Microsoft 32-bit file access: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:20, 30 April 2007

Revision as of 09:51, 30 April 2007

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'''32-bit Filefile Accessaccess''' refers to the higher performance, [[protected mode]] disk caching method which replaced [[SmartDrive]] (Smartdrv) introduced in [[Windows for Workgroups]] 3.11, which replaced [[SmartDrive]] (Smartdrv).

32-bit Filefile Accessaccess bypassed [[MS-DOS]] and directly accessed the disk, either via the [[BIOS]] or (preferably) [[32-bit Diskdisk Accessaccess]] (Windows-native protected mode disk drivers). This feature was a [[backport]] from the then-unreleased [[Windows 95]], as suggested by Microsoft's advertisements for Windows for Workgroups 3.11 ("the 32-bit file system from our Chicago project").

32-bit Filefile Accessaccess and the introduction of Long File Names in Windows 95 reduced DOS to the role of a [[boot loader]] for Windows.

32-bit Filefile Accessaccess was implemented using the [[VFAT#Long_File_Names_.28VFAT.2C_LFNs.29|VFAT]], VCACHE, and IFSMgr [[VxD]] drivers.

32-bit file access should not be confused with '''[[32-bit disk access]]'''. Although both technologies are similar, '''32-bit disk access''' (also known as ''FastDisk'') pre-dates [[Windows for Workgroups]] 3.11. 32-bit file access provided a 32-bit code path for Windows to directly access the disk bus by intercepting the [[MS-DOS]] Int 21H services while remaining in 386 [[protected mode]] and at CPU speeds, rather than handling the Int 21H services in real mode by MS-DOS. '''32-bit disk access''' relatively offers less performance and is less likely to work on many computers than 32-bit file access. 32-bit file access does not require ''32-bit disk access.''

==See also==

* [[32-bit Diskdisk Accessaccess]]

==External links==