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PowerUsers.info - Paul Doherty Askme Archive of Questions and Answers
Category : DOS
QAId : 3085737
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : WINDOWS DOS FILES
Private : No
Question : HELLO EVERYONE,
CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHY WINDOWS HAVE THESE
DOS FILES UNDER DIFFERENT NAMES, EVEN THOUGH
THEIR CONTENTS ARE THE SAME? WHAT HAPPENS IF
THEY GET CORRUPTED OR DELETED? WHAT THE .PIF
EXTENSION STAND FOR?. THE FILES ARE:
1). DOSPRMPT.PIF
2). COMMAND.PIF
3). EXIT TO DOS.PIF
THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR HELP...!
SAMMY. ;-)
***
Answer : A PIF is a Program Information File. Windows creates one when you run a
DOS app under Windows. It is used to store information about the DOS program's
environment (like the fact that you went to the properties of the DOS app's
window and set it to "Close on Exit" - it will remember that next time thanks to
the PIF file's storing that choice). You can also use it to directly launch the
DOS app.
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A.Sc., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3085825
Asker : amerneimer
Subject : help me
Private : No
Question : how do i return to windows from a dos A:/> ?
Answer : If exit doesn't work try:
C:
EXIT
**OR**
C:
CD \WINDOWS
WIN
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A.Sc., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3140411
Asker : elcharles
Subject : Batch Files
Private : No
Question : Can anyone tell me how to write a batch file that list the contents
of a network drive, and send the results to a .txt file. Something like
I:\*.*/s>>text.txt will work but in a batch file format.
Thanks for your help.
Answer : Assuming your drive is mapped to I: as you indicate you can do it with
this (just paste into a file and name it anything.bat - also I'm assuming you
want a list of *everything* on the network drive, not just the root directory):
@echo off
dir i:\*.* /s /-p /a > c:\idrive.txt
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A.Sc., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3140526
Asker : travis10
Subject : running cd's in dos
Private : No
Question : Please could you tell me how i can run a cd in msdos (at the dos
prompt) at the momemt i try to chande from drive c: to e:(my cd drive) and it
says "invalid parameters", can you help???
Answer : You need a DOS CD-ROM driver - here's one:
http://members.home.net/iqueue/idecd.sys
Save this file to C:\WINDOWS
Now edit the file C:\CONFIG.SYS and add the line:
device=\windows\idecd.sys /d:cd01
Now edit the file C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and add the line:
\windows\command\mscdex.exe /d:cd01 /l:e
Now when you reboot just press F8 right before the boot starts from the hard
disk (you'll see a menu pop up) - select "Command Prompt Only" and when the boot
is finished you'll be left at a DOS prompt and have access to your CD-ROM drive
on letter E:
One thing - you may not want to have this permanently in your hard drive's
configuration as these are real-mode drivers and will interfere with Windows's
native 32-bit drivers. The best use for idecd.sys and the lines I gave you are
on a bootable floppy disk that you use when you need the CD-ROM and DOS but
don't need Windows. To use it this way just make a boot floppy by going to
Start/Settings/Control Panel/Add-Remove Programs/Startup Disk. When the disk is
done use notepad or another text editor to edit the same files I listed above
and put a REM at the beginning of all the lines like:
device=\whatever\this.sys
becomes
REM device=\whatever\this.sys
and then add the lines I told you about above...
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A.Sc., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3149852
Asker : 95sextond
Subject : MS DOS
Private : No
Question : What are the limitatins of MS-DOS?
Answer : There are lots...
no large memory access
no multitasking
no built-in networking
no true scripting language (BAT files are OK but lack some features)
Was there anything else specific you wanted in terms of limitations?
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3166646
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : ms-dos
Private : No
Question : I go to start, programs, ms-dos,which comes up. But when i try to go
to c: nothing happens, it stays c:/Windows.How can i get into c:/?
Answer : When you initially load the DOS prompt your "current directory" is
C:\WINDOWS. DOS maintains the current directory for each device on your system.
A: has one, D: (CD-ROM or second hard disk partition) has one too. Examine if,
while in your DOS session, you perform the following commands:
C:\WINDOWS> CD SYSTEM
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM> A:
A:\> cd STUFF
A:\STUFF> C:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM> A:
A:\STUFF>
Note that in the last two commands I changed from drive A: to drive C: and my
path upon arriving in C: was the *same as I'd left it*. Also when changing then
from C: back to A: again the current directory was made to be the same as I'd
left it. This can be useful if you need to copy some files and are aware of this
behavior. For example let's say I have some files in A:\WHAT\WHERE that I want
to copy to C:\STUFF\MORESTUFF\YETMORESTUFF - there are several ways I can go
about it:
*The bulletproof method*
A:\> COPY A:\WHAT\WHERE\*.* C:\STUFF\MORESTUFF\YETMORESTUFF
*The Tricky Method That Uses What We Discussed*
A:> CD \WHAT\WHERE
A:\WHAT\WHERE > C:
C:> CD \STUFF\MORESTUFF\YETMORESTUFF
C:\STUFF\MORESTUFF\YETMORESTUFF> COPY A:*.* .
The last line above will copy "*.*" from the *last directory we were on in drive
A: because we did not use a full pathname*. Since we didn't include even a "\"
(like A:\) this means to DOS to take the files from whatever the current
directory was, which in this case we left at A:\WHAT\WHERE.
On another note, much closer to your question (:-) the "\" signifies the "root"
of a disk. In your question you wanted to know how to go from
C:\WINDOWS
to
C:\
To get to the root of *any* device you simply do this:
C:\WINDOWS> CD \
C:\>
And there you are...
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3253763
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : delete command
Private : No
Question : Hello everyone,
can you please tell me if there is a dos
command that would delete a specific file
from the c:\ drive without knowing the name
of the directory that is copied in.
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : Use my program RDelete off my web site -
For example to remove the file stuff123.txt from your system (regardless of
directory) you can issue:
rdelete c:\ stuff123.txt
Be aware that if there are any other files on the C: drive with this exact same
name they will be deleted too... if you can isolate the branch of the filesystem
somewhat you can mitigate that if you know there may be more than one of these
files (unlikely by the way you've described it). For example say that you knew
the file would exist somewhere in the "\WINDOWS" branch of the filesystem you
could do:
rdelete c:\windows stuff123.txt
RDelete and other utilities of my design are available (as emailware) at my
website:
http://members.home.net/iqueue
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3345721
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : Dos -V- Win95/98
Private : No
Question : What advantages does the CLI interface of MS-DOS have over the GUI of
Windows 95/98.
Answer : DOS lets power users get at and see everything in a "cleaner" format
than Windows.
It also allows you to easily script activities to automate them. For instance I
used to have a script I wrote called UNDO.BAT that would assist in getting at
files I'd downloaded as ZIP/ARC/LZH archives. Invoked as:
undo file1 zip
it would do the following:
take me to a temporrary directory under my new downloads (C:\NEW\TEMP)
remove all files and dirs currently there
extract the filename I supplied (file1) regardless of extension (would use the
right program) into the temporary directory from the download dir C:\NEW
display a dir after extraction
So all that is done with one command from any directory on the machine. It's
that kind of scripting ability that keeps me coming back to a DOS prompt even
today in 98 and ME...
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A.Sc., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3345793
Asker : great_goddess
Subject : DOS
Private : No
Question : What are Wild Card Characters?
Answer : Wildcard characters stand for other characters in a file or directory
name.
As razara said there are two - the ? and the *
A ? represents a single character (and nothing but a single character).
So if you had the files:
STUFF.TXT STUFF1.TXT STUFF2.TXT STUFF3.TXT STUFF31.TXT
and you peformed this command:
DEL STUFF?.TXT
you would be left with:
STUFF.TXT STUFF31.TXT
Since the first one has no character in the "?" position (being after "STUFF"
and before the period (".") and STUFF31.TXT has *two* characters after "STUFF"
and so is not a match.
If you instead issued the command:
DEL STUFF*.TXT
you would be left with:
(nothing)
since all files match this wildcard. An "*" means "zero or more characters" and
so match all the files we had.
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A.Sc., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3345837
Asker : hcyphers
Subject : Printing
Private : No
Question : I have Windows 95 but have a program that I must run that will not
run properly under Windows. I must restart in MS-DOS mode. Then the program will
not print on my Canon BJC-1000 printer, even after changing to a generic (text
only) driver. Neither will other prgrams such as DOS Edit program. I put
print.com from a machine running DOS 6.3 or 6.something on the WIN 95 machine
and tried to run it. I got a "Wrong DOS" message. What can I do?
Answer : If the machine is hooked straight to your parallel port (likely) try
testing the printer with this from pure DOS mode:
COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT LPT1:
(you may have to press the page eject on the printer since a formfeed will not
be sent)
Or try this:
EDIT C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
and hit ALT-F and go to Print.
If these work then printing in the DOS program will just be printing to LPT1:
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A.Sc., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3473896
Asker : marc94
Subject : Slow down System for older DOS applications
Private : No
Question : I need a tool who speeds down my PC because I need to run older DOS
apllications and I always got the answer RUNTIME ERROR R006.
Thank you for your answers!!!!
Answer : You haven't given me enough info to comment on your run-time error
(have you got the needed memory manager(s) loaded for your program?) but here
are some utilities for slowing down your machine:
Bremze:
http://ansis.folklora.lv/bremze/
Moslo:
http://www.hpaa.com/moslo/
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3484965
Asker : albia
Subject : DOS Commands
Private : No
Question : I need some help in ascertaining the correct syntax for some DOS
commands - I am reading a text book but cannot check my answers/ideas without a
true DOS machine:)So any pointers or corrections would be appreciated:) Thanks
for your time!
C:\>DEL D:\UTIL\NORTON\.
* does this cmd remove all the files from the sub-directory NORTON?- which is
necessary to do before being able to remove the directory and it's parent?
C:\>RD D:\UTIL\NORTON
*and then
C:\>RD D:\UTIL
*isn’t this the correct syntax to use to remove the UTIL directory from the D:
drive? Or is RMDIR more correct? are there any other cmds that can more
efficiently acomplish the same thing? (in Ver 3-5)
C:\> DEL D:\BUS\PROJ\*.* ECHO Y | DEL .
C:\>DEL D:\BUS\EXER\*.* ECHO Y | DEL .
C:\>DEL D:\BUS\ASG\*.* ECHO Y | DEL .
C:\>RD D:\BUS\ASG ECHO Y | DEL .
C:\>RD D:\BUS\EXER ECHO Y | DEL .
C:\>RD D:\BUS\PROJ ECHO Y | DEL .
*I need to remove a branch from the root directory here and I want to be as
efficient as possible - have I used the ECHO cmd with the DEL & RD cmds
correctly? Or do I have the syntax incorrect? I thought that having the ECHO cmd
means that you skip the confirmation prompt. OR - if I just remove the ECHO
commands is it ok? Because the DEL cmds will delete the files in the three
subdirectories and the RD cmds can then remove the directories.
- also...
what other cmd will duplicate the one below which wil show - one screen at a
time - the C drive's parent directories, sub-directories adn all the files in
them?:
D:\>DIR C:\ /P/A/S
-how do I set up a printer queue?
-what is the syntax for removing and adding to the prit queue in one go? IE - if
I have already set up the print queue, and there is a queue for printing some
files in the C drive directory called MARKETING and I want to remove a file
called SALES.LTR from this print queue and add a file called SALES.SEP to the
queue...how can I accomplish thta in one line?
D:\> PRINT /D:PRN C:\MARKETING\SALES.LTR /C C:\MARKETING\SALES.SEP /P
- If there is a parent directory on the C drive called BUSINESS that contains 6
sub-directories and there are files everywhere in the structure - how can i copy
the entire structure onto the B drive using 720k unformatted disks ony?
Format B:/F:720 \v
ATTRIB +A C:\BUSINESS\*.* /S
XCOPY C:\BUSINESS\ B:\BUSINESS\ /M/S/E/V
Answer : C:\>DEL D:\UTIL\NORTON\.
* does this cmd remove all the files from the sub-directory NORTON?- which is
necessary to do before being able to remove the directory and it's parent?
---
It removes all *files* from D:\UTIL\NORTON but does nothing to any
subdirectories that may exist inside of it. DELTREE (since DOS 6?) does this for
you (removes the whole branch).
****************************************
C:\> DEL D:\BUS\PROJ\*.* ECHO Y | DEL .
C:\>DEL D:\BUS\EXER\*.* ECHO Y | DEL .
C:\>DEL D:\BUS\ASG\*.* ECHO Y | DEL .
C:\>RD D:\BUS\ASG ECHO Y | DEL .
C:\>RD D:\BUS\EXER ECHO Y | DEL .
C:\>RD D:\BUS\PROJ ECHO Y | DEL .
*I need to remove a branch from the root directory here and I want to be as
efficient as possible - have I used the ECHO cmd with the DEL & RD cmds
correctly? Or do I have the syntax incorrect? I thought that having the ECHO cmd
means that you skip the confirmation prompt. OR - if I just remove the ECHO
commands is it ok? Because the DEL cmds will delete the files in the three
subdirectories and the RD cmds can then remove the directories.
-----
The correct syntax for what you are trying to do here (using the first line as
an example):
C:\> ECHO Y | DEL D:\BUS\PROJ\*.*
****************************************
- also...
what other cmd will duplicate the one below which wil show - one screen at a
time - the C drive's parent directories, sub-directories adn all the files in
them?:
D:\>DIR C:\ /P/A/S
-----
You have about the only one that will do it - another way is very similar:
D:\> DIR C:\ /A /S /-P | MORE
The "/-P" diables waiting per page and we then direct our STDOUT to the program
"more" which just does the same thing - show a page at a time. A useless example
that just goes to show there's more than one way to do things... but hey you
asked. :-)
*********************************
- If there is a parent directory on the C drive called BUSINESS that contains 6
sub-directories and there are files everywhere in the structure - how can i copy
the entire structure onto the B drive using 720k unformatted disks ony?
Format B:/F:720 \v
ATTRIB +A C:\BUSINESS\*.* /S
XCOPY C:\BUSINESS\ B:\BUSINESS\ /M/S/E/V
-----
There is no DOS command that I remember that will span disks this way. If you
assume the directory structure will fit on the device you're using (be it a
720K, 144MB floppy, a ZIP drive, another hard disk, whatever):
XCOPY C:\BUSINESS\*.* B:\BUSINESS\*.* /E
This will create the dir structure "BUSINESS" on drive B: and will copy the full
contents (including all subdirectories) to it.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
FUQuestion : THANKS so much Paul. yours has been the most helpful answer so far.
Thank you for your time and not asking me a bunch of unrelated questions:) -
from a grateful student of DOS and fellow Irish descendant:)
Answer : You're very welcome!
Don't forget to rate your answers on AskMe.com... we really do appreciate it!
--
Paul O'Doherty (Used to be anyway ;-)
http://members.home.net/iqueue
FUQuestion : ok - I would like to give you a top rating but I still need info on
how to set up a print queue and to know if D:\> PRINT /D:PRN
C:\MARKETING\SALES.LTR /C C:\MARKETING\SALES.SEP /P will work to remove one file
from the queue and slip in another one in one line:)
Cheers!
Answer : Man, you want everything! :-)
http://www.csulb.edu/~murdock/print.html
I never had a need or opporutunity to use print much... I always just hammered
it to LPT1:
copy c:\autoexec.bat lpt1:
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
FUQuestion : Bet you're sorry that you ever tried to answer my question now
hunh! :) hee, hee... I make you work for your rating!! - but I have learned not
to jump the gun and rate answers when communicating is done.
I have a link to the site you referred to and it is what helped confuse me.
According to the examples given at the end of the webpage
<http://www.csulb.edu/~murdock/print.html>
the command line below would get rid of sales.ltr from the queue and add
sales.sep to the queue, which is what I want to do - BUT when I have read the
details of the switches - it doesn't make sense! because it says "A filename
already in the print queue that precedes this option will be suspended. Names of
files (already in the print queue) that follow this option will be canceled." -
well sales.sep follows the the /C option so doesn't that mean it will be
cancelled and not the sales.ltr????
D:\> PRINT /D:PRN C:\MARKETING\SALES.LTR /C C:\MARKETING\SALES.SEP /P
I have no idea what this does--> copy c:\autoexec.bat lpt1:---I guess it copies
that file to the printer drive? - is this another way of issuing a print
command?
AND FINALLY- I am writing a batch file that requires I set up a print queue for
printing on LPT1 - so all I have to do is type PRINT /D:LPT1 ?right?
ok - that's it! you've been great!
Cheers!
Answer : Here is what I get from the syntax help. To add sales.rep and delete
sales.ltr in one command:
print /D:PRN c:\marketing\sales.sep /c sales.ltr
The first one comes before the "/c" (cancel) switch and is therefore added; the
other comes after the "/c" and is therefore removed.
You're welcome and so have you!
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : ThanX to your guidance I got an A on my paper!
wa-hoo!!
If you are ever in Vancouver (Canada),
let me know and I will take you out for a Guiness!! :)
Cheers!
Albia...xxx
albia3@yahoo.co.uk
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3485244
Asker : nsddfran
Subject : what is the dos command to provide a date-stamp to a file, with an
example
Private : No
Question : What dos commands can I use to provide a date-time stamp to a file
created in a script.
Answer : Use my free (emailware) app - DateIt... Just copy it to
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND and then from any of your batch files that need a timestamp
just execute DateIt somewhere in the file like this:
(beginning of your BAT file is a good place)
@ECHO OFF
dateit
DateIt will create a file in the current directry whose name is the current date
- that way you will know every day the BAT file ran successfully simply by
looking for these datestamp files.
http://members.home.net - DateIt is in the Windows Utilities section of the main
page.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3494913
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : Display: page vs screen
Private : No
Question : Ok - so I am reading my text book and BAM! I realise that there is
something that doesn't make sense! and I have been playing around with the
commands through the DOS prompt in WIN98, and I still can't figure this out! So
I thought it was time I asked for some help! I have lurked here a bit and am
happy to finally have my own question to post:)
So listed below are the two questions, followed by my answers - BUT I have been
trying to work this out and I can't figure out what the difference is! A text
file doesn't have page breaks like a *.doc will have right? so displaying the
file one page at a time is the same thing as one screen at a time - isn't it??
Q1* Issue TWO seperate commands that will display, ONE PAGE AT A TIME, the
content of a file (on the A disk) called F-1.TXT which is located in a
sub-directory called C-1, under the parent directory called P-1.
C:\>type a:\p-1\c-1\f-1.txt | more
C:\>more < a:\p-1\c-1\f-1.txt
Q2* Issue TWO seperate commands which will display, ONE SCREEN AT A TIME, the
content of a text file called LTR.SEP, which is located in a directory called PR
on the C drive.
C:\>type c:\pr\ltr.sep | more
C:\>more < c:\pr\ltr.sep
H-E-L-P!!:)
Answer : Stop hurting yourself... your answers are right (if not perfectly
efficient).
All you're doing in both cases is getting input to the "more" program, which as
you know, displays text a page ("screen") at a time. In the first case you use a
text-spitter-upper (technical term for "type") and pipe it's output to the STDIN
of more. in each of the second examples you simply execute more and redirect
input (this is where the small inefficiency is - no need for redirection here -
the commands are fine as):
C:\>more c:\pr\ltr.sep
Have fun!
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3584383
Asker : ashrafks
Subject : ms-dos
Private : No
Question : I want to write a ms-dos batch file
which can rename a file with computer system date.
eg: ren myfile.bat f201099.bat if the system date is 20/10/1999. Please help me.
Ashraf
Answer : I can write you an app that will do that - I have a similar app called
DateIt on my website that you may be able to use to get close to what you want -
DateIt will *create a new file* in the currecnt directory you run it from (the
actual file can be wherever you like in your PATH - best spot is
\windows\command).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Answer : I wrote an app that can do this for you - get it here:
http://members.home.net/iqueue/DateSet.zip
Read the readme.txt for instructions...
Don't forget to rate the answers you receive on AskMe.com...
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3663328
Asker : icollaboDotCom
Subject : DOS
Private : Yes
Question : How can I use DOS to locate a file in a folder and rename that folder
with a date and time stamp?
Answer : I saw your follow-up question to another expert and saw what you are
after. I wrote you (and everyone else) a program to handle this problem. It's
called DateSet and you can use it to obtain and use the system date in a DOS
shell or BAT file easily. I just finished compiling it and putting it on my web
site:
http://members.home.net/iqueue/DateSet.zip
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Answer : --
FUQuestion : I am not sure what is wrong but this is exactly what I need if I
can figure this out.
I installed the .exe in my C:\WINNT\system32 and a test.bak file at C:\Documents
and Settings\User 1\Desktop\pfboae.bak
I then ran the follwing bat file:
@echo off
c:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\dateset.exe
call c:\mydate.bat
ren C:\Documents and Settings\Bradley User 1\Desktop\pfboae.bak
c:\pfboae.%MYDATE%
but I got the following error (windows 2000):
The syntax of the command is incorrect.
hmmm... please help....
FUQuestion : I am not sure what is wrong but this is exactly what I need if I
can figure this out. This is actually what I ran...
I installed the .exe in my C:\WINNT\system32 and a test.bak file at C:\Documents
and Settings\User 1\Desktop\pfboae.bak
I then ran the follwing bat file:
@echo off
c:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\dateset.exe
call c:\mydate.bat
ren C:\Documents and Settings\User 1\Desktop\pfboae.bak c:\pfboae.%MYDATE%
but I got the following error (windows 2000):
The syntax of the command is incorrect.
hmmm... please help....
Answer : You need quotes around your long filename - to the "ren" command it
appears that you have appended multiple parameters instead of the two you are
supposed to...
Here is how you will likely want it:
ren "C:\Documents and Settings\User 1\Desktop\pfboae.bak" c:\pfboae.%MYDATE%
And I don't think that will work as planned either since I do not believe the
rename command can "move" a file at the same time. Better to do this:
c:
cd "\Documents and Settings\User 1\Desktop"
ren pfboae.bak pfboae.%MYDATE%
move pfboae.%MYDATE% \
OR move it first...
c:
cd "\Documents and Settings\User 1\Desktop"
move pfboae.bak \
cd \
ren pfboae.bak pfboae.%MYDATE%
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : Well I got it working, if you done mind me asking how does that
work.... as you figured oot i am now DOS expert.... but this is being used
against a java program...
Answer : Quite simply - I make a system call to obtain the date, parse from it
the data I want, and then write out the C:\MYDATE.BAT file with the lines you'll
need to set the environment variable.
I'm glad my program is working for you... enjoy!
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
FUQuestion : Mr.pauldoherty,
I have had your program work successfully in test 2 times, Once on Win 2000 and
on Win 95. I am now on trying to install it on a Windows NT Server machine and
having all kinds of problems. I have done the follwing:
1. Installed the DATESET.EXE into C:\WINNT\system32
2. I have tried to test the following code on the machine
dateset
c:\mydate.bat
ren C:\WINNT\Profiles\Administrator\Desktop\t.txt
C:\WINNT\Profiles\Administrator\Desktop\t.%MYDATE%
3. The program is running throught the process the Dos output as I run the batch
file resembles
C:\Byp>bypbkup.bat
C:\Byp>dateset
C:\Byp>c:\mydate.bat
When I run the following, I get an error message that:
"The syntax of the command is incorrect." It appears to be referencing "call
c:\mydate.bat"
dateset
c:\WINNT\system32\dateset.exe
call c:\mydate.bat
cd c:\
ren C:\WINNT\Profiles\Administrator\Desktop\t.txt
C:\WINNT\Profiles\Administrator\Desktop\t.%MYDATE%
Adding "c:\WINNT\system32\dateset.exe" provides the same results as the first
scenario? Here is that batch file...
dateset
c:\WINNT\system32\dateset.exe
c:\mydate.bat
cd c:\
ren C:\WINNT\Profiles\Administrator\Desktop\t.txt
C:\WINNT\Profiles\Administrator\Desktop\t.%MYDATE%
I am totally confused? HEEELLLPPPPPP!!!!
-Brad
Declined (Reason) : You asked this as a separate question and that is where I
will address it. Note - if it worked twice it works. :-) The problems may be in
Windows NT. Try using the exact same BAT file in the same location, changing a
file in the same place/name as under 95. If it doesn't work then NT is the
problem.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3670691
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : MS-Dos Help
Private : No
Question : Hi,
I have some perl files(.pl), and when I double-click on the file icon, the file
opens with my Perl interpreter (C:\perl\bin\perl.exe) in MS-DOS Mode. Once the
file is done, the dos prompt immediately closes and I can't read the output.
Anyone know how to make it so the dos prompt don't close automatically when it
is done? (I am running Windows 98)
Pok
Answer : Try executing C:\perl\bin\perl.exe from Start/Run and then with that
DOS window active click the top-left icon and select Properies. At the bottom
uncheck "Close on Exit".
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
FUQuestion : The MS-DOS closes very fast so I can't get to the properties in the
file menu. Is there another way to get to properites?
Answer : Hmmm... that may be the standard DOS prompt so you may be able to run
it and set the poperties there and it will save it.
Another thing to try is to run the perl.exe command again as above except add
the syntax help parameter "/?"
c:\perl\bin\perl.exe /? | more
Try that if the DOS prompt settings don't take.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3670714
Asker : dpipper
Subject : Copy files from a ZIP to C:
Private : No
Question : Is it possible to copy files from a ZIP Disk in DOS to C: and still
preserve the long filenames? Or am I asking a stupid question? Can I just copy
or xcopy a directory to the C:, is it that simple?
Thanks
Answer : If your DOS prompt is from 95 OSR2 or later it should preserve the long
filenames, so yes the xcopy method should work.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3702024
Asker : irancg
Subject : copy in dos
Private : No
Question : hi
In dos I want to copy my entire "c" drive to a directory in my d drive.How can I
do it?
Thank you for your answer:)
Answer : xcopy c:\*.* d:\cbackup\*.* /e /c /f /h
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3909262
Asker : mrstar
Subject : Adding a drive letter to dos
Private : No
Question : I installed a 4.3 Gb hard drive to a 486 motherboard. It formatted it
into 3 partions so the system could read the full size. Now the system won't
assign a drive letter to the cd because the default setting is E. How can I add
a drive letter for the cd-rom?
Answer : Try putting the line:
LASTDRIVE=F
in C:\CONFIG.SYS and rebooting...
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3909289
Asker : pardi
Subject : dos
Private : No
Question : I have forgotten how to do this but I have done it in the past.If I
am writinf a bat file that in volves formatting a diskette I have to be able to
automatically (without keyboard intervention) respond "Y" to the question "Is it
ok to proceed "plus others questionsHow do Ido that .Thank you.
Answer : You can accomplish this with:
echo y | format a:
OR
format a: /u /autotest
Neither will stop for an answer...
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3909310
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : Closing multiple MS-Dos windows using a BAT file
Private : No
Question : I currently have two sessions of MS-Dos running showing data from my
database and application server. I currently close these sessions using the X
button on the title bar. Is there a way to close these two sessions using a
separate BAT file?
Answer : Yes - try my app KillTask on my website below - you can use it to stop
almost any Windows app from a BAT file or the command-line.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3913088
Asker : simbo_x
Subject : i need commands on command promt
Private : No
Question : i need commands on command pront
Answer : If you want the commands you can use type this:
dir /w /o c:\windows\command
Use the commands you find there with caution - come can erase loads of data!
Before using any of the commands you find do this with each (using format as an
example):
format /?
The "/?" will give you syntax help about the command and tell you it's purpose.
here is the output from the above command:
C:\WINDOWS>format /?
Formats a disk for use with MS-DOS.
FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/F:size] [/B | /S] [/C]
FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors] [/B | /S] [/C]
FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/1] [/4] [/B | /S] [/C]
FORMAT drive: [/Q] [/1] [/4] [/8] [/B | /S] [/C]
/V[:label] Specifies the volume label.
/Q Performs a quick format.
/F:size Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format (such
as 160, 180, 320, 360, 720, 1.2, 1.44, 2.88).
/B Allocates space on the formatted disk for system files.
/S Copies system files to the formatted disk.
/T:tracks Specifies the number of tracks per disk side.
/N:sectors Specifies the number of sectors per track.
/1 Formats a single side of a floppy disk.
/4 Formats a 5.25-inch 360K floppy disk in a high-density drive.
/8 Formats eight sectors per track.
/C Tests clusters that are currently marked "bad."
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 3945406
Asker : david_e_long
Subject : what dos v do you need to install 3.1
Private : No
Question : what dos v do you need to install win 3.1
Answer : I think anything from DOS 3.3 to DOS 6.2 will work fine...
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4087393
Asker : pardi
Subject : follow up on dos
Private : No
Question :
Hi Paul
You earlier answered my question about how to automatically do a format without
typing in to reply to the questions.
Format a:/u/autotest worked fine,do you have a variation for quick format?
Where do you find info like autotest?????
echo y | format a: didn't work (assuming that the line is a pipe}or am I missing
something?
Similarily if I do a del *.* I must reply to the question "do I wish etc."
How do I automate that ?? .
Thank you..
Paul
Answer : "/autotest" is an undocumented feature, as is "/u".
/autotest means don't ask me any questions about the format, and /u means
perform an unconditional format, ignoring whether the disk has a current
filesystem or not.
echo y | format a: /u /autotest
The line above should work for you...
To delete all files:
echo y | del *.* >nul
The above line will delete all the files *and* be quiet about it... a good way
to do these in a BAT file.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4106456
Asker : mbuzi
Subject : Changing language in dos-mode
Private : Yes
Question : My Pc runs on windows ME. However I tried to reason as to why
whenever I use dos mode the keyboard letters are german.
I changed the language at the windows Me to english USA but the dos mode won't
change.
What do I do?
Answer : Try issuing this command after booting to DOS:
chcm 437
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4130718
Asker : gdscore
Subject : Batch file with Win 98
Private : No
Question : I am running Win 98,using a batch file with several lines to back up
several directories and "my documents" to a RW CD
The batch file line “ xcopy c:\mydocu~1/S/A e:\mydocu~1\ “copies only 2 of the
subdirectories ( there are 9) but it copies all files not in subdirectories, all
subdirectories and files in the 2 subdirectories it does copy.
Why will it only take two of the 9 subdirectories? It has been consistent with
several minor variations.
Have no trouble copying and pasting the "My Documents" package but I want one
iconed batch file to do it all so some of my less ---- partners can do a back up
with one click.
Answer : Try it like this:
xcopy "c:\my documents\*.*" "e:\my documents\*.*" /e
One problem you had was using the "/A" switch as it copies only files that have
the archive bit set, and that is why you are missing a lot of the files and
dirs.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4152680
Asker : subirp
Subject : copy files to c: with no OS installed
Private : No
Question : I formatted the hard drive.Then
I rebooted the system using a boot disk (with CD-ROM drivers intalled)and got to
a:. I can also see the contents of d: (CD-ROM drive) I need to copy a setup of
files (Actually, I have a windows 98 cd for which I need to copy the directory
to c: and install the OS from there itself) to c: from CD-ROM and then run
setup.exe from
the hard drive. I do not have any OS installed but am trying to install win95
OS. How can I copy list of files from CD to c: (with no OS installed) and then
run setup.exe from c:/. Also, I tried to search for "copy.exe:
from another system (running win95)so that I can copy to a disk and then see if
I can copy d: contents to c:. But could not find any file by that name. But the
copy command still works from the DOS prompt. How does the copy command still
works even though there is not copy.exe file in another win95 system.( I did a
find on copy.exe and xcopy.exe).
