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---------------------------------------------------------------- DOS VERSION 6.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------- DOS version 5.0 was revolutionary for its improved memory handling capabilities, useful utilities such as DOSKEY, UNDELETE and improved text editor. DOS version 6.0 is perhaps best described as evolutionary. In most cases the software utilities provided in DOS 6.0 have been available for a number of years from commercial and shareware sources other than Microsoft, but the inclusion of these capabilities within DOS 6.0 make it an attractive option for businesses and individuals seeking to obtain an all-in-one software utility toolkit at a modest price. Novices should recall that DOS version 6.0 contains features of all previous DOS versions, so be sure to study prior DOS tutorials contained elsewhere in PC-Learn. Tip: not sure which version of DOS you are using? Type the following command: VER <then press enter/return key> Next, DOS 6.0 feature highlights: DBLSPACE. This hard disk and floppy disk file utility can double the amount of hard disk storage space available by compressing files when not in use and "de-compressing" them when needed. Especially useful for Microsoft Windows users whose software applications, data and graphics files can devour space on a hard drive rapidly. DBLSPACE is also referred to as DOUBLESPACE in popular references to this software utility. MEMMAKER. A sensational automated memory optimization utility which locates and maps conventional, expanded, extended memory and software programs in use - and then attempts various configurations automatically to arrive at an optimum memory configuration. Under DOS 5.0 this process had to be done manually and could be woefully tedious and confusing especially for novices. MEMMAKER, while not flawless, is for most users a well-crafted tool for painlessly configuring RAM memory for optimum speed and flexibility. Especially useful for owners of 80386 and 80486 processor-based computers. MSAV and MSWAV. These two utilities are respectively the DOS and Windows versions of Microsoft Antivirus. Useful for periodic testing of hard drives and floppy disks for computer virus infection. Provision has been made for updates to the program as new computer virus species are found. Whenever you insert a new floppy in your computer disk drive you should check it for computer virus infection. Hard drives should be routinely checked for potential virus infections at least once a week if not more frequently. DEFRAG. A hard drive file defragmenter - speeds hard drive access by organizing files into contiguous segments which can be rapidly located and used by DOS and applications software packages. "Defragging" is a periodic "housekeeping" chore that most computer owners perform once or twice a week to speed hard drive access to files and programs. MSBACKUP and MWBACKUP. DOS and Windows versions of a capable file backup program. The older DOS BACKUP and RESTORE utilities, always a bit unreliable and clumsy to use, have been superseded by these smoother, more dependable backup utilities. The Multiple Configuration Feature. This is not a command or conventional software utility but a method which allows users to choose from one of several boot configuration choices when the computer first starts - at boot (startup) time a menu appears which allows the user to select a Windows optimized configuration, a database optimized configuration or any number of user specified choices. Essentially, different CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files are run under this menu/choice scheme. HELP. The help system in DOS 5.0 was good; but the help system in DOS 6.0 is better, and it's all online at your fingertips. Just type HELP and then cursor to the DOS command in question. Or type HELP and the command name (example: HELP DIR). Pop down menus provide additional technical notes about the command and in most cases a few simple but helpful examples. Put the manual on the bookshelf - this time the HELP utility provides just that. CHOICE. A small but useful utility used by those preparing batch files. Allows for the display of prompts and pauses batch files so that choices can be made. Utilities such as this have existed from non-Microsoft vendors and shareware sources for years. Finally DOS joins the bandwagon with this simple but useful batch file feature. DELTREE. Deletes a subdirectory and all files contained within that subdirectory. INTERLINK. Of special interest to those owning two computers and wishing to transfer files quickly and reliably between machines. Useful for laptop computer owners wishing to transfer files from an office desktop computer to a laptop machine which will be taken on the road. INTERSVER. Shares software data and resources between two linked computers. MOVE. Moves or relocates files from one drive or subdirectory to another. MSCDEX. Microsoft CD-ROM extensions and drivers for those computers equipped with CD-ROM devices. MSD. A system diagnostic program. Provides extremely useful reports about computer hardware which can be printed or