<s>
The	O
Epyx	B-Application
Fast	I-Application
Load	I-Application
is	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
fast	B-Device
loader	I-Device
cartridge	B-Protocol
made	O
by	O
American	O
software	O
company	O
Epyx	O
in	O
1984	O
for	O
the	O
Commodore	O
64	O
home	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Epyx	B-Application
Fast	I-Application
Load	I-Application
allows	O
programs	O
to	O
load	O
from	O
the	O
Commodore	B-Device
1541	I-Device
disk	O
drive	O
at	O
2,500	O
bytes	O
per	O
second	O
,	O
approximately	O
five	O
times	O
faster	O
than	O
the	O
normal	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
it	O
is	O
stored	O
on	O
a	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
thus	O
provides	O
instant	O
access	O
without	O
requiring	O
any	O
hardware	O
modification	O
of	O
the	O
C64	O
or	O
the	O
disk	O
drive	O
,	O
the	O
Fast	O
Load	O
quickly	O
became	O
a	O
very	O
popular	O
peripheral	O
among	O
C64	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
disk	O
acceleration	O
,	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
also	O
provides	O
a	O
built-in	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Commodore	O
DOS	B-Operating_System
Wedge	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
dramatically	O
reduces	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
keystrokes	O
needed	O
to	O
load	O
or	O
save	O
files	O
or	O
perform	O
disk	O
operations	O
,	O
and	O
makes	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
even	O
more	O
convenient	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Epyx	B-Application
Fast	I-Application
Load	I-Application
incorporates	O
a	O
machine	B-General_Concept
language	I-General_Concept
monitor	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
include	O
an	O
assembler	O
,	O
as	O
most	O
"	O
standard	O
"	O
C64	O
ML	B-General_Concept
monitors	I-General_Concept
do	O
,	O
it	O
includes	O
a	O
wide	O
array	O
of	O
powerful	O
debugging	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
disassembly	O
,	O
single-stepping	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
automatic	O
machine	O
code	O
relocator	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
crude	O
disk	B-Application
editor	I-Application
is	O
also	O
included	O
with	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
displays	O
raw	O
data	O
from	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
in	O
classical	O
hex+ASCII	O
split	O
screen	O
mode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
other	O
things	O
,	O
the	O
disk	B-Application
editor	I-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
enter	O
cheat	O
codes	O
and	O
do	O
the	O
home	O
computer	O
equivalent	O
of	O
ROM	O
hacking	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
unusual	O
case	O
of	O
software	O
that	O
does	O
n't	O
work	O
with	O
the	O
Fast	O
Load	O
,	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
can	O
be	O
disabled	O
via	O
a	O
menu	O
command	O
,	O
thus	O
avoiding	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
physically	O
remove	O
and	O
reinsert	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
original	O
1984	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Fast	O
Load	O
will	O
not	O
work	O
with	O
the	O
SD2IEC	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
emulation	O
system	O
,	O
newer	O
variants	O
of	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
do	O
support	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
review	O
of	O
three	O
Commodore	O
64	O
fast	B-Device
loaders	I-Device
,	O
Ahoy	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
review	O
of	O
five	O
fast	B-Device
loaders	I-Device
in	O
Commodore	O
Microcomputers	O
found	O
that	O
"	O
Fast	O
Load	O
performed	O
well	O
during	O
testing	O
"	O
and	O
approved	O
of	O
its	O
ease	O
of	O
use	O
and	O
documentation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
table	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
article	O
showed	O
that	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
only	O
significantly	O
sped	O
up	O
loading	O
times	O
for	O
four	O
of	O
nine	O
applications	O
and	O
games	O
,	O
not	O
benefiting	O
the	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