Thanks in advance and feel free to ask quest. if I am not clear
Answer : You will use the following to get ready for installing:
(after booting from CD-ROM-enabled floppy)
C:
md 98kit
copy d:\win98\*.* 98kit
A:
sys c:
(for that last command to work you will need to get the command sys.com from
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND on another machine and put it on the floppy)
Then reboot the machine without the floppy (it will come up on the hard disk)
and do:
cd \98kit
echo y | lock c: /off
setup
The reason "copy" works without there being a copy.exe file is an important
concept to understand with DOS. There are two kinds of commands - internal and
external. The program that gives you the command line to type your commands into
(and that hosts programs) is called command.com. Commands you issue are parsed
by command.com and then executed. Some commands are built into the command.com
itself, so having a DOS prompt (meaning command.com is running) makes those
commands available. Some of the internal commands always available are:
dir
type
copy
cd
Commands that are not internal are called external and reside in separate files.
Examples:
xcopy.exe
format.com
sys.com
attrib.exe
and so on...
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4160018
Asker : rich0517
Subject : pause as a dos command
Private : No
Question : How do you enter a command that pauses a dos batch file for a
specified amount of time before continuing without any user input involved?>
Answer : Here is a utility that will do it for you... just type:
sleep x
where 'x' is the number of seconds to pause.
ftp://ftp.digi.com/users/vijayk/Components/NT4.0/FEP5/Batch%20Files/sleep.exe
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4172864
Asker : goody1pk
Subject : dos
Private : No
Question : Is there any dos command to access cdrom? if any plz tell me in
detail.
Answer : OK - Make a boot floppy (on your or another Windows machine) as
follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.exe a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now test the disk and ensure it boots and brings the CD-ROM drive up
successfully as letter F.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4172877
Asker : goody1pk
Subject : dos commands
Private : No
Question : Can u tell me that how can we access cdrom after formating hard disk
drive
without startdisk or bootable disk.
Answer : OK - Make a boot floppy (on your or another Windows machine) as
follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.exe a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now test the disk and ensure it boots and brings the CD-ROM drive up
successfully as letter F.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4172913
Asker : ru4reele
Subject : dos cd rom driver
Private : No
Question : i have repartitioned, and reformatted the harddrive, and cannot find
a dos based cd romm driver, and there for the cd rom wont work, so that i can
load windows,
i ahve the windows startup disk that i used to reformat and repartition,
do you know where i can download or if i should have a cd driver on the windows
startup disk, and how to access it
i also have a cdromgod5.5 program
and i cannot figure out how to use to fix my problem...
Answer : OK - Make a boot floppy (on another Windows machine) as follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.exe a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now you will have a bootable disk that will bring up your CD-ROM as drive letter
F: - the best thing to do at this point in your reinstall is NOT to launch the
install, but rather ensure you have XCOPY.EXE and XCOPY32.EXE on the floppy or
in the C:\ directory and do an xcopy of all the files in the Win98 subdirectory
off the CD to your hard disk and perform the installation from *there*. Why? A
couple of reasons - one is the installation goes faster from the hard disk, but
that's a minor reason. The primary reason is that after installation you will no
longer be bothered by that annoying 'please insert your Windows 98 CD' when
upgrading drivers, installing new versions of DirectX, etc, since all the source
files for the OS are on your disk. The XCOPY command looks as follows:
(boot from floppy and format the hard drive
a:
format c:
sys c:
if necessary - be sure you have a backup first of whatever you want to keep!)
xcopy f:\win98\*.* c:\win98kit\*.* /e
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win98kit
echo y | lock c: /off
setup
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A.Sc., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4188351
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : Downloading DOS 5.0
Private : No
Question : I need to find a place where I can download DOS 5.0 disks.
Answer : http://www.myshed.net/sanx/windows9x.html
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4239725
Asker : ynotkel
Subject : reformatting....
Private : No
Question : Good Morning All...
Quick query for today.
How come when I reformatted my disk, I never had to reinstall dos, but a friend
of mine who is in the process of formatting now appears to have lost all dos as
well as windows. We think that this is true, as when we turn the computer on
now, it doesn't even get a "c"-prompt. When trying to start from 3 (!) boot
discs, it does nothing. We followed the exact proceedure as when doing mine and
our operating systems are (for all purposes) identical.
I guess the only pertanent question at the moment is: How do we fix the
problem??
Thanks in Advance,
Dave
Answer : I would suggest the reason you got different results is that you
formatted like this:
format c: /s
and he didn't. The "/s" parameter adds the system files to a formatted disk
right after formatting. This creates the bootblock and copies over command.com,
io.sys and msdos.sys, making the disk bootable. This procedure is equivalent to
running a SYS on the drive at a later time (which I suiggest you do now to fix
it). Make a boot floppy on another machine:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
now boot on his PC from this floppy and run:
sys c:
and he now has DOS on his machine. If you want to format *and* add Windows to
his system follow these steps instead:
OK - Make a boot floppy (on another Windows machine) as follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.exe a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now you will have a bootable disk that will bring up your CD-ROM as drive letter
F: - the best thing to do at this point in your reinstall is NOT to launch the
install, but rather ensure you have XCOPY.EXE and XCOPY32.EXE on the floppy or
in the C:\ directory and do an xcopy of all the files in the Win98 subdirectory
off the CD to your hard disk and perform the installation from *there*. Why? A
couple of reasons - one is the installation goes faster from the hard disk, but
that's a minor reason. The primary reason is that after installation you will no
longer be bothered by that annoying 'please insert your Windows 98 CD' when
upgrading drivers, installing new versions of DirectX, etc, since all the source
files for the OS are on your disk. the XCOPY command looks as follows:
(boot from floppy and format the hard drive
a:
format c:
sys c:
if necessary - be sure you have a backup first of whatever you want to keep!)
xcopy f:\win98\*.* c:\win98kit\*.*
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win98kit
setup
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4253689
Asker : irancg
Subject : opening a dos file
Private : No
Question : Hi
when I tried to open an application file in dos
this message was appeared:inter directory for nlib200.rtl ....what should i do?
Need More Information : Can you give me the error message in whole as it
appears? And describe how you "tried to open" it.
FUQuestion : The file name is"ff.exe"
I tried to open it by typing its name and pressing enter.(in dos)
The message in whole is exactly:
"enter directory for nlib200.rtl (enter to quit):"
In windows when I tried to open it by double clicking on it a black window opens
and the same message was appeared.
Answer : It sounds like it wants a run-time library (RTL) that was supposed to
be in the directory where the program is installed. I'd suggest you dig out the
floppies or CD you installed the program from and copy that file to the
installed program directory. or if you suspect you have the file somewhere on
your system do a Start/Find/Files or Folders and type in the filename and search
from C:\ on down.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4261095
Asker : Neil321
Subject : Files that I cannot run
Private : No
Question : Paul,
I wonder how I can run certain files which are “flagged” and when
Clicked on ask for you to pick a program to open them?
Some of these I have down loaded and so am not surprised with
But others are internal of Win98. They all display [ well the JPEG I had
inserted here in Word did not copy into the online space]
It is probably well known but I can only call it a flag -- as one waving in the
air.
and look like this I can not locate a program which will open and run them other
than Quick View which works ok on textual material as what I have here but only
generates code when I try to get it to read/run certain other material, i.e.,
graphics for instance.
Thanks Neil321
Need More Information : What file extensions can you not open properly and want
to be able to open?
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
FUQuestion : Sir:
I have just looked for the offending extensions and these include the following:
.log, .prx, .cpe, .amp, .tmp, .cnt, .oem, .bin, .org,
in gathering them I wondered if they were not files which MS or others simply
didnot want the end user tampering with?
Others arrive from ZD and other sites on downloaded material which is supposed
to run on Win98 OS (or so I understood).
I see that the "flag" that I referred to is the Microsoft logo.
I have read through some of your Hardware responces and wish tell you ---
Thanks!they are very informative. And yes , do rate them. The Archives are a
real source of knowledge in themselves.
NeilMurphy
Answer : I totally agree about the archive of questions and answers - it's part
of the reason I'm so active on Askme.com.
As for your file extensions. I don't see a single one of those that is normally
a file for an end-user to use (executable, data of some sort to be viewed,
image, etc). Some of the ones I know off the top of my head (what their purpose
is):
.TMP - Temporary files that applications use. These are usually binary and
contain nothing of use to a user. They should not be associated with any program
(and thus will not do anything when double-clicked).
.BIN - usually a data file for a program.
.LOG - Windows and apps can keep track of status and error messages in these log
files. For example you may see that in C:\ you have a SCANDISK.LOG - to
associate the file extension .LOG with a text viewer (since .LOG files are text)
you can open your My Computer to the C: drive, then click once on scandisk.log,
then hold the SHIFT key down and right-click on scandisk.log which will add
another item to the menu "Open With" - select that new menu item and choose
Notepad from the list of programs. Also make sure the checkbox at the bottom
"Always use this program to open this file" is checked and from then on any file
ending in .LOG will open with Notepad when double-clicked.
You can use that technique to change any file extension, but unless you have a
good reason to change one that's already in place (as opposed to adding a new
one like we did with .LOG) I'd suggest that you not do it.
If instead you have lost the ability for shortcuts themselves to work, see this
document for the steps to fix it:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q172/0/53.asp
If you're associations are seriously out of whack I'd suggest backing up your
current registry and restoring from a backup. Windows 98 keeps backups
automatically (I know what you were thinking - "I don't have a backup!" hehe).
If you want to do this let me know and I can help you with it.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4294576
Asker : flynns13
Subject : dos
Private : No
Question : how do i shut down all running applications in dos without rebooting?
Answer : Is this a trick question or something?? Unless you are running TSRs
(Terminate and Stay Resident) there is only *one* program at most running at any
given time in DOS. If you're at the command prompt and aren't running TSRs then
you *have* shut down all running applications (except for the command processor
itself (command.com), but without that you wouldn't be in DOS).
To check for running apps type:
mem /c /p
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4312119
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : connect (dos)_pc to a windows_pc; access (dos)_pc hadr drive
Private : No
Question : I have 2 computers. The 1st pc only works in the DOS mode. The 2nd pc
works in either windows98 or DOS mode. I want to access the 1st computer's hard
drive and transfer a file from it to the hard drive on the 2nd computer.
How do I do this? Please list hardware needed, DOS commands needed, and detailed
procedure.
Thank You.
Answer : If the file(s) are too large to ever fit on removable media like
floppies do this:
1) get a null-modem serial cable (with proper ends for each machine's serial
ports - the newer should have a 9-pin serial port (DB-9), the older may have a
25-pin serial port (DB-25). Be sure to match the gender for the cable correctly
(i.e. both will be female in gender so a male to male cable will be needed).
2) Download this file to a pair of bootable floppies and boot each machine to
DOS and type:
xport
and follow the prompts. This utility will automatically setup a serial connect
between the two systems and allow you to navigate from one the other's disk
contents and transfer it easily.
http://members.home.net/iqueue/xport.exe
Alternatively you can simply disconnect the hard disk from the old box, plug it
in as a secondary drive (set as "slave"), boot the new machine and then copy the
files from C: to the other drive letter.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4332169
Asker : patmcgee
Subject : Off-center display in DOS and startup
Private : Yes
Question : I've got a problem that seems to be DOS-related. For some time now
I've been having a problem with the screen display for my PC. (My system
information is included at the bottom of this message.)
At startup and when in full screen DOS mode, the screen display (including DOS
messages and startup logo) is shifted to the left. So DOS messages can't be
read, the "C" in Compaq is at the left edge of the screen, and there's a black
band 2 inches wide along the right side of the screen.
But once the Windows desktop screen comes up, and in any Windows application,
the screen seems perfectly centered, so I've been able to ignore the problem.
But now I need to be able to work in full-screen DOS mode some of the time and I
can't see the commands I'm typing, error messages, etc.
I've had the PC for 18 months and the monitor for 12 months and this problem
didn't develop until a couple of months ago. I'm not sure exactly when it
developed since I normally leave my PC on standby when I'm not using it and
rarely shut it down. So I'm not sure what software or hardware addition may have
contributed to this. I've checked out the Troubleshooting Wizards (for DOS and
for display) at support.microsoft.com but this problem wasn't covered there.
I'd appreciate any suggestions you have for a fix or for other online resources
(including other help sites if this is not the best one for this question).
Thanks, and happy holidays and a great new year.
Pat McGee
patmcgee@yahoo.com
SYSTEM INFORMATION:
PC: Compaq Presario 5204
Memory: 64MB 100mhz SDRAM
BIOS: Compaq 11/11/98
OS: Windows 98 (4.10.1998)
Processor: AMD-K6-2 (346 mhz)
Display Adapter: Rage LT Pro AGP 2X
Hard drive: 4GB Ultra DMA
Monitor: NEC MultiSync 90 (19")
Answer : I know exactly what the problem is... it is merely a difference in
refresh rates for the DOS-mode screen that is causing it to display off-kilter.
Different resolutions, color depths and refresh rates call cause different
signals to be sent to a monitor. The reason your Windows is centered is either
because you got lucky and the monitor and video outputs were already in sync at
that res, or you set it once and forgot you did it. DOS runs in a completely
different resolution, color depth and refresh rate, so the fact that it is not
centered as well as the Windows screen before adjustment comes as no surprise to
me. Try using the horizontal adjustment on the monitors control front panel and
move it into view. If your monitor is new enough it may remember the new
centered position automatically, or it may have a "store" button or similar that
will allow the same.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4349549
Asker : savannah5
Subject : corrupted win95/dos?
Private : Yes
Question : My PC is now misbehaving.
When I boot it up, it goes to the start-up menu even without pressing F8! and at
the bottom of the start-up menu there's this message
"The following file is missing or corrupted C:WINDOWS\HIMEM.
There is an error in your config.sys on line1..."
Now it can't load win95,and I need to send e-mails to friends this christmas.
Please help!
NB: At the dos prompt,when I edit c:windows\config.sys I get the message "BAD
COMMAND" . I get the same message when I type scanreg\restore at the dos prompt.
Answer : Sounds like your CONFIG.SYS has an error in it - you can either fix the
contents (using edit or another method I'll show you since your edit seems to be
missing) or just rename the files config.sys and autoexec.bat as they are not
really needed. To rename do this:
c:
cd \
ren config.sys config.bak
ren autoexec.bat autoexec.bak
That should remove at least part of the errors and let you get into Windows.
If you want to fix the contents:
c:
cd \
type config.sys
(note what is right and what is wrong)
copy con config.sys
(WARNING this will write over the existing file so make sure the lines of the
original are visible)
now enter in each line from the original config.sys one at a time, making sure
each line is right, then hitting ENTER. When done with all lines hit CTRL-Z on a
line by itself and then ENTER.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4353950
Asker : mbuzi
Subject : STEPS TO RESTORE WIN95
Private : Yes
Question : My PC has now started behaving badly(PII 466 MHZ, RAM 32, HDD 4.33MB
(55% FREE)
When I boot it,it takes me to the "STARTUP MENU FOR MICROSOFT WIN95"
Here there're five(5) options given:
1. NORMAL STARTUP
2.LOGGED
3.SAFE MODE
4.STEP BY STEP e.t.c
When I choose any of the above, It takes me to the command prompt ALWAYS.
What can I do to the Pc so that I get my win95 running? Could it be a virus
problem?
NB: It has the latest F-SECURE antivirus definations, but as it is now, it's
useless. I also have the start up diskette for the win95.
Please help!!
Answer : Try typing
win
and hitting ENTER at the prompt after booting in "Command Prompt Only" mode.
Also if that doesn't work send me the output from this command:
type c:\msdos.sys > c:\result.txt
Email me the c:\result.txt file...
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4374134
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : What DOS Commands?
Private : Yes
Question : Hi
Do you know what DOS commands would help me toget into Windows98, from the DOS
mode?
I recently 'crashed' my system, and used my emergency disk...but can't get out
of DOS.
I HAVE WIN98, COMPAQ PRESARIO 5360,10GB HARDRIVE, 90 RAM, AND 450mhz.
I tried the menu options, and hit 'enter'...but it won't go to Windows....only
for a millisecond, then returns to the menu...SHOWING ME A dos prompt.
I can access prompt for 'C' or 'A', AND virtual CD DRIVE 'E'.
The windows98 CD I have is only the second edition...and says I need Windows to
run it.
Answer : What happens when you boot from the hard disk?
If you want to try and recover from a crash that has disabled Windows do the
following:
Boot from the boot disk then:
path=a:\;c:\windows\command
C:
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s *.dat
ren system.dat system.bak
ren system.dat system.bak
ren system.ini sysini.bak
ren win.ini winini.bak
cd sysbckup
dir *.cab
(look for the newest file listed - that is the most recent date of creation -
we'll assume the newest file was named RB001.CAB)
extract /e rb001.cab
attrib -r -h -s *.dat
move system.dat ..
move system.ini ..
move user.dat ..
move win.ini ..
What we have done here is to take advantage of the fact that Windows 98/SE takes
periodic backups of the registry. We have taken the latest version of those
backups and reinstated that backed-up version.
Reboot the machine and see if the sitation has improved. If it hasn't you can
repeat this process with successively older versions of the registry backups. If
you decide that you are not getting anywhere and the problem lies elsewhere you
can put the original versions you had back in place with this:
path=a:\;c:\windows\command
C:
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s *.dat
copy /y system.bak system.dat
copy /y user.bak user.dat
copy /y sysini.bak system.ini
copy /y winini.bak win.ini
If these steps don't help you your problem may be file-related - meaning you may
have the wrong version of a critical file, or there has been corruption of a
critical file. Try holding the CTRL key during a boot and when the menu appears
choose a "Logged" boot. After the boot is completed you can examine the
bootlog.txt file for some more clues as to what you are facing.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : Hi Paul. Happy New Year...almost,
Well, Paul I did follow your excellent instructions, and got to view my five
rb001-005 files and repeated the process five times as you suggested.The
earliest cab file was 21 Dec ...a day before I installed the suspect software
,so I thought this would work....but no,
It didn't solve the problem, so I 'put the originals back'
Upon rebooting (without the emergency disk), it comes to the 'C'prompt.....
I did the CTRL key for the boot and went to 'logged' but it came back to the
prompt, without any logged file to read.
A mystery.
At one point previously when following the procedure it said'file not found user
bak 0 file copied'
The others it copied ok.
I am still game to try something else, if i can avert the reformat, and hassle
of reinstalling all the software.
Chris
Answer : Windows keeps a copy of the *very first* system.dat on your hard disk
for just such an emergency. It's stored on the root of C: as a file named
system.1st and is hidden away. If you want to try an extreme step (you should
since you're hosed anyway at this point) go for this:
Use the method I described above backup your current system.dat and user.dat.
Leave the user.dat alone - do not replace it with a backup
Perform the next lines:
attrib -r -h -s c:\system.1st
copy /y c:\system.1st c:\windows
c:
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s system.cb
copy /y system.ini sysini.bak
copy system.cb system.ini
Now reboot and your PC will go through the process it went through one it's very
first boot! This may solve your problem, but in doing so it may cause you to
lose some upgraded drivers for some of your hardware. If Windows *does* prompt
you for some hardware drivers you can either point it to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM when
asked since the files all still really exist it's just that Windows is unaware
of them due to the original registry being put in place, or better still you can
ignore the request for drivers momentarily (noting what devices need drivers
either by these requests or by going to Start/Settings/Control
Panel/System/Device manager and looking for red/yellow flags) and go get the
latest drivers for audio, video and network devices from:
http://www.winfiles.com/drivers
If after a boot and driver adds you still have no luck you can get back to where
you are (but why would you want to? :-) with these steps:
c:
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s *.dat
copy /y sysini.bak system.ini
copy /y system.bak system.dat
copy /y user.bak user.dat (I know we didn't do this one but it may have been
altered during your "first boot" proceedings)
Congratulations - you now know more about Windows than you ever wanted to know!
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Answer : One other thing...
Please refrain from asking private questions unless the subject really is
private. No one else can ever read our interaction because of that, and that
detracts from the value of the site and our interaction. Part of the reason I
answer questions here is to build of a knowledge base of answers - even I can't
get back to this question or find it once we're done.
FUQuestion : Hi Paul,
Excellent instructions,and I am learning heaps of stuff.
Regarding the procedure to go back to the 'system 1st'.The message comes up
'cannot find file system 1st', so of course, I am short on options , I imagine.
I may have to use the two CD's Compaq provides called 'quick restore'. which it
is...except for the oodles of software and updates, which takes forever.
Unless you can think of anything else?
hAPPY nEW yEAR!
Answer : You may have not gotten the attrib command correct. Try this and see if
you see the file:
dir /a c:\system.1st
If the file is listed it's there. I'd be very surprised if it were gone since by
default it is marked as system, hidden and read-only.
Remember to issue the command:
attrib -r -h -s c:\system.1st
before trying to copy it over the system.dat
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4377925
Asker : chxq99
Subject : .class files
Private : No
Question : Dear all,
Recently I have opened a .class files by notepad. Since then, whenever I
downloaded software that contain .class files, all the files are appeared in a
notepad icon. Would you please tell me how to restore them in their original
icon?
Regards,
Christine
Answer : To change the association for any file extension:
Open an explorer window so you can see one of the files of that type.
Left-click the icon once to select it.
While holding the SHIFT key right-click the icon and a new item will appear in
the menu (Open With). Select that menu item.
Select the application you want to handle that extension (ensure that the check
box at the bottom is selected so the selection is permananent) either in the
list or by browsing to the EXE for that application.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
FUQuestion : Dear Paul,
Thank you very much for your prompt response to my enquiry. However, my problem
is I don't know which application should I use to convert (handle) the .class
files into their original icon. Do you have any suggestions?
Cheers,
Christine
Answer : Generally that extension is unused - it would seem you may be using a
compiler like C++ that uses class modules? If that is the case then the .class
module should probably open into your compiler's IDE (Integrated Development
Environment) where it can be edited. There is no harm leaving it associated with
notepad or wordpad if those are preferred for edits.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
Answer : Ah I see some of my esteemed colleagues remembered better than I that
.class files are Java files. In any event that helps you know which program to
associate the .class files with - the Java interpreter.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4433616
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Setting dos colors on-the fly in windows 98se
Private : No
Question : Hello everyone,
can you please tell me how to set the colors in
DOS shell on-the-fly, for the background and
foreground? i have been trying with the command
prompt $e[1;32;42m, but it works ONLY inside the
config.sys file.
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : Hopefully you know that the reason you are not seeing colors (probably)
is that you need to load the driver ANSI.SYS in your CONFIG.SYS:
device=\windows\command\ansi.sys
Then the prompt is set in the autoexec.bat:
PROMPT=$e[44;37m$p$g$e[40;37m
(a space is present at the end, just after the '37m')
This will make a nice white on blue command prompt that shows your current
directory. And any time you want to change it you can from a DOS prompt or a BAT
file the same way:
PROMPT=$e[43;31m$l$t$g $p$g$e[40;37m
(again a space at the end, and one after the '$g')
This prompt will be red text on a yellow background, and will include the
current system time at the beginning of each prompt, giving you a clock of
sorts.
If you decide you like the color changes and want to use them on the full
screen, just leave off the last background reset like this:
PROMPT=$e[44;37m$l$t$g $p$g
(another space at the end)
Now type:
cls
and hit ENTER...
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
Answer : Oh and if you'd like to lose the hundredths of a seconds display, make
that last example look like this:
PROMPT=$e[44;37m$l$t$h$h$h$g $p$g
(again a space at the end)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4433705
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : MS-DOS Prompt
Private : No
Question : I am trying to run a program from MS-DOS Prompt, however it says file
not found.
I typed in C:\Folder>program/levelfile<levels.txt>
I am sure my files are there so what am i doing wrong?
Answer : My esteemed colleague Ram80 may be on the right track but he has his
order of execution wrong - the order that DOS will seek out and run a filename
is:
COM
EXE
BAT
That is, if you had three files in the directory in which you are residing all
of the same name (MyFile.COM, MyFile.EXE, and MyFile.BAT) the order in which
they would be found and run is the order I showed above.
The other thing I think I have rooted out of your question that may have
confused Ram80 (as it did me) is that the "/"s you used were not part of the
pathname but were being used as switches as they should be (but you didn't
separate them with a space as you should have, both here and on the
command-line).
Anyway, on to your question. Since you didn't show the actual path you were
using and instead showed placeholders (why did you do that anyway?) I'm going to
suggest that perhaps you are attempting to access an executable that does indeed
exist, but is in a path with a space in the name. For example if your EXE were
stored here:
C:\PROGRAM FILES\MYAPP\MYAPP.EXE
you would need to access it from DOS in this fashion:
"C:\PROGRAM FILES\MYAPP\MYAPP.EXE
(you can include the last quote if you like but it will work without it)
The double quote lets DOS know it can ignore normal delimiters like space and
tab keypresses. Without the quote DOS will be confused by what it sees as
multiple command-line arguments being supplied, namely:
C:\PROGRAM
and
FILES\MYAPP\MYAPP.EXE
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4433733
Asker : gdscore
Subject : DOS BATCH FILES
Private : No
Question : How can I enter a line in a batch file so that it will open a
directory window (win 95/98) in the same drive as the batch file?
George Daniels
Answer : You can do this with no problems. Include the following in your BAT
file (included a few example lines to show I can be in different directories):
@echo off
c:
cd \windows\system
start explorer .
pause
cd \
start explorer .
Enjoy!
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4434418
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : a dos question
Private : No
Question : a while ago I discovered that you could make directories inaccessible
to people who don't know how to use DOS. here's how: you either rename or create
a directory with the null (ALT+255) character then when you try to access it
through windows it can't be found, moved or renamed... now here's my question:
I'm a lazy person so I want to be able to make a batch file that will rename the
null directory to a reguler one but when I try to do it it says "file not found
- [the null directory]." Is this possible to do?
Answer : You certainly can, but as someone mentioned your choice of editor may
limit the use of those extended characters. Try it the hard-core way like I do -
don't use any editor at all! This is the failsafe method of creating files that
is highly useful since not everyone has a text editor in their DOS (or it may
become damaged, or you boot from a rescue floppy and don't have edit.com handy,
etc). I like techniques like this because I always want to be able to get things
done, even under the worst of circumstances.
To create and test what you're trying to do I did the following (anywhere you
see *255* in the following that indicates where the ALT+0255(on the keypad) has
been typed and where you should type it to get the same result - "^Z" means
press CTRL-Z - it will terminate the file (it's the EOF character (End Of
File)):
c:
cd \
md temp
cd temp
md *255*
cd \windows\command
copy con open.bat
@echo off
c:
cd \temp
attrib -h *255*
ren *255* visible
cd visible
dir /w /o /p
^Z
copy con close.bat
@echo off
c:
cd \temp
ren visible *255*
attrib +h *255*
cd *255*
dir /w /o /p
^Z
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4434537
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : how to figure cd-rom in dos environment?
Private : No
Question : I am trying to figure our cd-rom drive, writing something in
config.sys and autoexec.bat. I forgot what I should write. how to write the
driver of sys in config.sys and use mscdex.exe in autoexec.bat?
Thanks!
Answer : Download the following file (if you don't already have a DOS CD-ROM
driver):
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Copy idecd.sys to C:\WINDOWS
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit C:\CONFIG.SYS
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=c:\windows\himem.sys
REM Above line is optional
device=c:\windows\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
c:\windows\command\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
c:\windows\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
REM Above line is optional
Save the file and exit.
Your CD-ROM should come up as drive letter F: after a reboot.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4487904
Asker : swshomer
Subject : background is priting
Private : No
Question : I just started printing from my new adobe photoshop 6 and the printer
is printing a verly noticeable grayish/blue background on the paper that
represented the white area of the window i print from. even when i make the
background transparent. it happens on any photoshop images. i opened an image in
microsoft's paint program and printed the image with no printer ink on the
paper. Any ideas? Thanks, steve
Answer : Very odd - first thing I'd suggest is that maybe the background in
Photoshop is not a *pure* white. In other words - you may be in a high color
mode and have something very close to pure white but not, and the printer driver
is trying to print something as close as possible to what's on the screen. Just
an idea. If it's not this make sure you have the latest drivers for your
printer.
http://www.winfiles.com/drivers
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4499646
Asker : jmccown
Subject : dos commands
Private : No
Question : what dos command string do i use to back up a hard drive to a cd rom
drive (cdrom rw)?
Answer : You can't backup a hard drive to a CDRW from DOS without 3rd party
tools. You can't even copy files to a CDRW from DOS without 3rd-party tools
(Adaptec DirectCD can create a drive letter (eg "X:") that can be written to
like any other disk after a special format is applied to a CDRW but whether that
letter can be hit inside a DOS prompt I'm unsure of).
One that does do hard disk backups to CDR(W) from DOS is TakeTwo by Adaptec - it
comes with Easy CD Creator Deluxe 4.0
http://www.roxio.com/en/products/ecdc/index.html
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4507561
Asker : doug_coughler
Subject : Terminating a process in a batch file
Private : No
Question : I've asked thiss in the general forum as well. I've got a batch file
that launches an application. I want to be sure that the application is
terminated before proceeding to the next step. Is there any way to close an app
from within the DOS batch file? I thought TASKMGR might do it, but I had no
luck. I'm running on WinNT.
Answer : Try my free utility KillTask. I don't remember if I tested it in
Windows NT or not, but it allows you to kill any running Windows app from a
command-line or from within a BAT file.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4526195
Asker : doug_coughler
Subject : Any way to end task from within a DOS batch file on WinNT?
Private : No
Question : I want to ensure that a program called from within a DOS batch file
is terminated. Is there any way of doing this? I'm on WinNT 4.0.
Answer : Under NT you have some other options. There is a utility called
kill.exe (and the remote version rkill.exe) - it may be in the NT Resource Kit
or on the main install CD. Another that may come in handy is tlist.exe which
will list out the tasks on a system. For example:
Use tlist to see the processes on your system:
tlist
Once you get the PID (Process ID) for a process (open a Notepad before you run
tlist and kill it) you want to kill then kill it with either kill or rkill:
kill pid
rkill /kill \\servername pid
You can also use rkill to view the processes on a remote machine (first install
the rkillsrv.exe as a service on that machine):
rkill /view \\servername
You can use these tools in your BAT file to uniquely locate a process by name
and then kill it.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4526226
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : Boot error message
Private : No
Question : Here is the error message when I try to boot up with a certain update
softpaq disc from my computer's manufacturer:
BOOT: Couldn't find NTLDR
Please insert another disc
What does this mean? It is a Compaq
Answer : Assuming you are not concerned with having NT on this machine anymore
(it had it on at least once - the source of your message) create a boot floppy
in Windows 98 (Start/Settings/Control Panel/Add-Remove Programs/Startup Disk
tab). Then boot from this disk and then issue the command:
fdisk /mbr
This will restore a 98-compatible Master Boot Record and you will not receive
this error message again.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Answer : On second thought you may want to also execute the following command at
the same time:
sys c:
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4527261
Asker : sirkevin
Subject : Dos issues
Private : No
Question : Hello,
I have partition magic 5.0. My os is Win 98 se. I used it about 3 months ago
when i first got my box and it partioned fine. Now I go to resize a partion and
everything is okay until it goes into dos to the work. The computer restarts
(which it should) then a message comes up. "would you like to return to windows
to continue runnung windows program" if I hit no it just gives me a c prompt (no
partion work) If I hit yes it restarts and then brings me back to the same
message. I have to manually go into the config.sys and delete the statement
dos=single (which pm puts there) just to get back in windows. Is there something
I need to do to not get that choice message and let pm do its thing.