viewed on screen. Popdown menus control all actions. Useful when installing new hardware or software. Print out a report and keep it with your computer for future reference if ever problems arise so that you retain the technical configuration of your system. Tip: If your computer ever requires service, you can mail or FAX these technical reports to your service vendor which should speed repairs. POWER. Power management utility - primarily of use to battery operated laptop computer owners. ---------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT'S GONE OR CHANGED WITH DOS 6.0? ---------------------------------------------------------------- The DOS 6.0 SETVER command has been updated so that older or changed software utilities can still be used by those running DOS 6.0. A coupon is provided with the DOS 6.0 packing materials which can be mailed to Microsoft for a supplemental disk of now discontinued DOS utilities for users who may need them. Highlights: OLD DOS COMMAND NEW COMMAND ASSIGN SUBST BACKUP MSBACKUP DOSHELP FASTHELP, HELP EDLIN EDIT EXE2BIN NOT AVAILABLE GRAFTABL NOT AVAILABLE JOIN NOT AVAILABLE RECOVER NOT AVAILABLE ---------------------------------------------------------------- DOUBLESPACE: SEAMLESS OPTIMIZED FILE COMPRESSION ---------------------------------------------------------------- The icing on the DOS 6.0 cake is Doublespace. Or as the DOS command is actually written and typed at the command line: DBLSPACE. The essence of file compression offers a paradox. How can you shrink a computer data file and still have it work? Aren't you removing something to make it smaller? The answer is yes and no. The key to file compression is that most computer files contain substantial redundancy. Large ASCII text files and database files might contain, for example, many occurrences of the word "and" or the word "Mr." If these words and symbols are removed and a single symbol, for example the letter "s" is substituted, you have gone through a process formally known as "tokenizing" or replacing a long word with a short one. Have the computer replace the long file with a tokenized file and you begin to see the efficiency of this scheme. On average the DOS 6.0 DOUBLESPACE utility can squeeze twice the amount of space out of the typical hard drive. Word processing files, spreadsheet files, some graphics image files and large databases are excellent candidates for compression. Other files such as EXE and COM files and some overlay files shrink less. Previously compressed files, such as those made by the popular PKZIP utility, do not shrink at all. The real power of DOUBLESPACE is that unlike earlier popular compression software utilities (e.g., PKZIP, ARC, LHA, STACKER, SUPERSTOR) DOUBLESPACE is an on-the-fly, system level utility which works directly with DOS and thus, in theory, should be more reliable and faster. Users of Microsoft Windows already know that large Windows applications can occupy available hard drive space in megabytes chunks - notebook users, confined to small 20 or 40 megabyte hard drives, are usually faced with the impossibility of upgrading the hard drive in the first place. DOUBLESPACE stores data about the compression data for each file in special hidden files Microsoft calls "volumes" which are located in an uncompressed area of the main hard drive. Each volume is assigned a drive letter "behind the scenes" so that DOS stores compressed information to the volume disk and uncompresses it when data is retrieved. The entire process is hidden from view with the net result that users simply see the same file names on the hard drive but an increase in overall disk storage space.The typical ratio of compression once DOUBLESPACE has worked its magic varies between 1.7 to 1 and 2.2 to 1. DOS 6.0 automatically loads DOUBLESPACE when it first boots up and before the CONFIG.SYS file is read, so even if CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT is missing or damaged, you should still be able to access and use compressed files - a reliability feature Microsoft programmers intended. DOUBLESPACE is copied to your hard drive when you first install DOS 6.0 but users must first run the utility to initiate DOUBLESPACE activity. Without running the utility program, DOUBLESPACE lies dormant. A series of menu selections are presented which are relatively simple to use. Beware that the actual initial compression session of a large number of files can take substantial time when DOUBLESPACE is first run. On a speedy 80386 processor-equipped system plan on about an hour per 20MB of files to be processed. Other features within DOUBLESPACE provide command line or menu driven options which can delete volumes or files, increase or reduce a volume's size, and change the compression ratio. This last feature, adjustment of the compression ratio is VERY important as an occasional housekeeping chore since DOUBLESPACE calculates the free space in the volume and multiplies this number by the estimated compression ratio to produce available space for storage. Gradually the estimated compression ratio will be at variance with the real compression ratio and DOS may run out of disk space a