diff --git a/compiler/res/prog8lib/cx16/syslib.p8 b/compiler/res/prog8lib/cx16/syslib.p8
index 37165c411..21aebd43f 100644
--- a/compiler/res/prog8lib/cx16/syslib.p8
+++ b/compiler/res/prog8lib/cx16/syslib.p8
@@ -289,6 +289,23 @@ romsub $fecc = monitor()  clobbers(A,X,Y)
 
 
 ; ---- utilities -----
+
+inline asmsub rombank(ubyte rombank @A) {
+    ; -- set the rom banks
+    %asm {{
+        sta  $01            ; rom bank register (new)
+        sta  cx16.d1prb     ; rom bank register (old)
+    }}
+}
+
+inline asmsub rambank(ubyte rambank @A) {
+    ; -- set the ram bank
+    %asm {{
+        sta  $00            ; ram bank register (new)
+        sta  cx16.d1pra     ; ram bank register (old)
+    }}
+}
+
 asmsub vpeek(ubyte bank @A, uword address @XY) -> ubyte @A {
         ; -- get a byte from VERA's video memory
         ;    note: inefficient when reading multiple sequential bytes!
diff --git a/examples/cx16/assembler/assem.p8 b/examples/cx16/assembler/assem.p8
index 366069016..a8228c2fd 100644
--- a/examples/cx16/assembler/assem.p8
+++ b/examples/cx16/assembler/assem.p8
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 main {
 
     sub start() {
-        txt.print("\nCommanderX16 65c02 file based assembler.\n\nfilename or enter for interactive: ")
+        txt.print("\ncommander-x16 65c02 file based assembler.\n\nfilename or enter for interactive: ")
 
         str filename = "?" * 20
         if txt.input_chars(filename)
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ main {
         else
             user_input()
 
+        cx16.rombank(4)     ; switch back to basic rom
+
         test_stack.test()
     }
 
@@ -57,6 +59,8 @@ main {
         txt.print(filename)
         txt.spc()
 
+        cx16.rombank(0)     ; switch to kernal rom for faster file i/o
+
         if diskio.f_open(8, filename) {
             c64.SETTIM(0,0,0)
             uword line=0
diff --git a/examples/cx16/assembler/testload.asm b/examples/cx16/assembler/testload.asm
index 625d109bb..da06c823a 100644
--- a/examples/cx16/assembler/testload.asm
+++ b/examples/cx16/assembler/testload.asm
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 start
 
+    stz  $9f60          ; switch to kernal bank for faster i/o
     phx
 
     ldx  #<_filename
@@ -48,6 +49,9 @@ _eof
     lda  #1
     jsr  $FFC3       ;CLOSE
 
+    lda  #4
+    sta  $9f60
+
     ; print the time taken
     jsr  $FFDE       ; RDTIM -> A,X,Y
     tay
diff --git a/examples/cx16/imageviewer/imageviewer.p8 b/examples/cx16/imageviewer/imageviewer.p8
index d47e8ecfb..c52f17ab2 100644
--- a/examples/cx16/imageviewer/imageviewer.p8
+++ b/examples/cx16/imageviewer/imageviewer.p8
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
 
 main {
     sub start() {
+
+        cx16.rombank(0)        ; switch to kernal rom (for faster file i/o)
+
         ; trick to check if we're running on sdcard or host system shared folder
         txt.print("\nimage viewer for commander x16\nformats supported: .iff, .pcx, .bmp, .koa (c64 koala)\n\n")
         if string.length(diskio.status(8)) {
@@ -30,6 +33,8 @@ main {
 
         gfx2.screen_mode(255)      ; back to default text mode and palette
         txt.print("that was all folks!\n")
+
+        cx16.rombank(4)        ; switch back to basic rom
     }
 
     sub show_pics_sdcard() {