Thanks
Answer : Does PM finish it's work and successfully resize the partition? If so
then try this to straighten out the disk so it will boot. Create a boot floppy
on a 98 or 98SE box (Start/Settings/Control Panel/Add-Remove Programs/Startup
Disk tab). Boot from this disk then type:
fdisk /mbr
sys c:
Now try rebooting and see if the message continues.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4542983
Asker : OClee
Subject : Exit
Private : No
Question : Hi,
I am currently trying to write a simple batch file that copies a number of files
this works my problem is that the DOS box wont close on its own I have used the
command exit at the end of the batch file and still no joy. Any ideas?? ... It
is to run on a Win98 machine.
thanx
Answer : Run the batch file one time, and with the DOS windows still open click
the icon at the top-left corner of the DOS window and select Properties. Then
check the box at the bottom that says "Close on Exit". From then on when the
exit is reached in your BAT file the DOS window will close. While you're in
there you may want to set the window position to Minimized so the window will
only show in the taskbar when the BAT file is run.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4549270
Asker : cadonn
Subject : Get DOS to accept or recognize Unix commands
Private : No
Question : Is there a program that will let DOS accept or reconginze UNIX
commands. Thought I saw a download somewhere that will allow this to happen.
Any ideas?
Cathy
Answer : Try here:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/1401/unix.htm
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4562793
Asker : rcalde2044
Subject : MS DOS
Private : No
Question : HOW DO I BEBUG A HARDDRIVE TO REMOVE NTFS DRIVE FDISK DID NOT WORK
Answer : Do NOT low level your drive - there is no need (and IDE drives are not
intended to ever be low-leveled). FDISK does not understand NTFS partitions and
thus cannot remove them. Here is an extremely easy utility that does understand
them and will remove them (and any other partition type).
ftp://ftp.ncd.com/pub/ncd/Archive/WinCenter/Utilities/delpart.exe
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4676477
Asker : wanderace
Subject : dos version
Private : No
Question : How do I find what version of dos my computer is running. I am
running windows 95a and was just curious?
Answer : Open a DOS prompt (Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt) and type:
ver
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4676500
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : How to create a current time text file in batch"
Private : No
Question : I want to Create/Name a file on their timestamp(Time of creation) in
the Dos Batch file. How I can do this?
Answer : Download my utility DateIt - it will create a file that has as it's
name the day the script was run. Just copy it to a dir in your path (like
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND in 95/98/ME or WINNT\SYSTEM32 in NT/2K) and then use it from
any batch file like:
@echo off
dateit
REM Do my stuff here...
REM
http://members.home.net/iqueue/#DateIt
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4676524
Asker : dblconstruction
Subject : ms dos comands
Private : No
Question : I'm having trouble with the correct dos commands I need to re-install
my cdrom and windows.
Answer : OK - Make a boot floppy (on another Windows machine) as follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.exe a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now you will have a bootable disk that will bring up your CD-ROM as drive letter
F: - the best thing to do at this point in your reinstall is NOT to launch the
install, but rather ensure you have XCOPY.EXE and XCOPY32.EXE on the floppy or
in the C:\ directory and do an xcopy of all the files in the Win98 subdirectory
off the CD to your hard disk and perform the installation from *there*. Why? A
couple of reasons - one is the installation goes faster from the hard disk, but
that's a minor reason. The primary reason is that after installation you will no
longer be bothered by that annoying 'please insert your Windows 98 CD' when
upgrading drivers, installing new versions of DirectX, etc, since all the source
files for the OS are on your disk. the XCOPY command looks as follows:
(boot from floppy and format the hard drive
a:
format c:
sys c:
if necessary - be sure you have a backup first of whatever you want to keep!)
xcopy f:\win98\*.* c:\win98kit\*.*
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win98kit
setup
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4736407
Asker : Neeraj_Mittal
Subject : Size of file in DOS Batch
Private : No
Question : How can you do operations on other files by knowing their size in
batch file?
E.g I am Ftping in a file through a batch file. I wan't to know the size of that
file. if it is 0 then I will come out from batchfile
or
How can you know the size of text file in a batch?
Answer : Try my utility FileZero - it can ascertain whether a file is 0 bytes in
length and report that into your BAT file so you can act on the information.
Full docs and an example of usage are in the readme.txt file.
http://members.home.net/iqueue/FileZero.zip
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4816554
Asker : tevisokc
Subject : Remove MS Dos Prompt
Private : No
Question : I created a MS Dos batch file to delete all files
in c:\temp directory. I'm running Windows 98. How do I turn off the prompt "Are
you sure (Y/N)?" when the batch file is executed ?
Answer : echo y | del *.*
OR
del *.tmp
(since you only stated you are deleting TMP files)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4816566
Asker : undagroundmansion
Subject : boot floppy
Private : No
Question : Hello, I was wondering if someone could make a win98 boot floppy with
a driver file i ned put on there and i do not understand how to do it
Answer : OK - Make a boot floppy (on your or another Windows machine) as
follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.exe a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now test the disk and ensure it boots and brings the CD-ROM drive up
successfully.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4860864
Asker : undagroundmansion
Subject : DOS "MSCD001"- just formatted
Private : No
Question : Hello, I recently formatted my hard drive..When i load up from a boot
disc (after i pick "start with cd-rom support") it says "Device Name :MSCD001"
then "Device drive not found, aborting installation" i think i need MSCD001
drive but i am not sure// could someone please help me? i am desperate i have
been working on this for hours on end.. please reply on a easy way for my
solution or if i could chat with someone on a chat prgram, thankyou
Answer : Edit both the:
a:\config.sys
a:\autoexec.bat
Check to be sure that the same device name is referenced on all lines that
either load a driver (config.sys - DEVICE= lines) or that load the CD-ROM
extensions (autoexec.bat - MSCDEX.EXE line). The device parameter will look like
this:
/D:MSCD001
The name "MSCD001" has no significance whatsoever. You can call it GOOFY if you
want - it just needs to be the *same* in all places of both files. Your problem
likely stems from the name being different in one file.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4879151
Asker : trinhngoclinh
Subject : Assign current date to a variable
Private : No
Question : Dear expert,
(urgent!)
I writing a batch file in which I need to get the current date and set it to a
variable. My purpose is to create a new directory named after the current
date,e.g Feb28, automatically in batch mode .
How can Iget the date and assign the date value to create a variable ?
Many Thanks,
TrinhNgocLinh@usa.net
Answer : Grab my utility DateSet from:
http://members.home.net/iqueue
It will allow you to do whatever you like with a variable that will be assigned
the current day's date.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Dear pauldoherty,
(Urgent!)
I have downloaded the Dateset.zip but I am unable to UNzip the file, I think
there is some error with the ZIP file. Please do a check.
Many thanks
Linh
Answer : The DateSet.zip file is fine as-is on the website. It was made with a
newer version of WinZip so make sure you have the latest WinZip installed.
http://www.winzip.com
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Thanks to your utility I can complete my batch.
However I think that something more you can do to enhance the utility.
If the date (or Month) has one digit, the DateSet utility returns the date of
today: 01, March 2001 in the form of __1032001__ (in stead of 01032001)
This format, i.e __1032001__, could be wrongly interpreted 10 March, 2001.
Please rewite the utility so that it always returns the date in a fixed format
of 2 digits for date and month. For date or Month with 1 digit, the utility
should add a digit of 0 .
If possible, you could modify Dataset in such a way that it can accept date
format parameter.
Let say when running DateSet ddMMMyy it returns MYDATE=01MAR01. That is
beatiful.
I bevile that it is easy for you.
Please inform me if you have a newer version.
Have a nice day.
Thanks and regards,
Linh
Answer : You're very welcome! I'm glad the utility helps you to complete your
project.
I didn't realize there was any issue (didn't test with all months - just the
current one when I wrote it). Next time I'm poking around in the source I'll
have a look at it.
Don't forget to rate the answers you receive on AskMe.com - we like to know if
we helped.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4898529
Asker : trinhngoclinh
Subject : Assign current date to a variable
Private : No
Question : Dear experts,
(urgent!)
I writing a batch file in which I need to get the current date and set it to a
variable. My purpose is to create a new directory named after the current
date,e.g Feb28, automaticaly in batch mode .
How I can get the date and assign the date value to create a variable ?
Many Thanks,
TrinhNgocLinh@usa.net
Answer : Download my utility, DateSet from my website below. I created it
expressly for doing this, and it will work fine in your BAT files.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4898593
Asker : classicgto1
Subject : thanks-res. meter: Now 3.11 question
Private : No
Question : Actually this is a Win 3.11 question: where can I find it? It is one
of the OS's their teaching in the A+ Certification class I'm taking. This is the
last class covering 3.11 so I need to know it for the CompTIA tests. Next
semester class will cover Win 98 and Linux and some of NT, not 3.11. So, can you
send me 3.11 (if you have it) or where can I find it so I can install it on my
old practice computer so I can know the basics about it to pass the A+ Cert
test.
Thanks for your help, Jim
classicgto1@juno.com
Answer : There are several for sale on EBay cheap:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=windows+3.11
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4906802
Asker : jdang
Subject : what cmd for dns lookup
Private : No
Question : what cmd for DNS lookup
Answer : nslookup is the normal utility for doing this. It comes with NT and 2K
(and maybe ME) but not with 95/98.
You can either get a freeware/shareware utility that does the same thing from a
place like:
http://www.winfiles.com
or you can use the poor man's version of nslookup - ping!
ping www.microsoft.com
Whether the ping succeeds or not you will do a DNS lookup of the name to IP. And
there is your IP:
C:\WINDOWS>ping www.microsoft.com
Pinging www.microsoft.akadns.net [207.46.131.199] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 207.46.131.199:
Packets: Sent = 1, Received = 0, Lost = 1 (100% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4916513
Asker : amy_lew
Subject : DOS Utility
Private : No
Question : Where do I find the DOS Utility EXE2BIN?
Answer :
ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub3/vendor/microsoft/Services/TechNet/Windows/msdos/RESKIT/SUPPDISK/EXE2BIN.EXE
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : Do you know how to get an .EXE file from .ASM file using TLINK,then
I have to convert it into a BIN file.I use TASM first creating the .OBJ It is a
macro for a RISC, everytime I use TLINK,it gives the warning 'No Stack'.What is
wrong? Can you explain Macros???
This macro will be programmed into an EPROM.
Answer : It's been too long since I used assembly. Check these for assistance
(the "no stack" error is referenced here):
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&ic=1&th=35f411b21c60d720&seekd=935101149#935101149
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4929252
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : MS-DOS
Private : No
Question : Hi, I am having trouble with a question for school on DOS. The
question is: First, Make Drive A: my current drive.......then Change the command
prompt to show the current date and my last name on one line and the current
path on the next line.
Could you please help me on this, I just cant seem to get it......I am using DOS
6.22
Thank- you
Answer : Assuming you have ansi.sys already being loaded in your CONFIG.SYS
here's how:
PROMPT=$d LASTNAME$_$p$g
'$d' gives the date
LASTNAME is your last name
$_ is a CR (Carraige Return) and moves the cursor to the next line
$p is the current directory path
$g is the ">" greater-than symbol
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4936477
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : MS-DOS
Private : No
Question : Hi, I am having a little trouble with a MS-DOS command, I am using
version 6.22. I want to do a directory list but only show files that begin with
"ST" and sort the files in reverse order by name. How would I do this? Thank you
Answer : dir st* /o-n
/o means "ordered" - by itself it will sort in alphabetical order
n means by name
"-" reverses the normal meaning of the next character, so causes the sort by
name to happen in reverse order.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4936556
Asker : marckus
Subject : using fdisk to partition
Private : No
Question : I've used fdisk to create 2 partitions on my hard drive. I create a
primary DOS partition as my active, boot drive (c: drive). Then I created an
extended drive and made it my logical drive. The problem is, fdisk made this new
partition the D: drive and changed my CD-ROM to E: drive. But I'd like to keep
my CD-ROM my D: drive and make this new partition my E: drive. Is there a way to
change this back? Thanks for your help.
Mark
Answer : Yes you can change it. Open the System control panel, then go into the
Device Manager tab. Open the CD-ROM section, double-click your CD drive, go to
the Settings tab and under First Drive and Last Drive set it to F:
Now under the hard disk section of Device Manager do the same to the hard disk
(IDE drive), only set it to E:. Reboot and when you get back up go in for the
last time and set the CD-ROM to the now-vacated drive letter D: and reboot.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
Answer : You may have to reboot after the first change (CD from E: to F:)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 4966669
Asker : sukotto
Subject : using CD-rom when booting from floppy
Private : No
Question : I would like to use my cd-rom drive after booting with a boot-disk.
anyone remember how to do that? I have MSCDEX.exe on the disk but can't remember
(or find info on) how to use it.
I'm running Win95 (if it makes any difference).
Answer : OK - Make a boot floppy (on your or another Windows machine) as
follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.exe a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now test the disk and ensure it boots and brings the CD-ROM drive up
successfully as letter F.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5009478
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : DOS
Private : No
Question : Dear Paul,
Can you please help me with my assignment?? I have to trace the development of
an operating system...I chose DOS. I need lots of theoretical information and
i've tried to search on the net but all i'm getting is developing companies. I
need to find information on how DOS was actually formed, what were the processes
involved in its making and what advancements/developments have occured recently
in DOS. Any website containing this info would be highly appreciated. Thank you
so much for your help!
Answer : Here's some good info on just what you're after:
http://www.inventors.about.com/science/inventors/library/weekly/aa033099.htm
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5047281
Asker : zxc
Subject : dos
Private : No
Question : hi
I used fdisk in dos and I deleted my primary partition thing. When I start up
the computer it gets stuck with the message : missing operating system. Please
can you tell me how I can reinstall windows from here. I can't get the dos stuff
to come out. It just stops after that message,
Answer : You'll need to use fdisk to create a new partition since you deleted
the original one. Then follow this next procedure (in fact you can do this
procedure first and use the boot disk you make to enable you to do the fdisk).
OK - Make a boot floppy (on another Windows machine) as follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.exe a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now you will have a bootable disk that will bring up your CD-ROM as drive letter
F: - the best thing to do at this point in your reinstall is NOT to launch the
install, but rather ensure you have XCOPY.EXE and XCOPY32.EXE on the floppy or
in the C:\ directory and do an xcopy of all the files in the Win98 subdirectory
off the CD to your hard disk and perform the installation from *there*. Why? A
couple of reasons - one is the installation goes faster from the hard disk, but
that's a minor reason. The primary reason is that after installation you will no
longer be bothered by that annoying 'please insert your Windows 98 CD' when
upgrading drivers, installing new versions of DirectX, etc, since all the source
files for the OS are on your disk. the XCOPY command looks as follows:
(boot from floppy and format the hard drive
a:
format c:
sys c:
if necessary - be sure you have a backup first of whatever you want to keep!)
xcopy f:\win98\*.* c:\win98kit\*.*
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win98kit
setup
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5048753
Asker : _JulieAnne_
Subject : printing out a folder's contents thru DOS
Private : No
Question : Hey Paul
I want to be able to print out a list of my mp3s to give to a friend. I
understand you can do this in DOS? They are in a folder called 'Recorded' which
sits in a folder called 'Julie Music' which lives on my desktop. I use Win95 and
my printer uses LPT1. Could you tell me how this can be done please?
When I go to my MSDOS prompt it says C:\WINDOWS. Would I need to change that
directory to just the plain C:\ prompt first?
Thank you - Julie
Answer : Try it this way (from C:\WINDOWS):
cd "desktop\julie music\recorded"
dir /b /o *.mp3 > .\mymp3s.txt
start notepad mymp3s.txt
Now you can print the list. If you really must print from DOS try this command
instead:
dir /b /o *.mp3 > lpt1:
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : Thanks mate. Great help. Just curious to know what the switches /b
and /o stand for?
Cya - Julie
Answer : Sure thing -
"/b" tells DOS to give the data in a "bare" format devoid of headers and file
size/date info
"/o" means to display the data in an "ordered" fashion as opposed to however it
gets read from the disk (which can be quite a mess - try a "dir *.mp3" in your
MP3 directory). In the case of "/o" alone it will print directories first,
followed by files and both will be in alphabetical order.
You can also order by other attributes - like filesize:
/os
and by date of creation:
/od
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5119712
Asker : swebjunkie
Subject : dos help
Private : No
Question : when i start dos, its always C:\windows, how do i make it so its only
c:\
Answer : Right-click the MS-DOS Prompt icon you're using, select Properties,
then in the "Program" tab edit the "Working" path from:
C:\WINDOWS
to
C:\
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5144485
Asker : barkovet53
Subject : dos shell
Private : No
Question : In dos shell (file.bat), is it possible do define a variable? who?
who to set a value to the variable? who to check (if statment).
Answer : Sure you can define a variable in a BAT file. Here's one example:
@echo off
set MYDATE=10/02/2001
echo %MYDATE%
If you save this as a file called TEST.BAT and then run TEST you will see:
10/02/2001
printed out on your screen.
Let me know if you wanted something more specific.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5175942
Asker : lsearcey
Subject : sound problem with old DOS games
Private : No
Question : I was installing some old games like DOOM, Wolfenstein and Duke Nukem
and on all of them I am having trouble with the
sound. Doom and wolfenstein the sound is scratchy, and on Duke it has no sound
at all. I tried to change the settings on Duke but then it won't boot up when I
do. before I upgraded my computer it worked fine. I usually go to the msdos
prompt from Windows 98SE and type in the exe file to start the program. Any tips
to try?
My system has an AMD K6-2 450 mhz with a
10.1 gig Western Digital HD, 16 bit sound blaster sound card
Answer : This is very likely due to your not having a properly set BLASTER
environment variable. Try adding the following line to your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 T6
Examine the resources for your sound card under the System control panel in the
Device Manager. In the line above confirm that your sound card is at IO address
220, IRQ 5, DMA 1 (8-bit DMA), DMA 5 (16-bit DMA). If any of these are different
plug in the correct values.
Now your DOS games should work. Try booting while holding the CTRL key and at
the menu choose "Command Prompt Only" and play your games there. You can confirm
the environment variable is there with the command:
echo %BLASTER%
You should see something like this:
A220 I5 D1 H5 T6
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : Thanks your tips helped I have sound now but with all the games I
can't use the Gravis game pad that I have plugged into the Sound Blaster 16
sound card. It works in Widows so I know it is reading it but when I start up
Doom for example unless I have it set to keyboard only it jumps to diffent
options like it has a mind of its own, plus when it works right it usually asks
to calibrate the game pad before the game starts.
With Duke Nukem when it is set to use the game pad it doesn't respond at all.
Wolfenstein does the same thing as Doom.
The game pad is a Gravis Game Pad pro (NON USB)
Answer : I'm glad I was able to help you!
You may want to try a different joystick. Those gamepads are digital I believe
and some DOS apps may not find it or use it successfully. Try a regular analog
joystick and see if it works better.
Paul Doherty
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5176065
Asker : clindemann
Subject : what exactly does dbug do?
Private : No
Question : what exactly does dbug do?
Answer : DOS's debug utility allows you to access the hardware at a low-level,
and obtain information or tweak at a bit-level the information stored at any
location. Here is a tutorial on debug:
http://www.datainstitute.com/debug1.htm
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5189582
Asker : jprice912
Subject : DOS font
Private : No
Question : I was wondering if there is any way to change the size of the ugley
DOS font when you are in DOS mode. I know how to do it if I open COMMAND.COM
while in Windows, but is it possible to change the size if you restart the
computer in DOS mode? I hate that huge font.
Answer : No... the font for pure DOS is resident in your BIOS.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5189589
Asker : WorldWideWe
Subject : DOS Batch file
Private : No
Question : Hi DOS Experts,
I have to create a batch file in DOS where I have to run multiple applications
simultaneously. For example, suppose these are the four lines in my test.bat
file:
-------
dir
cls
notepad
dir
-------
It executes the first dir, cls and opens notepad but doesnot execute dir command
unless I close the notepad. Which I wish that while the notepad is open the next
command i.e. dir should execute in the background.
I tried call(ing) another batch files which would execute another applications
but the first batch file calls only one batch file and not all.
Kindly help me and suggest how to achieve running multiple applications
simultaneously using the batch file. Or if there is any other utility existing
then please suggest it.
Thank you.
Answer : Do it this way:
dir
cls
start notepad
dir
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Answer : Don't forget to rate the answers you receive on AskMe.com...
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5208890
Asker : roofrunner
Subject : computer programming - DOS batch files
Private : No
Question : How do you to write a batch file to trigger the system beep?
ASCII value 007 is the bell. You can press and hold ALT, then type "7" on the
num pad, to get windows to interpret the keyboard input as ASCII. This all works
at the command line, but I can't type the bell symbol in a text file. Anyone
know how?
Answer : echo ^G (press CTRL and hit G)
Or if you want to do it a lot from different places you can store the bell in a
file (press ENTER after each line):
cd \windows\command
copy con bell
^G
^Z
Now you can use the following in any BAT file to get the bell to ring:
type c:\windows\command\bell
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : Hey Paul,
Thanks for the answer! Works great and saved me a lot of time and frustration
after going as far as I could.
Would you be able to recommend any DOS programming resources (books, websites,
examples, etc.)?
Btw, nice website. I'll have to check out some of those utilities.
Roofrunner
Answer : I don't really have any good resources but here's one I found that
looks good:
http://www.computerhope.com/batch.htm
I'm glad you liked my site - let me know if you like the utilities.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5270348
Asker : somco
Subject : ms dos 6.22 boot disk
Private : No
Question : where i can get free ms dos ver. 6.22
Answer : http://www.bootdisk.com/
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5270380
Asker : tbtao0414
Subject : how to set mutiboot in config.sys and autoexec.bat
Private : No
Question : how to set mutiboot in config.sys and autoexec.bat
Answer : In C:\CONFIG.SYS
[MENU]
MENUITEM=NORMAL,NORMAL
MENUITEM=BARE,BARE
MENUDEFAULT=NORMAL,5
[NORMAL]
device=c:\windows\himem.sys
device=c:\windows\idecd.sys /d:mscd001
[BARE]
device=c:\windows\himem.sys
In C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
@echo off
goto %config%
:NORMAL
lh c:\windows\command\doskey.com /insert
lh c:\windows\mscdex.exe /d:mscd001
PATH=c:\windows\command;c:\windows
goto end
:BARE
c:\windows\command\doskey.com /insert
goto end
:end
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
Answer : I didn't realize until I was reading through some of these again that
you'd asked for some sites:
http://stud4.tuwien.ac.at/~e8826423/DOSconfig.html
http://www.geocities.com/thegorx/Windows/Help/Config.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5273877
Asker : ColinClement
Subject : MS Dos Prompt
Private : No
Question : How do i free up memory from a dos prompt. I am running a .bat
program and half way through i get the message that there is not enough menory
to continue. the batch program executes a number of excell spreadsheets with
auto macros. Even if I close the batch program and re execute it, it does not
run but if i reboot is is okay.
Answer : Try adding the following two lines to your C:\CONFIG.SYS file:
device=c:\windows\himem.sys
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe RAM
Before you add the lines execute a:
mem /c /p
from a DOS prompt and note the total conventional memory available. Then after
adding the lines and rebooting try the same command and see if you increased
your conventional memory (first 640K of memory).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Hi Paul, thanks for your reply, I checked and I am using himem, is
there a dos command I can use to free up memory. My batch probram runs about 100
excell spreadsheete with complicated auto exec macros.s I could execute a free
type command after the execution of the spreadsheet.I cant' believe that I have
to re-boot to fix.
Thanks
Colin
Answer : You can try shutting down Excel in between spreadsheets. There is no
way to free up more memory in DOS without doing what I described above. This
makes the maximum available in conventional memory and opens up extended memory
for use as well. If you still run out after installing the lines I described
above, one of your spreadsheets is likely too large to be opened in DOS. (I'm
assuming you're using an old DOS version of Excel??)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5284243
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Detecting the internet connection by dos...
Private : No
Question : Hello everyone,
can you please tell me if it is possible to
detect the connection to the internet by the PC
from the DOS prompt under windows 98se?
is there a port that i can test to find out?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : If you're only using a modem you might try pinging 127.0.0.1 - it's
been a long time since I used a modem for internet access but I'm thinking that
if the modem is not currently dialed in that this ping might fail. And when it
is dialed in it will succeed. This address is a loopback and doesn't actually
leave your machine but rather tests that TCP/IP is installed and functioning
properly. Another thing you can try is to ping a known-good address like the
email server at your ISP or their web server. For example if their web server
is:
www.myisp.com
Do this to find their IP:
ping www.myisp.com (note the IP address).
Now you can use this IP address as a (almost) definitive test of whether the
internet connection is live or not.
Try it when connected and when not to see the difference in the messages
produced.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : Hi paul,
thanks a lot for your excellent response...
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : You're welcome.
Paul
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5294271
Asker : Canlawyer
Subject : MISTAKENLY DELETED COBOL SOURCE FILE
Private : No
Question : Using Windows 98 DOS Ver 4.10.1998 I goofed and deleted a COBOL
source file I need.
Version 5 supports UNDELETE but my version doesn't.
Any way to get it back?
Thanks,
Mike Paul
Answer : First off - DO NOTHING TO THE SYSTEM. Do not reboot it. Do not exit the
DOS prompt. Nothing.
Then snag a utility like this one:
http://www.file-rescue.com/
It should be able to get the file back as long as the space previously occupied
by the file has not bee reallocated for other uses yet.
Download the utility on a *different* machine, put the utility on a floppy if
possible and run it from the floppy on the affected machine.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5328869
Asker : dalegtr18
Subject : Location of FAT using debug
Private : No
Question : Hi fellow experts. Does anyone know the exact location of a pc's File
Allocation Table? It's been a few years since I was down this road and searches
on Google, etc. give me an overwhelming amount of hits, all of which simply
define FATs but don't tell me where to find them using Debug. I imagine the
location of VFAT may differ from that of FAT32 but am not certain of this. Is
the location universal for each type of FAT used? In other words, if I find my
FAT (I use Windows 95 FAT32), will I be able to find all FAT32 tables on
different pc's using Windows 95 and 98? Thanks!
Dale
Answer : http://www.totse.com/en/computers/tech_specs_pc/fat.html
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5332023
Asker : jmci
Subject : How do I write a script to copy files under a directory structure into
1 file?
Private : No
Question : I have only written scripts in UNIX but I want to
write a script for WinNT so that I give
a directory as an arguement and any file under
this directory name that I specify (e.g any
html file - *htm* - will be written into one
destination file). I haven't used DOS much
but I know that the copy command creates one
file from if the source files are in the
actual directory i'm in but I can't figure out
how to go down the directory structure looking
for matching file names.
Any help much appreciated
Answer : Look into the FOR command. Something like this will work:
for -f %%i IN ('dir /b /s *.htm*') DO type %%i >> c:\newfile.htm
This will take all the filenames in succession for the current directory and all
subdirectories beneath it and concatenate them one at a time into a new file
called "c:\newfile.htm".
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5346717
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : modem communication
Private : No
Question : Hi,
I am trying to do paging through the modem using dos. Is there any way/script
that can do it?
I had tried to communicate with the modem at com1 by using the script below but
can't work.
echo "ATDT9,1234567,,,123" > com1:
Answer : Just install this program - put the atsend.exe in C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND
(or somewhere else in your PATH) and you can send those AT strings directly to
the modem from within your BAT file or at the command line.
http://members.home.net/iqueue/AtSend.zip
Paul Doherty
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5370946
Asker : rfdrosie
Subject : MS-DOS
Private : Yes
Question : Which of the following is NOT a TRUE statement about MSD.
A--MSD is not a diagnostic program
B--Is an accurate way of determining what your system is made up of
C--It will tell you the CPU type and video card
D--It will tell you the status on IRQs and info on TSRs that are running
Answer : A - it IS a diagnostic program (in the sense that it gives tech info on
the PC and OS).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5370973
Asker : rfdrosie
Subject : MS-DOS
Private : Yes
Question : What will the command TREE/F>MORE.COM do, if issued from the DOS
directory.
A--Dispaly the tree structure including files one screen page at a time
B--Display the tree structure of DOS directory including files one screen page
at a time
C--Give an error message
D--Overwrite the MORE command
Answer : D - it will nuke your MORE.COM command
The command to run would be:
tree /f | more
OR
tree /f > myfile.txt
more myfile.txt
OR
tree /f > myfile.txt
more < myfile.txt
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5371053
Asker : rfdrosie
Subject : MS-DOS
Private : Yes
Question : How would you copy a group of files that began with BIL that were in
the root of the A drive to the directory DIR1 that is directly under the root of
the A drive?
A--COPY A:/BIL*.* A:/DIR1/BIL*.*
B--COPY A:DIR1BIL*.* A:BIL*.*
C--COPY A:BIL*.* A:DIR1BIL*.*
D--You can not copy several files using only one command.
Answer : A is closest to correct but is still wrong. the answer is:
copy a:\bil*.* a:\dir1
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5413979
Asker : classicgto1
Subject : DOS
Private : No
Question : I recently started taking the A+ Certification class and DOS is like
learning a completely foriegn language.
Can you help me with a few questions?
When in DOS why would you need to change how a path is written and if you did
change anything what changes would occur?
Where would I find out the correct ways the paths are written?
For instance, if there is a problem with the OS and I had to go into DOS what
would identify the correct paths structures so I could find out what would need
to be changed?
What type of problems would be present to identify that the current problems are
in DOS and not in windows?
When in DOS or in Win98 msconfig dialog box where do you get the information to
know what the correct paths are and that they are written correctly
in any of these main files: Config.sys, SYS.INI, Autoexec.bat, and WIN.INI?
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Jim
Need More Information : Please clarify these statements - I'm not sure what
you're asking here.
FUQuestion : In Config.sys a path is written:
DEVICE=C:\HIMEM.SYS
Why is this written the way it is?
If it was slightly different ex.. DEVICE=C HIMEM.SYS
how would you know that it is wrong?
Could that be because you remember how the path is written? If you don't
remember how it's written what you have to do to verify that it's written
correctly?
If your in Autoexec.bat and the path is written like this: REM
C:\WINDOWS\SNDINIT /B .How would you find out a problem that is occuring would
pertain to this path?
I can't grasp the way DOS works with the main system files ie.. Autoexec.bat,
Config.sys, etc..
How would you know if this path is written correctly and if it is, how would you
know what it means? ex..
NullPort=None? or SET TMP=f:\TEMP?
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Jim
Answer : Ah, I see what you're after now...
Well let's dissect that statement in the CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICE=C:\HIMEM.SYS
"DEVICE=" is a special statement for the CONFIG.SYS and is not germane to the
conversation (and really requires no explanation as I'm sure you know it's just
a preface for the file to be loaded).
"C:\" is the path where the file can be found - in this case the "root" of the
C: drive. The root is the highest level directory from which all others start.
It is indicated by a "\" (backslash).
The "\" can be used in several ways. here it indicates the root, but it is also
used as a separator between items in a command, as in:
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ATTRIB.EXE
Here we are starting at the root "\", moving down from there into WINDOWS, then
into COMMAND to get to the file we're executing named ATTRIB.EXE.
If we had been traversing the file system in the previous example there may have
been a more efficient way to access the ATTRIB.EXE - for example if we had
issued this series of commands:
C:
CD \WINDOWS\SYSTEM
out "current directory" will now be:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM
and we could access the ATTRIB.EXE with any of the following:
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ATTRIB.EXE
\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ATTRIB.EXE
..\COMMAND\ATTRIB.EXE
All three of the above would have the same effect but the later ones require
less typing because they take advantage of the fact that (number 2) we are
already on the C: drive and can therefore leave it off the path, and (number 3)
we are already in the WINDOWS subdirectory tree (albeit in another subdirectory
from where we need to be) and can therefore use a "relative" path to get to the
file we need. The ".." at the beginning means "move up a directory from where I
am now" which would move us from C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM to C:\WINDOWS, then the rest
of the command moves us into COMMAND and finds the file we're after. Note that
in example #2 above we started our path with the "\" which means back all the
way up to root and start from there, regardless of where we are in the file
system.