bit early or late. A quick check is to use two new DOS 6.0 command switches updated in the DIR command: DIR /CH <then press enter/return key> DIR /C <then press enter/return key> These commands produce reports showing the actual compression ratio of files. Another tip: Note that the updated DOS 6.0 CHKDSK command now tests and repairs minor flaws in DOUBLESPACE volumes and drives and should be run occasionally. But there can be a downside to DOUBLESPACE magic since the utility requires additional RAM memory and time resources. The DOUBLESPACE driver requires about 40K of RAM - although it can be loaded into the upper 384K of DOS memory using the following command: DEVICEHIGH=DBLSPACE.SYS /MOVE in the CONFIG.SYS file. Another downside: Reading compressed files back from a compressed disk slows file access time by 2 to 4 percent, but writing files to a DOUBLESPACE disk considerably slows things down. If possible, use a disk cache to improve performance of DOUBLESPACE, and DOS includes the SMARTDRV utility for just this purpose. With DOUBLESPACE, small files written to disk entail minimal time lag. Large files, however, require time to be compressed before they can be written to disk. Be sure to use the DOS 6.0 DEFRAG utility periodically if you rely on DOUBLESPACE. DEFRAG is actually a licensed version of the Norton utilities SPEEDDISK system and has been optimized to work with DOUBLESPACE. It's purpose, as with all hard drive defragmentation utilities, is to rearrange files into contiguous, orderly units which can be read and written to a drive as rapidly as possible. Problems with DOUBLESPACE? Reports in the trade press suggest that DOUBLESPACE is for the most part reliable. A few reports have surfaced suggesting that the initial installation of DOUBLESPACE should be performed with MINIMUM or NO programs installed which are TSR in nature (popup calculators, notepads, ramdrives, caches, etc). In other words, boot the computer from a simple CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file or DOS 6.0 system floppy disk so that DOUBLESPACE can use the maximum amount of RAM and disk space during its first installation since some users have noted installation problems if DOUBLESPACE competes with other TSR programs for memory during its initial installation and compression session. The DOS SMARTDRV (Smart Drive) utility) should probably be disabled or removed during the initial DOUBLESPACE installation and then reinstalled after DOUBLESPACE has been configured. It is absolutely necessary to FIRST do any hard drive file repair before DOUBLESPACE is installed! Usually running the CHKDSK utility on the hard drive will locate the following typical hard drive file problems: bad sectors, lost cluster, cross-linked files and stray zero byte files. The command to run CHKDSK on a hard drive labelled C: is as follows: CHKDSK C: If you want to attempt to fix or recover lost hard drive file clusters or repair cross-linked files run this command: CHKDSK C: /F DOUBLESPACE can use a variety of command line switches and menu options to test a compressed volume, convert of Stacker compressed files, defragment a compressed drive and other functions. Use the DOS 6.0 HELP facility for further information regarding these techniques and special command line switches. At the DOS prompt, type: HELP DBLSPACE <then press return/enter key> ---------------------------------------------------------------- FINALLY, BACKUP IS PAINLESS! ---------------------------------------------------------------- Earlier versions of DOS never quite got things right when it came to backing up valuable files onto floppy disks or tape drives. The older BACKUP and RESTORE commands were klunky, unreliable and downright dangerous. With DOS 6.0, Microsoft licensed a version of Symantec's Norton Backup for DOS and Windows. This utility, MSBACKUP (for DOS) and MWBACKUP (for Windows) finally provides convenience and either menu or command line driven utility to the backup process and handles full or partial backups. In addition, the backup utility can format floppies on the fly when needed. Three types of backups are supported: full, incremental and differential. Backup settings and configuration can be saved, password protection is provided, data compression is implemented and menu driven commands are easy and reliable. Speed is good - about 2MB per minute can be moved through the backup utility and a convenient restore and compare option makes sure that files are both intact and can be reconstructed when needed. One clever feature of the backup utility is the capability to skip DOS system files and the large Windows 386 swap file - both of which can be ignored in routine backup sessions. MSBACKUP and MWBACKUP cleverly use the DOUBLESPACE utility to compress backup files which reduces the required number of floppies and saves time during a typical backup session. Problems? MSBACKUP is not compatible with other backup systems such as Norton Backup so users must either convert older backup data to the new system, or keep a copy of their previous backup utility on hand for older backup disks. In addition, tape backup is not supported - a glaring