CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT

During time I have assisted quite a lot of PC owners with the setup of their two system files CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.  Often when I stand in line in a computer store (I have seldom seen that there isn't a waiting line), I have experienced that a great many of the problems, the customers complains about, are due to improper setup of these two files.  Therefore I hereby pass on some advice about that subject.

Contents:

• Before you begin !
• MS-DOS 7.00 / 7.10 (Windows 95 & 98).
• Windows 95 OSR2 and HIMEM.SYS.
• DOSSTART.BAT (Windows 95 & 98).
• WINSTART.BAT (Windows 95 & 98 and Windows 3.11).
• MS-DOS 6.22 (Windows 3.11).
• PC DOS 7.00 (IBM).
• Windows 3.11.
• More Upper Memory with EMM386.
• Alternative Memory Managers (QEMM386).
• Stacker disk compression.
• Harddisk partitioning.
• Windows 95 OSR2 and FAT32.

Before you begin !

Some of the following is very basic, while some of it is addressed to the experienced PC user.

Before you begin to change the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, you should do the following:

This will always give you the possibility of starting the computer by inserting the floppy diskette in drive A:, then rebooting the computer.

If there are problems starting the computer, then as from DOS version 6.00 you can press the F5 key, when the screen displays:  Starting "Windows 9x..."  ("Starting MS-DOS...").  This skips the executing of the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.  Thereafter you can edit the line in one of these two files where the problem occurred.  If instead the F8 key (plus 4 in Windows 9x) is pressed, then the lines in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT will be executed one line at a time.  This helps determining where the problems occurs.

MS-DOS 7.00 / 7.10 (Windows 95 & 98)

• Windows 95 has DOS-version 7.00
• Windows 95 OSR2 and Windows 98 has DOS-version 7.10

Under Windows 9x the following setup of CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT will be suitable.  This setup also ensures access to CD-ROM drive and soundcard in MS-DOS mode.

Before you begin to make alterations of CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, it will be suitable to change the setup, so that Windows 9x will not start automatically, but there instead is started directly in DOS mode.

This is done by making the following changes under [Options] in the file C:\MSDOS.SYS:

MSDOS.SYS is a hidden read-only system file, why it is necessary to execute the command:  ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\MSDOS.SYS  before the file can be edited (some editors allows editing without doing this in advance).

After this change the computer will start in MS-DOS 7.x, and the Windows 9x Logo (the one with the running colours beneath the picture) will not be shown during startup, making it possible to see how CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT are executed.

Windows 9x can subsequently be started manually with the command:  WIN

If for instance a DOS game will not run under a standard installation of Windows 9x, this can often be solved by disabling the automatic start of Windows 9x in this way, and then starting the program before loading Windows 9x.

Once CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT are optimized, the changes in MSDOS.SYS can be reversed, to reestablish the automatic start of Windows 9x and the Logo, if so wanted.  Alternatively the command:  WIN  could just be inserted as the last line in AUTOEXEC.BAT.

The following example applies to a PC with:

The example are generally applicable, but line 13 and line 24 must be edited, as the drivers for CD-ROM drive and Mouse depends on the manufacturer.

The Lines with * can be omitted.

