ID:EX Microsoft EXCEL 2.1 in DESQview
Quarterdeck Technical Note
by Stan Young


QEMM-386 is compatible with EXCEL 2.1.  However, if QEMM is loaded
in your CONFIG.SYS file, EXCEL will always report that the QEMM 
driver and itself are incompatible.  This is because the EXCEL 
installation program, which seems to use code from the Microsoft 
Windows/386 installation, scans the CONFIG.SYS file, finds QEMM, 
and assumes incompatibility.  It makes no test of the driver.

You can install EXCEL in the following way:

Rename the QEMM.SYS file on your hard drive to QEMX.SYS and 
modify your CONFIG.SYS file to specify: 

DEVICE=QEMX.SYS EXT=64

(QEMM 5.10 and later installs a driver called QEMM386.SYS, not 
QEMM.SYS.  If EXCEL 2.1 has the same negative reaction to 
QEMM386.SYS that it does to QEMM.SYS, the rename to QEMX.SYS 
should work for the recent QEMM's as well as the earlier ones.)

QEMM will boot up fine under the new name.  Then simply install 
EXCEL.  EXCEL will place a driver called HIMEM.SYS in your 
CONFIG.SYS file.  HIMEM.SYS should not be loaded with QEMM 5.00 
and later, which performs the same functions as HIMEM; delete the 
HIMEM line from your CONFIG.SYS in this case.  QEMM 4.23 can 
coexist with HIMEM.SYS; it may be necessary to put the EXTMEM=64 
parameter on the QEMM line in CONFIG.SYS, and possibly to play 
with the order of the HIMEM.SYS and QEMM.SYS drivers.  

After you rename the QEMM.SYS driver, EXCEL will not complain 
about its presence in the CONFIG.SYS.  EXCEL will be able to 
function and will use the expanded memory provided by the driver.

Once EXCEL is installed, you can rename the QEMX.SYS driver back 
to QEMM.SYS and change the CONFIG.SYS file to reflect the 
original name if you desire, as EXCEL makes no further tests of 
the system and will be able to use the memory regardless of the 
name of the driver.  However, you might want to skip this step: 
the driver will work fine under any name, and renaming the file 
to QEMM.SYS will cause the same problem if you have occasion to 
run the EXCEL install program again.

        Copyright (C) 1991 by Quarterdeck Office Systems
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