"HIMEM.SYS" is the file we wish to load with this whole statement (as an aside
HIMEM.SYS is a DOS memory manager).
As for your statement:
REM C:\WINDOWS\SNDINIT /B
Thsi cannot be the cause of a problem as it is preceded by a "REM". This is a
"remark" statement. Anything on a line starting with REM is ignored by
command.com and is not processed.
The SET statement sets a variable with a value. In this case the variable TMP is
being assigned a value of "f:\TEMP". To see the value after it's been set issue
this command:
echo %TMP%
To see what other variables you have set and what their values are issue:
SET
by itself.
DOS loads the config.sys and autoexec.bat after loading - they are used to
initialize and customize your environment or autorun things you need for each
DOS session. After the system performs it's BIOS and memory checks two files
(io.sys and msdos.sys) and command.com are loaded. Then command.com loads the
config.sys first and executes/interprets it's statements. Then it reads the
autoexec.bat and runs it's statements. After this you will be left at a DOS
prompt (unless you're running Windows 95/98).
That should about cover it... let me know if anything else isn't clear.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5426747
Asker : dana20miller
Subject : trying to make system boot from cd
Private : No
Question : Hi, I am trying to install linux mandrake 7.2 on my old junkie
parkard bell it is running windows 95, soo I want to tinker into linux a little
but I can't make the machine boot from cd even when I go into the bios it only
gives me the option of booting from the A and C drives! Somebody said something
about dos so I thought I would ask!
Thanks for your time,
Dana
Answer : All you need to do is create the floppy boot disks off the CD. Use the
rawrite.exe (or under Windows rawritewin.exe) program to create each disk which
are stored under the "Images" directory on the CD. Just dblclick rawritewin.exe
and then open the Images directory and select the "CDROM.img" file.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5432861
Asker : mbuzi
Subject : Dos Zipping files
Private : Yes
Question : I have downloaded an update of Grisoft antivirus(D601H513.BIN) into
the root directory of my PC at workplace. The file-size is 2.718 MB.
I realy want to transfer this file to my PC at home, but the fact that
downloaded file is big I try using PKZIP(I am not familiar with winzip).
The only problem that I see is that I may have to use more than TWO
disks(1.44MB).
What I can't remember is the command line to issue so that I PKzip the update
into two disks.
Could you please help is reminding me of the command,
NB:
Is it ,
PKZIP -& -ex A:/UPDATE C:\D601H513.BIN ???
Answer : That should work - only errors I see are that you used a forward-slash
where you should have had a backslash and you'll probably need the "-a"
parameter to create an archive. Also if you cannot assume the disks are
formatted already include the "f" after the "&".
Here you go:
PKZIP -&f -ex -a A:\UPDATE.ZIP C:\D601H513.BIN\*.*
Please do not ask questions in private if they are not of a private nature. This
is a general question, and not of an embarrassing nature. Marking it as private
detracts from the value of our interaction to others as they cannot read it
under any circumstance.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5456295
Asker : jacque79
Subject : batch zip files
Private : No
Question : I have a huge number of files that need to be individually zipped. I
know there is a prog called gzip, but I am not sure how to use it. Is there any
easy way to take a disk full of, for example, .dwg files and run some sort of
batch prog that will convert these dwg's to .zips? They need to be individually
zipped in order to be individually downloadable on the Internet.
Answer : Assuming the .dwg files are in the path C:\DOWNLOAD (on an NT machine)
try this:
for /f "tokens=*" %%i IN ('dir /b c:\download\*.dwg') DO @"d:\program
files\winzip\winzip32.exe" -min -a -ef -hs "c:\download\%%~ni.zip"
"c:\download\%%~ni.pst"
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Paul,
Thank you for the speedy reply. When I tried this, I got the message, " %%i was
unexpected at this time"
Any ideas?
Jacque
Answer : The syntax showed is for inclusion in a .BAT (batch) file. To run it at
a command line change all the "%%i" to "%i" (that is, only one percent symbol).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Paul,
I visited your page. Very impressive. I'm counting on your patience, since you
have experience teaching a tough age group!
I changed the double % to a single % and now it is running, but giving me the
message that it cannot find the path specified. Since the message is repeated
the number of times equal to the number of .DWG files, I'm guessing I'm close,
but not there yet.
I am running 2000, have just A-floppy, c-drive, and d-CD-rom.
And my winzip is in c:\programfiles (which I changed from your code)
If you have a simple suggestion great! But I don't want to create any stress!
Thanks,
Jacque
Need More Information : Can you give me:
The exact error message being reported
The exact path where the files actually exist
The entire line you are executing
Paul Doherty
FUQuestion : The system cannot find the path specified.
This message is repeated the number of files that exist in the directory.
The path where the files exist is:
c:\download
I am using the command prompt...c:\>
for /f "tokens=*" %i IN ('dir /b c:\download\*.dwg') DO @"c:\program
files\winzip\winzip32.exe" -min -a -ef -hs "c:\download\%%~ni.zip"
"c:\download\%%~ni.pst"
Answer : I see the problem here... When I adapted my solution to your problem I
didn't change the extension at the end... must have overlooked it. The '.pst' at
the end of the command needs to be '.dwg' as in:
for /f "tokens=*" %i IN ('dir /b c:\download\*.dwg') DO @"c:\program
files\winzip\winzip32.exe" -min -a -ef -hs "c:\download\%%~ni.zip"
"c:\download\%%~ni.dwg"
try that and let me know how it works out.
Sorry for the mixup... :-)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Hi,
I tried that, and got the same message, "The system cannot find the path
specified"
Two questions...
what does dir /b refer to?
It does not matter what my files are named, does it? They are a part number
.dwg, as in 10050604.dwg
What proceeds the .dwg should not matter should it?
Jacque
Answer : No the filenames are fine. The "/b" generates a "bare" listing with no
other date/size/etc info. You may actually be getting duplicate path information
from the for loop (I wrote this under NT4 and I'm not positive it's identical
under 2000). To test let's run this:
for /f "tokens=*" %i IN ('dir /b c:\download\*.dwg') DO @echo
"c:\download\%%~ni.dwg"
Send me a few lines of that output and let's see what it's doing.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : An output sample is:
"c:\download\%20222005.dwg"
This is repeated times the amount of files I have in the download
directory...insert each part number in place of 20222005.
Answer : Ah I see - use one percent at cmd line, and two inside a BAT file. Try
them both ways on the command with the lines to appear as below for cmd line and
BAT.
cmd-line
for /f "tokens=*" %i IN ('dir /b c:\download\*.dwg') DO @echo
"c:\download\%~ni.dwg"
BAT file
for /f "tokens=*" %%i IN ('dir /b c:\download\*.dwg') DO @echo
"c:\download\%%~ni.dwg"
If both of these echo out the lists and they look like this:
"c:\download\20222005.dwg"
then you should be able to use that syntax and just put back in the winzip
portion (so for example it would look like):
for /f "tokens=*" %%i IN ('dir /b c:\download\*.dwg') DO @"c:\program
files\winzip\winzip32.exe" -min -a -ef -hs "c:\download\%%~ni.zip"
"c:\download\%%~ni.dwg"
If you cna't get it working I may have to get off my lazy rear and confirm this
still works by creating a similar subdir structure with some files on my NT
server. :-(
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows utilities
FUQuestion : Hi Paul,
when I ran this-
cmd-line
for /f "tokens=*" %i IN ('dir /b c:\download\*.dwg') DO @echo
"c:\download\%~ni.dwg"
the output was a list as desired:
"c:\download\20222005.dwg"
when I ran this-
BAT file
for /f "tokens=*" %%i IN ('dir /b c:\download\*.dwg') DO @echo
"c:\download\%%~ni.dwg"
the output was:
%%i was unexpected at this time
Jacque
Answer : Hmmm... I wonder is 2000 has been changed with regard to the handling
of variable substitution? Try that last one in the BAT file with a single
percent or just modify the command line to actually do the task and be done with
it. :-)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5456329
Asker : alvin_b_dunn
Subject : How can I make my computer boot to dos?
Private : No
Question : I would like to make my computer start up in dos mode. Then start
windows from there. I am running windows 98 SE.
Answer : Open a DOS prompt and issue the following commands:
attrib -r -h -s c:\msdos.sys
edit c:\msdos.sys
(look for the section titled [Options] and add the next line below that header)
BootGUI=0
Save the file and now when you reboot it will stop at DOS. You can type "win" to
enter Windows any time.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Answer : Rate the answers you receive on Askme.com....
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : Thanks Paul. How would you do this if you are running Windows ME?
Thanks,
Alvin
Answer : ME to my knowledge cannot boot straight to DOS - they have done all
they can to remove DOS from the underpinnings of ME and as a result you cannot
boot to DOS. Very dumb, IMO... you can use a bootable floppy (after which you
can still see the contents of the C: drive and do what you need to do).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5468767
Asker : jeli98
Subject : scripting in dos- renew network
Private : No
Question : Is there a batch file I can write that will renew the lease from my
dhcp server. I want to run this instead of always opening winipcfg and clicking
renew. Thanks
Answer : Sure just try this is a .BAT file:
@echo off
winipcfg /batch /release N
winipcfg /batch /renew N
where 'N' is the NIC number (try 1).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5513254
Asker : globalg
Subject : Copy files across LAn
Private : No
Question : Good morning Paul.I wonder if you can assist me.I have an NT4 LAN
with 25 users (win98).They use an Access97 database which has the datafile
stored on the server and the front end held locally to users.Whenever I change a
report/Qry/Frm I then have to copy it to each users database across the network
& it takes forever.Is there an easy way to copy these files across.For instance
my server is called eclfs.
I tried to create a batch file like this.
xcopy eclfs\database\data.mdb \\P200-3\C:\database\
This did not work and it is not really what I require anyway.I sometimes do not
want to overwrite the whole *.mdb file but 1 or 2 qrys/frms.Hope I have not
confused you cause I think I have myself.Cheers for now..Gary_B
Answer : The syntax you have could almost work - I think it needs to be tweaked
just a bit though.
(running from the server that has the updated files in a directory under C:
called "stuff")
copy /y c:\stuff\update1.mdb \\P200-3\c$\database
The "/y" would make it overwrite if an existing file of the same name already
exists at the destination. You may or not want/need this.
--
Paul Doherty, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, CCSA, CCSE
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5518067
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Logged network drive letter....
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
can you please tell me how to get the mapped
network drive letter from the dos prompt?
for example,(drive d:, e: f: g: h:, etc). also,
is it possible to map a network drive from the
dos prompt command, to connect two computers via
a windows 98se network?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : net use
will show you the connections you already have.
net use x: \\server\share
will connect drive letter X: to a share.
--
Paul Doherty, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, CCSA, CCSE
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5518553
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Disconnet from a network mapping...
Private : No
Question : Hi paul,
can you please tell me how to disconnect the mapped drive from the dos prompt?
also, when you
copy files from a server to a connected computer,
what the "$" stand for? example:
"xcopy c:\master\*.doc \\station\c$\share".
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : To disconnect a drive:
net use x: /delete
where "x:" is a previously-mapped drive.
The "c$" usage refers to the so-called "administrative share" that allows a user
with the proper credentials to access the root of each drive on a networked
Windows box without there being an explicit share having been made available.
--
Paul Doherty, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, CCSA, CCSE
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5526325
Asker : v_ravikumar
Subject : reading system files
Private : No
Question : how can i read the user.dat file, was there any software to read?
can we download the software from any web site?
Answer : regedit.exe is the standward way to view this file. System.dat and
user.dat together make up the registry.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5536934
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : dos extract
Private : No
Question : Hello,
can anyone tell me EXACTLY how to use the extract feature for DOS (using
win.me)if it is of any help i am trying to locate and extract
shelliconcache which has gone missing on my pc.
Ta very much
Answer : Here's the way I do it.
First extract a list of the contents of every series of CAB file from your CD.
Assume your CD-ROm is drive letter X: and that the CAB files are in a directory
on there called \WIN98 (I'm using 98 but the process should be identical in ME).
Open a DOS prompt and make a dir on your hard drive:
md c:\cabs
cd into the new dir
c:
cd \cabs
dir /w /o x:\win98\*.cab
(note the "clusters" of names that the CAB files are in - we will be using the
first of each series to collect the information we want)
Enter the following command for the first filename in each series of CAB files -
for example the first series I see at the top of my dir output is BASE4.CAB
(accompanied by BASE5.CAB and BASE6.CAB)
extract /a /d x:\win98\base4.cab >> cablist.txt
In the end you will have a file called:
c:\cabs\cablist.txt
that will list every file stored anywhere in your CABs and you can then isolate
what file you need by searching that file. Once you know what CAB file the file
you need resides in you can use this to get at it:
extract /e x:\win98\YYYYY.CAB file.exe
where file.exe is the file you are after.
--
Paul Doherty, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, CCSA, CCSE
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5541071
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : How to convert a DOS batch file into .EXE or .COM file
Private : No
Question : How to convert a DOS batch file into .EXE or .COM file?
I want to write some batch file and let the users run it. For obvious reasons, I
do not want them to read the .COM (or .EXE)file using any editor. I tried
BAT2EXE utility to create a .COM file, but you can use DOS EDIT command to view
the .COM file and read some codes.
Answer : http://www.computerhope.org/download/utility/bat2exe.com
Bat2Exe will convert a BAT file to a COM executable. Literal strings that were
present in the BAT file will still exist in the COM file and can be seen but the
majority will be gobbledegook to casual inspection.
--
Paul Doherty, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, CCSA, CCSE
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
Rating : 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5541086
Asker : rdorsin
Subject : fdisk cannot delete partition
Private : No
Question : The volume name on my harddrive included extended characters and
since I am unable to duplicate them, fdisk is unable to delete the partition. I
tried /mbr but it had no affect. What can I do?
Answer : Just download this free utility - it can delete any partition you can
make!
ftp://ftp.ncd.com/pub/ncd/Archive/WinCenter/Utilities/delpart.exe
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5546628
Asker : sah
Subject : copy all files *except*...
Private : No
Question : Is there a command that will let you copy all files in a folder,
except for a few specific files? I know copy *.* copies all files, but I want to
copy all except 3 specific files that I know the name of. I don't know if there
is a way to do it.
Thanks.
Answer : There is no way to do it normally - DOS has no negation operator. I
wrote a utility called DiskMaster that is a GUI directory/file manager and that
is one of the features I built into the app. Try it out - the feature you're
after is under the "Wildcard" button and is called "Inverse wildcard"
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5548216
Asker : KCC
Subject : DOS
Private : Yes
Question : Hi Paul,
i have received a question in windows 95/98 but dos has never been my strong
point.would you have any objections to me reffering the questioner to you for an
answer?
below is the question
Hi,KCC.
I have a problem to trouble you.
Can you teach me how to share resources of Windows
98(I need to use its files on hard disk) under DOS? I remember that "net"
command could do,but
when I use it,I didn't succeed. Do I need some
software for DOS or only the commom DOS command?
(I connected DOS machine and Windows machine with
RS-232 cable connected to COM port. If this is not
right,then could you tell me a solution when two
machines are connected by network cards?)
Thank you very much.
yannanqi.
Answer : Sure thing - I answered his question. Thanks for referring him to me.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5548472
Asker : yannanqi
Subject : share resources between DOS and Windows
Private : No
Question : Hi,pauldoherty.
I have a problem to trouble you.I have asked expert KCC,but he advise me to ask
you for help.
Can you teach me how to share resources of Windows
98(I need to use its files on hard disk) under DOS? I remember that "net"
command could do,but
when I use it,I didn't succeed. Do I need some
software for DOS or only the commom DOS command?
(I connected DOS machine and Windows machine with
RS-232 cable connected to COM port. If this is not
right,then could you tell me a solution when two
machines are connected by network cards?)
Thank you very much.
yannanqi.
Answer : Since it sounds like you are talking about a pure DOS machine (not a
DOS prompt running under Windows) you will need a boot disk (or have C: properly
configured (works the same either way)) that brings up the network facilities on
the DOS machine.
This site has step-by-step instructions on how to create such a disk:
http://www.i386.com/default.asp?page=pages&category=ADMIN&keyword=booting
Once you have the network functioning on the DOS machine the command to access a
share on the 98 box will look like this:
net use X: \\98machinename\share
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5578460
Asker : Hawkeye1000
Subject : batch files
Private : No
Question : How do you change a command in auto exe.?
Answer : You mean autoexec.bat I expect. It's a normal ASCII text file so open
it with Notepad, Wordpad or DOS's "edit".
ex.
edit c:\autoexec.bat
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Thank you for your return,the reason I want to change a command is
such. I put REM C:\echo Y Idel c:\windows\temp*.* hoping this would allow me to
download messenger(it goes to a temp file), however this will not work. I don't
remember what the bat.file original line was for temp.files.I hope you can tell
me. Hawkeye
Answer : The line you're describing would be for cleaning up the TEMP directory
and would actually be like this:
echo y | del c:\windows\temp\*.*
(with no path "C:\" before the echo, and what you had as a capital "I" is
actually a "pipe character" "|")
So what was your question (or was that it)?
Paul
Rating : 5
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5592016
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Flip flop in dos under windows 98...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
if i connect two printers into my computer with
an adaptor, let say one is laser and the other
one is a dot-matrix printer. Is there a dos
command that would allow me to flip flop between
these two printers to set my default one, that
way i can avoid doing it from windows per se??
or do you suggest buying a hardware switch to
alternate between the two printers?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : I can see only confusion in your future if you try to have two parallel
printers exist on the same cable... :-)
A switch box would work best here. Parallel devices do not expect to be sharing
the cable and would very likely not play nicely together. Sort of like Mike
Tyson at a hairdresser's convention.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5603131
Asker : friscog1
Subject : FTP in DOS
Private : No
Question : Hi, I want to go to a ftp site that I must use in dos because you
cant see the folders in the browser. You can get to them in dos only if you know
the name of the folder. I know that typing ftp at the dos prompt while on the
internet is the start. I think after that it is open ftp.whatever.com. Can
someone give me detailed instructions or direct me somewhere where this can be
clarified?
Answer : Full detail on the commands, and examples are here:
http://www.computerhope.com/software/ftp.htm
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5608044
Asker : jackie3101
Subject : not sure I should tinker
Private : Yes
Question : I do have a question but will try to give you some background first.
I unsubsribed to Earthlink.net a few months ago. However, both their logo and an
Earthlink file still reside in my program folder.
Additionally, my cookies are going to a "Cookies" folder buried 2 deep in the
Earthlink folder! They are not going to Windows Cookies.
This is a miner problem, but I wanted to know how to change it. I asked in the
Win98 section. One answer came back to alter the registry which I'm very
hesitant to do. Another answer is still in limbo. An expert told me to del the
folder and reboot. I tried that. I got an error message that said the file was
needed by Windows System and couldn't be deleted.
I emailed Earthlink. I haven't heard back from them.
I went into DOS just to see the Earthlink Cookies file. I haven't been into DOS
for years and knew little when I had to operate from it before Windows. However,
I got to the Earthlink file, but the Cookies folder does not appear. The
Earthlink file contains both a "Favorites" AND the "Cookies" files. I saw the
favorites in DOS, but I didn't see the Cookies file. Would you have any idea why
the Cookies file would not be visible if the Favorites was?
(I can explain somewhat how I came to be left with this remnant from Earthlink,
but unless you need this information, I'll try not to be any lengthier.)
Thanks for your time and any explanation.
Jackie
Answer : The folder may be hidden, or may be a "fake" folder generated by
Windows. To see it under DOS try using the "/a" switch, as in:
dir c:\cookie* /s /a
(the above will show all files or directories that start with "cookie" no matter
what attributes are set on the file)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Thanks for your reply and help.
Earthlink did respond. They gave me a .dll exe to use in "run", and the logo
(and what they call co-branded information) is gone.
I went to your website for a very quick glance. It's impressive. I am a teacher.
I found the combination of psychology and computer science interesting. People
like you bring a lot of honor to the profession. Thanks, Mr. Doherty.
I used your command. The Cookies directory is in the second level of the
Earthlink directory. Since you essentially answered my question, I hesitate to
ask this next one. I'll rate this answer. But, to keep you keyed to my original
explanation, should I ask the next question here-which means you don't get
credit for another question-or would you like me to repost?
Thanks, Jackie.
Answer : Thanks for the kind words - I'm glad you feel that way!
As for the question, if it is unrelated to this one you should ask it separately
so others who may search for that type of question at a later date will more
easily find it.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : It's not unrelated, and I'm afraid if I repost, I'll lose some
continuity.
I'll look at your site at length this summer when I have some time.
I want to delete the Earthlink folder in DOS.
That would be fun for me.
I would need a little help there.
I copied all my favorites into the Win Favorites folder.
I moved all my Cookies into the Win Cookies Folder...except..the index.dat file
wouldn't move.
(Additionally, all cookies still go to the Earthlink folder and, of course,
getting back here required a new login.)
So, if I remove the Earthlink folder, will the index.dat folder automatically be
placed in the Win "Cookies" folder?
And, would I be "repathed" to Windows\Cookies?
Hopefully, I'm clear.
Thanks
Jackie
Answer : I've never tried this but after poking in the Internet Explorer menus
it appears that under the
Tools/Internet Options/General (tab)tab/Temporary Internet
Files/Settings(button)
there is a "Move Folder" button that you may want to use *before* nuking the
folder from DOS. The likely reason the index.dat won't move is because it is
still in use. Moving the folder elsewhere may take care of that and keep Windows
from losing it's mind.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Thanks, again.
I'm unclear, but dense too.
Why should I have to move the temporary file?
What would that have to do with Cookies?
See, one good answer spawns two more questions.
So sorry.
Jackie
Answer : Because Windows has "special" folders that it needs to know the
location of, like My Documents and the folder we're dealing with. Pulling it out
from under Windows without first having Windows move it's information store
about that location is probably a bad idea.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5615471
Asker : hagay
Subject : Arj compressing , plus moving recursive files AND SUBFOLDERS
Private : No
Question : Hi
I want to know how to compress recursively, arj file and subfolders and to MOVE
them to the arj archive
thanx
(i want to delete the fles and folders from the original folder)
Answer : cd to root of directory for files to go into archive
arj m -r newfile.arj *.*
This will remove all the files and leave the empty subdirectories.
And use this to extract with subdirectories intact:
arj x -y newfile.arj
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Thanx
But i want to know if there is some way to remove the empty folders in the same
action.
If not , how can i delete these specific empty folders later, assuming I didnt
arj all of the folders there (using /ob time flag)
Rating : 4
FUQuestion : And How can i maintain the window's name and not to get the DOS's
short 8 characters name ?
Answer : Add a deltree command after the ARJ to remove the dirs:
c:
cd \stuff
arj m -r newfile.arj *.*
deltree *.*
Be careful and test as this will nuke all files and dirs!
If you need to maintain long filenames use an archiver besides arj:
http://hem.passagen.se/magobe/Hemladdning/Filer/ACE32.EXE
What do you mean by "maintain the window's name"?
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Let me explain :
I got a main folder that continuously been enlarge.
So, i want to clean it periodically. that means - every three month.
the problem is that i have to clean only what is OLDER then 3 month.
and the new files and folders will stay at the origin main folder.
Also I want to MOVE all the files and SUB Folders that i compressed.
Also I want to keep long filenames.
Thanx
Answer : If you only want to "clean" (define that please) files and dirs under
the selected directory that are older than 3 months then you don't want what it
appears you are asking (namely to remove all subdirectories) since they may
contain some of the files not older than 3 months.
I guess I'm still not clear on what you're attempting. Also you may just want to
use WinZip for this. You'll use a command like this:
"c:\program files\winzip\winzip32.exe" -min -m -r -ef -hs e:\newfile.zip
@e:\backup\backup.txt
A nice thing about this command-line is that you can store the directories you
want to backup this way, one per line, in the file e:\backup\backup.txt (change
to the real path and filename you use) and they will all be backed up into this
same archive. The file might look something like this:
e:\home\*.*
e:\shared\*.*
The command-line above then would move all files under "home" and "shared" to
the archive, deleting the originals as it goes, and would preserve the long
filenames.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Thanx man,
But as i can see, there is no option in WinZip that do the same action as "OB"
that ARJ has.
That means I cant choose the files and folders i want to Compress and delete.
Let me (Please) explain what i need to do:
I got a main folder and this folder contains many many subfolders (only sub
folders).
each subfolder is unique and created only once with its sub folders.
After a while (3 months from its creation) i dont need this subfolder - burden
on the main folder and i got no use with it only with the new subfolders (less
then 3 mounth).
I want to execute a periodic batch file to compress and move from the min folder
all the subfolders that are older then 3 months.
i hope i was clearer now (sorry).
help is needed very quick for the main folder is cracking.
thanks.
Answer : I see two ways to approach it:
1) use the method I gave you above, adding a script that deletes the empty
directories left behind after the archives are created.
Alternative 1b) ignore the now-empty directories as they use almost no space
2) write a custom script and run it on a scheduled basis that obtains the names
of the dirs that are 3 months old or older and archives/removes them.
I could perform #2 for you and produce an EXE you could use to easily do this.
If you are interested in hiring me for such a task I would expect it to take no
more than a few hours of effort to produce.
--
Paul Doherty, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, CCSA, CCSE
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows utilities
Rating : 4
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5632586
Asker : mbuzi
Subject : Dos instructions
Private : Yes
Question : Sometime ago in March I installed winME on top of windows98.
Well, all went smoothly, till last week when My OS (winME) behaved like never
before.
The problem is whenever the PC boots it hangs on the DOS screen that reads:
VARIFYING D.M.I....
It then shuts off!
At times it goes to safe mode. Why I am asking this question here is,
What is the dos command for restoration of registry files?
(I tried this command ,
c:\scanreg restore/a
But my PC would tell me "wrong DOS version".
Why?
In case all fails would you please expain to me what I would need to format the
harddisk?
Answer : I'm not sure if ME handles the registry the same as 95/98 did, but in
case they do here's how to restore a backup version:
Boot from a boot disk and then:
path=a:\;c:\windows\command
C:
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s *.dat
ren system.dat system.bak
ren system.dat system.bak
ren system.ini sysini.bak
ren win.ini winini.bak
cd sysbckup
dir *.cab
(look for the newest file listed - that is the most recent date of creation
- we'll assume the newest file was named RB001.CAB)
extract /e rb001.cab
attrib -r -h -s *.dat
move system.dat ..
move system.ini ..
move user.dat ..
move win.ini ..
What we have done here is to take advantage of the fact that Windows 98/SE
takes periodic backups of the registry. We have taken the latest version of
those backups and reinstated that backed-up version.
Reboot the machine and see if the sitation has improved. If it hasn't you
can repeat this process with successively older versions of the registry
backups. If you decide that you are not getting anywhere and the problem
lies elsewhere you can put the original versions you had back in place with
this:
path=a:\;c:\windows\command
C:
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s *.dat
copy /y system.bak system.dat
copy /y user.bak user.dat
copy /y sysini.bak system.ini
copy /y winini.bak win.ini
If these steps don't help you your problem may be file-related - meaning you
may have the wrong version of a critical file, or there has been corruption
of a critical file. Try holding the CTRL key during a boot and when the
menu appears choose a 'Logged' boot. After the boot is completed you can
examine the bootlog.txt file for some more clues as to what you are facing.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5634969
Asker : jackie3101
Subject : Altering registry or editing in DOS
Private : Yes
Question : The first thread was long and you deserve more credit for your help.
This may be the last I have to bother you if your render NO for an answer.
While I awaited your answer to looking into deleting my Earthlink file through
DOS, I wanted to check something. Since deleting in DOS is permanent, I thought
I'd check in Windows to see whether/not I could delete the Earthlink file. It
would not. The file is still needed by the Windows system. I wasn't going to go
any further. I just wanted to see what the Earthlink tech's correction did. All
it cleared up was to remove their logo.
So, I fired off another email to Earthlink and just as I feared, I received
their answer which is to alter the registry.
Questions:
1. Since it looks to me that the tech at Earthlink directed me to change file
paths in the registry, can I do it in DOS? (In my old DOS book, I don't see
anything about editing except instructions on editing a floppy.)
2. Is it just as dangerous for a frivolous thinker like myself to use DOS?
3. If I can edit it DOS safely, is there a book that you could recommend or a
site where I could go to read something about this?
Thanks again.
Jackie
Answer : Editing the registry isn't difficult - you just have to be careful
while you're in there. And you can't do it in DOS. While you can manipulate the
files that make up the registry from DOS you can't directly access the internal
structures. You'll use regedit.exe for that -
Start/Run/regedit.exe (press ENTER)
If you're not sure you'll like the changes they make to your registry, or want
to protect yourself in case you make a mistake while you're in there, go ahead
and make a backup before making the changes. Open a DOS prompt and type this:
c:
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s *.dat
copy system.dat system.bak
copy user.dat user.bak
copy system.ini sysini.bak
copy win.ini winini.bak
Now if anything goes haywire you can get back to where you were by issuing the
first three lines again as they appear above and then the last four lines in
reverse form. For example the last one would then look like this when restoring:
copy winini.bak win.ini
Paul Doherty
FUQuestion : I have two remaining questions.
If something goes wrong, how would I get back into DOS? Do I need to have a
bootup disk and a Windows 98SE disk (That's what I run.)?
And thank you so much for providing me with all of this.
Jackie
Answer : You're very welcome.
You'll have no trouble getting to DOS; just press and hold CTRL during the boot
process and a menu will appear - choose "Command Prompt Only" and you will be
deposited in DOS.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : Kind sir,
I have a follow-up question to ask if I may.
How long does DOS hold a saved copy of the registry. Somewhere I read that it
was five days. Is this true?
You'll probably have to wade through the above to understand this, and I'm
sorry.
Thanks
Jackie
Answer : Windows 95 keeps only one backup copy of the registry. Windows 98 keeps
5 as you stated. If you use your system every day that would be 5 days (it takes
at most one backup per day).
Paul
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5636977
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : DOS rescue
Private : No
Question : I have heard a lot on backing up the registry(win98/win95).
MY question is very basic that I am ashamed to ask..
When I backup the registry,can I put the files in a floppy disk(one or two)?
Suppose I already have the backup, and my PC boots to DOS prompt only,how would
I be able to restore trhe registry and get my win98 running?
Answer : The registry files can vary in size. In the beginning they may both
easily fit on a floppy but as they grow you may find it more difficult to keep
them on one unless oyu compress them. But in any event keeping registry backups
on floppy doesn't make as much sense as keeping them on the same hard drive with
the operating system. Why? I'm glad you asked. The primary reason being that if
the reason you're keeping the registry backups on a floppy is to protect against
hard disk disaster. If the hard drive fails the registry backups kept off the
computer will be nigh-to-useless anyway, as they refer to things that no longer
exist, even if you reinstall as closely as possible to the original install. So
your registry backups should die right along with the hard drive should disaster
strike. Full backups of the whole hard disk are the only place that is good for
storing registry backups, since the backups will include the installed drivers
and programs along with the registry.
Now as for making and restoring backups of the registry.
To make a backup of the current registry:
Open a DOS prompt
c:
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s *.dat
copy user.dat user.bak
copy system.dat system.bak
copy system.ini sysini.bak
copy win.ini winini.bak
attrib +r +h +s *.dat
attrib +r +h +s *.bak
Now you have backup copies named ".bak" of each of the associated files.
