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WinAlign How-To


By Dave Methvin
InformationWeek
September 1, 1998 12:00 AM

If you want to get the best performance out of Windows 98, you can align the program code for your largest and most frequently used applications. This will help them launch quickly, and cause less disruption of the disk cache. Before diving into the how-to of WinAlign, be sure to read The Expert's Guide to Windows 98 WinAlign and the WinAlign Frequently Asked Questions. We recommend these procedures for experienced users only.

Aligning other programs
Windows 98 ships with its own program code for utilities and applets already aligned. In addition, Windows 98's Walign.exe utility aligns many of the components of Microsoft Office 95/97 if it finds them on your hard disk during installation. However, Windows 98 does not attempt to align any other program code on your hard disk. You can choose to align those programs yourself, using the instructions in this file.

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Aligning program code primarily reduces program launch times. So, it is only worthwhile to align a program if it is large, slow to launch, and something you frequently launch. Aligning the code for a small utility you run once a day isn't worth the benefit.

A good example of a program that does make sense to align is Netscape Navigator. If you use Netscape as your primary browser you probably launch it many times a day, and it takes multiple seconds to launch each time. Our tests showed a 20 percent reduction in launch time for Netscape Navigator 4.0 when the program code was aligned.

Warnings!
If you examine the license agreements on many applications, the legalese specifies that you cannot modify the program files in any way. Technically, running WinAlign on the program files is a violation of those kind of license agreements. Odds are pretty good the software police won't break down your door and arrest you, but the company probably won't offer support if you've tinkered with their code. (You can also see why Microsoft doesn't try to align any applications but their own; they're in enough legal trouble as it is!)

As mentioned in the FAQ, a few programs cannot be successfully aligned. If you have any problems with an application after aligning it, you should restore the file from a backup copy that you have kept. Both WMAlign and WinAlign try to keep backup copies for you, but it's a good idea to keep your own as well. In rare cases you may need to reinstall the application. You've been forewarned, so be prepared.

Alignment utilities
For aligning applications, we currently know of two choices. One is the WinAlign utility that comes in the Windows 98 Resource Kit. It is rather clumsy--sometimes dangerous--to use, and you have to buy the Resource Kit to get it. As an alternative, we have created a batch file called WMAlign that can align programs by calling on the limited WAlign.exe provided with Windows 98.

Alignment procedure

  1. Find an application that's worth aligning. If the application already takes less than a second to launch, then it's not worth aligning.


  2. Optionally, do some quick tests to check the launch time, so you know how much better it works after alignment.


  3. Backup the files yourself, and/or understand how the alignment utility keeps backups for you.


  4. Do the alignment using the documentation for either WinAlign or WMAlign.
  5. Test the application thoroughly to make sure it works properly.


  6. If there are problems, restore from your own backups or use the backup procedures from the alignment utility.


  7. Time the application launch to see if it's faster.


  8. For best performance, run Win98 Disk Defragmenter once a week or so to ensure that the applications are placed in the optimal location on disk.

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