Booting into Dos only

[macgybl]

My dos command days memory is shot and I can't find much on what I'm trying to do. I just got an old cyrix computer that I formatted the hard drive and trying to get to boot into dos and also support a cdrom. I forget how to do that and all the autoexec.bat and config.sys commands also. I dont' want an OS on this, just dos, since all the programs I want to run on it, use dos only. Thanks for any help

[thePh@r@oh]

not sure exactly what to do but you could always put win3.1 on it

[muno]

Here you go.
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
-M

[macgybl]

I'm trying to avoid using a bootdisk. Is there any way I can have the HD as act a bootdisk and boot into dos? Thanks!

[Steve R Jones]

Copy command.com off the bootdisk mentioned above to the hard drive. Or boot off the bootdisk and type sys c:

[jmichna]

Originally posted by Steve R Jones
Copy command.com off the bootdisk mentioned above to the hard drive. Or boot off the bootdisk and type sys c:

Can't do it just by copying command.com, since the hidden system files io.sys, and msdos.sys would not get copied. Do 'sys c:' Also, the device drivers needed for the CD-ROM player also need to be somewhere on the C: drive.

Regarding the exact config.sys and autoexec.bat files you need to load for CD-ROM support, check out these links to some really good DOS sites:
http://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htm
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~ak621/DOS/DOS-Head.html
http://home7.inet.tele.dk/batfiles/msdos7/
http://members.aol.com/axcel216/

I remember that a device driver with a name like "XXXX_CD.SYS" gets loaded in CONFIG.SYS, and MSCDEX.EXE has to get loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT, each with some switches specific to the exact CD-ROM drive being used.

Example:
< CONFIG.SYS >
Device=C:\DEV\ATAPI_CD.SYS /D:mscd000 /i:0

< AUTOEXEC.BAT >
C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd000 /M:12 /V

I'd bet if you went to the web site of the CD-ROM manufacturer, you will still be able to get drivers for DOS, along with instructions specific to your CD-ROM drive. I know Sony still offers DOS drivers, and they include pretty good instructions too.

[jmichna]

Here you go... real good examples... look for the references to the MTMCDAI,SYS and MSCDEX.EXE commands:

CONFIG.SYS LAYOUT
The following is an example of what the config.sys may look like:

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
FILES=30
STACKS=0,0
BUFFERS=20
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ANSI.SYS
DEVICEHIGH=C:\MTMCDAI.SYS /D:123

DEVICEHIGH=C:\MTMCDAI.SYS /D:123This line is the name of the CD-ROM driver on the particular system we are working on the /D:123 represents the name of the driver which in this case is named 123 however can be named anything usually MSCD0001. Note however that /D:123 must be exactly the same in config.sys and autoexec.bat, if they are different the CD-ROM will not work in DOS.

AUTOEXEC.BAT LAYOUT
The following is an example of what an autoexec may look like:

@echo off
SET SOUND=C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\CTSND
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 E620 T6
SET PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\
LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:123
LH C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.EXE
DOSKEY
CLS

LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:123 Line used for the CD-ROM, if you have Windows 95+ the MSCDEX will always be in the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND Windows 3.x or DOS usually be either in C:\DOS or C:\WINDOWS directory. the /D:123 is the name of the driver name that loads in upper memory this can be anything usually /D:MSCD0001 however this is not an actual driver this is just the name for the driver. Ensure if you change this line that you change it in the config.sys on your CD-ROM line if the two are not the same your CD-ROM drive will not load.

From: http://www.computerhope.com/ac.htm#5

[dr_roberts49]

You will need to start with a floppy that has the dos system on it, plus the mscdex.exe and a *.sys file to run the cdrom.
Boot with the floppy in drive a: Then type the following (I'm assuming you've already run fdisk:

format c:/s
The drive will now format and copy the sys file to drive C
Now type each command line followed by the return key:
copy mscdex.exe c:\
copy *.sys c:\
copy autoexec.xxx c:\autoexec.bat
copy config.xxx c:\config.sys

That should do it. Remove the floppy and boot from the hard drive. Hope it works, it's been a while

Robert

the * is a wildcard for the sys file for the CDROM. Look on the internet for one that fits your CDROM brand.