Restoring them involves the same steps, just with reversed parameters on the
copy commands. For example the "copy win.ini winini.bak" command becomes:
copy winini.bak win.ini
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5654247
Asker : mbuzi
Subject : Dos manipulations
Private : Yes
Question : If I boot my PC into the dos mode as the OS,
How would I :
1. Increase the operating memory for more programs?
2.Load CD drivers so as to access the drive(CD)?
Answer : To get more memory in DOS try adding these two lines to the
C:\CONFIG.SYS file:
device=c:\windows\himem.sys
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe ram
To get access to the CD, add this line to the CONFIG.SYS file:
device=c:\windows\command\idecd.sys /d:cd01
(get the file idecd.sys from the URL below and copy it to c:\windows\command)
http://members.home.net/iqueue/idecd.sys
Also to enable the CD support you will need to add the following line to the
C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
c:\windows\mscdex.exe /d:cd01
Optionally you may want to add this line to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to speed up
hard disk and CD access:
c:\windows\smartdrv /n c+ d e 8192 8192
And finally in the future please do NOT ask a general question like this as
"private" - by doing so you have made it impossible for anyone to ever see it
and that reduces the value of my services here. If you truly have private
questions feel free to use that feature, but for technical questions that's not
really appropriate.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5667346
Asker : aaron_markell39
Subject : Cut and Paste within DOS
Private : No
Question : How do I paste an item into a DOS windows **without** using thses
steps.
Clicking on the dos icon (uppper left corner)
selecting | edit | paste?
Is there a "hot-key" similar to control V?
-thanks
Answer : Nope - the DOS windows is separate from Windows and the only way to
paste into it is from that menu.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5676921
Asker : OClee
Subject : Batch File
Private : No
Question : Hi,
I would like to write a batch file that helps to autamatically install Office
97. This involves running a setup.exe with certain parameters one of them
required is a /n "user_name",
what I would like to do is at the beginning of the batch file I would like it to
ask who is this install for and then set it as a variable and then put that
variable in "user_name" part. Can this be done? .. do you have any examples etc
of useful batch programs?
thanx
Answer : You can always get it as aprt of the run of the command as command-line
arguments. But barring that DOS is very bad in this regard.
Here is a custom utility that will help - it accepts user input and creates an
env variable with the value being the text the user entered. This will solve
your issue I would believe:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/1401/batch01.htm
Scroll down (or do a find) to "INPUT- Get console input from within a batch
file."
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5677742
Asker : 747ken
Subject : Problems starting DOS from WINDOWS 98
Private : No
Question : My pc uses Windows 98 SE. I have an application that works only in
DOS. To get into MS-DOS from
windows, I select start, shutdown, restart in MS-DOS. This works, but not all
the time. Sometimes the pc "hangs up" with the screen dark and the cursor
blinking in the upper left corner. I've shutdown all programs running in the
background, but no help. How else can I get into DOS? I've also tried the F8 key
at bootup, but no help either. BTW, I can't use the "MS-DOS" prompt from the
start/programs menu, since my application won't work from it. Thanks for your
help.
Answer : Some drivers or applications take liberties with your system and modify
the file that gets run when you "Restart in MS-DOS mode". The file in question
is:
\Windows\dosstart.bat
Edit this file and REM out any lines that you think may be causing the problem.
Something as simple as a mouse driver here can hang and cause you not to get
your DOS prompt. The easiest way to handle this is to REM out all lines and try
opeing up a few at a time to see when the error starts.
Line before REM:
c:\windows\mouse.com
Line after REM:
REM c:\windows\mouse.com
--
Paul Doherty, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, CCSE
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5677813
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : NO sound when playing dos games !
Private : No
Question : i cannot hear sounds while playing dos games, wat is the problem..and
some times when i restart my computer in dos-mode to play the game i recieve a
message that says "i cannot find the sound card" or "i cannot find the mouse"
please help me... it is very annoying to play games without sounds...(the game
require sound blaster.)(i don't have a sound card, my speaker is plug&play)
Answer : You will need a mouse driver loaded to be able to use the mouse in DOS
(unless you're using DOS under Windows). Mouse.com or Mouse.exe are usually the
names assigned to the drivers. Try any of these until you find one that works -
then copy it to your C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND directory and add a line in
C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT (or C:\WINDOWS\DOSSTART.BAT - run when you
Start/Shutdown/Restart in MS-DOS mode).
http://download.lycos.com/swbasic/BasicResults.asp?query=mouse.com
Also DOS-based programs rely on an environment variable called BLASTER to find
the sound card.
First, inside Windows open the System control panel and then open the Device
Manager tab. Under there find the section with your sound device and when you
find it double click it to see it's Resources tab. Inside there write down the
IRQ (Interrupt channel), DMA channels and IO (Input/Output) addresses that the
sound card is using.
Here is an example BLASTER line from an C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT (you can either put your
line in this file or you can type it directly at the command line or in a BAT
file of your choosing):
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5
In the above example:
A220 is the IO address
I5 is the IRQ number
D1 is the low DMA channel
H5 is the high DMA channel
Once that variable is set correctly the DOS games should find it fine. If they
support that type of card you will get sound.
As for getting DOS games to use the sound card *while still within Windows* see
this site:
http://www.texramp.net/techbits/DosGames.html
--
Paul Doherty, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, CCSE
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5694952
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Reclaiming dos memory...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
under windows 98se, the free conventional memory
is 615k max, and under windows ME is 593k only.
Is there a way to recover these 22k of memory?
i don't have any thing loaded in the autoexec.bat
nor the config.sys files.
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : Those numbers are quite good for DOS available conventional memory. In
fact most of us die-hard DOS users worked pretty hard to get to that level of
memory free! Unless you have an application that demands more memory than that
I'd leave it be. And if it does need it may I recommend you boot into pure DOS
by holding the CTRL key until the menu appears and select "Command Prompt Only".
Populate the c:\config.sys file with this:
device=c:\windows\himem.sys
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe ram
Be sure and take these out when using Windows (or just a a "REM " in front of
each line like:
REM device=c:\windows\himem.sys
REM device=c:\windows\emm386.exe ram
which will inactivate them).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS and Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5700679
Asker : garrido83
Subject : ms-dos
Private : No
Question : how do you unzip a file in ms-dos?
i have a 386 computer
so please help me.
Answer : Use pkunzip.exe -
pkunzip -d file.zip
http://www.pkware.com/shareware/pkz250dos.html
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS and Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5714929
Asker : gene_
Subject : some simple dos question
Private : No
Question : hie.
i want to have doskey installed automatically everytime when i start up my
Windows98 SE. how to do that??
dir - how do list only DIRECTORIES?
thanks.
Answer : To get DOSKEY installed with every boot edit c:\autoexec.bat and add
the line:
doskey /insert
To get only directories in a dir listing:
dir /ad
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS and Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5737592
Asker : 747ken
Subject : Changing the path
Private : No
Question : I'm running a Dos application on my Windows 98 SE PC. I need to add
"c:\bin;c:\tc\bin" to the path. How can I do this so that the path remains
permanently changed?
Answer : Just add (or edit the current one if it exists) a PATH statement to
your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
PATH=c:\windows\command;c:\windows;c:\bin;c:\tc\bin
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5767930
Asker : Ali_Ghaffari
Subject : After Assembling devices
Private : No
Question : Dear Pauldoherty,
Hi, I am a professional user but not an expert,
I saw someone using 2 floppy disk, for Fdisk and dos installation after assemble
PC devices, please write for me name of files, that I need for this action.
Thanks
PS: I am not a native English man, please don`t write idioms or slang.
sincerely yours
Ali
Answer : OK - Make a boot floppy as follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.exe a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now you will have a bootable disk that will bring up your CD-ROM as drive letter
F: - the best thing to do at this point in your reinstall is NOT to launch the
install, but rather ensure you have XCOPY.EXE and XCOPY32.EXE on the floppy or
in the C:\ directory and do an xcopy of all the files in the Win98 subdirectory
off the CD to your hard disk and perform the installation from *there*. Why? A
couple of reasons - one is the installation goes faster from the hard disk, but
that's a minor reason. The primary reason is that after installation you will no
longer be bothered by that annoying 'please insert your Windows 98 CD' when
upgrading drivers, installing new versions of DirectX, etc, since all the source
files for the OS are on your disk. The XCOPY command looks as follows:
(boot from floppy and format the hard drive
a:
format c:
sys c:
if necessary - be sure you have a backup first of whatever you want to keep!)
xcopy f:\win98\*.* c:\win98kit\*.* /e
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win98kit
echo y | lock c: /off
setup
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5774759
Asker : nadine_platson
Subject : how to create a batch file to delete junk files automatically
Private : No
Question : I would like to know how to write a few lines of code to have my
system automatically cleaned up. Example: instead of manually going in and
deleting my *.tmp *.chk and my temporary internet files I would like a job setup
to automatically perform this function on a timely basis. Do you have any ideas
of how to do this. I was thinking maybe it had to done in dos but maybe windows
has the capability. Please let me know what your ideas are. Thank You Very Much,
Nadine :) :)
Answer : Try using my free utility RDelete - copy it to C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND and
add the following two lines to your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and each time you boot all
*.TMP and *.CHK files will be removed automatically.
rdelete c:\ *.tmp
rdelete c:\ *.chk
The RDelete utility and others are at:
http://members.home.net/iqueue
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5807733
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : registry restoring
Private : No
Question : I have found problems with dos when restoring registry of win95.
I understand that the command for the restoration of registry is
c:\scanreg /restore.
Why is it that when I type this command I get the message:
"Bad command"?
or
"wrong dos version" and yet I have ver 6.22?
Answer : To restore the registry just do it manually. Scanreg is just a
front-end for this process.
To restore the registry in Win 95 do this:
Boot to pure DOS by pressing F8 just after the RAM test.
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s *.da?
copy system.dat system.ped
copy user.dat user.ped
copy /y system.da0 system.dat
copy /y user.da0 user.dat
Reboot. If you decide that the registry you put on is worse than the old one do
this to reinstate the ones that were there in the first place:
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s *.*
copy /y system.ped system.dat
copy /y user.ped user.dat
If you decide neither the current registry nor the backup are any good you can
take the drastic step of making Windows believe it's the very first boot after a
Windows install by doing this:
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s \system.1st
attrib -r -h -s *.dat
copy /y system.dat system.ped (in case you want to restore it)
copy /y \system.1st system.dat
Reboot.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5810551
Asker : v_ravikumar
Subject : Dos commands for INTERNET
Private : No
Question : Can any one tell me some dos commands useful for internet use
Answer : Some goods one to try:
PING
ping hostname|ip
Ping lets you see that a host is reachable on the internet, as well as see a
measure of latency involved in the connection. The ping will report back on how
long it took to reach the destination and return, in milliseconds.
NSLOOKUP (NT/2000 only)
nslookup hostname|ip
Nslookup will resolve a hostname to an IP address, or perform a reverse-lookup
of an IP to a hostname.
TRACERT
Tracert (trace route) will send out packets with successively longer TTL (Time
To Live) values in order to determine the path a packet is taking to the
destination address. If a ping to a machine fails you can use the tracert to
help ascertain where the problem might lie.
TELNET
Telnet allows you to login remotely on UNIX or NT servers that have telnet
access. This lets you control the machine from a command-line as if you were on
it physically.
FTP
Ftp (File Transfer Protocol) is a utility that can be used to move files from
one system to another.
NETSTAT
Netstat is a utility to examine the current network connections in use. You can
see what ports are involved and what machines you have channles of communication
open to when you run it.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5810554
Asker : v_ravikumar
Subject : Reading sys files
Private : No
Question : How can we read system information like user.dat do we have any
software to read it?
Can we download that software from the net?
Answer : Windows has built-in utilities for reading system.dat and user.dat (the
"registry"). Try doing a:
Start/Run/regedit.exe (hit ENTER)
Now you actively viewing and editing (be careful! no save in here - you chg it
and it's changed) the live registry of your machine.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5822277
Asker : archit3100
Subject : computer
Private : No
Question : i dont have mouse driver in my msdos i waqnt to play ganme with
mouse. but i cannot use mouse in my game. it needs mouse only to play.
i dont have driver of mouse with me. i do have .cab files with my comp. how
shall i make use of it to start using mty mouse in MS DOS.tell me if there is
any other way to use mouse in MS DOS mose. tellme any other way to do it. i do
have windows 98. but when i run this game in win 98 i get the error that this
game will run properly only in ms dos mode. and when i run in ms dos mode my
mouse does not work. seller of comp has not given me mouse driver. he said me
that it is in ur comp. how shall i finfd it and get it into ms dos mode.
Answer : Download one of these mouse.com files, copy it to C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND,
and type MOUSE (and hit ENTER) before starting your game to load the driver.
http://download.lycos.com/swbasic/BasicResults.asp?query=mouse.com
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : THIS HAS NOT SOLVED MY PROBLEM, WHEN I WRITE MOUSE,BAD COMMAND OR
.....APPEAR, TELL ME SOME OTHER WAY TO INSTALL MOUSE DRIVER IN MS DOS.I HAVE
.BAT FILES HOW SHALL I MAKE USE OF IT
Rating : 1
Answer : Then you didn't do what I said above. I said download the file
mouse.com *and copy it to the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND directory* which, if you had
done, would not result in a "Bad Command or Filename" error. Nice rating you
gave on steps you failed to follow. I'll rush to answer your next questions, for
sure.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5838818
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : DOS Commands
Private : No
Question : I would like to know the DOS Commands
Answer : Since you didn't specify what you're after here's an index of all the
commands:
http://www.easydos.com/dosindex.html
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5860119
Asker : kremer1
Subject : xcopy
Private : Yes
Question : Hi
I have an unusual problem that I can't solve. I made a batch file to xcopy my
*Favorites* folder to another disk for a backup. All the loose urls and about
3/4 of the sub-folders got copied. But I noticed that about 1/4 of the
sub-folders were skipped over. I wrote an additional *test* batch file to see if
I could copy a few of the folders that were missed the first time, and they got
copied with no problem. In other words there are a few folders that will not get
copied with the rest even though nothing is wrong with them, but they can get
copied on their own (they are not hidden or read-only). Do you have a solution
for this problem?
Thank you
Yoni
kremer@usa.net
Answer : Try it like this:
xcopy c:\windows\favorites\*.* x:\whereever\favorites\*.* /e
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
FUQuestion : Hi
Thanks for your answer.
I've tried what you suggested but it doesn't help. Still xcopy copies all the
loose urls that aren't in a special folder (that I made). Xcopy copies MOST of
the folders but still leaves some missing. These missing folders are not hidden
or read-only, and I manage to make a separate batch file only for these folders
(which I specificly name) which it manages to copy nicely. I can't work this way
though, because I can't be sure that any new urls that come along are being
backed up. Any other suggestions?
Yoni
Answer : The Favorites folder is one of Windows "special" folders and apparently
is immune to common sense (like being accessed via DOS). Try this utility which
purports to being able to backup the Favorites folder, among other things.
http://www.pact.de/ghosts/profile.htm
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5888193
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : DOS copy command
Private : No
Question : I have several html and text files in different sub-directories and I
need to combine all of them into one single file. I used the copy file+file
command n DOS and that seems to work but only if the files are in the same
directory. Is there any way to make it work for the directory and all its
sub-directories? Or any shareware/freeware that can do this? And can I control
the order ie. by date/name etc?
Thanks
Answer : This syntax of the copy command will allow you to combine multiple text
files into one:
copy /a archive.exc + /a archive.txt new.txt
The above will take the file 'archive.exc' and then append 'archive.txt' to
that, saving the result to a new file called 'new.txt'. To add more just add
more arguments like this:
copy /a old1.html + /a old2.html + /a old3.html new.txt
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5902017
Asker : ngtj
Subject : Dos sound
Private : No
Question : Dear Paul,
i recently borrow a game from my friend. the game works well without sound..
(the game start with a choice of w or w/o sound) if the game start with sound ,
it work well at 1st but if i press ESC (which is the key to open the status
screen [this is a RPG] )the sound keep repeating and my PC is half HANG (the
sound is going on except that i cannot press any key) the only thing i can do is
to press CTRL+ALT+DEL and endtask the game.
hope u can help me...
(i follow your instruction last time and insert A220.... and the sound work, THX
very very much)
hope u can also answer my question this time !!
THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH
Need More Information : What does your BLASTER environment variable look like
before you launch the game?
(an "echo %BLASTER%" should show it to you)
FUQuestion : my BLASTER environment is A220 I5 D1 T4...
thank you again..
Answer : I suspect one of the following (in order of likelihood):
- An incorrect DMA or IRQ setting in the BLASTER environment variable.
- A buggy game.
To confirm what the BLASTER variable should be for your system check the
Properties screen for your sound card from the Device Manager in the System
control panel. You can also try using Creative Labs DOS installer to determine
what the BLASTER variable should be as it will create an entry in your
C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file when you install.
http://www.creaf.com/support/files/download.asp
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5904585
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Formatting in dos mode...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
when i format a floppy disk in windows 98 by using
the my computer icon then format option, windows
formats the disk perfectly ok with the disk size
of 1.44 mb. However, when i format the same floppy
in the dos mode, by using the dos command on the
prompt line "format a:", dos formats the disk but
report the size as 1.22 mb instead of the correct
size of 1.44 mb. Is dos corrupted, or its the
floppy disk it self?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : It may be that your BIOS is misreporting the floppy type and capacity
as a 5 1/4" HD floppy which has that capacity. To force DOS to format correctly
do this:
format a: /u /f:1.44
and it won't give you any grief. If you really care about seeing why it's doing
it and stopping it I'd suggest you look in your BIOS for the reported floppy
type (same section as the hard drives, usually) and ensure A: is set as a 3 1/2"
HD.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5908379
Asker : juventas
Subject : prompt character limitations
Private : No
Question : I'm using Win2k Pro SP2, and I often bring up DOS command prompts via
start>run>command
I notice that my commands are limited to 227 characters, and quite frankly, I
need more. Specifically, I'm using a DOS program called cURL, which has a
parameter of a URL (and you know how long url's can get).
What is a possible solution? Thanks!
-Jason
Need More Information : What does this program do for you, exactly?
FUQuestion : Why does it matter? The program is called cURL, its compliled for
multiple OSs. I'm using it to get http URLs. Some of the paths are very long.
Need More Information : It matters, wiseguy, because there may be another way to
get the same result (which you've yet to explain).
FUQuestion : So whats another way to get a long url through DOS? If you want to
know the details of cURL, you can find it here: http://curl.haxx.se/
The "result" is that I'm allowed to download a long-pathed url to file.
Answer : This is the Windows version of cURL, right? Upon inspecting the site it
doesn't appear there is a DOS version, so are you creating BAT files to run
these downloads through cURL? If so, have you already set the SHELL environment
variable for maximum size?
SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /E:8192 /U:255
AT least with this you should be able to get 255-character command-lines. Also
you might try experimenting with passing the values you need with the
command-line argument variables %1, %2, %3 and so on.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5931170
Asker : pete1487
Subject : DOS under Win98
Private : No
Question : I work in a Win98 environment and I want to search and replace
automatically every time I reboot. "Replace" as a command is not available, nor
can it be loaded.
Specifically, I have c:\good\good.exe which I want to use to replace bad.exe.
There may be more than one copy of bad.exe on the hard drive in various folders.
So far in the autoexec I have:
dir /s /b bad.exe > location.txt
which produces
c:\bad.exe
c:\folder\subfolder\bad.exe
How can I use the text from location.txt to overwrite bad.exe when I expect
location.txt to change every time? Or is there perhaps another way altogether?
Answer : If you intend to remove bad.exe wherever it may rear it's ugly head on
every boot just grab my free utility RDELETE from my web page below, copy
RDELETE.EXE to C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND (where it will be always available), and add
the following line to your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT:
rdelete c:\ bad.exe
Be sure to read the docs - the above command will remove all instances of
'bad.exe' from the whole C: drive, including all subdirectories. If you know
that bad.exe will exist under some branch (say C:\PROGRAM FILES) you can run it
as such to avoid the time and danger:
rdelete "C:\PROGRAM FILES" bad.exe
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
Answer : I see... I missed the put "good.exe" in place of "bad.exe". I could
easily adapt RDelete to perform this function. Drop me an email and a box of
good chocolates and I will write that for you (my email is on my website).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5943282
Asker : asfourhundred
Subject : VB Script whith Word
Private : No
Question : Hi,
I want to create VB scripts and macros to use in Microsoft Word.
What's the best manual to learn this ?
Is there any free manual on the web ?
Best regards,
Paulo Renato
Answer : Here are some resources to get you started with VBA (Visual Basic for
Applications - the new name for VBScript, I believe):
http://www.vb-bookmark.com/vbaTutorial.html
http://www.vbatutor.com/vbatutor.htm
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5948574
Asker : bashirpopal
Subject : how to creat a batch file?
Private : No
Question : How to use the copy command in a batch file?
Answer : Depends on what you want to copy - but the syntax is identical whether
it's within a batch file or directly at the command-line. The example batch file
below would copy all files ending in "txt" from c:\windows to a directory called
c:\stuff :
@echo off
md c:\stuff
copy c:\windows\*.txt c:\stuff
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 5993084
Asker : kitykity
Subject : help writing at .bat file
Private : No
Question : Hello,
I need to write a simple .bat file, and I stink at DOS syntax. So if you don't
mind, take a look at what I have written below, and help me with the syntax. The
stuff in brackets is what I need help with. Thank you!
cd v:\formware\tmp
move rejdump2.txt [today's two-digit month and day, like 0627.rejdump2.txt]
cd v:\formware\jobflow
move claims.log [today's two-digit month and day, like 0627claims.log]
pkzip h:\edi\production_imaging\captiva\claims_logs\[four-digit year, two-digit
month]claims.zip [the new claims.log file renamed above]
Do you see what I'm doing? I'm trying to automate something I do every day into
a .bat file, so I can just put an icon on my desktop and it will do this stuff
itself. I have to manually type all this out now and it's just a waste of time.
I know there's an easier way, i just don't know DOS syntax. If you can help, I
rate well. :) Thank you!
- Suzy
Answer : I wrote a utility that gets around this limitation in DOS (using output
from one command ("date" for instance) and uses it as a variable of argument
with another command. For what you are doing grab my program DateSet from my web
page below.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
Answer : It appears you missed the subtleties in the readme.txt file. You used
the example showing how to use dateset at the command-line, instead of from a
BAT file. The next section after that example you used shows how to use it
within a BAT file, which requires that you "call" the BAT file, not run it
directly as you indicated you did.
From the readme.txt:
"To use it in a BAT file is quite easy. Just include the following lines at the
beginning
of every BAT file that you need the dates accessible:
@echo off
c:\windows\command\dateset.exe
call c:\mydate.bat
and then include the lines that do what you need to do using %MYDATE%, %MYDAY%,
etc when you need the appropriate item inserted."
Note the "call c:\mydate.bat". When you call a BAT file in this manner you can
retrieve the environment variables in the original BAT file. The way you
executed it a new instance of command.com is run and the variables are built in
it. Then when that BAT file (mydate.bat) exits those variables cease to exist.
Add the call and you will have much better luck. :-)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6028913
Asker : Devsforev
Subject : Deleating Folders Through DOS
Private : No
Question : Ok. I'm bored. I want to make a .BAT file in windows that works
through dos to deleate a folder without prompting if i want to deleate it. I
know I can issue a command in dos like "del C:\Windows\Desktop\Stuff" but then
it asks me if i want to deleate it. Is there a way for it not to ask me if i
want to deleate it? What would i put into the BAT file? Thanks a lot everybody!
-- Devsforev
Answer : Sure, just use the deltree command and add the "/y" switch to the
delete command to not be prompted. As in:
@echo off
echo Nuking directory %1 ...
deltree /y %1
Save it as kd.bat (KillDir) in \Windows\Command and then from any DOS prompt you
can type:
kd dirname
where 'dirname' is either the full path to the directory to get rid of, or the
name of a directory accessible from your current directory.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6028927
Asker : DILLIGAS
Subject : Using XXCOPY with Windows 2000 long file names
Private : No
Question : Was using XXCOPY 2.40.0 with Win98, no problem. Now I would like to
use the newest version that they have with Win2000. I just cannot get around the
long file name issue.
I am trying to XXCOPY the c:\documents and settings to another drive to backup
the data files that I am using. It would be copies to a directory named the same
on the other drive.
I am the only user on this machine so there is not an issue of having to do
other directories or having the permissions set.
If you have any information on this program, like the batch file syntax that I
would need to make this work, it would be greatly appreciated.
This is the current batch file that I am using and the error that I get:
BATCH:
CLS
REM HOPE TO HELL THAT THIS WORKS
XXCOPY C:\Documents and Settings D:\Documents and Settings /BU
ERROR:
C:\>REM HOPE TO HELL THAT THIS WORKS
C:\>XXCOPY C:\Documents and Settings D:\Documents and Settings /BU
XXCOPY Ver 2.44.4 (c)1995-2001 Pixelab, Inc.
Extra argument (Settings)ignored
Extra argument (D:\Documents)ignored
Extra argument (and)ignored
Extra argument (Settings)ignored
Copying with the template,"Documents" from every directory in C:\.
(This warning can be suppressed by /WD0.)
Is this what you really want (Y/N) ? NExit code = 33 (Aborted by user)
C:\>
All help is appreciated.
DILLIGAS
Answer : You are encountering a common problem with long filenames; namely the
space. A space acts as a delimiter for DOS - that is, a space is used to
separate items from each other on a command line. By copying those long
directory names that include spaces you are essentially sending XXCOPY many more
arguments than it expects. XXCOPY's syntax probably looks something like this:
XXCOPY Source Destination
What you've sent (when broken up with the spaces) it would be XXCOPY followed by
7 parameters (look for spaces). Try it like this for the result you're after:
XXCOPY "C:\Documents and Settings" "D:\Documents and Settings" /BU
Adding the double quotes around the Source and Destination arguments ensures
that they will be treated as one argument each.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6040718
Asker : mkesler@...
Subject : computer wave files
Private : No
Question : Please define, 1. MP3 files, 2. Midi files, 3. Wave files. I am new
at computers. A friend sent me a CD on an E Mail and I need to know how to
record it on my CD burner. Is it possible to play a cassette recorder into the
input of the computer and record those audios on a CD in the burner? Thank you
in advance for your help.
Answer : First the definitions:
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) - these files are typically very
small and contain only scoring information (what should be played, when, and for
how long). They are played back by a MIDI-compatible player that plays the song
with the instruments assigned to the MIDI "channels". These instruments are
created by your sound card and may consist of samples actual instruments or
synthesized replicas of instruments.
WAV - These are raw audio files that contain digitized sound in a variety of
qualities. A typical good "CD quality" WAV file would consist of 44.1 Khz
(sampling rate) 16bit audio (sample resolution). Upon playback a sound card's
DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) is employed to turn this digital bitstream
back into analog sound that can be amplified and played on your speakers.
MP3 - These are compressed WAV files. A lossy compression method is employed
(the so-called "MP3 algorithm") to take a normal WAV file and remove the parts
of it or "smooth" it out in such a way as to reduce the size it takes for
storage, but to do so without introducing noise or reducing the fidelity of the
sound. MP3 is very good at doing this and can maintain very good sound quality
whicl delivering a compression ratio of around 10:1 in relationship with the
original WAV file. That is, if you had a 40MB WAV file before compression that
played for 4 minutes, after compressing with an MP3 encoder you would have an
MP3 around 4MB in size that also played for 4 minutes and is virtually
indistinguishable from the original.
As for your question on recording on your computer. Yes you can easily record
from other sources. Just get an approriate stereo cable to go from the output of
the other device into the "line in" connector of your sound card. Then obtain a
program (try CoolEdit below) and then set the line in as your recording source
choice. To do so double-click the speaker icon in your systray (bottom-right of
the Windows interface) then go to the menu and choose Options/Properties. Click
"Recording" and in the list below be sure "Line In" in checked. Click OK and
then click the "Select" checkbox below the "Line In" slider to choose it as the
recording source. The slider will then set the sensitivity.
Once you've recorded audio you want to put on a CD save the files from the WAV
editor to a WAV file. Then use your CD burning app to either burn a data CD with
the WAV for use with computers in the future, or to an audio CD for playback on
home and car stereos.
WAV editor:
http://www.syntrillium.com/cooledit/index.html
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6048076
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Dos drivers for laser printer...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
i've purchased the ml4500 samsung laser printer,
however, this model does NOT have drivers or any
support for dos printing, even though it has all
the needed drivers for windows 95,98 & NT. when
I print from dos mode, I get the printer icon in
the taskbar, but the printer does NOT print. Now,
is there any generic drivers that I can use to
print in dos mode on a laser printer?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Need More Information : How are you printing in DOS? Straight from DOS or from
an application?
FUQuestion : Hi paul,
i am printing from an application program that was
written for dos using cobol programming language.
however, this cobol program runs under any version
of windows (95, 98 and ME) in its own window, that
gets opened by windows's shortcut.
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : So when you print to this DOS app under Windows it never comes out? To
what does the DOS app think it's printing? IOW - inside the DOS app you probably
had to tell it where to print - most likely it's set to LPT1: - you may need to
edit your printers Properties page under the Details tab and use the "Capture
Port" to be sure the Windows driver is snaring raw attempts to print to LPT1:.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6051827
Asker : mkesler@...
Subject : computer wave files
Private : No
Question : Thank you for your first answer. It was helpful.A friend has sent me
some CD music by E mail. I don’t know how to get it on a CD of my own. I have a
burner but I don’t know how to get the file from the E mail program onto my hard
drive in a form that the CD burner will recognize and create a CD I can play. My
friend suggested that I download Musicmatch Jukebox which I did, but I still
don’t know how to get the CD music from the E mail to my CD from the burner. I
downloaded some tutorials for the Musicmatch but it is apparently a zipped file
and therefore gibberish. I need some help. Thanks again for your kindness. M
Kesler
Need More Information : What type of file(s) did you get in email (what are the
last three characters in the filename)?
What do you want in the end - that is, what is it you expect to be able to do
with the CD you make in the end?
FUQuestion : The file was entitled C\mydoc\mymusic\various artists. I managed to
get it on myhard drive but could not get it on a CD of my own. I want to record
the file on a CD that I can listen to. Thank you for your interest and your
help. M Kesler
Need More Information : You haven't given me the filename extension. I need to
know what type of files they are, .WAV, .MPG, etc. What is the extension on the
filenames?
FUQuestion : Dear Paul, The original file had no extension on it on the E- Mail.
Perhaps thats what was wrong although I had no idea how to record it. I will ask
my friend to send it again. Should I ask her to do it in a certain way, or send
a specific file extension? Martin Again thank you for your consideration and
helpfulness
Answer : Make sure you are set to see file extensions in Windows. To set it open
My Computer on your desktop, then select View/Folder Options from the menu.
Click the View tab and uncheck the box titled "Hide file extensions for known
file types". You can also optionally click the radio button above it to "Show
all files".
If your friend had no file extension then after doing the steps above it will
still not show up with an extension and you would be left guessing as to the
format (though I'm betting it's a WAV).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6064590
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : Copy format.com to boot disk
Private : No
Question : Would someone give me the command to copy "format.com" from my hard
drive C: to a floppy?
Thanks a lot.
