CONFIG.SYS Sorting trick    v1.0
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've discovered a little trick about OS/2 that improves boot up time. It's
a matter of sorting your CONFIG.SYS into a form that more closely matches
the way OS/2 loads various drivers on boot-up.

Applying this trick has shaved off almost a minute of boot-up time on many
systems. Your results may vary.

This has only been tested on OS/2 2.1 GA, but I'd imagine it would work on
OS/2 2.0 and below.

I've found this order to work the best:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IFS's
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BASEDEV's
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SET statements , sorted alphabetically, to "look nice"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any OS/2-specific commands          [PROTECTONLY, etc]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OS/2 devices, sorted alphabetically, where applicable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOS specific commands               [DOS=HIGH,UMB, etc]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOS devices,  sorted alphabetically, where applicable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This trick will affect HPFS boot-up drives the most [like mine], since HPFS
stores filenames in the directory alphabetically, if you are loading each
of your device drivers in alphabetical order, less "disk-thrashing" is involved.

Certain device drivers must be loaded before others, so keep this fact in mind
when you are re-arranging your CONFIG.SYS. Keep a boot-disk handy, just in 
case you foul up somewhere. 

I've always kept my SET commands sorted alphabetically, just so they were a bit
more organized, whether it improves boot-up time or not, I'm not sure. 
[I would doubt it would make much of a difference]

If you really want to be a speed demon, store all your BASEDEV's in your root
directory, since that's where OS/2 looks first for BASEDEV's. But, since 
I like to keep my root directory 'tidy', I've chosen to store all mine in the
C:\OS2 directory.

I'd like to hear from others about their experiences using this trick. There
may be better sorting configurations, and I'd like to hear about them. It seems
people with 4 megs to 6 megs of memory are helped the most. If you're ambitious,
time the speed difference between your original and sorted CONFIG.SYS and send
me the results, I'll include you in this document. I'll be timing my system
soon, to include in this document.

Even if it's just a little comment of, "I've tried what you've described and
it has decreased my boot-up time." , would be great. 

Where to contact the author:
----------------------------

By far, the easiest way to contact me is through Internet:
tiensivu@student.msu.edu

I also run a BBS back at home [I'm currently away at college, with the BBS
running on semi-auto-pilot], Black Horizon, 1-616-866-3717, 16.8k Dual, 24 hrs.
Concentrating on OS/2 support, 210 Megs of files. 

Proud member of: Team OS/2!

FidoNet  : 1:228/74  
ITC Net  : 85:871/207
HellNet  : 6950:1/1
PowerNet : 616:1/1
NetherNet: 17:1/3

U.S. mail:
Aaron Tiensivu 
522 West Holmes Hall (Michigan State University)
East Lansing, Michigan 48825-1115




Here is an example CONFIG.SYS, sorted:

IFS=C:\OS2\DRIVERS\IFS\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:2048 /CRECL:128 /AUTOCHECK:C
IFS=C:\OS2\DRIVERS\IFS\CDFS.IFS /Q
BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD /Q
BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS 
BASEDEV=IBM1FLPY.ADD
BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD /A:0 /U:0 /SMS
BASEDEV=SBCD2.ADD /P:220
BASEDEV=OS2CDROM.DMD /Q
PROTSHELL=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS,CONNECTIONS
SET BOOKSHELF=C:\OS2\BOOK;
SET COMSPEC=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
SET DPATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\BITMAP;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\OS2\APPS;
SET EPMPATH=C:\OS2\APPS;
SET GLOSSARY=C:\OS2\HELP\GLOSS;
SET HELP=C:\OS2\HELP;C:\OS2\HELP\TUTORIAL;
SET IPF_KEYS=SBCS
SET KEYS=ON
SET OS2_SHELL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
SET PATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\OS2\APPS;
SET PROMPT=$i[$p]
SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
SET SYSTEM_INI=C:\OS2\OS2SYS.INI
SET USER_INI=C:\OS2\OS2.INI
SET VIDEO_DEVICES=VIO_SVGA
SET VIO_SVGA=DEVICE(BVHVGA,BVHSVGA)
LIBPATH=.;C:\OS2\DLL;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\;C:\OS2\APPS\DLL;
PRIORITY_DISK_IO=NO
THREADS=256
IOPL=YES
MAXWAIT=15
MEMMAN=SWAP,PROTECT
SWAPPATH=C:\OS2\SWAP 1024 1024
PRINTMONBUFSIZE=1,0,0
PROTECTONLY=NO
RMSIZE=640
CODEPAGE=437,850
COUNTRY=001,C:\OS2\SYSTEM\COUNTRY.SYS
DEVINFO=KBD,US,C:\OS2\KEYBOARD.DCP
DEVINFO=SCR,VGA,C:\OS2\VIOTBL.DCP
DEVICE=C:\OS2\TESTCFG.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\DOS.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\PMDD.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS 
DEVICE=C:\OS2\SIO.SYS (1:38400) (2:38400)
BREAK=OFF
BUFFERS=10
DOS=HIGH,UMB
FCBS=16,8
FILES=40
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCDROM.SYS 
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPMI.SYS 
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPX.SYS 
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VEMM.SYS 
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS 
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VSIO.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VSVGA.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VWIN.SYS 
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VXMS.SYS /UMB
SHELL=C:\OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM