sysandprog
asked on
Exit to DOS from Windows 98 SE
Quite a long time ago I created a shortcut to mimic the Exit to DOS from the START icon. Both use C:\WINDOWS\DOSTART.BAT which is identical to C:\DOSBOOT\Autoexec.bat
However, the normal Exit to DOS does not have the features that the shortcut allows to substitute new versions of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
I don't know when it first started, but the normal Exit to DOS now fails to return from setting the sound blaster parameters, and the computer hangs at that point.
In experimenting with the shortcut version, I have found that it will fail also when it is prevented from substituting changed versions of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
so it acts like a driver problem.
The only clue so far is that remarking out the CONFIG.SYS in the shortcut results in a single entry of DOS=SINGLE which I have not been able to identify. A search with Google didn't provide a clue.
Has anybody seen anything like this before?
However, the normal Exit to DOS does not have the features that the shortcut allows to substitute new versions of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
I don't know when it first started, but the normal Exit to DOS now fails to return from setting the sound blaster parameters, and the computer hangs at that point.
In experimenting with the shortcut version, I have found that it will fail also when it is prevented from substituting changed versions of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
so it acts like a driver problem.
The only clue so far is that remarking out the CONFIG.SYS in the shortcut results in a single entry of DOS=SINGLE which I have not been able to identify. A search with Google didn't provide a clue.
Has anybody seen anything like this before?
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Bill you overlooked what i already stated, check "ms-dos mode" & DOS=SINGLE forces windows in DOS mode
although you did add reboot.com, the boot menu, & shellexitwindows (dang! that one slipped my mind - must be getting late)
although you did add reboot.com, the boot menu, & shellexitwindows (dang! that one slipped my mind - must be getting late)
FriarTuk. I didn't overlook it, I simply didn't see your comment before I posted because I didn't reload the question before posting my 1st comment, and didn't reload and scroll back up before posting the 2nd comment. I was too busy looking for a page with screenshots of the DOS property pages. My apologies.
ASKER
With your kind assistance I have pretty much solved the problem. I had forgotten that there was another copy of the shortcut that is triggered from the START-SHUTDOWN-RESTART IN MS-DOS MODE.
This additional shortcut is located at "C:\WINDOWS\Exit to DOS.PIF"
and calls C:\WINDOWS\DOSSTART.BAT as a batch file.
So, Bill, when your system hangs, the cure is to create both of these files. However, it will most likely still hang unless you either include a DOSONLY=0 entry in DOSSTART.BAT or tailor the shortcut to include modified entries for CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
The DOSONLY=0 entry keeps the sound blaster from loading. That prevents the system from hanging up when it can't get the right driver. Evidently something comes across from the original windows CONFIG.SYS that produces the problem. That is eliminated by providing a new CONFIG.SYS in the shortcut.
The new AUTOEXEC.BAT in the shortcut needs to be only an ECHO or REM comment because the rest of the functions are provided by DOSSTART.BAT
Final support for Windows 98 is going away in July, so you probably won't want to fiddle with it.
This additional shortcut is located at "C:\WINDOWS\Exit to DOS.PIF"
and calls C:\WINDOWS\DOSSTART.BAT as a batch file.
So, Bill, when your system hangs, the cure is to create both of these files. However, it will most likely still hang unless you either include a DOSONLY=0 entry in DOSSTART.BAT or tailor the shortcut to include modified entries for CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
The DOSONLY=0 entry keeps the sound blaster from loading. That prevents the system from hanging up when it can't get the right driver. Evidently something comes across from the original windows CONFIG.SYS that produces the problem. That is eliminated by providing a new CONFIG.SYS in the shortcut.
The new AUTOEXEC.BAT in the shortcut needs to be only an ECHO or REM comment because the rest of the functions are provided by DOSSTART.BAT
Final support for Windows 98 is going away in July, so you probably won't want to fiddle with it.
Thank you, sysandprog.
Glad the problem is resolved now.
Actually, I haven't used the "Restart in DOS Mode" option for years because of the way I set my my msdos.sys to always shows the F8 Boot Menu anyway.
>>> "Final support for Windows 98 is going away in July, so you probably won't want to fiddle with it". <<<
I'll continue to fiddle with Win98se as long as the computers I have which support it continue to work :-)
Glad the problem is resolved now.
Actually, I haven't used the "Restart in DOS Mode" option for years because of the way I set my my msdos.sys to always shows the F8 Boot Menu anyway.
>>> "Final support for Windows 98 is going away in July, so you probably won't want to fiddle with it". <<<
I'll continue to fiddle with Win98se as long as the computers I have which support it continue to work :-)
The DOS=SINGLE line in the config.sys file is explained here as "causes your computer to start in DOS Mode":
http://subsim.com/ssr/tipdos.html