Answer : Sure thing:
copy c:\windows\command\format.com a:\
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6071428
Asker : jackie3101
Subject : two views in DOS
Private : No
Question : I have a second pc that I am trying to load Windows98se on. It is
new. It's been fdisked and formatted. I am trying to load it to the C: drive but
from the list of files that I'm looking at in DOS, I simply cannot figure out
what program to execute. I copied the files from the cd to my C: drive. There
are 15. There are no directories, just files. Below are the names of the files
that are on the cd when I view them in DOS on the new machine:
attrib.exe, ext.exe, readme.txt, command.com, format.com scandisk.com edit.com,
sys.com, chkdsk.exe, extract.exe, restart.com, debug.exe, help.bat,
scandisk.ini, mscdex.exe
When I couldn't figure out which file to choose to execute to load Windows, I
took the Windows cd out of the machine and put it in my older pc and looked at
it in DOS. The following is what I saw.
5 directories 4 files
[add_ons] [tools] [drivers] [win98] [cdsample]
setup.exe, setuptip.txt, autorun.inf, readme.txt
The [Win98] directory contains the cab files plus Setup.exe, but I am NOT
getting that same view in the new maching.
I don't know what to think. I'm getting two different views or versions. If I
could *see* the same files and directories in DOS on the new pc that I'm
*seeing* on my older pc, I wouldn't have this problem.
I would appreciate any insight you might have.
Thank you
Jackie
Answer : It sounds like you're trying to see the contents of the CD by looking
at the C: drive (the new, almost-empty hard disk). I saw no mention of you
adding the files to the new machine that are needed in order to get a drive
letter D: to be assigned to the CD-ROM drive. DOS needs extra driver support to
access a CD-ROM drive. Here's how to get the CD up and install Windows 98:
OK - Make a boot floppy (on the Windows machine) as follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.exe a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now you will have a bootable disk that will bring up your CD-ROM as drive letter
F: - the best thing to do at this point in your reinstall is NOT to launch the
install, but rather ensure you have XCOPY.EXE and XCOPY32.EXE on the floppy or
in the C:\ directory and do an xcopy of all the files in the Win98 subdirectory
off the CD to your hard disk and perform the installation from *there*. Why? A
couple of reasons - one is the installation goes faster from the hard disk, but
that's a minor reason. The primary reason is that after installation you will no
longer be bothered by that annoying 'please insert your Windows 98 CD' when
upgrading drivers, installing new versions of DirectX, etc, since all the source
files for the OS are on your disk. The XCOPY command looks as follows:
(boot from floppy and format the hard drive
a:
format c:
sys c:
if necessary - be sure you have a backup first of whatever you want to keep!)
xcopy f:\win98\*.* c:\win98kit\*.* /e
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win98kit
echo y | lock c: /off
setup
and the setup of Windows 98 will begin.
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
FUQuestion : I found the problem. Thank you for all of that time and effort in
trying to help. When I FDISKed and partitioned, I forgot the cd-rom drive was
assigned a letter higher. I was looking in my G: drive for the Windows
directories and files instead of where it is -in the H: drive. I know very
little, but have read that the RAM drive(?) used the next letter up from the
last partition and the cd-rom drive would be moved up temporarily as well.
I will keep this information. It is very thorough. Thanks so much for your help.
Jackie
FUQuestion : I certainly didn't get far. I copied the Windows CD onto my C:.
However, not all files copied. So, I began to read your answer again. I don't
have xcopy.exe and xcopy32.exe on the floppy or the c: drive. I ran a search on
my main computer, not the new one, and found that one exists in a cab file in my
Windows folder. Is there a place where I can locate them to move them onto the
new pc hard drive?
Then, if I'm following you correctly, you said to go into the Win98
subdirectory. Am I correctly interrupting you? All I need to copy is the [Win98]
cab files? I don't need all of the directories and files that appear on the cd?
Is this correct?
Thanks so much for additional help.
Jackie
Answer : You should have the files you need on your Windows machine in:
C:\WINDOWS
or
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND
If you don't and need to you can extract the files needed from the CAB files
with the following type of command:
extract /e cabfile.cab file.exe
where 'file.exe' is the one you want to get out of the 'cabfile.cab' file.
The Win98 subdirectory on the CD contains all the files needed to install
Windows.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : I haven’t been able to successfully copy the Windows’s CD to a
subdirectory in my C: drive called [WIN98SE]. You mentioned that I should have a
copy of xcopy.exe and xcopy32.exe programs on the boot disk and/or c: drive. I
copied both of those files to my floppy disk and to the c: drive. I need to get
some clarification and also ask a question.
Your command is below. My questions follow:
xcopy f:\win98\*.* c:\win98kit\*.* /e
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win98kit
echo y | lock c: /off
setup
and the setup of Windows 98 will begin.
1. I’m assuming I can be in the C: or F: drive for this command to work. Is that
right? (My cd-rom drive is currently H:.)
2. I made a subdirectory in my C: drive and called it C:\WIN98SE. Can I use that
instead of your subdirectory win98kit?
3. However, linked to #2 is this question. If I didn’t make a subdirectory
called win98kit, how could I copy files to that directory?
4. I have used the following commands to copy the cd, but get an error message:
“Bad or missing XCOPY32.MOD. “
I have tried these commands in both the C: and H: drives.
Xcopy H:\*.* C:\win98se\*.* /e
Xcopy H:\win98\*.* c:\win98se\*.* /e
Xcopy H:\win98\*.* c:\win98kit\*.* /e
Do you know why I am getting that error message?
Thanks again for your time and effort.
Jackie
Answer : 1. It looks like you will need the xcopy32.mod file in the same place
as the xcopy.exe command.
2. You can use any directory you like on the C: drive.
3. The directory is created in the same command as the files are copied. The
command:
Xcopy H:\win98\*.* c:\win98se\*.* /e
will create the destination directory if it doesn't already exist.
4. See #1
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Since I am a beginner and experimenting at this, I kept my original
boot disk and finally was able to copy. I didn't copy everything, but Windows
loads.
I will, because I want to learn, eventually try your boot disk and method you
prescribed. The new little pc that I am experimenting is partially integrated.
I'm not sure to what extent, but it includes a cd with drivers on it. I am
having a difficult time getting this disk to work properly. I'm going to have to
wait until the tech returns from his vacation to fully understand.
Thank you for your help again.
Answer : You're welcome... the step-by-steps I gave you will work fine - just
include the xcopy32.mod during the copy process.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6076821
Asker : mkesler@...
Subject : computer wave files
Private : No
Question : Dear Paul, more on my CD problem. To refresh your memory. I have
recieved a second CD from my friend on an E Mail. Its designation is MP3. How do
I record it on a CD of my own on my CD burner. I have downloaded Music Match
Jukebox at my friend,s suggestion. Thanks again for your attention. Martin
Answer : Your CD burning software will allow you to burn it as a data file (data
CD) or as an audio file (music CD). No change to the file is needed. Just add it
to the layout of the appropriate type of disk and burn it. If your software
can't deal directly with an MP3 (rare) then you can use WinAmp (MP3 player) to
spit the file out as a WAV file which any burning app can use. Configure WinAmp
as follows:
right-click and select Options/Preferences
Under plug-ins select Output
Select "Nullsoft Disk Writer plug-in" at the right and configure it as to what
directory to drop the output WAV file into.
Burn the resulting file after you "play" the MP3 (which will not generate any
audio output but rather will write it to disk as it's decoded).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6083415
Asker : yuw8
Subject : ms dos
Private : No
Question : Howdy, I own an older computer which i somehow ended up buying at an
auction. But anyways, i think it had dos 5.22 on it or something like that. But
I done something to it and it comes up that the interpreting command is bad or
missing. Exp. command.com I would like to know where an if i could download dos
6.22 and use it. For free hopefully. But if not, how can i correct my problem?
Thanks
Answer : Try http://www.bootdisk.com for a free DOS bootdisk of the correct
version. You can pull the command.com off of it and put it one your hard disk
(in C:\ or C:\WINDOWS or both).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6087280
Asker : whokilledkenny
Subject : MS DOs
Private : No
Question : Dear pauldoherty,
what are the security features of MS DOS?
hope to hear from you soon. thanks
kenny
Answer : You can remove the power supply from the PC running it. :-)
Seriously there are no zero security features in DOS. It's not intended as
anything other than a single-user system and has no login or file system
security features without adding 3rd-party apps.
Here are some that provide launchers for DOS apps and can keep idle fingers at
bay:
http://www.simtel.net/pub/msdos/menu/
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6087782
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Fixing harddrive f.a.t...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
when the norton disk doctor program reports that,
the harddrive has damaged fat (file alloc. table),
Is it time to replace the harddrive with a new
one, or norton's fat fixing should be ok? What
does cause that f.a.t problems?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : Only if you consistently see errors is it likely your hard disk is
damaged. FAT errors can be caused by almost anything - shutting the PC off
before the cache is flushed, a power surge or dip, etc. As long as the repairs
succeed and the drive doesn't behave erratically you're probably OK. But just in
case go ahead and make backup copies of your irreplaceable documents. ;-)
Also be sure you have the latest updates to your Norton. Older versions may
misinterpret newer file systems like FAT32 and think there are errors when there
really are not.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6107081
Asker : ariosto34
Subject : A DOS challenge - too small conv memory? upper memo?
Private : No
Question : I'm trying all tricks to run a very nice old PC game 'Masters of
Magic', and it just won't start. It displays 'dynamic allocation too small for
allocate_space of 433 blocks'. I think it is due to its requirement of 580k of
free 'conventional memory'. My system in DOS mode has only 560k, the rest being
taken by various strange programs. I have no idea how to get rid of them or to
move them to 'upper memory' - all I can do is actually just check status by
'mem' command. If I e.g. managed somehow to shift DOS to upper memory i'd free
28k of conventional memory. Adding commands to config.sys like 'dos=high' does
not seem to work. What do you think?
Btw: the game first wanted EMS, which I did not have, but I think I coped with
it by deleting 'NoEMS' command from config.sys? Or maybe it wasn't enough?
If I need any additional programs, DOS patches, etc. to deal with this problem,
please, give me a link to a page where I can get them.
Answer : Try it with the following in your CONFIG.SYS file:
dos=high,umb
device=\windows\himem.sys
device=\windows\emm386.exe ram
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6113854
Asker : ariosto34
Subject : Need more CONVENTIONAL memory!!!
Private : No
Question : I need 20k more conventional memory to run a game! I posted a
question, and tried ALL the tricks, e.g. 'LH' in autoexec.bat, 'Devicehigh' in
config.sys, 'dos=high,umb' in config.sys, LoadTop=1 in msdos.sys, etc, etc.
Still nothing! DOS stubbornly refuses to go to the upper memory.
The reading of 'mem /d /p' makes clear that at least 30k of conv. memo is taken
by programs like vmm32.vxd or dblbuff or display. Where the hell are they loaded
from? I think there must be a file that specifies them, but for all I know it
isn't win.ini or system.ini or config.sys or autoexec.bat because i scanned them
all from msconfig.exe and found no trace of such names.
So my question is - can you identify the file that makes my system start with
files such as dblbuff or display, and tell me how to move such files into the
upper memory?
thanks for all previous answers but they just didn't help!
Answer : One thing you might try is using an older version of DOS on a bootable
floppy with the barebones config.sys and autoexec.bat that you need to run your
game. Boot with that floppy then just hop over to the C: drive and run your
game.
Here's a location for some DOS 6.22 boot disks:
http://www.bootdisk.com/
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6123289
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Share violation message...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
i have a dos program that removes junk files from
my hard drive, however, when it runs in the dos
mode, i get the message "share violation" from
the operating system, especially when the program
try to remove files from the c:\windows's folder.
what you think the problem is? Is there a way to
suppress or prevent this message?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : The problem is that a file you are attempting to delete is in use by
Windows and Windows isn't allowing it to be deleted. For example try and rename
or delete the file WIN386.SWP (your swap file) from DOS. It should tell you the
file is in use and refuse to do it.
The only way to avoid this is use a program that can detect such a file and skip
it for deletion or create your own utility to do the same. One example of a
technique that might work within a BAT file, for every file you are going to
delete, try and perform a rename on it first.
What program is it you are using and what exactly are you trying to accomplish?
I may be able to whip something up for you that can accomplish your needed task.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6127348
Asker : ed_public
Subject : Secondary Command Processor
Private : No
Question : I have a batch file that has run for a year or so under Windows 98.
Under Windows ME one line gets an error message "bad command or file name". This
is offending the line:
c:\command /c dea-0 %1 %2 %3
When I changed the line to read:
dea-0 %1 %2 %3
the error goes away and the batch file seems to run under Window ME the way it
used to run under Windows 98
The entire batch file is as follows:
------------------------------------
e:
cd\dea4
e:\dea4\lfe
btrieve /M:64 /P:4096 /TBTRIEVE.TRN /B:16
command /c dea-0 %1 %2 %3
lfe /u
Both btrieve and lfe are TRS's. Both of them in addition to dea-0 are located in
e:\dea.
Questions: Does Windows ME not like the use of a secondary command processor or
what? Do you think I will get in any trouble using the modified version that
seems to work?
Thanks,
Ed Messerly\Ed_Public@Hotmail.com
Answer : I would think your results will be the same whether you use the
"c:\command /c" nomenclature or not. All that invocation does is spawn a second
command interpreter and then return when the command completes. If you know of
no reason why that is absolutely required and can determine whether the BAT file
is still producing the desired result in its absence I'd say you are in fine
shape.
Just noticed something - I notice you said both btrieve and lfe are TRS's - I
assume you mean TSRs (Terminate and Stay Resident). Isf they are TSRs and the
lfe counts on the completion of the "dea" command above before it runs you may
want to replace the line:
command /c dea-0 %1 %2 %3
with this:
call c:\whereever\youputit\dea.bat %1 %2 %3
This will invoke a second BAT file and wait for it to return before going on to
the lfe line. This may be unneeded if the lfe is not truly dependent, or if the
dea line gets processed properly and execution delays until it finishes. If you
do try this out the dea.bat would look like this:
dea-0 %1 %2 %3
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6130832
Asker : vicky_chan
Subject : how to delete a Extended DOS PArtition?
Private : No
Question : Before my laptop have win2000 server, and I want to format it, and
some bastard didn't format it propery, he deleted all the files at C: and now
everytime when I want to fdisk it's said the problem is cannot delete EXT DOS
while logical drive is active.
so what should I do?
Answer : FDISK is reporting that you have logical volumes that still exist
*within* the extended partition. You cannot delete the extended partition while
it's drive(s) exist.
Let's say you first create a primary partition of 50% of your 10GB drive (that
is, 5GB). This partition will be your C: drive. then you create an extended
partition. The usual (and best, unless reserving space for an alternative OS)
way to do this is to make the rest of the drive be the extended partition. Then
you create logical volumes *within* that space. Let's say you create two logical
volumes from the extended partition, one 3GB and the other 2GB. Now you have:
Primary partition
C: - 5GB
Extended partition - 5 GB
Logical volumes:
D: - 3GB
E: - 2GB
Your issue appears to be that one or more logical volumes still exist within the
extended partition and that is why it won't yet allow it to be deleted.
The other expert was also correct in that DELPART.EXE (available widely on the
internet) will remove some partition types that FDISK will not.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6133088
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Removing junk files...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
i have a dos program that uses the "move" command
to remove junk files from the hard drive, when
the program used the following dos command:
"move /y c:\*.log c:\trash\recycle > null", we
got the error message "sharing violation. abort, retry, fail". then the program
pause. Now, why
do you think the message was not ignored as it
suppose to, and continue excuting the program?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Need More Information : Sammy,
What makes you think the program is capable of ignoring those messages? Do any
*.log files already exist and perhaps have protected attributes in
c:\trash\recycle? You are running this under a new OS from when you used to run
it too, correct? Is this a BAT file you're using or an EXE?
FUQuestion : Hi paul,
this is an excutable program (.exe) that was written
in cobol language by a friend of mine. he said there
is no protected attributes in the c:\trash\recycle.
the *.log do exist in windows's folder, and they were
open and used by a program called cpucool. I thought
when you use the " > null" you would redirect any
message from dos to a null, and not the screen.
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Need More Information : Yes it will redirect the message, but the error
continues - actual redirect in DOS is >nul (one "L"). So is the problem just
that you're seeing the message, and the program is doing what it should?
FUQuestion : Hi paul,
the message on the screen causes the program to
pause for an input from the keyboard for the:
abort, rety, fail?
thanks a lot.
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : Ah OK - now we're getting somewhere. If this is now running under a
different version of Windows it may be that the move command under ME no longer
supports the use of the "/y" switch, which is what allows you to overwrite
existing files if they exist.
Type:
move /?
to see if the "/y" is included. If it isn't then that is the reason things are
failing (files exist and are not being overwritten). To get around this you'd
need to find (or create) a replacement move command that can handle when a file
exists and overwrite it gracefully. If the "/y" *is* still implemented I'd
suggest testing it manually on a few of the files the script is failing on - it
may still be occurring due to the files being "in use" as I mentioned before -
Windows has a grip on them and will not let them be moved. The only way around
this is to have a way to detect and not attempt to move said files, or find a
way to remove any obstacles before the move.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6137881
Asker : yukigene
Subject : what should i do if a message "invalid system disk. replace the disk
and try again" at the dos prompt during start up?
Private : No
Question : hie, i would like to ask what i should do when the message "invalid
system disk. replace the disk and try again" when i on my computer. i've also
formatted my drives and there was nothing in my drives. what does the message
means? does that mean that my hard disk is in working condition anymore? can you
please help me to solve this problem? thank you.
Answer : If you formatted the hard drives you're getting the message because
there is no operating system on the disk. You can make the hard disk bootable by
booting with a boot floppy (created from the Add/Remove Programs control panel
on another Windows machine - Startup Disk tab). If you copy the sys.com utility
to that floppy and then, after booting from that floppy on the machine run a:
sys c:
to put the OS on the hard disk. Then remove the disk and it will reboot to DOS.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6137900
Asker : Indigo47
Subject : how to start winnt in dos mode
Private : No
Question : I want to restart my computer (win nt) in dos mode. How can I do it?
Do I have to create a bootable disk, but I do not know how to create one.
Hope you can help.
With Regards
Anil
Answer : Win NT doesn't have a DOS mode, per se, like 95/98 do. The only thing
remotely similar would be a recovery disk. Look into the RDISK command
(Start/Run/Rdisk).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6147432
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Bios support for cpu speed...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
can you please tell me how can I tell if the
motherboard and the bios, do have support for
a higher speed CPU, than the cpu on-board?
for example, motherboard like abit or award.
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : The key to this is to know what multipliers the BIOS supports. Once you
know this the only other pieces you need to know (assuming your CPU type is
intended for the socket or slot on the motherboard) is what CPU you're going to
be using and it's associated bus speed, and the bus speeds supported (properly)
by your motherboard. You will want to check your motherboards PCI dividers - you
will need a 1/4 (.25) divider to properly use a CPU based on a 133 Mhz system
bus. You can tell what bus speed a CPU is intended for (at least with P3s) as
follows:
600E - is a 600 Mhz "Coppermine" (.18 micron die) that needs a 100 Mhz bus. The
"E" designates that it is a Coppermine, rather than an older-style P3. Since
this CPU needs a 100Mhz FSB (Front Side Bus) signal it will need a 6.0
multiplier on the motherboard (6.0 x 100 = 600 Mhz - see how that works?)
600EB - is a 600 Mhz "Coppermine" (same as above) except the "B" designation
indicates it will require a 133 Mhz FSB instead of 100. This means the
motherboard will use a 4.5 multiplier (4.5 x 133 = ~600 Mhz).
The above is the key to overclocking as well. Since Intel locks the multipliers
on their CPUs you can take an "E" Coppermine and feed it a 133Mhz signal
(assuming your motherboard has the multipliers and dividers(1/4 for PCI)
needed). By feeding a 600E CPU a 133 Mhz signal (with its multiplier locked at
6) you end up with a 133 x 6 = 798 Mhz CPU. A "free" 198 Mhz upgrade! Just be
sure you cool the CPU well and you can expect a normal lifespan from it.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6168966
Asker : kell2020
Subject : My sound card won't work with dos games.
Private : No
Question : I recently got a new pc, with windows ME.
Some dos games work fine (eg frontier, swos) but others fail to detect my
soundcard (eg Duke Nukem). Surely if I select 'soundblaster or 100% compatible'
it should work? Remember I'm not in true dos mode - you can't with win me - so I
don't need a driver or anything do I?
It used to work fine on my old pc when I had a real SB16.
I have a VIA AC'97 audoi controller, whatever that is! (on IRQ 10)
As you can probably gather, I'm confused - I don't know when people are shooting
at me in Quake!
Your help would be greatly appreciated,
Kell2020
Answer : You need to set an enviroment variable in DOS called BLASTER before
running your game.
See this page for setting the variable:
http://www.rainbowdatainc.com/files/Readme.txt
The general format is:
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5
where:
A220 is the I/O address of the sound hardware
I5 is the IRQ (5 in this case)
D1 is the low DMA number
H5 is the high DMA number
Try a variable as printed above and see if that gets you in. If not then open
the System control panel inside Windows, go to the Device Manager tab, then into
the "Sound, video and game controllers" section and doubleclick on your sound
card to find the values for these items.
You can add the BLASTER line (once you suss it out) to your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT so
you don't need to type it each time.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6172138
Asker : iziaee
Subject : batch files
Private : No
Question : Hi,
Im a macromedia Flash designer and I've run into a problem.
Im making a standalone flash module for a CDROM and I had to load and play midi
files. Flash has inadvertantly not provided midi import, so the only way is thru
batch files.
My first problem is solved and now, I can open a midi file and play it too. But,
the user is given an option between various midis as also to close the one
playing. So if he chooses another midi, while the first ones playing, OR wants
to close the one playing he shud be able to do it.This is where im stuck. I cant
get the running media player to close.. all my eforts have produced is that
another media player opens up in a closed state, i.e not playing.
Im opening the varios midi files thru seperate batch files.
Id be really greatfull if you cud help.
THX in advance.
MIIZ
Answer : You haven't shown your BAT file you're using so it's kind of difficult
to troubleshoot it for you. From your description, however, it appears you could
benefit from my program KillTask. It will allow you to kill the running playback
app before launching another - so when the user picks a sound to play you can
automatically stop and close the other *before* launching the next one. It's
available on my website below.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Hi Paul..
Thanks. I got your application. My originalBAT file (launched by a button in my
Flash Interface) for playing the midi is a very simple one that goes something
like this :
=======================
:: Purpose : Plays the AHA MIDI file
@echo off
C:\WINDOWS\MPLAYER.EXE/play %aha.mid
exit
=======================
Now the user will be interacting with My flash Interface all the time...., for
stopping this midi or choosing another one (thereby stopping the previous one).
I have linked a button from my flash interface to another BAT file for him to
stop the midi playing.
I want a sript in this (CLOSE.BAT) file to check if the Midi player
(MPLAYER.EXE) is playing and if so to stop it.
This shud happen without any inputs from the user.
Is this possible?
Nice site BTW.. but it doesn't show up on batch file searches.. in google.. you
shud do something about its rank.
Thx in advance,
Iziaee
Rating : 5
Answer : Thanks,
in the CLOSE.BAT just put in a killtask command with a partial windowname (the
part that will be the same for every MIDI you might play) - something like this:
killtask "Media Player"
If the task exists it will be stopped. If it doesn't nothing will happen.
Is that what you're after?
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : IT WORKS IT WORKS...
HALLELUJAH..
PAUL Im gonna recommend u to Everybody...
U R THE MAN....
U the president..U the POPE.. U the MAN.
WHew.. weeks of searchin played off.
MAn...what do you do for a living .. u shud get a Nobel Prize.. I mean being an
expert n a field that Ol Gates "havent-had-a-decent-upgrade" Boy wants killed!
Zeeeeeeech....
OK that was me stopping myself..
It works fine. Umm. A little hitch though...Iam including ur file in this
project.. so like can I??...
Also, I have to make a seperate stop button for each midi file, since i have to
spell out (case wise) its name in the bat file, so:
@ECHO OFF
killtask AHA.mid
Is there a way to put a generic "" term instead of the name so that the BAT file
picks out whichever .mid is playing and zaps it?
Again thanks a lot .
iziaee
FUQuestion : Hey I just solved it myself..
Put the % and it works....
THX a lot man
iziaee
FUQuestion : HI..
Its me again
Just a thought...If I'd like to make a playlist in a a BAT file for all the
midis (around 10) to play one after the other, what changes wud i make in my BAT
file?
THX..
Answer : You could create a menu, similar to this:
@echo off
:start
cls
echo.
echo.
echo ------------------------------------
echo - MIDI PLAYER -
echo ------------------------------------
echo.
echo 1. Debussy
echo 2. Beethoven
echo 3. Bach
echo 4. Brahams
echo.
echo 5. Exit
echo.
echo.
echo Choice:
choice /c:12345 /n /t:1,0
if errorlevel 5 goto exit
if errorlevel 4 goto Brahams
if errorlevel 3 goto Bach
if errorlevel 2 goto Beethoven
if errorlevel 1 goto Debussy
goto end
:Debussy
C:\WINDOWS\MPLAYER.EXE /play c:\debussy.mid
goto end
:Beethoven
C:\WINDOWS\MPLAYER.EXE /play c:\beethov.mid
goto end
:Bach
C:\WINDOWS\MPLAYER.EXE /play c:\bach.mid
goto end
:Brahams
C:\WINDOWS\MPLAYER.EXE /play c:\brahams.mid
goto end
:end
goto start
:exit
cls
echo Thanks for using MIDI PLAYER... have a nice life!
echo.
In the script above you will need the full path (or otherwise make available) to
the MIDI files - in the example above I assumed they were at C:\
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Answer : I realized you want them to play one after the other rather than be
selected in a menu. There is no way to tell when the MIDI file currently playing
has finished from DOS. So timing the start of successive MIDI files would be
problematic at best. What you could do is obtain the sleep command (URLs below)
and invoke it between songs since you'll know the length of the songs.
An example:
C:\WINDOWS\MPLAYER.EXE /play c:\brahams.mid
sleep 300
C:\WINDOWS\MPLAYER.EXE /play c:\bach.mid
sleep 240
Those numbers are in seconds - so I'm expecting 'brahams.mid' to be a little
under 5 minutes and then I start 'bach.mid' which is just under 4 minutes.
You can get the sleep executable here:
http://members.home.net/iqueue/SLEEP.EXE
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Hi...
Thanks. I got the SLEEP prg.
Have done as u said, and it works.
Thanks a lot for all ur help.
Ive sent u a personal email.Do check.
Thanks again for the help.
Ishaq
Answer : You're welcome! Also check my website - I wrote a new program last week
that may be even better for your task - it's called Sequencer and it's near the
bottom of my webpage.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Hi paul...
searched ur site a few times,..the prog. isn't there..
cud you mail it?
Thx
iziaee@yahoo.com
Answer : You must not have looked real hard - it's right here:
http://members.home.net/iqueue/sequencer.zip
A quick search for 'sequencer' (no quotes) with CTRL-F would have found it fast.
Enjoy!
(also coming to your email)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6183469
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Using warp as a platform...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
i would like to know your unbiased openion about
the IBM warp (os/2) operating system? Why do you
think warp never became as popular as windows,
despite the GUI interface that comes with it?
1). is it microsoft monoply?
2). is it corruption and unfair practice?
3). is it too weird for the average user?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
FUQuestion : sorry, i meant to type opinion.
Answer : I'd say it was combination of MS screwing IBM (the whole NT/OS/2 thing)
and the foreign nature of OS/2 for users, coupled with it's lack of native apps.
You ended up running DOS/Windows apps on it anyway so the whole thing was kind
of a moot point (at least for me). You go where the apps are, and OS/2 was far
from perfect in even emulating the Windows environment (not 100% compatible) so
I think that led to it's demise. That and the fact MS wouldn't give them license
to the Windows emulation code they needed past the version they were currently
using - meant apps would cease to be compatible from there forward (Win95 and
on, I believe).
Some banks still use Warp (must be some app on there they like) but most have
dropped it in favor of NT or UNIX.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6184334
Asker : martindundas
Subject : batch files
Private : No
Question : how do I get dos to wait until one command is complete before going
on to the next command.
I want to write a batch file like this
scandisk /C
scandisk /D
How do i stop it going on to scandisk /D before it has finished scandisk /C.
please reply!
Answer : It all comes down to whether the app is a DOS or Windows-based app. The
app you used (scandisk) in your example is a DOS app so waiting will happen
naturally - DOS is not parallel-processing and will execute these in order. One
thing you might try doing is setting a file as a flag to indicate that the first
process has completed. Consider the example below:
@echo off
:start
if exist c:\stuff.txt goto itsthere
goto start
:itsthere
echo OK the file exists
At the beginning of the run we'll assume there is no such file as c:\stuff.txt -
this code will loop until it does exist. So if you gear your second (and
successive) processes on seeing this file first you can sequence them. try the
code out - leave it running a bit in one DOS prompt and then in another DOS
prompt copy a file to C:\stuff.txt like:
copy c:\autoexec.bat c:\stuff.txt
and you will see it finish.
Other than something like that example you will need a custom executable that
can delay execution until the app in question is finished.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : No what I ment is i often use batch files within windows to run
various tasks automated example
scandisk
defrag
that is in windows through a batch file so how do i get it to wait until one
command is done before executing the next one?
Answer : Yes I understood your issue. As I mentioned above there is no way to do
this in DOS as DOS is unaware of the activities of Windows apps. You would need
a special utility for this. Perhaps I'll write one for this as I can see it
would be useful. I'll call it "Sequencer".
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
Answer : Only 4 stars? I guess I won't tell you to go to my web page and check,
since I wrote Sequencer for you which solves your problem... :-)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6193446
Asker : martindundas
Subject : zip files off of your website
Private : Yes
Question : when i download off of Your website http://members.home.net/ i get a
damaged zip file try downloading again message could anyone help
Answer : I responded to the email you sent me about this already. The files on
the website are fine but yours must have been an incomplete download. Download
it again but save it to your drive with a different name so any cached copies
the browser may have stored will not be used.
Rating : 5
End :
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6197390
Asker : sah
Subject : printing from a DOS program in windows to a networked printer
Private : No
Question : I have a DOS program that is running on an NT Workstation machine.
When trying to print from the program, it is set to print only to LPT1. The
problem, however, is that no printer is attached to the LPT1 printer port on
this machine. The default printer that the machine prints to is a networked
printer. Is there a way to redirect a DOS program to print to a networked
printer?
Thank you!
Answer : Yes just capture the printer port, pointing it to the UNC name
(\\server\printername) of the printer you wish to use.
Start/Settings/Printers/right-click printer and select Properties/Details
tab/Capture Port
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Thanks for your suggestion. I, unfortunatley, am not finding a
Details tab under Properties as you mention. I have only these tabs after
selecting properties for the printer I'd like to print to:
General, Ports, Scheduling, Sharing, Security, Device, User Customize, and
About. I've hunted in all of these & am not finding a Capture Port setting
anywhere :(
Any other ideas?
Answer : Ah yes, NT Workstation has it in a different place. Ports/Add port is
the correct spot I believe.
Create a port pointing to the network path and then check that selection's box
to make it the port you're printing to.
Also you may try using the following command from the DOS prompt before starting
your app (or use the persistent parameter to make it permanent once you know it
works):
net use lpt<x>: \\<printserver>\<sharename> /persistent:yes
Example:
net use lpt1: \\servername\myprinter /presistent:yes
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6209258
Asker : soodsandeep
Subject : dos
Private : No
Question : good morning sir,
i have a question about booting. when computer boots up in DOS or even in
windows 95 or windwos98 it displays a message "Vairfying DMI POOL..." what this
message is about? what is DMI POOL? please explain.
i shall be very thankful to you.
thanking you
Sandeep Sood.