omission for hard drive users equipped with tape drive. For users backing up to floppies, though, this is not a problem, obviously. Another curious omission: MSBACKUP and MWBACKUP do not offer the option to restore all files from a backup floppy disk set - files must be individually selected. This becomes a nuisance for users which to copy a large number of files from one machine to another. Speed use of DMA (direct memory access), a feature commonly found on all 80286, 80386 and 80486 equipped machines, is not used by MSBACKUP - thus making the utility slower than it could be. Tip: If you use Windows, be sure to install both the Windows and DOS versions of the MSBACKUP and MWBACKKUP since if something goes wrong with Windows files, you can still restore backup floppies using DOS if Windows is not operational. MSBACKUP and MWBACKUP can use a variety of command line switches and menu options to operate in black and white mode or display with greater legibility on laptop computer screens. In addition, backup catalog files contain unique names and contents to assist in restoring backed up files. Use the DOS 6.0 HELP facility for further information regarding these techniques and special command line switches. At the DOS prompt, type: HELP MSBACKUP <then press return/enter key> ---------------------------------------------------------------- UNDELETING FILES SAFELY WITH DOS 6.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------- We've all done it: accidentally deleted a file and then wished the file could be recovered. DOS 5.0 used two methods for undeletion - either the UNDELETE command or the more robust MIRROR utility which tracked the location and contents of deleted files and thus speeded recovery from disaster. Both methods were good, but had limitations which were not successful in all cases of file deletion. DOS 6.0 still includes these two useful utilities now called the STANDARD method and DELETE TRACKER method, but adds the more powerful option called the DELETE SENTRY method which moves deleted files into a special hidden subdirectory where they can be recovered if necessary. The mixed blessing with this scheme is that disk space is not released, although owners of large capacity hard drives may not be concerned, given the added peace of mind DELETE SENTRY provides. Another problem, albeit small for most users, is that DELETE SENTRY will only protect files up to a total of 7 percent of available hard drive space - DOS thus discards the oldest files from the hidden subdirectory to make space for newer deleted files. While this last concept seems an odd implementation for a file safety feature, it makes sense because otherwise the hard drive would gradually fill with deleted files which reside in the hidden directory. In addition, the DOS 6.0 UNDELETE command can retrieve entire subdirectories which have been accidentally deleted as well as files. These features are available to both Windows and DOS users via two versions of the utility. Either or both versions of UNDELETE can be used. Users of Windows should probably install both versions of UNDELETE for additional safety. Check the DOS 6.0 HELP facility for more information which is quite detailed regarding this valuable capability. At the DOS command line type: HELP UNDELETE <the press enter/return key> ---------------------------------------------------------------- MEMORY MAGIC WITH DOS 6.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Before studying this section, readers might want to examine the PC-Learn tutorial MANAGING MEMORY located in a subsequent chapter since some technical memory terms are best covered in that tutorial. Also read the DOS 5.0 tutorial for information on related memory management utilities and commands such as DEVICEHIGH, LOADHIGH, MEM, EMM386 and HIMEM.SYS. New to DOS 6.0 is MEMMAKER, an automated utility for configuring memory and relocating software programs in use. MEMMAKER tries various RAM memory configurations, reboots the computer, checks the result and if necessary makes further adjustments in an attempt to locate more RAM memory for software, drivers and TSR memory resident programs. The utility automates loading programs into high memory, optimizes memory for Windows users and can allocate RAM memory on the fly when necessary. It controls the HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE memory driver/managers and makes adjustments in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT startup files as necessary. The older DOS 5.0 utility EMM386 was an acceptable memory manager for owners of 80386 machines, but produced unspectacular memory savings in the critical RAM memory area between 640K and 1 Meg. DOS 6.0 adds a HIGHSCAN switch to the EMM 386 utility to search for more usable high memory. Additionally, the revised DOS 6.0 commands DEVICEHIGH and LOADHIGH, discussed in the PC- Learn DOS 5.0 tutorial, are more effective at using the memory they find by loading programs into sections of non-contiguous blocks of high memory. Prior to this, these two utilities required contiguous memory spaces - a waste of precious RAM resources. However the real story behind DOS 6.0 memory