WE have a 486SX notebook computer with an 80-megabyte (MB) hard disk. The computer runs on MS-DOS 5 and Windows 3.1. Our PCs memory manager is EMM386. We want to install and run Stacker 3.0. Do we need the QEMM memory manager (like QEMM 7) to run Stacker 3? We want to stick to MS-DOS 5. After installing Stacker 3, do we need to insert commands in the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files? We do not want to lose Windows performance.
ARAS AND SURYA RAI New Territories EMM386 and QEMM both work with Stacker. Just go ahead and install Stacker. It can make the changes to the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files itself, although it will ask you if you would rather do it yourself. Just let it do the job. It is easier.
Be warned, though, that Stacker is notorious for suffering conflicts with other software (particularly Microsoft products) and can cause serious crashes. I have experienced such ''travails''. Believe me, they are not funny.
You really should consider moving up from DOS 5. Novell DOS 7, the latest as far as PC disk operating systems go, comes with Stacker on board. It uses DOS Protected Mode Services that manage your memory for you and it even allows you to multi-task in DOS itself. That combined with all the other file back-up, anti-virus and security utilities make it a good product for $750.
For more information on Novell DOS, call Jardine Network Systems on 590-0777.
THE speaker in my IBM-compatible is intermittently silencing itself, sometimes for five minutes, sometimes for an hour. Re-booting does not help. Initially, I thought it was a hardware problem, but all is plugged in correctly. Diagnostic tests say nothing is wrong. It does not hamper any other programs, but is it symptomatic of other problems and is there any way to fix it? HARRY ROLNICK Happy Valley I doubt this has anything to do with other problems in your PC. It sounds like a loose wire in the speaker itself. Open up your PC, locate the speaker and check it out thoroughly. The wires may seem to be plugged in properly, but if one of them is just slightly loose, it could cause your speaker to go on a blink every now and again. Just make sure everything is tight (use some insulation tape if you have to) and give it another go.