Answer :
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&safe=off&th=d4786dd25b0fba78,10&seekm=eCQPzHp1AHA.1032%40tkmsftngp03#p
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6221841
Asker : agalermo
Subject : divide overflow
Private : No
Question : Hello I hope you can help me with this one. I created a boot disk
from Ghost program but when I booted I get the error "DIVIDE OVERFLOW". I have a
new laptop and using a network card. All drivers appeared to be loaded normally.
Answer : No drivers are needed on a Ghost boot disk. Just make a normal boot
disk from the "Add/Remove Programs" control panel's "Startup Disk" tab. Then
copy the GHOST.EXE from the floppy you made to it. Boot from the floppy (you can
hold SHIFT during boot if you want a totally clean boot) and then type GHOST to
load it.
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6223214
Asker : jebrighton
Subject : Invalid device parameter from device driver
Private : No
Question : I am using a boot disk to get the computer up, then key in the
following: FORMAT C: /S.
It warns me that I will be overwriting all files which I respond with a 'Y'.
Then, I get the error mentioned in the subject line. All I am trying to do is
format the hard drive which is another story. What is going on here? I also
cannot use FDISK because it wants to know the volume ID and it is displayed as
some garbage characters which I cannot key in.
Answer : Try using delpart - it sounds as if the drive has become corrupt
(volume label scrambling):
ftp://ftp.ncd.com/pub/ncd/Archive/WinCenter/Utilities/delpart.exe
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6229314
Asker : donaldherbert
Subject : Creating a unique filename when archiving using xcopy
Private : No
Question : I am trying to write a simple batch program that will xcopy a file
from a directory into an archive subdirectory. I would like the target file to
have a unique name every time the file is archived (i.e. a date/time stamp). Are
there variables available in dos that can be used in filenames? How do I do
this.
Thanks.
-Donald
Answer : My utility DateSet will do this for you. Here is the text from the
readme.txt included with the app:
----------------------------------------
DateSet 1.1, by Paul Doherty 2000, 2001
This utility exists to help anyone (usually administrators) who needs to rename
or
timestamp files with the current date in an automated way. To use this utility
you
will be at a command prompt or running a batch file (.BAT/.CMD). When run
DateSet will
obtain the current system date and put it into a new file called C:\MYDATE.BAT.
That
file will look like this:
@echo off
SET MYDATE=06272001
SET MYDAY=06
SET MYMONTH=27
SET MYYEAR=2001
for today's date of Jun 27, 2001.
To use this at the command prompt or in your BAT file is easy - you just run
C:\MYDATE.BAT and you will have environment variables in your current session
that can be used for renaming or creating files. For example:
dateset
c:\mydate.bat
ren c:\autoexec.bat c:\autoexec.%MYDATE%
This would have the effect of renaming c:\autoexec.bat as c:\autoexec.06272001
To use it in a BAT file is quite easy. Just include the following lines at the
beginning
of every BAT file that you need the dates accessible:
@echo off
c:\windows\command\dateset.exe
call c:\mydate.bat
and then include the lines that do what you need to do using %MYDATE%, %MYDAY%,
etc when you need the appropriate item inserted.
For example:
copy appsrv.log appsrv.%MYMONTH%%MYDAY%
To install DATESET just copy DATESET.EXE to your C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND directory so
it's always in your path (under Windows NT/2000 put it in \WINNT\SYSTEM32).
----------------------------------------
DateSet and other apps of my creation are available on the website below.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6231744
Asker : mg1949
Subject : DOS commands
Private : No
Question : Where can I download a list of dos commands?
Answer : http://www.csulb.edu/~murdock/dosindex.html
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6238697
Asker : donaldherbert
Subject : Incrementing an environment variable
Private : No
Question : Is there a way to increment an environment variable within a batch
file (or, for that matter, is there a way to do ANY kind of math funcion with
DOS)?
logically, this is what I'd like to do...
SET COUNT = %COUNT% + 1
Thanks.
-Donald
Answer : The normal answer is that no, there is no way to do this in DOS.
The good answer is that I have written an app to handle this problem in DOS
called Count. It allows incrementing like you want, and any other basic math
function (add/subtract/multiply/divide) and can even preserve floating point
(decimal) numbers too.
You can get Count and my other applications at my website below.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6238705
Asker : pfeilmeier
Subject : batch file
Private : No
Question : How does a person create a Batch File in DOS?
Answer : You can use EDIT (or any other text editor like Notepad) to create one:
edit test.bat
Now you will be in the EDIT program. Start typing in the lines of your BAT file,
hitting ENTER at the end of each line:
@echo off
echo Hi, my name is Paul!
Press ALT-F to bring up the File menu and select Save, then ALT-F and Exit to
leave the editor. Since the file is named with a .BAT extension it is already
executable. Just type:
test
to see the results. Then you can edit it again and add more to it. Have fun!
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6258987
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Callable sub-program for dos...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
we have a cobol program that generates an invoice
for small business that runs under windows 98,
however, if the customer is paying by a credit
card, we need a sub-program that would verify the
card's status, and abtains the approval code for
the invoice amount or otherwise information.
Is there such a program that we can purchase?
can this program run in dos mode?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : This might do the trick:
http://www.mktmkt.com/ic.html
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6266237
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Booting-up windows 98se...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
when my computer's booting, I get the compaq's
logo, then windows's logo which is the splash
screen, then before I get the desktop's image,
I get a black screen with the c:\ prompt in the
home position for about 7 seconds. Can you please
tell me what is causing this black screen to be
displayed after the splash screen?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : If your machine proceeds to boot up to Windows it may just be a
corrupted or missing splash screen file. The "C:\" DOS prompt is normal, and if
you were to disable your logo splash screens entirely you'd see it during the
entire boot sequence. It also may simply be that your drive is getting
fragmented and slow and what used to be a brief flicker as the video changed
modes to display the Windows GUI is not taking a few seconds. or you may have
added a device (new CD-ROM, CDRW?) or driver that is taking some time to
initialize. In any event as long as there is no malfunction associated with it
you are OK.
If you'd like to experiment and see what a boot is like without the splash
screens do the following in a DOS prompt and then Shutdown/Restart.
c:
cd \
attrib -r -h -s msdos.sys
start notepad c:\msdos.sys
Once in Notepad find the section labeled [Options] and add the following line
below it:
Logo=0
This will prevent the logo screens from being displayed. To turn them back on
set it to a 1 or remove the line entirely.
For more startup switches in the MSDOS.SYS see this site:
http://www.geocities.com/thegorx/Windows/Help/Msdos.htm
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Answer : Another thing that may shed light on the delay would be a "logged boot"
- you can do this by holding the left (right may work too) SHIFT key during a
boot until a menu appears. Then choose "Logged Boot" or similar and after
Windows finishes booting a file called C:\BOOTLOG.TXT will contain the messages
output during the boot. You may see a failure or time out in there.
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6267360
Asker : dgcaskey
Subject : Format command only sees 2M or 6M HD
Private : No
Question : I'm rebuilding an old PC for my brother. It has a 6M hard drive, but
was only using 2M (under DOS 6.2). I used FDisk to reset the DOS partition to
the full 6M, but when I try to format the drive from the DOS 6.2 boot diskette I
made, it only finds 2M. I'm planning to load Win95 on the system, would a Win95
boot disk have a format program that sees the whole hard drive, or is this a
BIOS or other issue?
Answer : A FAT partition (the type DOS uses) can only be 2GB maximum. I suggest
you fdisk and setup three 2GB partitions and format all three as C:, D:, and E:,
respectively.
Windows 95 OSR2 added a new partition type called FAT32 that gets around this
limitation - it is the reason the later versions of fdisk will ask when run "Do
you want to enable large disk support?".
To get around this make a boot disk on a later Windows 95 or 98 machine and use
it's fdisk.exe instead of DOS 6.2s. Here are instructions:
OK - Make a boot floppy as follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.* a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now you will have a bootable disk that will bring up your CD-ROM as drive letter
F: - the best thing to do at this point in your reinstall is NOT to launch the
install, but rather ensure you have XCOPY.EXE and XCOPY32.EXE on the floppy or
in the C:\ directory and do an xcopy of all the files in the Win95 subdirectory
off the CD to your hard disk and perform the installation from *there*. Why? A
couple of reasons - one is the installation goes faster from the hard disk, but
that's a minor reason. The primary reason is that after installation you will no
longer be bothered by that annoying 'please insert your Windows 98 CD' when
upgrading drivers, installing new versions of DirectX, etc, since all the source
files for the OS are on your disk. The XCOPY command looks as follows:
(boot from floppy and format the hard drive
a:
format c:
sys c:
if necessary - be sure you have a backup first of whatever you want to keep!)
xcopy f:\win95\*.* c:\win95kit\*.* /e
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win95kit
echo y | lock c: /off
setup
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6273224
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Duplicates of autoexec.bat...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
it looks like there is a program or some software
on my computer, that keeps making duplicates of
copies of my autoexec.bat & config.sys. However,
these duplicates has the following extension:
autoexec.ns0, autoexec.dos, autoexec.ago and
autoexec.001. the config.sys files have the same
extension as well. Can you please tell me what is
causing these duplicates files? Is it safe to
delete them from the root drive?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : The .dos ones are made by Windows itself I believe and may be the
copies from before Windows was installed. The others are made by programs you've
installed. These apps may make changes so they back the file up before changing
anything so they can put it back if you uninstall. If you feel you understand
what's in your autoexec.bat currently, and know what is needed and what
(potentially) isn't, feel free to nuke those other files.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6280218
Asker : heavytrack
Subject : program running
Private : No
Question : I have run a .pif virus that evidently runs a dos program. How can I
tell what dos programs are running on my system?
JPD
Answer : Any program running should be listed (in one form or another) in the
task list you get with a CTRL-ALT-DEL. DOS apps require a copy of COMMAND.COM to
run so they will usually be shown in the list as "MS-DOS Prompt".
PIF files are created as links between icons that appear in your Windows
environment and the DOS apps they run. They are similar to normal shortcuts
except they can contain additional information about the DOS environment that
the app may need to run correctly. In essence all they do is pass that DOS setup
information to the command.com that gets invoked and which in turn invokes the
DOS executable.
To find out what app the PIF ran just open the .PIF file (if you still have it)
with Notepad and examine the contents for a filename and/or path. For example, I
found this PIF file on my system named LMSCRIPT.PIF. So I opened it (with the
DOS command "start notepad lmscript.pif") and here is what it looks like:
********* BEGIN PIF FILE ***********
VWindows NT Logon Script € € LMSCRIPT.EXE . ÿ P à MICROSOFT PIFEX ‡ q WINDOWS
386 3.0 h € ' 'ÿÿ ÿÿ WINDOWS 286 3.0 ! WINDOWS VMM 4.0 ÿÿ7 ¬ PIFMGR.DLL 2 È è
Terminal Courier New P € È Œ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿX X ä [ Å Ÿ à ÿ* þ† Ì' ó Ÿ þ† †Û j‡ Ì' B
********* END PIF FILE ***********
Notice at the top there is a file referenced called LMSCRIPT.EXE - this would be
an excellent guess as to what EXE this LMSCRIPT.PIF would be associated with and
would run. So look in the same spot in yours and you can find what EXE is
actually the virus which can lead you to the right steps to remove it and the
damage it may have caused.
See this site for more info once you know the name of the EXE the virus used:
http://www.sarc.com
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : do you know of a viewer utility that will enable me to see what all
is running. ctrl-alt-del only shows apps.
Answer : Try this utility:
ftp://ftp.univie.ac.at/mirror/WinSite/win95/desktop/pview.exe
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6284154
Asker : tweety3360
Subject : how do i make a "system boot disk"?
Private : No
Question : How do i make a "system boot disk"?
Answer : The thing that makes a "system" disk is the presence of certain key
files (and sometimes a boot sector). Those files in Windows 95/98 are:
command.com - command interpreter ("DOS")
msdos.sys
io.sys
(various assorted files not absolutely needed)
These files are usually put in place by issuing a "sys" command. For example if
I have a floppy I want to make bootable I sys it like this:
C:\ > sys a:
Transferring system files...
C:\ >
Now the A: disk will be bootable. the same can be done to hard disks. You just
need to be sure with either floppies or hard disks that you use the same version
of DOS and a compatible copy of sys.com before "sysing" it. Whatever disk you
boot from (floppy or hard disk) becomes the source for your version of DOS when
you sys. So boot from the floppy, then type:
A:\ > sys c:
Transferring system files...
A:\ >
And you will have sysed the C: drive.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6287559
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Default answer for dos prompt...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
can you please tell me how to provide an answer
as a default reply for a dos prompt? for example,
if we use the dos command "dir a:\ /p", then if
the A: drive was not ready, we would get an error
message and a dos prompt "Abort, Retry, Fail",
then the system will pause wating for a reply.
can we supply the default reply to the dos prompt
with the original command, so we can avoid any
haulting of the batch excution?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : On this one the answer is no, unfortunately. It appears that the
"Abort, Retry, Fail" prompt clears the keyboard buffer before displaying it's
text, thus making any attempts like:
echo a | dir a:
or
dir a: < a
(where a is a text file containing nothing but the letter a and a carraige
return)
not work as they would in this case:
echo y | del a:\*.*
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6298172
Asker : SUMAN74
Subject : dos
Private : Yes
Question : Hi ,
I want to add a new harddisk on my pc and i need to know how i can make my dos
recognised the disk drive using my star-up disk.
Regards
Answer : Just add the disk to same ribbon cable as the current one (if it has
two connectors) - otherwise plug it into the other controller using it's own
cable. Then go into the system BIOS (usually DEL at boot will do this) and set
all IDE devices to auto-detect. Then all you'll need to do is partition and
format the disk from your startup disk. You'll use fdisk.exe to layout the
partition(s) on the new disk, and then after a reboot again with the startup
disk you'll use format X: to format each partition. To be sure you don't format
an existing partition on your current drive do a "dir X:" for each drive letter
you intend to format. If they are indeed new partitions that need a format you
will get an error message - that's what you WANT to see. then go ahead and
format.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Also please do not ask technical questions as "private" - this robs the ability
for others to benefit from our interaction.
FUQuestion : Hi,
I guess that there is a miscommunication here. Want i really want to is to use
the startup disk to make my dos recognise the cd-rom drive. And i want to know
what are the things i need to add in my start-up disk so that i can make use of
my cd-rom drive to install the os in the hard disk.
Regards..
Answer : the above WILL get the disk to be seen by DOS and Windows. I'm not sure
what you're after so here's the full text from one of my FAQ answers on how to
install Windows 98 -
OK - Make a boot floppy as follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.* a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now you will have a bootable disk that will bring up your CD-ROM as drive letter
F: - the best thing to do at this point in your reinstall is NOT to launch the
install, but rather ensure you have XCOPY.EXE and XCOPY32.EXE on the floppy or
in the C:\ directory and do an xcopy of all the files in the Win98 subdirectory
off the CD to your hard disk and perform the installation from *there*. Why? A
couple of reasons - one is the installation goes faster from the hard disk, but
that's a minor reason. The primary reason is that after installation you will no
longer be bothered by that annoying 'please insert your Windows 98 CD' when
upgrading drivers, installing new versions of DirectX, etc, since all the source
files for the OS are on your disk. The XCOPY command looks as follows:
(boot from floppy and format the hard drive
a:
format c:
sys c:
if necessary - be sure you have a backup first of whatever you want to keep!)
xcopy f:\win98\*.* c:\win98kit\*.* /e
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win98kit
echo y | lock c: /off
setup
--
Paul Doherty, CNA, CNE, MCP+I, MCSE, A.A., B.A.
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6316133
Asker : DPanMan1
Subject : Old DOS game too fast
Private : No
Question : Hi,
I have an ancient 1989 Pac-man game and not surprisingly it runs blazingly fast
on my 733mHZ Celeron. How do I slow the game down?
Thanks,
-Dan
Answer : Grab the utility MoSlo - it will slow your PC down so the game plays
correctly:
http://www.google.com/search?q=moslo
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
FUQuestion : Hi,
I tried MoSlo, and its a lot slower, but even if I set the speed to 1% original,
its still too fast. Got any other ideas?
Thanks,
-Dan
Answer : Bremze is another that is purported to be able to slow even the fastest
machines:
http://ansis.folklora.lv/
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6321901
Asker : gdscore
Subject : batch file for backup in W98
Private : No
Question : The batch file below (but not wrapped as this copy did in this
form)works great for backup except for the line xcopy c:\window\favori~1/S/E
f:\renamdat\favorites\. It creats the folder but doesn't copy the subfolders or
files.
What's missing?
c:\
echo
xcopy c:\mydocu~1/S/E f:\renamdat\mydocs\
xcopy c:\score/S/E f:\renamdat\score\
xcopy c:\progra~1\juno\USER0000\addrbook.nv f:\renamdat\juno0000\
xcopy c:\progra~1\juno\USER0001\addrbook.nv f:\renamdat\juno0001\
xcopy c:\cms\*.dbf f:\renamdat\cms\
xcopy c:\utilities/S/E f:\renamdat\utilities\
xcopy c:\window\favori~1/S/E f:\renamdat\favorites\
cls
exit
Answer : Try it this way:
xcopy c:\window\favori~1\*.* f:\renamdat\favorites\*.* /e
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6322433
Asker : gdscore
Subject : batch file for Windows 98 problem
Private : No
Question : The batch file below (but not wrapped as this copy did)works great
for backup except for
the line xcopy c:\window\favori~1/S/E f:\renamdat\favorites\. It creats the
folder but doesn't copy the subfolders or files.
What's missing?
c:\
echo
xcopy c:\mydocu~1/S/E f:\renamdat\mydocs\
xcopy c:\score/S/E f:\renamdat\score\
xcopy c:\progra~1\juno\USER0000\addrbook.nv f:\renamdat\juno0000\
xcopy c:\progra~1\juno\USER0001\addrbook.nv f:\renamdat\juno0001\
xcopy c:\cms\*.dbf f:\renamdat\cms\
xcopy c:\utilities/S/E f:\renamdat\utilities\
xcopy c:\window\favori~1/S/E f:\renamdat\favorites\
cls
exit
Answer : Try it this way:
xcopy c:\window\favori~1\*.* f:\renamdat\favorites\*.* /e
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6329734
Asker : Foster1700
Subject : DOS printouts at startup
Private : No
Question : Am using Windows 98 but Dos prints out numerous files being loaded,
scanning, etc and then stops with question.
For example: Do you wish to start DOSSHELL? [Y,N]?
Actually, yes or no, after some delay opens windows 98. I would like to turn on
computer and proceed directly to windows 98 without any stops.
I did find the following in the autoexec.bat file:
C:\windows\command\choice do you wish to start DOSSHELL?
if errorlevel2 go to stop
:stop
However, I do not know how to bypass all of this. Can you help? Thanks.
Jim Foster
Answer : If you never use DOSSHELL (and who does, anymore? :-) you can either
put a REM in front of each line to disable them, or delete them outright.
REM C:\windows\command\choice do you wish to start DOSSHELL?
REM if errorlevel2 go to stop
REM :stop
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6372677
Asker : turtlewalk
Subject : Yes?
Private : No
Question : Hi!
Does anyone knows about the 'yes' utility. I used it long time ago and can't
remember if its unix or dos. I think its dos.
Ok, here is the purpose: Some programs are asking the user to press akey to
continue or ask to press key Y or N. Some give the option to not ask, but some
don't. so there is a program called yes, use like this:
MyProgram.exe | yes
or maybe:
yes > myprogram.exe
This way, the yes program sends continuously Y keys and MyProgram doesn' stop.
Can anyone help me to find this program?
Thanks.
Answer : You can get the same result without any additional software in most
cases. Do it like this:
echo y | Myprogram.exe
Paul Doherty
--
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6376068
Asker : ashokb77
Subject : installing windows through dos
Private : Yes
Question : hello,
"Can i install windows through Dos which is in a network?
I don't have CD drive and no windows backup on my drive.
"
If i can install, what r the drivers necessary? and Configurations.
Need More Information : Explain in more detail what you have (systems involved
and their configuration), and what state they are currently in.
FUQuestion : system config:piii,64mb ram,accton EN 1207D ethernet adapter.
it include softwares like adobe,paintshoppro,office 2000,flash,dreamweaver
etc...
Problem:
while working on office 2000,suddenly the screen turns blank and i can't get it
into normal mode. Then i restart the m/c.
After rebooting , it asks,
Invalid system disk, try replacing it and press any key.(though no floppy inside
the floppy drive).
Then i used the startup disk and find that files and directories which we had
created and also others windows files and directories(like mydocuments etc..)
was deleted.(may be System has crashed)
At present i don't have the cd drive and windows backup for this m/c.it is
connected to network.
Through n/w i don't how to install the windows to this system.
Kindly Help me...
Ashok
FUQuestion : system config:piii,64mb ram,accton EN 1207D ethernet adapter.
it include softwares like adobe,paintshoppro,office 2000,flash,dreamweaver
etc...
Problem:
while working on office 2000,suddenly the screen turns blank and i can't get it
into normal mode. Then i restart the m/c.
After rebooting , it asks,
Invalid system disk, try replacing it and press any key.(though no floppy inside
the floppy drive).
Then i used the startup disk and find that files and directories which we had
created and also others windows files and directories(like mydocuments etc..)
was deleted.(may be System has crashed)
At present i don't have the cd drive and windows backup for this m/c.it is
connected to network.
Through n/w i don't know how to install the windows to this system.
Kindly Help me...
Ashok
Answer : Your only real chance is if you can access the network (sounded like
you could) is to copy the "Win98" subdirectory to your PC and install 98 again
from there (assuming you are using Windows 98). The Win98 directory on the
Windows CD has all the files needed to install Windows, including the SETUP.EXE
that will start the install.
You will need to boot to DOS by holding the SHIFT key to get it to bypass your
startup files. Then issue the commands:
lock c: /off
cd \win98
setup
to start the install. It will install over your current Windows, will not harm
your data, and may save your installed apps as well. but from your description
the hard disk may be physically damaged. To test for this before wasting your
time put scandisk.exe on a boot floppy (create from Add/Remove Programs control
panel - Startup Disk tab) and run scandisk with a surface test.
FUQuestion : hello paul,
I am thankful for ur kind response.
The problem : How do i access the network in a dos mode?
so that i can view the contents of the other system which is in network(assume
win 98 backup is another system).
Possibility (as u know):
1:Connecting the hardisk of another system, making that system's hdd as a master
we can do.
2: connect the cd drive to ur system and using startup disk we can get solution.
Apart from this,
How do i install the o.s(either by copying the win 98 sub directory that is in
another system or accessing the cd drive which is connected to a server) to a
system.
Waiting for ur answer
Ashok
Answer : Creating Windows network bootable disks is a chore - you may be better
off moving a CD-ROM driver temporarily t your machine. But if you insist:
http://www.bootdisk.com
http://www.bovistech.com/netbeui.htm
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6394813
Asker : tim_27_us
Subject : DOS
Private : No
Question : I am new at DOS command, i have some questions:
1.) How can deal with the c:/my computers" folder, I mean open or do something
else. i couldn't see it by type "dir" and could find it by any mehods.
2.) how can I just create a blank new txt file in a batch file
3.) I tried to create a seperate Log file at the same folder everytime I run a
batch file, I tried, time /t >info.txt & prompt /t>txt. it all doesn't work, In
fact, it work from ime>info.txt, but i have to press enter in order to go back c
prompt, it wasn't what I want, I want it all done at once.
Thank you anyone could help
Answer : The other expert answered #1 already - "My Computer" is not represented
by a directory on your filesystem - it is just an icon that invokes a device
viewer.
Creating a text file from within a BAT file can be done like this:
@echo off
rem my BAT stuff here
rem now creating a text file
echo "First line of stuff for text file" > c:\newfile.txt
echo "Second line of new file" >> c:\newfile.txt
rem
rem etc until the file is done.
As for creating a timestamp file try my utilities DateSet or DateIt. Either can
do what you need. They are available at my website below.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6395390
Asker : gdscore
Subject : batch file problem
Private : No
Question : Have been using the batch file below (directed to by autorun.inf)to
open a introductory screen and then go to a "folder" of album icons for the user
to choose from. It works fine except a DOS window pops up and remains prartly
exposed behind the .jpg until the .jpg shuts off and the screen of album icons
comes on. This is annoying.
Is there any way to keep the DOS screen from coming up?
echo off
i_view32.exe albumfrt.jpg
type nul | choice.com /n /cy /ty,5 >nul
start \albums
exit
Answer : One way would be to (while the JPG and DOS window are still open) click
the top-left icon in the DOS window and select Properties. Then in the "Run"
drop-down choose "minimized" which will make the DOS window only come up as a
taskbar icon, not a window.
Also you might try issuing the i_view command with a "start" prefix and see if
that helps, like:
echo off
start c:\wherever\i_view32.exe albumfrt.jpg
type nul | choice.com /n /cy /ty,5 >nul
start \albums
exit
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6421615
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Deleting cookies in dos...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
when we use the dos command deltree in windows 98
environment to delete all the internet cookies,
windows 98se does NOT recognize this deletion
process, and the cookies still show in the
temporary internet files folder if you run the
disk cleanup and click view files. Is there any
command that will let windows accept deletion of
cookies by using dos command?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Need More Information : What command do you issue, and what do you see before
and after the deletion? (i.e. Does the directory still exist after being
deltree'd?)
FUQuestion : Hi paul,
the dos command that I use is deltree and before the
deletion I see all the cookies inside the folders,
however, after I issue deltree all the cookies,
folders and sub-folders are deleted completely.
deltree c:\windows\cookies
deltree c:\windows\history
deltree c:\windows\tempor~1
now, if I right click on the c:\ drive icon, select
properties, disk cleanup, view files, all the cookies
names shows in the following folder in that window:
"c:\windows\temporary internet files\content.ie5"
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : It seems the deletion must take place in PURE DOS mode (not in Windows
or a DOS windows inside Windows):
<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&safe=off&threadm=Rqly6.828%24_a3.108584%40news6-win.server.ntlworld.com&rnum=2&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Ddeleting%2Bcookies%2Bdos%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rnum%3D2%26selm%3DRqly6.828%2524_a3.108584%2540news6-win.server.ntlworld.com>
You could set the delete up to occur from within their autoexec.bat, perhaps
with something like this:
@echo off
if exist c:\nuked.txt goto end
c:
cd \windows
deltree /y tempor~1 > nul
deltree /y cookies > nul
deltree /y history > nul
copy c:\autoexec.bat c:\nuked.txt
:end
This would perform the delete only once. After that it would see the existence
of the file nuked.txt and skip the delete.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6442931
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Networking under dos...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
can you please tell me if it is possible to use
a Client Server application programs (cobol),
that runs in a MS-dos window under windows 98,
or do we need windows base applications?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : Applications in DOS (under Windows) should have access to the network
stack like any other app (witness ping.exe, telnet.exe and ftp.exe). Have you
tried it and it's failed?
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6445721
Asker : Aika
Subject : Sorting files in dos
Private : No
Question : Hello, I am also new to MS-DOS. I am struggling to sort the filenames
on the network drive by the date created and then make text file for
printing/e-mailing as to make recommendations that certain older files be moved
and archived in order to free up some server disk space which is becoming
critically low. However, my DOS balks at /d switch as if it does not exist. Any
recommendations, anyone? Thank you.
Answer : Use the following to get a list sorted by date:
dir /od > c:\sorted.txt
This will give you the directory listing sorted by date and output to a text
file suitable for printing.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6445731
Asker : boomRocket
Subject : boot cd-rom w/o auto boot
Private : No
Question : I need to know how I can install Windows 95 which I have onto my
second computer. The computer doesnt read cdrom for boot. I put in a boot disk
and go to command prompt but I dont know if there is a command to look for boot
sectors.
Any help appreciated, Thanks.
Simon Berube
emacheeze@softhome.net
http://home.cfl.rr.com/techcentric/
Answer : OK - Make a boot floppy as follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.* a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.com/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now you will have a bootable disk that will bring up your CD-ROM as drive letter
F: - the best thing to do at this point in your reinstall is NOT to launch the
install, but rather ensure you have XCOPY.EXE and XCOPY32.EXE on the floppy or
in the C:\ directory and do an xcopy of all the files in the Win95 subdirectory
off the CD to your hard disk and perform the installation from *there*. Why? A
couple of reasons - one is the installation goes faster from the hard disk, but
that's a minor reason. The primary reason is that after installation you will no
longer be bothered by that annoying 'please insert your Windows 98 CD' when
upgrading drivers, installing new versions of DirectX, etc, since all the source
files for the OS are on your disk. The XCOPY command looks as follows:
(boot from floppy and format the hard drive
a:
format c:
sys c:
if necessary - be sure you have a backup first of whatever you want to keep!)
xcopy f:\win95\*.* c:\win95kit\*.* /e
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win95kit
echo y | lock c: /off
setup
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Home of PC DiskMaster and other Windows utilities
FUQuestion : That has seemed to help me a great deal, but I have a problem where
my computer stops responding.
I get all the way to the last xcopy step but I can't type it in before it stops
taking my typing.
What can I do to stop this ANNOYING freezing?
Need More Information : I assume you mean this command:
xcopy f:\win95\*.* c:\win95kit\*.* /e
Desribe what you see that happens when you run the command.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Let me change that.. now its frozen at the command prompt..
FUQuestion : actually i got past the xcopy to the hard disk and now its stuck at
command prompt
Answer : If you finished the copy you need to press CTRL-ALT-DEL and reboot with
the floppy out of the drive. Then follow the last steps:
Now boot off the hard disk and do:
cd \win95kit
echo y | lock c: /off
setup
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
Answer : You're very welcome. :-)
If your system is freezing like that you have a hardware problem almost without
a doubt. DOS is *very* stable (since it doesn't do much, especially sitting at a
command prompt with nothing loaded) so any instabilities seen in DOS are easily
attributed to problems like:
heat
RAM bad or poorly seated
CPU being overclocked
Make sure the fans on your system are ALL operational. Open the case as you may
have fans inside like on top of the CPU and they may have become clogged with
dust or just worn out. If this has happened heat is your cause for the lockups,
and is easily fixed by replacing the failed fans.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Thank you SO much! I have Windows 95 now on this computer. I am
wondering one thing. I am sorry that I can't just leave you alone!
echo y | lock c: /off
Do I need to turn lock on or was it just supposed to be off but you wanted to
ensure it was off?
Answer : It's on by default in 98 and I believe 95 OSR2. That command will turn
it off whether it was on or not. You cannot run the Windows setup.exe
successfully when disk locking is active.
Have fun!
:-)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6445835
Asker : leveler
Subject : batch ping
Private : No
Question : hi
i need to write a batch file that will ping a list of addresses in a file (
ip.txt ) and if the address is bad writes to a log file (bad.txt), any help
would be appreciated. TIA LEv
Answer : Here's one way (it writes all results to a file):
@echo off
for %%i in (1 2 3 4) do ping -n 1 -w 500 %%i >> c:\pingout.txt
type c:\pingout.txt | find "Reply"
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Hi thanks for the reply, but i don't understand what its doing
so......
what is (1 2 3 4) for, is this refering to a list of files ?, because from this
i cant work out how its reading in the lines from a external file ( thats what i
meant when i said ip.txt),
TIA LEv
Answer : The "for" command in 95/98 does not allow you to process the *contents*
of a file (or files). The NT/2K version allows what you're describing. In my BAT
file above the "(1 2 3 4)" are the IP addresses I want to ping. I posted it with
a part missing - the BAT file should appear like this:
@echo off
for %%i in (1 2 3 4) do ping -n 1 -w 500 10.1.1.%%i >> c:\pingout.txt
type c:\pingout.txt | find "Reply"
When run the script will ping the addresses:
10.1.1.1
through
10.1.1.4
successively storing the results in c:\pingout.txt.
and show the ones that succeeded. If you need to be able to handle the contents
of a file and ping based off of that you may want to have a look at my utility
Recurse, which allows this under any Windows OS (95 and up). It's on my webpage
below and has a readme.txt with it to help you get started.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6448634
Asker : zub_kh
Subject : Difference Between Dos, Unix and Windows
Private : No
Question : Hello Sir, I want to know the basic difference between Dos, Unix and
Windows. I just want to know the basic difference. I shall be very thankful to
u.