management is MEMMAKER which automates the process of installing and using HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE - the two software drivers that control high, extended and expanded memory. MEMMAKER performs its function by testing and changing the commands within the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files and experimenting with different variations of the DEVICEHIGH and LOADHIGH statements then rebooting the computer and studying the results in an effort to use all available upper memory blocks, sometimes called the UMB memory area. MEMMAKER is also mindful of Windows software and provides a /W switch for just this purpose. However, initially MEMMAKER configures memory optimization for DOS programs unless instructed otherwise. UMB memory management under windows is important for a few of the more fussy windows applications such as Ventura Publisher which require access to the first megabyte of memory for table sorting and other functions - a reason for the /W switch of MEMMAKER. Another revised DOS 6.0 memory management feature allows EMM386.EXE to define either extended or expanded memory from the same RAM area on the fly. DOS 5.0 versions of EMM386 required that memory be configured as either extended or expanded and frozen that way. Now a user can run spreadsheets (which usually require expanded memory) or databases (which use either extended or expanded memory) without having to know much about memory management since EMM386 will switch between the two types automatically. Problems? Be careful when using the DOS 6.0 multi-configuration menu option (booting up and choosing different CONFIG.SYS options from a menu), since MEMMAKER can sometimes delete or mangle the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files beyond use. It is probably best to copy your configuration data from those two files safely to a floppy disk before MEMMAKER is run and then study the resulting CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT contents after MEMMAKER has finished. MEMMAKER can use a variety of command line switches for specialized settings. Use the DOS 6.0 HELP facility for further information regarding these techniques and special command line switches. Also consult the help facility for assistance regarding the related commands DEVICEHIGH, LOADHIGH, MEM, EMM386 and HIMEM.SYS. Finally, refer to the multiple configuration discussion later in this tutorial which also affects memory configuration. At the DOS prompt, type one of these examples for more information. HELP MEMMAKER <then press return/enter key> HELP LOADHIGH <then press return/enter key> HELP MEM <then press return/enter key> HELP DEVICEHIGH <then press return/enter key> HELP HIGHMEM.SYS <then press return/enter key> HELP EMM386 <then press return/enter key> ---------------------------------------------------------------- A NOTE REGARDING THE SMART DRIVE CACHE UTILITY ---------------------------------------------------------------- DOS 5.0 and DOS 6.0 contain a disk cache program called Smart Drive or SMARTDRV. The purpose of this utility program is to speed hard drive performance by storing frequently used information in speedy RAM memory rather than forcing the central processor to continually request slower hard drive access. Software which uses the hard drive heavily is accelerated by using SMARTDRV. However, a concern arises for users of the SMARTDRV version contained DOS 6.0 since SMARTDRV does NOT write stored information to the hard drive immediately but waits for a brief time if the processor is busy. The SMARTDRV utility in DOS 5.0 always writes information to the hard drive immediately without this lag. The version in DOS 6.0 does not. Obviously if the computer is turned off, a power failure occurs or perhaps a different software program is closed and a new software program started, there is a chance that the DOS 6.0 SMARTDRV utility may not have the chance to write its stored information safely to the hard drive. Substantial loss of data can and has occurred! Users of DOS 6.0 can force SMARTDRV to immediately write data to the hard drive using this command: SMARTDRV /C Use the DOS 6.0 HELP facility for more information since SMARTDRV contains a large number of specialized command line switches and examples. At the DOS command line type: HELP SMARTDRV <then press return/enter key> ---------------------------------------------------------------- VIRUS PROTECTION AT LAST ---------------------------------------------------------------- Central Point Software was the source of the DOS 6.0 antivirus utilities, MSAV (DOS version) and MWAV (for Windows users.) In addition, VSAFE, a memory resident virus detection utility is now a part of DOS. The temptation to check stray disks about the office and investigate shareware packages is ever present - and thus so is the possibility of computer virus infection as discussed in greater detail in the PC-Learn virus tutorial elsewhere. VSAFE remains in memory and constantly compares specific file checksums or CRC numbers (cyclic redundancy check) to detect file changes due to virus infection. If VSAFE locates suspicious virus activity such as