1. Switches off Num Lock on the keyboard.
2. Extends Control-C / Control Break also to work under I/O operations as for instance reading and writing of the disks.
3. HIGH loads DOS buffers in HMA (requires a XMS manager, line 10).
   UMB allows the use of Upper Memory Blocks for resident drivers and programs (requires an EMS manager, line 11).  This frees up more conventional memory for your applications.
   NOAUTO makes it possible to load drivers and TSR programs in conventional memory, if wanted - otherwise DOS 7.x always tries to load in Upper Memory, even though DEVICEHIGH, FILESHIGH etc. has not been used.  Some drivers can only work if loaded low with a DEVICE command.
4. Sets the number of files that can be opened at one time to 40 (suitable for most instances, but some programs insists on a larger number).
5. Sets the minimal number of file control blocks.  Is only used by very old programs.
6. Sets buffers to 30.  If the number is smaller there is a risk that it is NOT possible to "Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode" from Windows 95 (OSR2).
7. Sets the last logical drive-letter to J:
8. Sets stacks as Microsoft recommends it for Windows 9x.
9. Sets country to 45 (Denmark), with codepage 865 as the system character set i. e. the character set that is used for sorting and conversion to and from capital letters.  If no number is stated for the codepage, then the system codepage is set to 850 by default (for country 45), even though for instance codepage 865 is chosen in line 22.  Therefore the same codepage should always be stated in line 9 and in line 22 to avoid problems with access to files with names, in which characters from the extended ASCII character set are used (character no. 128 to 255) i.e.  ø and Ø.
10. Loads the DOS XMS manager.  Necessary for the next line and for Windows 9x and Smart drive (line 19).
11. Loads the DOS EMS manager.  RAM indicates that both Expanded Memory (EMS) and Upper Memory (UMB) should be made available.  /MIN=0 states that no minimal amount of EMS memory shall be secured.  I=B000-B7FF indicates that the memory reserved for monochrome screens can be used as Upper Memory.  If EMS memory is not wanted, the parameter RAM can be changed to NOEMS, but from DOS 6.00 an above EMM386.EXE provides both EMS and XMS memory for the programs, so there is no reason not to use the RAM parameter, unless there is a need for more UMB memory and you don't have any programs that demands EMS memory.  Many games requires EMS.
12. Loads the DOS EGA/VGA driver for use of 1 codepage (character set) on the screen.  In DOS 7.x more memory is used for 2 codepages than for 1 codepage.
13. Loads the driver for the CD-ROM drive.  Specific for the installed drive.  Your driver might have another name.  What is written after /D: must also be written after /D: in line 18.  Some other parameters might also be necessary i.e. a statement of the controller's address (/SBP:220 or the like), if the drive is connected via the soundcard or a separate controllercard.  If you haven't got a DOS CD-ROM driver, then you might use the SAMPLE.SYS driver located at the Windows 95 installation diskette.  On the Windows 98 installation diskette is placed a larger number of CD-ROM drivers, covering most CD-ROM drives.
14. Reports an earlier version of DOS (e.g. version 6.22) to older DOS-programs, if they demand to be executed under a definite DOS version.
15. Loads the driver for Windows 9x's 32-bit file access.
16. States the name and location of the command interpreter.  /E: states the size of the DOS environment.  1024 is suitable, as DOS 7.x automatically adds 1040 to the size which cannot be less than 256.  /P indicates that the command interpreter shall stay resident and that AUTOEXEC.BAT shall be executed.  /P may NOT be omitted.
     

