Post by Drugwash » 27 May 2017, 13:06
You're welcome, I do what I can to help.
That other PC is probably overheating as you suspected. Certain BIOS versions (in desktops) allow the user to specify the maximum CPU temperature allowed, beyond which it'll shutdown automatically; possibly laptops have such mechanism too, opaque to the user (fixed temp. value). If it's a desktop you may get into BIOS right after start and try to find the hardware info tab where the voltage and temperature is shown; check if the CPU temperature rises very quickly and also check the max value for automatic shutdown (if present) - if the CPU is running hot by design the value might have to be raised according to official specifications. Also try the mechanical cleanup as per #1 above and check the cooling system too. Make sure the cooler is placed correctly over the CPU (some old coolers have an indentation that matches the socket and if placed incorrectly it would not have a complete and firm contact with the CPU, possibly leading to its destruction through rapid overheating).
My (upgraded) 98SE still runs 24/7 since 2006, it's where I build my scripts. Obviously it runs AHK Basic, the official 1.0.48.05 version (although some time ago I wanted to update the code and build a new version).
I have another machine running XP-SP4 (hence my knowledge on possible slowdowns due to that service pack) and it has AHK 1.1.24.4 Unicode (just forgot to update it, no particular reason for keeping that version).
In regard to commands/functions, that would be a long discussion. Some commands in AHK 1.1 got extra parameters or accepted values that would raise an error on AHK 1.0 and some syntax accepted in AHK 1.0 might raise an error in AHK 1.1 (for example
Gui, Show, +Hide that I recently found in an old script would work in 1.0 and throw an error in 1.1 because of the + in front of Hide). Obviously everything related to arrays, objects, COM and all newly added controls (ActiveX etc) would not work in 1.0. However old 1.0 syntax usually works in 1.1 (with minor issues such as the one mentioned before), that is why I'm writing my scripts in 1.0 on the 98SE machine, test them there, then test on the XP machine and adjust as necessary. A major annoyance is Unicode however and many times I had to use workarounds because the easy and straighforward code that worked in 1.0 would result in gibberish or errors under 1.1. Working with strings, reading files and/or binary buffers etc is a PITA when it comes to 1.1.
I've built a helper script called updates.ahk that is called as a function in the beginning of the scripts and helps leveling some variables and constants between the two AHK versions but that's just a minor improvement.
I'm not sure where exactly the Ctrl+i hotkey should work, I never used it AFAICR. Please be more specific.
Also do note that my 98SE system is heavily upgraded and can do things not usually possible with a vanilla installation. As for 95, ME and 2k it's been a long time since I ran those, currently I don't have any of them, not even in a virtual machine on the Linux system. Anyway, 95 is quite limited in its API, no matter how upgraded it may be so building scripts for 95 would be a time-consuming and frustrating task, while 98SE is quite close to ME and an upgraded one might even surpass it in some regards. Unfortunately my experience with 2k is slim to none, it never appealed to me. All I remember are a few tests with the leaked Neptune, many years ago.
You're welcome, I do what I can to help. :)
That other PC is probably overheating as you suspected. Certain BIOS versions (in desktops) allow the user to specify the maximum CPU temperature allowed, beyond which it'll shutdown automatically; possibly laptops have such mechanism too, opaque to the user (fixed temp. value). If it's a desktop you may get into BIOS right after start and try to find the hardware info tab where the voltage and temperature is shown; check if the CPU temperature rises very quickly and also check the max value for automatic shutdown (if present) - if the CPU is running hot by design the value might have to be raised according to official specifications. Also try the mechanical cleanup as per #1 above and check the cooling system too. Make sure the cooler is placed correctly over the CPU (some old coolers have an indentation that matches the socket and if placed incorrectly it would not have a complete and firm contact with the CPU, possibly leading to its destruction through rapid overheating).
My (upgraded) 98SE still runs 24/7 since 2006, it's where I build my scripts. Obviously it runs AHK Basic, the official 1.0.48.05 version (although some time ago I wanted to update the code and build a new version).
I have another machine running XP-SP4 (hence my knowledge on possible slowdowns due to that service pack) and it has AHK 1.1.24.4 Unicode (just forgot to update it, no particular reason for keeping that version).
In regard to commands/functions, that would be a long discussion. Some commands in AHK 1.1 got extra parameters or accepted values that would raise an error on AHK 1.0 and some syntax accepted in AHK 1.0 might raise an error in AHK 1.1 (for example [b]Gui, Show, +Hide[/b] that I recently found in an old script would work in 1.0 and throw an error in 1.1 because of the + in front of Hide). Obviously everything related to arrays, objects, COM and all newly added controls (ActiveX etc) would not work in 1.0. However old 1.0 syntax usually works in 1.1 (with minor issues such as the one mentioned before), that is why I'm writing my scripts in 1.0 on the 98SE machine, test them there, then test on the XP machine and adjust as necessary. A major annoyance is Unicode however and many times I had to use workarounds because the easy and straighforward code that worked in 1.0 would result in gibberish or errors under 1.1. Working with strings, reading files and/or binary buffers etc is a PITA when it comes to 1.1.
I've built a helper script called updates.ahk that is called as a function in the beginning of the scripts and helps leveling some variables and constants between the two AHK versions but that's just a minor improvement.
I'm not sure where exactly the Ctrl+i hotkey should work, I never used it AFAICR. Please be more specific.
Also do note that my 98SE system is heavily upgraded and can do things not usually possible with a vanilla installation. As for 95, ME and 2k it's been a long time since I ran those, currently I don't have any of them, not even in a virtual machine on the Linux system. Anyway, 95 is quite limited in its API, no matter how upgraded it may be so building scripts for 95 would be a time-consuming and frustrating task, while 98SE is quite close to ME and an upgraded one might even surpass it in some regards. Unfortunately my experience with 2k is slim to none, it never appealed to me. All I remember are a few tests with the leaked Neptune, many years ago. :)