modifications to a disk's boot sector, file allocation table or partition table an alarm is sounded. At that point the user can invoke the MSAV utility for file repair or removal as necessary. MSAV is loaded at the request of the user and scans an entire drive or subdirectory - including RAM memory - for the presence of computer virus infestation. Note that new virus strains are always on the rise so that Microsoft has made provision for two free updates to MSAV. Subsequent updates, handled by Central Point Software, will probably cost a few dollars, but be available by postal or speedy modem update as needed. Note that if MSAV finds a virus in a file it either repairs the file or deletes it, whichever is possible. Problems? VSAFE does require about 40K of memory since it is a TSR memory resident program - not all users may want to allocate RAM for this function, but busy offices with many disks in constant circulation and thus risk of virus infection might find the tradeoff acceptable. However, for isolated users who rarely try new disks and software, an occasional scan with MSAV once or twice a week may be plenty of protection. Use the DOS 6.0 HELP facility for more information since MSAV contains a large number of specialized command line switches and examples. At the DOS command line type: HELP MSAV <then press return/enter key> ---------------------------------------------------------------- MULTIPLE STARTUP CONFIGURATIONS - A POWER USER CONCEPT ---------------------------------------------------------------- The situation arises all too easily. Depending on the programs you are running there are times when the critical CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT startup files of your hard drive must be modified. Perhaps a RAM memory configuration in one case for a Windows program and later in the day a different configuration for a DOS program. Prior to DOS 6.0 this conundrum meant dragging out a text editor or the DOS EDIT utility and tinkering with the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files in the root directory of the hard drive, restarting the computer to effect the new configuration and then later revising both files again to return to the previous settings and again restarting the computer. Tedious at best. No longer. Under DOS 6.0 a new MULTI-CONFIG option allows the user to modify the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files with new commands so that a menu of up to 12 different choices is presented when the computer first starts. After a key is pressed a specific configuration is selected which can later be changed by restarting the computer and again selecting from the startup menu. Let's look at a specific example. Novices may first wish to read the MANAGING RAM MEMORY tutorial and the BATCH FILE tutorial elsewhere in PC-Learn to understand some of the concepts discussed next. Tip: The Multiple Configuration Option is most frequently of use when selecting among different RAM memory configurations, installing different software drivers or switching between Windows and DOS applications during the day. As an example, when you start you PC each morning perhaps you would always like your CONFIG.SYS startup file to contain the following lines: FILES=20 DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE STACKS=0,0 However when you load Windows perhaps you would like to set the FILES statement to 40, the EMM386 utility to NOEMS and stacks to 9,256. However in all cases you wish to load the HIMEM.SYS utility, place DOS into high memory and set BUFFERS to 20. Here is a modified CONFIG.SYS file which provides a menu of choices using the DOS 6.0 multiple configuration option. Note that any valid CONFIG.SYS statement can be used with this scheme, the following example is provided merely to get you started... Using any text editor or the DOS EDIT utility, create a short CONFIG.SYS file in the root directory of your hard drive (or modify your current CONFIG.SYS file) so that the following statements are present: [Menu] MENUITEM=DOS, DOS Startup MENUITEM=WINDOWS, Windows Startup MENUDEFAULT DOS,5 MENUCOLOR 15,1 [Common] BUFFERS=20 DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DOS=HIGH,UMB [DOS] FILES=20 DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE STACKS=0,0 [WINDOWS] FILES=40 DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS STACKS=9,256 In the above statements within the CONFIG.SYS, a menu will appear at startup giving the user a choice - in this example, a choice between "Dos Startup" and "Windows Startup". The first line "[Menu]" alerts DOS 6.0 that the multi- configuration option is active and that a menu will be constructed. Lines two and three use the MENUITEM statement to respectively define the name of the labels which will be used later in both the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT (either DOS or WINDOWS) and screen titles (DOS Startup, Windows Startup). Line four, the MENUDEFAULT statement is used to cause the computer to wait for 5 seconds (this can be adjusted by changing the number to a higher or lower value) and then if no key is pressed by the user to automatically run the DOS menu option