Lost and Confused over Memory Stick

[doctigger77]

just installed my 126 Mb stick. Loaded some apps, which work great, though slow to activate.
HOWEVER, I still have some big apps hogging RAM, leaving precious little room.
1. How can I tell ahead of time if an app will work from the MS?
2. How do I launch MS apps from the main launcher screen.
Is there a review on Launchers, pros and cons? I would like to load from the launcher screen, be able to modifiy databases, and refile to the MS when I am done.

I have MSGate and MS Import/export installed.

Thanks.
doctigger77@yahoo.com

[JC2K]

Originally posted by doctigger77
just installed my 126 Mb stick. Loaded some apps, which work great, though slow to activate.
HOWEVER, I still have some big apps hogging RAM, leaving precious little room.
1. How can I tell ahead of time if an app will work from the MS?
2. How do I launch MS apps from the main launcher screen.
Is there a review on Launchers, pros and cons? I would like to load from the launcher screen, be able to modifiy databases, and refile to the MS when I am done.

I have MSGate and MS Import/export installed.

Thanks.
doctigger77@yahoo.com
1) Working "from" the MS and working "with" the MS are separate issues. For example, WordSmith (a document editor) is "launchable" when residing on the MS because the OS supports it. However, unless the program is specifically designed to look for files on the MS, your documents must all reside in RAM. In the case of WS, it is "VFS-aware" so that it can see files on the MS, but other programs may not be as friendly. (Most popular apps have been written to support VFS as it's been out a while).
2) A great site for the low-down on launchers is Brian's excellent LaunchPlug (http://www.launchplug.com) There is a chart that compares most of the popular launchers as well as a wealth of information on external cards.

Something you may discover as you investigate are programs such as PiDirect II, MSMount, and PowerRun. These work by "tricking" the OS into thinking the files are in RAM when they actually exist on the card. With this type of low-level manipulation, issues can stack up quickly. I use PiDirect II without problems, but some other programs may balk during the use of these memory managers.

Hope this helps!

[gvtexas]

I've played with PowerRUN and bit, and works fine for SMALL apps. Load something like WineGuide and you can set your Clie down and go try that nice Bourdeaux you bought before it's up and running...

I use LauncherX to set up running aps from MS, because of it's ability to create a shortcut to the ap. I can also move my SmartList (nee ThinkDB) database to MS and turn their launchable bits on so they show up (the individual databases) in LauncherX. Nice to click on an icon to a SmartList file and have it launch directly instead of through the program. But I do this for only those dbs that I don't add data to.

But as for specific aps, I only have games stored on the MS and run as noted above, and they launch with a little more delay than usual, but acceptable to save the RAM space.

For the most part though, IMHO, the value in the MS seems to be to store docs, dictionary files, etc...stuff that tends to be large and accumulate quickly in RAM. I use HandStory and have about 3mbs of clips I download daily and these go directly on to the MS.

Cheers,
Gary