17. Hides the text in batch programs when the batch file is executed.
18. Loads the DOS CD-ROM extension for access to the CD-ROM drive.  Requires that a CD-ROM driver (line 13) with the same text after /D: is loaded.  /M:15 states a suitable amount of buffers, and /E states that these buffer shall be loaded into Expanded Memory (requires that an EMS manager is loaded, line 11).  /S indicates that the CD-ROM drive can be shared over a network, but is also necessary for some programs in order to make it possible to read the volume label on the CD-ROM disks.  /L:D indicates that drive-letter D shall be assigned to the CD-ROM drive.  If /L: is omitted, the first free drive-letter is assigned to the CD-ROM drive.
19. Loads the DOS Smartdrive disk cache for faster reading and writing on the (hard)disks.  When Smartdrive is loaded AFTER MSCDEX (line 18), the cache will also work for the CD-ROM drive.  Requires that a XMS manager is loaded (line 10).  2048 states the amount of memory in Kb that should be used under DOS, and 16 states the amount when running Windows.  The latter is set to the minimum value, because Windows 9x has its own 32-bit disk cache.
20. Increases the typematic rate and delay for the keyboard.
21. Prepares Danish/Norwegian (865) codepage (character set) for the screen.  Requires that DISPLAY.SYS is loaded (line 12).  C:\DOS\EGA.CPI can be replaced with the name of another codepage information file, for instance C:\DOS\865.CPI under IBM's PC DOS.
22. Selects Danish/Norwegian codepage (character set) for the screen.  Requires that line 21 is executed.
23. Loads the keyboard driver, configurated for a Danish keyboard with support for codepage 865.
24. Loads the Mouse driver.  Your driver might have another name.  The drivers from Microsoft and IBM uses a lot of memory - try to get another driver if you have one provided by Microsoft or IBM.
25. Loads Donkey, which enables fast recalling and editing of the command line at the DOS prompt.  Can be omitted.
26. Set the DOS prompt to show the current directory followed by the character >.
27. PATH indicates in which directories and in which order programs shall be searched for, when no path is stated before the program name.  Many programs inserts their own path in this line during program setup, but in the most instances this is not necessary. Try removing the program path and check if the program can work without it.  A long PATH can slow down the start of the programs on the computer.  The PATH line can not contain more then 127 characters.  Furthermore the length of the PATH is limited by the size of the DOS environment (line 16).
28. Sets the DOS DIR command for pausing, when the screen becomes full, and to display all files including hidden and system files.
29. States in which directory temporary files can be placed by the applications.  This makes it much easier to find files that are not removed due to program errors.  Quite a lot of megabytes can be saved by deleting the files in this directory from time to time.  Do NOT delete these files, while Windows is running - some of them might be in use.
30. States in which directory temporary files can be placed by the applications (older programs).
31. States where the files for the Sound Blaster soundcard are installed.
32. States that the soundcard is installed at Address 220 with IRQ 5, Low DMA on DMA-channel 1, High DMA on DMA-channel 5, MIDI address 330 and that the soundcard is Type 6 (Sound Blaster 16 compatible).
33. Indicates how MIDI-files has to be played.  MAP:G makes sure that both basic MIDI and extended MIDI can be played in DOS.
34. Sets the soundcard to the values in line 32.
35. Sets the volume level for the different channels of the soundcard according to the values saved in the file C:\CTSND\CTMIX.CFG by means of the program C:\CTSND\SB16SET.EXE.  Can be omitted.

/L: indicates in which UMB block the driver/program shall be loaded.

/V indicates that the driver/program shall display extended information on the screen when loading.

If the Upper Memory in the address interval C800 to EFFF is unbroken, it should now, depending on the memory requirements for the CD-ROM and Mouse drivers, be possible to load all drivers and resident programs in Upper Memory, giving approximately 625 Kb free memory (can be checked with the command:  MEM /C).

An unbroken Upper Memory area is among other depending on the computers BIOS, the installed videocard and other plug-in cards installed in the computer.

If there is not 625 Kb of free memory, the MEMMAKER program can be tried, but this program cannot always improve the memory utilization, and some times it becomes worse.

Also look at the chapter:  More Upper Memory with EMM386.

More commands for use in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT can be seen in the chapter:  MS-DOS 6.22 (Windows 3.11).

Windows 95 OSR2 and HIMEM.SYS

If you are using one of the FIRST German or Danish (and probably some other non-US versions) of the OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2) version of Windows 95, there is an ERROR in the IO.SYS system file, which prevents HIMEM.SYS from loading in the HMA area, leading HIMEM.SYS to use 45 Kb of conventional memory instead of 1 Kb.

You can download the IO2PATCH.EXE program here.  This program fixes the problem.  Just put the IO2PATCH.EXE file in the root of your bootup drive (usually C:\), where the IO.SYS system file is placed, execute the IO2PATCH program, and then the problem should be fixed.

DOSSTART.BAT (Windows 95 & 98)

Whenever it is chosen to "Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode" when closing Windows 9x, the file C:\WINDOWS\DOSSTART.BAT is searched for, and the lines herein are executed, if this file exists.

During installation of Windows 9x some lines are often moved from AUTOEXEC.BAT to DOSSTART.BAT, so it is essential to check that none of the drivers and TSR programs loaded from AUTOEXEC.BAT are loaded by DOSSTART.BAT as well.