as the default, predetermined choice. In line 5, a menu color is defined with bright white on blue (15,1). Other colors are noted by consulting the DOS 6.0 help facility for further color choices. In the next line, the [Common] statement advises the menu that the following three lines referring to BUFFERS, HIMEM.SYS and DOS=HIGH are always run as common to either menu choice and thus always activated. The three lines following the [DOS] statement are run only if the menu option for DOS has been selected by a keypress. Alternatively, the three lines following the [WINDOWS] statement are run only if the Windows option has been selected by a keypress. It should be noted that up to 12 different menu options can be created. Other than the label [Common], any labels can be selected - it is not necessary to use labels such as [DOS] and [Windows]. For instance a user to rewrite the menu structure using labels such as [Bob's settings] or [Mary's settings]. Configuration options are limited only by the imagination of the user in constructing a suitable CONFIG.SYS menu structure. However, the plot thickens since it must be noted that on startup the computer uses both CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. Cleverly, DOS 6.0 allows customization there also... Keeping the above example in mind, the next step is an OPTIONAL modification to likewise adjust statements in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file of the same computer. Note that this modification is not necessary, but provides further control as required by the user. Novices who are unfamiliar with the AUTOEXEC.BAT file may wish to refer to the PC-learn tutorial on BATCH FILES for background information before studying this example. The AUTOEXEC.BAT file which follows uses references to the previous CONFIG.SYS example to achieve further startup customization. ECHO OFF CLS PROMPT $p$g GOTO %CONFIG% GOTO END :DOS SMARTDRV 4096 LOADHIGH DOSKEY PATH C:\;C:\DOS;\C:\GAMES GOTO END :WINDOWS SMARTDRV 1024 PATH C:\;C:\DOS;\C:\WINDOWS LOADHIGH C:\DOS\MOUSE CD \WINDOWS WIN GOTO END :END In the above AUTOEXEC.BAT example, the first two lines turn off the screen echo facility and clear the screen. The third line referring to the prompt is run regardless of whatever menu selection was made in the previous CONFIG.SYS file example. In the fourth line the GOTO %CONFIG% statement locates the stored keypress selection the user has made in the previous CONFIG.SYS example. This statement sets the stage for events which will follow so that if the DOS menu choice was made, the three statements following the label :DOS are run so that the SMARTDRIVE utility is installed with a cache size of 4096 Kilobytes, the DOSKEY utility is loaded into high memory and the computer is changed into a games subdirectory. However if the user selected a Windows startup, the five statements following the :WINDOWS label are run which include starting SMARTDRIVE with a cache size of 1024 Kilobytes, installation of a mouse and changing into the Windows subdirectory of the hard drive and running Windows. The Multiple Configuration Option of DOS 6.0 is obviously a powerful capability which requires study and planning. A summary of multi-configuration command statements and examples are contained in the DOS 6.0 HELP facility. At the DOS command line type: HELP MULTI-CONFIG <then press return/enter key> Tip: If you are using a version of DOS earlier than 6.0 you can still obtain capabilities similar to the multi-config option by purchasing either BOOT.SYS or BOOTCON, two software utilities which are available from most shareware dealers. See the PC- Learn tutorial SOFTWARE RESOURCES for a list of shareware vendors which should carry these two utilities. ---------------------------------------------------------------- A FUNCTION KEY SHORTCUT ---------------------------------------------------------------- DOS 6.0 has a clever option which allows you to step through or even bypass your CONFIG.SYS file completely. Pressing F5 or the Shift key when you see the message "Starting MS-DOS" will skip the CONFIG.SYS file and replace it with default settings. If you press F8 instead you can select via a yes/no choice the various device drivers and statements of the CONFIG.SYS one at a time! A problem may arise on computers which operate too rapidly to allow you to hit the F5 or F8 keys, though. If this is the case, simply add these lines to the beginning of your CONFIG.SYS file to slow things down so you can select a keypress: [MENU] MenuDefault=Normal,5 MenuItem=Normal [Normal] The above CONFIG.SYS modification will give you 5 seconds to press either the F5 or F8 key. If nothing is done, after 5 seconds bootup continues with default values in whatever CONFIG.SYS settings are present. The 5 second value in the above example can be changed to any value between 1 and 90 seconds. Tutorial finished. Have you registered PC-Learn to receive your bonus disks? Registration is encouraged. Shareware works on the honor system! Send $25 to Seattle Scientific Photography, Department PCL6, PO Box 1506, Mercer Island, WA 98040. Latest version of PC-Learn and two bonus disks shipped promptly!