 Fossilised Files? |
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Q: When my Windows 98 system boots up, the screen displays several DOS messages telling me that my sound card and another device-I think it's my CD-ROM drive-are being initialized from the autoexec.bat and config.sys files. I thought these old DOS files had gone the way of the dodo. Why did my seven-month-old system come configured to use them? Do I risk losing use of these devices if I delete either or both of these files? Lloyd Grove A: The autoexec.bat and config.sys files are used to configure hardware and software for the DOS operating system. While they're definitely on their way to becoming digital dinosaurs, they aren't extinct yet. There are a couple of possible reasons why your system may still use these files to configure hardware. First (and less likely), your PC may have an old graphics card, hard disk, or other component using real-mode DOS drivers that can be loaded only from autoexec.bat and config.sys. The second, more likely explanation is that the PC manufacturer loaded DOS drivers for your sound card and your CD-ROM drive so you'd have access to these devices when running programs under DOS. New systems continue to enable both sound cards and CD-ROM drives in DOS to support the many popular DOS-based games still being played. You could probably eliminate these files without causing any problems, but it's not a particularly good idea. If your system crashes and you can't get Windows to launch properly, you'll want your CD-ROM drive to work in DOS mode so you can access replacement files on your Windows CD-ROM. By Kirk Steers |
Category:Hardware Issue: November 2000 |
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