The CD-ROM extension MSCDEX is one of the programs that Windows 9x often moves to DOSSTART.BAT.  This is done in order for Windows 9x to use its 32-bit driver for the CD-ROM drive, but if access to the CD-ROM drive is wanted before starting Windows 9x (e.g. if automatic start of Windows 9x is disabled, as earlier described), then MSCDEX HAS to be loaded from AUTOEXEC.BAT and therefore should be deleted from the DOSSTART.BAT file.  Windows 9x's 32-bit CD-ROM driver should be a little faster than a 16-bit DOS driver, but some programs cannot run with the 32-bit driver.

However, if it is chosen to load MSCDEX from DOSSTART.BAT, then SMARTDRV should be moved hereto as well, in order to obtain caching of the CD-ROM drive.  Otherwise SMARTDRV would be loaded before MSCDEX, causing the CD-ROM drive not to be cached.  The DOSSTART.BAT file should then look like this:

and line 18 and line 19 should be deleted from AUTOEXEC.BAT.

WINSTART.BAT (Windows 95 & 98 and Windows 3.11)

Windows looks for the file C:\WINDOWS\WINSTART.BAT before starting.  So, if you for any reason want to run any programs or commands before starting Windows, you can put them into this file.  Unlike DOSSTART.BAT, WINSTART.BAT is also executed by Windows 3.11.

MS-DOS 6.22 (Windows 3.11)

The following example applies to a PC with:

but will also work with MS-DOS 6.00 / 6.20 or PC DOS 6.30 / 7.00.

The example are generally applicable, but line 15 and line 26 must be edited, as the drivers for CD-ROM drive and Mouse depends on the manufacturer.

The Lines with * can be omitted.

1. Switches off Num Lock on the keyboard.
2. Extends Control-C / Control Break also to work under I/O operations as for instance reading and writing of the disks.
3. HIGH loads DOS buffers in HMA (requires a XMS manager, line 10).  UMB allows the use of Upper Memory Blocks for resident drivers and programs (requires an EMS manager, line 11).  This frees up more conventional memory for your applications.
4. Sets the number of files that can be opened at one time to 40 (suitable for most instances, but some programs insists on a larger number).
5. Sets the minimal number of file control blocks.  Is only used by very old programs.
6. Sets buffers to 10, which is appropriate, when Smart drive (line 20) is used.
7. Sets the last logical drive-letter to J:
8. Sets stacks as Microsoft recommends it for Windows 3.11.
9. Sets country to 45 (Denmark), with codepage 865 as the system character set i. e. the character set that is used for sorting and conversion to and from capital letters.  If no number is stated for the codepage, then the system codepage is set to 850 by default (for country 45), even though for instance codepage 865 is chosen in line 23.  Therefore the same codepage should always be stated in line 9 and in line 23 to avoid problems with access to files with names, in which characters from the extended ASCII character set are used (character no. 128 to 255) i.e.  ø and Ø.
10. Loads the DOS XMS manager.  Necessary for the next line and for Windows 3.11 and Smartdrive (line 20).
11. Loads the DOS EMS manager.  RAM indicates that both Expanded Memory (EMS) and Upper Memory (UMB) should be made available.  /MIN=0 states that no minimal amount of EMS memory shall be secured.  I=B000-B7FF indicates that the memory reserved for monochrome screens can be used as Upper Memory.  With Windows 3.11 the use of I=B000-B7FF requires the following line in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI:
     
