A freeware utility, which patches some older MS-DOS EXE
files, to permit them to run on fast Pentium CPUs.
This speed problem applies only on CPUs which match or exceed the speed of a
Pentium 200 (approx), and applies only to some older versions of a specific
software module named CRT.ASM, which was part of the Turbo-Pascal offerings
from Borland.
Be aware that this CRT.ASM module has been used in a variety of other
products, and it is often not initially obvious that some flawed CRT.ASM
code is embedded in other apps.
The symptom is a Divide-by-Zero error message when the app is run
on a fast CPU, or a Divide Overflow error message, or a Runtime
Error 200 message, or similar. Unfortunately, the error message usually
won't simply say that the CPU is too fast !.
The preferred solution is to use an updated version of CRT.ASM, or to
contact the software developer, and request that an updated CRT.ASM be used
to re-build the app/utility.
However, if this is not possible, then PatchCRT can be tried. Similar
CRT.ASM "patchers" are available from others - though feedback suggests that
a few different versions of flawed CRT.ASM code were released, and that this
patcher copes with all known releases. Note: we've seen a few EXE files with
the 200 error, but which PatchCRT, up to ver 1.5, would not adjust. On
looking inside these EXEs, we noticed some code which is similar to
published versions of CRT.ASM, but not EXACTLY the same. As of Jan 2000, we
released ver 1.6, which also recognises this similar code, and
patches it accordingly. Which is another way of saying - TEST your app
carefully, if PatchCRT patches it !!.
This program is freeware: use it at your own risk; take good
backups first; test carefully - the usual small print.
We'd appreciate feedback, if it works for you,
and feedback if it does not !.
Download PatchCRT.ZIP.
This file-size is about 30k. (See Download Instructions).
Note-1: Sometimes, EXE files are Compressed. PatchCRT does not include any
de-compression code, and therefore will not repair compressed EXE files. If
PatchCRT does not work for you, you might check if the EXE file is
compressed, eg using PKLITE, LZEXE, etc. (To do so, you'll probably need to
analyse the internal structure of the EXE file, which is WAY outside the
scope of this brief note!!). If it's compressed, identify the compressor
that was used, run the appropriate de-compressor and retry PatchCRT on the
de-compressed file. If it works, you can probably re-compress the updated
file, or just use the de-compressed version.
Note-2: We think there is some other software product out there with the
same name (PatchCRT). We apologise if this is a source of confusion. We
could change the name of this utility, if needed, though it has been on
Compuserve (and on this website!) for some years, and it's probably now
"late-in-the-day" to change it. Also, the need for this utility is quite
small, and a duplicate name is probably of little concern. |
