Startup Doubler Ôfor faster startups!ÕÕ
©1997-2002 Marc Moini, all rights reserved
version 2.7.2, 2002-10-17

There is no upgrade cost for registered users of earlier versions, just install Startup Doubler 2.7.2 over your current version. In certain conditions you may be asked to re-enter your registration code in the Startup Doubler control panel.

Installing Startup Doubler
1. Check your disk with Disk First Aid or a similar utility. Minor disk errors that may have gone unnoticed before are sometimes made apparent when Startup Doubler is installed.
2. Run the Startup Doubler Installer.
3. The SECOND and following restarts will be accelerated. The first restart is used to build Startup DoublerÕs data.
Please visit www.marcmoini.com for the latest version and information.

Startup Doubler works on any Mac running System 7.0 through Mac OS 9.2.2.
Note: Restart with Extensions Off (by holding down the Shift key at startup) or turn off any anti-virus software while running the Startup Doubler installer (use the anti-virus software to scan the installer beforehand if needed). 

Overview
Startup Doubler's software acceleration compensates for less-than-optimal disk performance to make extensions, control panels, the Finder and startup apps load faster.
All this waiting for your Mac to start, day after day, really adds up to a lot of wasted time. Startup Doubler can help: Expect pre-G4 Macs to startup 10% to 50% faster, depending on disk speed.
Fast disks in new high-end Macs can't be accelerated much however, so if you have one of those you probably won't need Startup Doubler. In any case, the free trial lets you find out how much faster your startups can be.

Troubleshooting
The latest information is available on www.marcmoini.com.

If the Mac freezes at the very beginning of startup just after you've installed Startup Doubler, restart with extensions off, turn off Virtual Memory from the Memory control panel and restart. Startup Doubler should then run correctly and you can turn Virtual Memory back on.

Removing Startup Doubler
Please use the Startup Doubler installerÕs Remove button if you wish to un-install Startup Doubler from your system. Likewise, if you need to install Startup Doubler on a new System, please use the Installer. Using the installer ensures Startup Doubler is installed or removed properly.

Features & benefits
After restarting, you may open the Startup Doubler control panel.
Checking the Startup Acceleration box enables Startup DoublerÕs software acceleration. This transparently affects Extensions, Control Panels, the Finder and applications in the Startup Items folder and makes them load faster.

Startup Doubler also speeds up the display of Finder windows opened during startup, for windows displaying items on the startup volume. This is because Startup Doubler adds the contents of these windows to its cache along with the rest of the startup data.

Multiple extension sets are actively supported. After the first restart, an extension named Ô*Startup Doubler ExtensionÕ will appear in the Extensions Folder. Just include that file in your startup set, and Startup Doubler will know to accelerate the items in that set. Whenever you switch startup sets, a new  Ô*Startup Doubler ExtensionÕ will be created in the Extensions Folder if a set doesnÕt already have one.
This feature allows Startup Doubler to provide the best acceleration for each set, each time a set is used. When you add items to a set Startup Doubler will accelerate them at the next startup with this set. When an item is removed from a set, its data is kept for the next 2 startups so you may change your mind and put it back without any speed loss. This trade-off means it takes 2 startup for the set to be back at optimal speed, but the difference is very small and seems worth the added convenience.
You may rename a  Ô*Startup Doubler ExtensionÕ file to any name, as long as it still starts with a * (a star, or asterisk, shift-8 key).

Another way of speeding startups is by disabling Startup Memory Tests. These tests ensure the memory chips in your Mac are in working order, but if they are found to be fine right after theyÕre installed then  theyÕll likely remain good for years and re-testing at every startup may be overkill.  Apple provides the option of turning these tests off on some Mac models: Just hold down the command and option keys while opening the Memory control panel in Mac OS 8.5 or later and the settings will appear if your Mac model allows it.

If your Mac is not connected to an AppleTalk network, open the Chooser from the Apple Menu and turn AppleTalk off (in the AppleShare panel). This is good for 5 to 10 seconds saved every startup.

¥ In the Memory control panel, it is recommended you set the disk cache size to at least 3072K on a 64 meg machine, 1024K (or better: 2048K) on a 32 meg machine, at least 512K on a 16 meg machine, to make startups even faster. Clicking the Default button should set this correctly.

¥ Disk checks after a crash arenÕt accelerated by Startup Doubler. Apple has made these checks faster since System 7.6.1. However, Startup Doubler will now accelerate the rest of the startup sequence even if the crash happened before reaching the Finder (extension developers will find this most useful).

¥ Hold down the Shift key at startup to bypass Startup Doubler if needed. This will also bypass loading all other extensions, control panels and startup items.


Support
A lot of time goes into making Startup Doubler work as intended.  If you find a problem not described on the Startup Doubler web page or the list of Frequently Asked Questions, please send a me a short email at marc@a9ff.com.


Registering your copy of Startup Doubler
You may try Startup Doubler for 15 days, at no charge. If you decide to keep it, please register your copy. A single license costs $20, site licenses are also available. Upgrades are free to registered users.

Orders and registrations are handled by Kagi www.kagi.com, the payment processing service. After processing your order, Kagi sends you an acknowledgment email and/or a postcard,  with a code to disable the registration reminders. Please remember to include your e-mail address (or postal address, but it takes much longer) so Kagi knows where to send the code! If you don't receive your code within a week, let me know by sending an email to marc@a9ff.com.

