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Using your PC Card

5.2 Using the PC Card

The PC card can be used in either single- or multi-tasking modes. It is easy to change from one mode to the other and back. The configuration options Start up and PC/RISCOS affect the initial mode and control of mode changes. 
  • In single-tasking mode the full speed of the PC is available but the RISC OS desktop is suspended whilst using the PC. This is the usual mode of operation.

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  • In multi-tasking mode the PC runs in a window whilst other RISC OS applications are also running; this means the PC must share the ARM processor and consequently runs more slowly. 

  • There is a third state, Freeze. This occurs if the PC window is closed in multi-tasking mode or if Freeze is selected from the icon bar menu.

Switching between PC Card modes

When running in a window (multi-tasking mode) a double click will cause the PC to switch to single-tasking mode; you may return to the Desktop by pressing Menu (the middle mouse button) or ALT+BREAK as described in the next section. 

If you close the window while the PC is in multi-tasking mode you can return to the PC Card by either clicking Select on the PC icon on the icon bar or choosing Single Task from the icon bar menu. 

Multi-tasking mode provides a menu within the window (selected with the middle mouse button) which allows the screen to be saved in sprite (ie !Paint) and text (ie !Edit) formats. Note that some PC applications use text-only or graphics-only display modes which will prevent data saving in one or other format; in this case the menu options will be grey and cannot be selected.

5.3 Closing down the PC

Make sure that you have saved any PC files you are working on before quitting. 
 
  • It is important to exit Windows completely before quitting, by quitting any programs open and then quitting Windows. 

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  • Wait until all files are written by waiting for the C> prompt to reappear. Quitting the PC while it is writing files will result in corruption of the data on your drive.
To exit from the PC: 
 
  1. Press Menu (the middle mouse button) or the ALT and BREAK keys simultaneously. 
  2. This will return you to multi-tasking mode. 
     

  3. Choose Quit from the PC application’s icon bar menu. 

5.4 Resetting the PC card

Reset the PC card using the traditional key combination CTRL+ALT+DEL. This is sometimes referred to as a warm boot or soft reset in PC parlance. A cold boot or hard reset is achieved by quitting and restarting !PC. 
 
  • You must reboot the PC if you have changed your PC’s CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files (for example by installing new software) and wish the alterations to come into effect. 
Aleph One Ltd. 32-33
 
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