             [386Enh]
             device=c:\dos\monoumb.386
     
    NOTE!  If you don't have the file MONOUMB.386, then I=B000-B7FF can NOT be used, if Windows is to be run.  In that case all instances of /L:2 must be changed to /L:1.  You can download MONOUMB.386 here.
    If EMS memory is not wanted, the parameter RAM can be changed to NOEMS, but from DOS 6.00 an above EMM386.EXE provides both EMS and XMS memory for the programs, so there is no reason not to use the RAM parameter, unless there is a need for more UMB memory and you don't have any programs that demands EMS memory.  Many games requires EMS.
12. Loads the DOS ANSI driver, which among other makes manipulating of the colours in the DOS prompt (line 30) possible.  Can be substituted with an ANSI driver specific to the installed videocard.  DOS's ANSI.SYS uses a lot of memory.  Can be omitted.  Some older programs requires an ANSI driver.
13. Loads the DOS EGA/VGA driver for use of up to 2 codepages (character sets) on the screen.  In DOS 6.22 no more memory is used for 2 codepages than for 1 codepage.
14. Loads the driver for Windows 3.11's 32-bit file access.
15. Loads the driver for the CD-ROM drive.  Specific for the installed drive.  Your driver might have another name.  What is written after /D: must also be written after /D: in line 18.  Some other parameters might also be necessary i.e. a statement of the controller's address (/SBP:220 or the like), if the drive is connected via the soundcard or a separate controllercard.
16. States the name and location of the command interpreter.  /E: states the size of the DOS environment.  512 or 1024 is suitable.  If the number is smaller then some programs and batch-files might not run.  /P indicates that the command interpreter shall stay resident and that AUTOEXEC.BAT shall be executed.  /P may NOT be omitted.
     

17. Hides the text in batch programs when the batch file is executed.
18. Loads the DOS CD-ROM extension for access to the CD-ROM drive.  Requires that a CD-ROM driver (line 15) with the same text after /D: is loaded.  /M:15 states a suitable amount of buffers, and /E states that these buffer shall be loaded into Expanded Memory (requires that an EMS manager is loaded, line 11).  /S indicates that the CD-ROM drive can be shared over a network, but is also necessary for some programs in order to make it possible to read the volume label on the CD-ROM disks.  /L:D indicates that drive-letter D shall be assigned to the CD-ROM drive.  If /L: is omitted, the first free drive-letter is assigned to the CD-ROM drive.
19. Inserts a blank line (remember the period after ECHO).
20. Loads the DOS Smartdrive disk cache for faster reading and writing on the (hard)disks.  When Smartdrive is loaded AFTER MSCDEX (line 18), the cache will also work for the CD-ROM drive.  Requires that a XMS manager is loaded (line 10).  2048 states the amount of memory in Kb that should be used under DOS, and 128 states the amount when running Windows.  128 Kb is recommended when 32-bit file access is used, otherwise 2048 will be proper (having 8 Mb RAM or more).
21. Increases the typematic rate and delay for the keyboard.
22. Prepares Danish/Norwegian (865) and international (850) codepage (character set) for the screen.  Requires that DISPLAY.SYS is loaded (line 13).  C:\DOS\EGA.CPI can be replaced with the name of another codepage information file, for instance C:\DOS\865.CPI under IBM's PC DOS.
23. Selects Danish/Norwegian codepage (character set) for the screen.  Requires that line 22 is executed.
24. Loads the keyboard driver, configurated for a Danish keyboard with support for codepage 865.
25. Inserts a blank line.
26. Loads the Mouse driver.  Your driver might have another name.  The drivers from Microsoft and IBM uses a lot of memory - try to get another driver if you have one provided by Microsoft or IBM.
27. Loads DOSKey, which enables fast recalling and editing of the command line at the DOS prompt.  Can be omitted.
28. Inserts a blank line.
29. Loads national language support, which makes it possible to change the codepage with the command:  CHCP.  If C:\DOS\COUNTRY.SYS is not stated, the country information file stated at COUNTRY=   in CONFIG.SYS (line 9) is used.  Can be omitted.
30. Makes a little fun with the DOS prompt.  Requires that an ANSI driver (line 12) is loaded.  The cross is made by holding down the ALT key and typing 196 and 197 on the numeric keypad at the right side of the keyboard (not all text editors supports this).  Alternatively the prompt can just be set to: $p$g
31. PATH indicates in which directories and in which order programs shall be searched for, when no path is stated before the program name.  Many programs inserts their own path in this line during program setup, but in the most instances this is not necessary. Try removing the program path and check if the program can work without it.  A long PATH can slow down the start of the programs