| 32-bit Disk Access |
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Information About32-bit Disk Access |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT 32-BIT DISK ACCESS | |
| windows disk file systems | |
| microsoft windows file system technology | |
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Windows 3.1 had an option in its ''386 Enhanced'' Control Panel that would enable 32-bit read & write access in 386 enhanced mode. Usually, 32-bit read could be safely enabled, but 32-bit write had issues with a number of applications. 32-bit Disk Access was the feature that made it possible to page MS-DOS applications to disk. Without it, if the real mode disk code (the Int 13h handler) was paged out, the Virtual DOS Machine would loop forever. 32-bit File Access should not be confused with 32-bit disk access. Although both technologies are similar, 32-bit disk access 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. Windows 95 , Windows 98 , and Windows Me use native, Protected Mode 32-bit disk drivers during normal operation. However Safe Mode uses MS-DOS real mode disk drivers instead. Real mode MS-DOS drivers could also be used during normal operation for disk peripherals for which Windows did not have native drivers. The Windows NT family of operating systems including the newer Windows 2000 , Windows XP , Windows Server 2003 , Windows Vista and later always have 32-bit disk drivers active, cannot use MS-DOS drivers at all, and the expression is not used for them. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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