| CONFIG.SYS Commands |
|
| The CONFIG.SYS file is a text file that contains special commands. These |
| commands configure your computer's hardware components so that MS-DOS and |
| applications can use them. When MS-DOS starts, it carries out the commands |
| in the CONFIG.SYS file. Typically, the CONFIG.SYS file is located in the |
| root directory of drive C. |
|
| CONFIG.SYS commands |
|
| The following CONFIG.SYS commands can be used only in the CONFIG.SYS file: |
|
| Buffers Files |
| Country Install |
| Device Lastdrive |
| Devicehigh Numlock |
| Dos Shell |
| Drivparm Stacks |
| Fcbs Switches |
|
| The following commands are commonly used in the CONFIG.SYS file and can also |
| be typed at the command prompt: |
|
| Break |
| Rem |
| Set |
|
| The following special CONFIG.SYS commands are used only to define multiple |
| configurations within the CONFIG.SYS file: |
|
| Include |
| Menucolor |
| Menudefault |
| Menuitem |
| Submenu |
|
| For more information about defining multiple configurations, see |
| Multi-Config Commands . |
|
| Special characters in the CONFIG.SYS file |
|
| The CONFIG.SYS file can also contain the following special characters: |
|
| ; Specifies that the current line is a descriptive comment |
| and should not be carried out. Insert this character at the |
| beginning of the line. (You can also insert a comment by using |
| the REM command.) |
|
| ? Specifies that MS-DOS is to ask for confirmation before |
| carrying out the current command. Insert this character |
| immediately after the command you want to prompt for, without |
| any intervening spaces, but before the equal sign (=). For example, |
| to have MS-DOS ask for confirmation before carrying out the |
| DOS=HIGH command, you would change the command to read |
| DOS?=HIGH. To have MS-DOS ask for confirmation before |
| carrying out the DEVICEHIGH /L:1,7280=MYFILE.SYS |
| command, you would change the command to read as follows: |
| DEVICEHIGH? /L:1,7280=MYFILE.SYS |
|
| Bypassing CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT commands |
|
| If you are having system problems that you suspect are caused by one or more |
| commands in your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you might want to bypass |
| some or all the commands in these files. (For information about bypassing |
| DoubleSpace, see the next section.) |
|
| To bypass all the commands in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, |
| press the F5 key immediately after starting your computer, when you see |
| the text "Starting MS-DOS...". |
|
| To bypass individual CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT commands, press the F8 |
| key instead. MS-DOS will then prompt you to carry out or bypass each |
| command. To carry out all remaining startup commands, press ESC. To |
| bypass all remaining startup commands, press F5. |
|
| To disable this feature, add the SWITCHES /N command to your CONFIG.SYS |
| file. |
|
| Starting your computer without loading DBLSPACE.BIN |
|
| DBLSPACE.BIN is the part of MS-DOS that provides access to DoubleSpace |
| compressed drives. Normally, if your hard drive has been compressed using |
| DoubleSpace, DBLSPACE.BIN is loaded even if you press F5 or F8. There are |
| two ways to disable this: |
|
| To start your computer without loading DBLSPACE.BIN, and to bypass all |
| the commands in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, press CTRL+F5. |
|
| To start your computer without loading DBLSPACE.BIN, and to bypass |
| individual commands in your CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT files, press |
| CTRL+F8. MS-DOS will then prompt you to carry out or bypass each |
| CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT command. To carry out all remaining startup |
| commands, press ESC. To bypass all remaining startup commands, press F5. |
|
| Note: If you bypass DBLSPACE.BIN, you will not be able to gain access to |
| your DoubleSpace compressed drives until you restart your computer |
| with DBLSPACE.BIN. (Your compressed drives will remain on your hard |
| disk as hidden files with names such as DBLSPACE.000. Do not delete |
| or rename such files.) |
|
| To disable this feature, use the DBLSPACE /SWITCHES command. |
|
| For more information about your CONFIG.SYS file, see the chapter |
| "Configuring Your System" in the MS-DOS User's Guide. |
|
|
