a pattern that increases the likelihood that when the computer is ready for the next sector in numeric sequence, it will be the sequence just arriving at the head.&quot;

This definition was obtained from &quot;Computer Dictionary,&quot; published by Microsoft Press.

More information on disk interleave can be found in &quot;The MS-DOS Encyclopedia&quot; or &quot;Advanced MS-DOS Programming,&quot; which is published by Microsoft Press.

The products included here, Spinrite and Norton Utilities, are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

Additional query words: 5.00

Keywords: KB75787

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