You may register on-line with a credit card at :
https://order.kagi.com/?MM
(or http:// if your browser doesn't support secure connections)

Or use the attached Register application to register by e-mail (send to shareware@Kagi.com) or by fax with a credit card, or through postal mail. Please run the Register application for more information (and turn on Balloon Help!). If you received Startup Doubler without the Register application, please download the complete package from www.marcmoini.com.

A person or family using the program on several computers need only pay for one copy. Site licenses are available. The Kagi Shareware address and fax number are for registrations only, please.

Please distribute Startup Doubler as a complete package, with this document and the Register application. It is OK to upload the unmodified package to BBSs, the Internet and online services, and to put it on a CD-ROM provided Startup Doubler is not sold.


Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Bill Goodman, Vils Legrand, the fine people at Kagi, Christopher Li, Fl.M, Marc Menschenfreund, Alessandro Levi Montalcini, Mark Nagata, Michel Pollet and Mark Shirley!
And thanks to Dominik Schroeder for the German translation of this document!

Disclaimer
The author makes no warranties, either express or implied, regarding the fitness of Startup Doubler for any particular purpose. Use Startup Doubler at your own risk. The author claims no liability for data loss or any other problems caused directly or indirectly by Startup Doubler.

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And while Apple's "Smart Scrolling" concerns mostly the Finder, the original Smart Scroll brings Proportional Thumbs and Live Scrolling to applications such as Netscape, Emailer, AppleWorks, Word, and most system add-ons such as control panels. Download from www.marcmoini.com

Clean-Install Assistant Eases Mac OS Updates.
makes it easier to migrate third-party and personal items to a new Clean-Installed System Folder, and it may also be used to save space and backup your valuable additions and preference files only, instead of the whole System Folder; Install the same set of additions on multiple Macs; Remove extra files and folders from your System Folder to restore it to a previous state: you can take a ÔsnapshotÕ of the System Folder and have Clean-Install Assistant extract any items added since. Clean-Install Assistant is free for personal and educational use. Download from www.marcmoini.com


Version History
Download the latest version from www.marcmoini.com or an Info-Mac mirror or the MIT HyperArchive at http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive.html.

2.7.2 (2002-10-17)
¥ More changes to prevent the Virtual Memory related startup freeze which occured on some 9.x systems.
¥ Misc changes

2.7b1 (2002-06-27)
¥ Changes to prevent startup freeze related to Virtual Memory on some systems
¥ Fix for missing control panel icon on some systems
¥ Misc changes

2.6.2 (2001-12-20)
¥ Adds support for Mac OS 9.2.2
¥ Misc changes

2.6.1 (2001-10-22)
¥ Adds support for Mac OS 9.2.1
¥ Misc changes

2.6 (2001-01-02)
¥ Adds support for Mac OS 9.1
¥ Fixes a bug in the Installer that would sometimes prevent installation because of a file error.
¥ Misc changes

2.5.4
¥ Adds support for Mac OS 9.0.4

2.5.3
¥ Adds support for Mac OS 9.0.1, 9.0.2 and 9.0.3
¥ Misc changes

2.5.2
¥ Fixes a bug which caused versions 2.5 and 2.5.1 to sometimes crash at the end of startup
¥ New memory allocation code reduces RAM footprint (zero memory used after startup)
¥ Misc. changes and fixes 

2.5.1
¥ Adds support for Mac OS 9.0
¥ Improved acceleration on Macs with a large number of extensions or startup items.
¥ Self-adjusting now extended to all areas of the program.
¥ Fixes a startup freeze introduced with the short-lived version 2.5
¥ Misc changes and fixes.

2.1
¥ Now works even when antivirus software scans disks at startup.
¥ Fixes an obscure startup crash bug (many thanks to Mirko Kranenburg, Anders Eklšf, Gerald Tenenbaum, Lance Smith, Larry Fliegelman and everyone who helped to pin down this bug!)
¥ Misc. changes and fixes.

2.0
¥Adds support for Mac OS 8.6.
¥ New acceleration method is 10% to 30% faster than previous version.
¥ Now also speeds loading applications in the Startup Items folder.
¥ Actively supports multiple Extension Sets, through the new *Startup Doubler Extension.
¥ Almost every startup is now accelerated, even after switching startup disks or other conditions which forced previous versions to rebuild the cache.
¥ Data files are gone, saving over 1MB of disk space.
¥ Virtual Memory times are much improved, now almost same as non-VM times.
¥ Fixes a startup crash bug on 68K Macs running System 7.x.
¥ Fixes a bug causing spurious displays of the registration reminder for some registered users.
¥ Fixes a bug which asked registered users to re-enter their info.
¥ Fixes garbled registration reminder message
¥ Fixes a crash bug when running alongside RAM Doubler 8.
¥ Misc. changes and fixes.

1.2.1
¥ Adds support for Mac OS 8.5.1

1.2
¥ Adds support for Mac OS 8.5.
¥ Fixes a bug that was causing a freeze at startup, often when running alongside Norton CrashGuard.
¥ Misc. changes and fixes.

1.1
¥ Accelerates even after a crash (with a few exceptions, such as if cmd-power is pressed).
¥ Adds support for Mac OS 8.1.
¥ Adds support for Mac OS Extended Disk Format (HFS+).
¥ Fixes a crash bug with Speed Doubler 8 if disk cache size was more than 2 megs.
¥ Misc. changes and fixes.

1.0 (1997-10-20)
¥ Adds compatibility with Speed Doubler 8.0
¥ Fixes bug that was causing random crashes in the Finder on some systems.
¥ Fixes some low memory situation slowdowns.
¥ Fixes bug that caused Startup Doubler to not run at all on some machines (the icon would not appear at startup)
¥ Misc. changes and bug fixes