Answer : They are all operating systems. The primary differences are in features
and interfaces.
DOS is command-line only and is a single-tasking, single-user operating system.
UNIX is command-line or GUI (Graphic User Interace) and is multitasking and
multiuser.
Windows (3.x/95/98/ME) is a GUI quasi-OS on top of DOS which is multitasking and
single user. Windows NT/2000/XP are GUI OSes that are multitasking.
DOS and Windows come from Microsoft, while UNIX comes from many vendors,
including Sun, IBM, Compaq, SCO, HP, and many others.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6455126
Asker : rudyshek
Subject : FTP batch file
Private : No
Question : Dear expert
I would like to create a batch file for FTP purpose. This batch should transfer
a list of files in specific directory to one machine and quit ftp mode after
process finished.
Please help with some sample code!
Regards
Shek
Answer : I already wrote an app that can help you. It's called FTPBatch. It's on
my website below.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6456553
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Using a picture icon...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
Is there a utility on the web that can assign
a picture icon for an excutable DOS program
permanently? Also, when you make a short cut icon
in windows with the .pif extension for a dos
program, can you prevent any body from changing the setting in that .pif file?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : If you link your EXE with an icon stored as an ICO file, or that is
part of a DLL (or another EXE) it will be permanent. Tools and collections of
icons can be found here:
http://www.iconolog.net
http://www.iconolog.net/ico/index.html
You cannot stop someone from modifying a PIF file - the only thing you could do
is to write something that watches for changes and puts back a known-good copy
if the user changes it. Or put something in the autoexec.bat to replace the PIF
files on every boot.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6458426
Asker : rod26
Subject : Need to find a simple print file DOS application..
Private : No
Question : I need to print a pure txt file from my DOS window.. I can execute a
executable from my application with the calling file to print
I am looking for application EXE file that will just send the TXT file to the
PRN/LPT1 file..
Maybe the program is call SendPRINT
Some like "SendPRINT mytext.txt"
..i can enter at my application
Does this make sense..
Answer : I'm not sure why you need an application for this. It also seems you
want to issue the DOS command to print from within another app? Try doing this:
copy file.txt lpt1:
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6462864
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Linking an icon for dos program...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
i have tried to link an icon with an excutable
dos program, but it did not make any changes to
the default icon by windows. here's what i used:
"link name.obj/nod/nopackc,,,library.lib+icon.ico"
now, can you link an icon to a dos program? and
can you link the .pif file with the dos program?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Need More Information : I'm not familiar with this "link" utility you seem to be
using. I thought you wanted to right-click a shortcut to an EXE and select
"Change Icon" to select a new icon. "Link" doesn't appear to exist as a command
on either my 98 or 2000 boxes. Can you give me more details about what you're
trying to do?
FUQuestion : Hi paul,
i am trying to assign an icon to an excutable DOS
program that i have made myself, by compiling the
cobol code and using the cobol language "linker" to
link the .obj file and change it into an .exe file.
can you assign an icon PERMANENTLY into this dos
program during or after the link process?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : I don't know which COBOL compiler you use (and it's been years since I
did any) so I wouldn't know on your compiler whether you can indicate an icon as
a resource file or not. Windows will use the first icon resource file in the EXE
as the default icon if that helps you. Here is some discussions on this topic as
it relates to MicroFocus COBOL and others:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=cobol+assign+icon+exe&hl=en&safe=off&meta=site%3Dgroups
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6464097
Asker : MBye
Subject : How do I configure a comport in Dos?
Private : No
Question : I am trying to get a communication port to work. How can I configure
the port in Dos?
Answer : You'll use the "mode" command.
Syntax help:
MODE COMm[:] [BAUD=b] [PARITY=p] [DATA=d] [STOP=s] [RETRY=r]
OR
MODE COMm[:] [b], [p], [d], [s], [r]
COMm The serial (Com) port. m is from 1 to 4.
BAUD=b The first two digits of the transmission rate [bits/sec]:
12 1200 baud 24 2400 baud
48 4800 baud 96 9600 baud
19 19200 baud (not supported on all computers)
PARITY=p Specifies how the system uses the parity bit to check for transmission
errors. p may be:
N None M Mark
E Even (Default) S Space
O Odd
DATA=d Specifies the number of data bits per character. d can be from 5 to 8
(default: 7)
STOP=s Specifies the number of stop bits that define the end of a character. s
can be 1, 1.5, or 2 (Default: 1)
RETRY=r the retry action to take if a time-out error occurs when sending output
to the specified port. This parameter causes part of MODE to remain resident in
memory. r may be:
b Return "busy" from a status check of a busy port.
e Return an error from a status check of a busy port.
p Continue retrying until printer accepts output.
r Return "ready" from a status check of a busy port.
n Take no retry action (default value).
-----------
So, for example, to set COM1 up:
MODE COM1: BAUD=19 PARITY=N DATA=8 STOP=1 RETRY=n
for 19,200 bps, no parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no retry.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6496757
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : Network connection DOS to Windows98
Private : No
Question : How can i connect a dos formated PC to windows 98 machine which is in
the same network.? How can i create a disk for this.? Please guide me
Answer : Try this site:
http://www.bovistech.com/disks.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6510520
Asker : karalis
Subject : DOS COPY DELETE MOVE
Private : No
Question : Hy,
Could you write commands like copy, delete, move and other in DOS? And do you
know how to delete main folder and subfolders with files thought DOS??
Thanks
Sarunas
Answer : The commands copy, delete, and move exist as built-in commands in DOS
(not even as external files). While you could write your own, the built-ins work
perfectly well, so maybe I am not seeing what you're asking?
To delete a directory and all subdirectories use deltree:
deltree directory_name
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6516065
Asker : beastman01
Subject : DOS and Mouse
Private : No
Question : Whenever i go into DOS, my mouse deactivates.
This sucks because lots of my DOS games need the mouse.
How can I activate my MSFT Optical mouse on DOS?
Are there commands or drivers?
Thanks
Answer : You will need a DOS mouse driver. Here is one that should work for your
mouse:
http://www.driverguide.com/archives/archive1/83.html
Just copy the executable to C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND and when you enter DOS before you
launch your game type "mouse" (no quotes) to load the mouse driver.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Answer : Try any of these:
http://download.lycos.com/swbasic/BasicResults.asp?query=mouse.exe
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6522259
Asker : ngtj
Subject : dos sound
Private : No
Question : hello paul,
i had a problem with my dos program, when i attempt to setup the sound in the
setup.exe program, it shows a error msg
"BLASTER enviroment variable not set. you must manually specify the hardware
settings for your sound card" can u help with this problem??
Thx very much....
Answer : You will need to run the following line before launching your games, or
add it to your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 T6
To find the correct values for the line above examine the resources for your
sound card under the System control panel in the Device Manager tab.
In the line above confirm that your sound card is at IO address 220, IRQ 5, DMA
1 (8-bit DMA), DMA 5 (16-bit DMA). If any of these are different plug in the
correct values.
Now your DOS games should work. Try booting while holding the CTRL key and at
the menu choose "Command Prompt Only" and play your games there. You can confirm
the environment variable is there with the command:
echo %BLASTER%
You should see something like this:
A220 I5 D1 H5 T6
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6523467
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : configuration of Win. 3.11 computer
Private : No
Question : First History..
I have a computer a HP Vectra 486DX 33 ni
It belongs to the daughter of a friend of mine .. she was using it for her
children for education programs and to play games on ..
Well it soon had a lot of error messages and she wanted me to format and
reinstall Win. 3.11
It had been a long time since I had fooled with a 486 and I had forgotten a lot
of things..
It didn't have a restore disk .. so I was afraid to format .. I was scared I
would lose the drivers .. etc.
so I tried to reinstall instead .. it stopped in the middle and when I tried to
restart - the error message > unable to load progman.exe.. Well I finally
figured out how to fix that .. and got rid of programs causing errors - the
computer was finally ready to go back - thank goodness.
She called -I told her it was ready .
THEN she said - did you get it to not start in a menu..? I am so sick of that ..
SOOOOOOO this is where I goofed..
I went into the sysedit and in the config.sys > DELETED the lines under [MENU]
it led you to DOS , GAMES or WINDOWS ...
1 .2 . or 3 was the menu select..
I FORGOT WHAT THE COMMANDS WERE- I was kicking myself ...
Then when booted - it says no label in C
and error in line 13 ..
Which is the missing [MENU] commands..
What are the commands in Config.sys for Win. 3.11?
Answer : There are lots of commands that can be used in CONFIG.SYS.
To get rid of the menus you will need to:
Edit config.sys and remove all bracketed sections "[]". Also remove any
redundant information that may appear under more than one bracketed section.
As a general guideline the config.sys should be something like this:
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe ram
device=c:\cdrom\cdrom.sys /d:cd1
DOS=HIGH
FILES=30
STACKS=9,256
LASTDRIVE=z
Also to remove the menu you will need to edit the autoexec.bat and remove all
lines beginning with a colon (:). These will be named after the bracketed
sections from the config.sys (DOS, GAMES, WINDOWS). Also remove the "goto
%config%" near the top, and ensure again you have no redundancies in this file.
Your autoexec.bat should end up something like this:
@ECHO OFF
LH C:\CDROM\MSCDEX.EXE /d:CD1
C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE /X
PROMPT $p$g
PATH C:\WINDOWS;C:\DOS;C:\util
doskey
SET TEMP=C:\DOS
win
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6523476
Asker : karalis
Subject : DOS BOOT DISK
Private : No
Question : Hello,
Do anyone know how to make my own start-up disk?
It should be like Win95,98... start-up disks but it should load different
program.
Do anyone how to do that???
And how to load cd-rom from that disk?
Thanks...
Sarunas
Answer : OK - Make a boot floppy (on your or another Windows machine) as
follows:
Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
(put a blank floppy in the drive)
format a:
c:
cd \
sys a:
copy windows\himem.sys a:\
copy windows\smartdrv.exe a:\
copy windows\command\mscdex.exe a:\
copy windows\command\xcopy*.* a:\
copy windows\command\format.com a:\
copy windows\command\edit.com a:\
copy windows\command\sys.com a:\
Download the following file to A:\
http://members.home.net/iqueue/idecd.sys
Now create a config.sys as follows:
edit a:\config.sys
The config.sys needs the following in it:
device=\himem.sys
device=\idecd.sys /d:cdrom001
Save the config.sys
Now edit A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and put the following in it:
@echo off
\mscdex.exe /d:cdrom001 /l:f
\smartdrv /n c+ f 4096 4096
Save the file and exit.
Now test the disk and ensure it boots and brings the CD-ROM drive up
successfully as letter F.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
Rating : 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6523491
Asker : doug_thiel
Subject : dos xcopy command
Private : No
Question : i have an external hard drive and want to backup my files from my
laptop to the external drive.... using dos's xcopy command can anyone tell me
the commands. i use this command now.." XCOPY C:\MYDOCU~1\*.*
D:\MYDOCU~1\*.*/S/E/Y/A/C/K". with the arrtib command following which is
"ATTRIB -a MYDOCU~1\*.*/s"
the idea is to backup my files incremental after an addition has been made to
the file.... it workes with other files but with the my documents file it keeps
giving me an error messasg (not resetting hidden file c:mydocu~1\desktop.ini.. i
have no references that i know of to this file and am stumped at what to do
next... any ideas?????????
thanking you
doug
Answer : In your batch file before your xcopy command issue:
attrib -r -h -s c:\mydocu~1\*.* /s
This will ensure no files are marked as hidden, system or read-only, without
modifying the archive bit. After the xcopy you can then issue your archive bit
reset as you've already been doing, but you shouldn't see the message about the
desktop.ini file anymore.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6554942
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Keyboard does not support 4 keys...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
we have a keyboard that works ok under windows 98
except when we press four specific keys, the keys
are 'c', 'l', 't' and 'p', then those keys will
not be printed or showing on the screen.
can you please help. thanks a lot.
sammy. ;-)
***
Need More Information : Does anything happen when you press those keys? Are the
keys physically broken? Have you tried the keyboard on a completely different
machine in DOS and gotten the same results, and then used a different keyboard
on the initial machine to see if a different keyboard also has the issue?
FUQuestion : Hi paul,
nothing happen when we press these specific keys,
nothing gets displayed on the screen. This is a
brand new keyboard, we also tried another keyboard
and we got the same problem. Also, the system module
in the control panel shows NO problem or a yellow
exclamation mark regarding the keyboard. Do you think
this is a registry problem, bios problem or a virus?
thanks a lot for your help...!
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : If you boot from a known-clean DOS boot floppy you can rule out a virus
(doesn't sound like one, anyway). The fact you've tried another keyboard and
gotten the same result leads me to think it's one of two things:
BIOS setting (though I can't think of any that would so this).
Corrupted BIOS/CMOS memory or faulty chipset on the motherboard (keybd
controller).
You can try setting the Clear CMOS jumper and reconfigure the BIOS settings to
see if will solve the issue but it's probably a hardware error and not something
that can be fixed in the normal (or practical) sense.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6560121
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : dos command
Private : No
Question : hi,
i am a biggner in coputers and i'd love to know all the DOS commands that can
hel me in dealing wuth my PC
thanks,,,
Answer : http://www.easydos.com/dosindex.html
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6560131
Asker : andrew_shepherd3
Subject : DOS file retrival
Private : No
Question : I want to run a DOS batch file to retrieve a file from an internet
site from a server (NT 4) and to put it into the same directory each week. I
have written the batch file, but I am unsure how to schedule it using the AT
command.
Regards
Andrew Shepherd
Answer : You will need to ensure the "Scheduler" service is loaded and running
before issuing the 'at' commands.
Jobs are scheduled with the 'at' scheduler and can be viewed by typing 'at'
alone at a DOS prompt. To add an item to run with at follow this example:
at 14:30 "d:\wherever\myprog.bat"
The above command would schedule a one-time run of 'myprog.bat' at the next
occurrence of 2:30PM (at uses miltary time, so it's 14:30). If you ran this
before 2:30PM it would run the same day, otherwise it would be scheduled for
"tomorrow" when viewed with 'at' alone at a prompt.
Example 2:
at 01:00 /every:1,5,10,15,20,25 "d:\wherever\myprog.bat"
This command would run 'myprog.bat' on the 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th
of each month at 1:00 AM.
Example 3:
at 01:00 /every:M,W,F,Su "d:\wherever\myprog.bat"
This command would run 'myprog.bat' every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
at 1:00 AM.
'at' commands issued with the "/every" parameter will be persistent and will
stay in the scheduler database (and therefore be run at the set intervals) until
they are deleted. To delete an even in the at scheduler issue the following
command (after using 'at' alone to determine the ID number):
at ID# /delete
so for a job with ID #45 it would be:
at 45 /delete
And to delete *all* jobs in the at schedule issue:
at /delete
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Could I do the same thing in Win 98 and how would I go about doing
this? Thankyou for your quick response.
Regards
Andrew
Answer : Windows 98 doesn't have the 'at' command - it has the Windows Task
Scheduler, which does the same thing from a GUI. On a default Windows 98 desktop
it's the white icon in the systray in the lower-right corner of the screen. If
it's not installed you may be able to add it from Start/Settings/Control
Panel/Add-Remove Programs/Windows Setup tab.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6592193
Asker : phlatmicrochip
Subject : CPU Utility for DOS
Private : No
Question : Hi,
I'm looking for a dos utilies which will detect what type of my system CPU (e.g.
PIII, Xeon, celeron...). It would be perfect if that utility would return an
errorlevel of a CPU type, so I can use the errorlevel code for my DOS batch
purpose. Or anything that close to this. I appreciate for any information that
you have.
thankx
Answer : Here's a utility that detects the CPU type (try invoking with the "/S"
parameter for scripting purposes):
http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/J.Steunebrink/chkcpu.htm
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6609893
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : writing a batch file
Private : No
Question : hopefully someonecan help,
whats the syntax for a batch file that will....
1. ask a user for a file name
2. ask where to copy it to
3. copy file and confirm it was done
TIA LeV
Answer : You just said more than you know. DOS has no facility natively to allow
freeform user input like you describe. Many have died trying. ;-)
To the rescue is a nice little utility that can get user input and put it into a
variable for your use in copying.
http://www.dosbin.com/batch01.htm#inputrel
After you copy the file you can use the form:
if exist x:\whereever\newlocation\copiedfile goto success
to determine whether the file made it to the destination or not.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6616739
Asker : sammy_lb_2000
Subject : Dos appilcations under XP...
Private : No
Question : Hello paul,
do you know if windows XP will mark the death of
dos applications, or will it continue to support
it as windows ME has?
thanks a lot...
sammy. ;-)
***
Answer : It has similar DOS support to Me and Windows NT. NT and XP are not
based on DOS as the 9X systems are, but still support a DOS-like environment
with cmd.exe providing the command.com-alike environment.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6625844
Asker : jmcmil9272
Subject : Comand
Private : No
Question : Dear pauldoherty,
I would like to load WordPerfect 5.1 on to my computer usind MS DOS. I'm running
Windows 95 and would be loading through my floppy. I need to know the command to
use to load the program.
Thank you,
Jon McMillen
jmcmil9272@hotmail.com
Answer : Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt
Then put in the first floppy and type:
a:
install
(or setup - do a "dir *.exe" to see which WP uses)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6629609
Asker : soodsandeep
Subject : file system
Private : No
Question : mr.expert good morning,
Please answer following questions and oblige
1. What is meant by file system?
2 .Can we copy files from one file system to another one on the same hard disk.
3.what is the name of the file system of following operating systems : DOS,
Windows98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Unix, Linux, OS/2.
Thanks a lot.
Sandeep.
Answer : 1. A filesystem is the organizing method by which an operating system
can construct a logical repository for information storage and retrieval on a
medium. It takes the raw magnetic fields on a hard disk and organizes them so it
can find addressable locations.
2. Yes - data is data. Once the OS extracts data from one filesystem (of any
type) it can then write that data to any filesystem it "speaks" the language of.
3.
DOS - FAT
Windows 98 - FAT/FAT32
Windows NT - FAT/NTFS
Windows 2000 - FAT/FAT32/NTFS
UNIX - Multiple filesystems depending on manufacturer - UFS is common
Linux - Multiple filesystems - ext2, reiserfs are common
OS/2 - HPFS?
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 4
FUQuestion : good morning mr. expert, Thanks for your prompt answers. please
answer following questions and oblige.
1.Why do we need so many file systems?
2.what is difference between partition table and file allocation table.
3.What is difference between primary and secondary partitions.
thanks a lot.
Sandeep.
Answer : 1. Because everyone thinks they know a better way to do it - some focus
on security, others on performance, others on both.
2. IIRC partition tables store information only about the boundaries of the
partitions on the disk (i.e. "C:" drive, versus "D:" drive). File allocation
tables are used *within* a partition to track the location of files within the
partition.
3. The primary partition is the first partition created on the disk, and will be
the one at the "front" of the disk. Speaking in DOS/Windows terms, after the
primary partition is created you can then only create an extended partition
(using up to the full amount of space left on the disk - not mandatory, however
- you can leave empty space unallocated if you intend to install Linux or BeOS,
or similar). Once the extended partition is made you can then create logical
partitions inside it. So let's say for example you have one primary, and one
extended (you can only have one, remember) with two logical partitions inside
it. You will have the following drives available:
C: (primary)
D: (first logical)
E: (second logical)
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6658450
Asker : dblr_56
Subject : Sasha - Me again
Private : Yes
Question : Ok Paul - I worked hard and got that dos thing up and running except
for one thing - I have a choice option where I am asking an operator whether
they want to continue or not - Y/N etc I want the program to end if they
selected Y and I want the program to continue is they select N but can't get it
to work - can you check my
info below please - I am not quite right with errorlevels yet.
@echo off
Rem bd.bat
Rem Program to backup a directory/sub-directories from one drive to another
pause
set source=%1
set target=%2
set directory=%3
echo.
echo Start Program - This Program will backup directories/sub directories from
one drive to another
echo.
echo You can abort this program at any time
echo.
echo Hidden and system files will not be copied.
echo.
echo Only new files and files which have changed since the last backup will be
copied.
echo.
echo If a file does not exist be aware this program will create one
echo.
echo Before starting this program check the size of the directory you wish to
back up
echo.
echo Do you want to check the program size before backing up
choice
if "%1"=="Y?" goto end
if "%1"=="N?" goto start
echo.
:start
if "%1"=="/?" goto Help
if "%1"=="" goto Help
goto Copy
:Help
echo.
echo 1. Enter the directory source
echo 2. Enter the target
echo 3. Enter the directory followed by the directory name or names
echo.
goto end
:Copy
if "%2"=="" goto notarget
if "%3"=="" goto nodirectory
if "%4"=="" goto noext
cls
:Startcopy
if "%4"=="" goto end
set ext=%4
xcopy %source%:\%directory%\*.%ext% %target%:\%directory%\ /C /D
shift
goto startcopy
:notarget
echo.
echo Enter a target
goto end
:nodirectory
echo.
echo Enter a directory
goto end
:noext
xcopy %source%:\%directory%\*.* %target%:\%directory%\ /C /D
echo.
goto end
:end
echo End of Program
Thank you
Sasha
Answer : OK to use choice you need to use the test:
if errorlevel X goto Y
where 'X' is the errorlevel number, and 'Y' is the label of a section of your
program to go to. Always check errorlevels in reverse numerical order (highest
to lowest). Here's an example I cooked up - run it in a BAT file to get the
idea:
@echo off
choice
if errorlevel 2 goto no
goto yes
:no
echo NO
goto end
:yes
echo YES
goto end
:end
If you need more than this let me know...
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6663686
Asker : dblr_56
Subject : Sasha
Private : No
Question : Paul I think I got myself in a mess - it just keeps on going. If the
person selects Y then I need the program to end if they select N then I want the
program to continue - what am I missing here
Thank you
Sasha
Rem bd.bat
Rem Program assignment to backup a directory/sub-directories from one drive to
another
Rem Written by Sasha Linnea 1432613
echo ==================================================================
echo This Program will backup directories/sub directories from one drive to
another
echo.
echo Written by Sasha Linnea
echo =======================================================================
pause
echo.
echo You can abort this program at any time
echo.
echo Hidden and system files will not be copied.
echo.
echo Only new files and files which have changed since the last backup will be
copied.
echo.
echo If a file does not exist be aware this program will create one
echo.
echo Before starting this program check the size of the directory you wish to
back up
echo ===================================================================
echo Do you wish to check the file size before commencing?
choice
if errorlevel %2 goto NO
goto yes
:NO
echo NO
if errorlevel %1 goto YES
:YES
echo YES
goto end
:end
pause
set source=%1
set target=%2
set directory=%3
echo Start Program
pause
:start
if "%1"=="" goto Help
if "%1"=="/?" goto Help
goto Copy
:Help
echo.
echo 1. Enter the directory source
echo 2. Enter the target
echo 3. Enter the directory followed by the directory name or names
echo.
goto end
:Copy
if "%2"=="" goto notarget
if "%3"=="" goto nodirectory
if "%4"=="" goto noext
cls
:Startcopy
if "%4"=="" goto end
set ext=%4
xcopy %source%:\%directory%\*.%ext% %target%:\%directory%\ /C /D
shift
goto startcopy
:notarget
echo.
echo Enter a target
goto end
:nodirectory
echo.
echo Enter a directory
goto end
:errornotdir
echo This directory does not exist
goto end
:noext
xcopy %source%:\%directory%\*.* %target%:\%directory%\ /C /D
echo.
goto end
:end
echo Back up complete
sorry
Thank you
Sasha
Answer : Your problem is that you have more than one ":end" label in your
program. Try taking our the end label right after the YES check and putting this
line:
if errorlevel 1 goto YES
like this instead:
if errorlevel 1 goto end
(no percent sign is needed to test errorlevels)
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6692220
Asker : mjsoft
Subject : merging files
Private : No
Question : hi,
Is there a command in DOS to merge 2 files into 1?
any help?
thanks...
Answer : As long as they're text files you can do it like this:
copy /a test1.txt + test2.txt test3.txt
The text from text1.txt and text2.txt will both be in the final file, text3.txt
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
FUQuestion : Actually, they are not exactly text files.They are my mailbox files
from netscape, namely inbox. I am not sure if they appear as text files.
The problem occured, when I lost my mails..instead I have multiple
copies..inbox,inbox1. I want to merge both these files in an effort to retrieve
my mails.
thanks 4 ur help.If u have an idea, please let me know.
Answer : They can't be combined in the way I described above.
You can open the email program, using one set of the files, and the use
File/Import to bring the other version of the same folder (say, inbox1) in as a
subfolder. then you can move the emails out of to wherever you want them and
delete that folder.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6756705
Asker : madhaar
Subject : DOS Commands
Private : No
Question : Hi experts,
When the FORMAT command is issued, it asks for confirmation as (Y/N). Is there a
way/hidden switch to skip the confirmation? If not is there any other way of
achieving this?
Please help.
Thanks in advance.
Answer : Use:
format a: /u /autotest >nul
to have the format command proceed without asking you first.
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6778938
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : Operating systems
Private : No
Question : Could you please tell me the differences between Linus and
Windows/Dos?
And what are there strength and weaknesses?
Thanx so much
Answer : Linux has a great commandline environment, with full services available
without a GUI. You have multitasking, networking and multiuser support. With DOS
you have single-tasking and single-user, and networking takes some work to get
at a DOS prompt (not in Windows).
Strengths of Windows - large installed base, and many applications.
Strengths of Linux - diverse system with lots of supporters and fans; strong
networking ability and commandline.
Weaknesses of Windows - stability (try Windows 2000 or XP to solve this) and
less features at the commandline.
Weaknesses of Linux - lack of quality applications and much smaller base of apps
to choose from; inconsistent interfaces for apps can lead to confusion (have to
learn each new app's way of doing things).
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QAId : 6808059
Asker : bekimsp
Subject : DOS
Private : No
Question : Hi,
I want to format my computer and in reference to this I have some questions:
I want to save all my material that is inside (i.e. documents, programs, mp3.
miscellaneous files...).
In what way can I format my computer and save the above things?
I was told that this can be done by dividing the hard drive into two, three or
more parts.
If this method really works, please let me know in details what to do.
Teach me step by step how to save my material and format my disk, the reason I
have no knowledge working in DOS.
For instance I want to divide it into two parts.
My best regards
Answer : You will want a copy of a program like Partition Magic, which will
allow you to shrink your existing whole-drive partition to make room for a
second partition (can create the second one from the space you free also - make
sure you have enough space on D: - shoot for about 2GB). Once you've created and
formatted the second partition (it will become drive D:) then you can simply
boot back into Windows, and copy all the data to keep to D: with your normal
Windows tools (Explorer). Then you will want to reinstall Windows following the
below instructions:
Create a boot floppy from - Start/Settings/Add-Remove Programs/Startup Disk
Copy the contents of the WIN98 subdirectory on your Windows install CD (assuming
Windows 98 here, if 95 copy WIN95 dir) to a directory on D: - make a directory
on D: called 98KIT for example and copy everything there.
Once you're sure you have everything backed up to D: reboot the machine on the
floppy disk and do the following:
format c: /u /s
Once the format is done then reboot without the floppy (so it will boot from the
hard disk) - it will be an uneventful boot since there's nothing but DOS on the
drive at this point. Then simply so this to start the Windows install:
D:
cd 98kit
echo y | lock c: /off
echo y | lock d: /off
(the "|" is the pipe character and is the shifted form the the backslash "\"
key)
setup
And Windows setup will begin...
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
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QAId : 6810757
Asker : Anonymous
Subject : dos commands
Private : No
Question : where can i find a good website on dos stuff. Like one that has
commands and how to use them and tips and stuff.
Answer : http://www.csulb.edu/~murdock/dosindex.html
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
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QAId : 6811049
Asker : soodsandeep
Subject : .Com vs. .Exe
Private : No
Question : hello mr.expert,
please tell me what is difference between .Exe files and .com files? in which
language other than assembly language we can create .com programs ?
thanks a lot.
Sandeep.
Answer : Taken from an internet newsgroup conversation:
"First of all, COM files are limited to 64 kb of conventional memory (memory
below 1 MB). EXE files, on the other hand, can take as much memory from the
system as there is available. COM files execute slightly faster, because of the
way the code is transferred right into memory. COM files are also much smaller
than EXE files.
An EXE file can 'fake' the appearance of a COM file simply by changing its
extenstion (a COM file can do the same thing, and look like an EXE file).
Therefore, the extension of a file really doesn't tell you much. The only way to
tell whether an executable file is an EXE file, is to use some kind of file
listing utility and look for the characters 'MZ' in the first two bytes of a
file. A file with 'MZ' at its beginning will always be an EXE program.
Also (trivial stuff...) EXE stands for executable. COM apparently stands for
core image, although for a while I thought it stood for 'command'. Go figure."
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QAId : 6820312
Asker : madhaar
Subject : connecting to a network resource in DOS mode
Private : Yes
Question : Hi Mr. Pauldoherty,
I've a workgroup of 10 systems running Win98Se. There is no problem with the
network While in Windows mode. The n/w adapter is "RTL8139 PCI Fast Ethernet
NIC".
I want to be able to connect to a node's hard drive in DOS mode (when I start
the node in MS-DOS mode using F8), so that I can copy some essential files
whenever needed.
-----------------------------------
I tried using the "NET START BASIC" in autoexec.bat, but it displayed a msg
"Error loading device driver PROTMAN.DOS.
Error 7361: IPX or NetBIOS must be running in order to load the network
services. Your computer may be configured to use a mono
lithic driver, such as IPX or XNS, and the driver is not loaded. To load the
driver, follow the instructions in the documentati
on that comes with your secondary network.
--------------------------------------
Please help. Describe the steps for connecting to a network resource in DOS
mode.
Waiting for your reply. Thanks in advance.
Mohammed
Answer : You will need to use a bootdisk, or copy the same startup from one of
these example disks and create it on your hard disk:
http://www.bovistech.com/disks.htm
Click "boot disks" at the top.
Also see http://www.bootdisk.com
Rating : 5
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QAId : 6840444
Asker : adampengelly
Subject : Directory sweep
Private : No
Question : Hi there,
I need to scan a drive that is very big (84.9GB) and write the names of all the
directories only into a text file.
But I don't want any file names, just those of all the directories in the drive.
Thanx
Adam
Answer : Open a DOS prompt and type:
dir \ /ad /b /s /-p > c:\dirs.txt
The results will be in the file C:\DIRS.TXT
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5
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QAId : 6865063
Asker : ectjn
Subject : find and replace text in dos
Private : No
Question : I got a number of srcipt files (.BAT) that have the same command line
at top (NET USE...). Does anyone know a way to quickly find these command lines
in all the script file and replace them with a different command lines?
For example:
All my script start with,
NET USE X: \\SERVER\SHARE
and I want the the scripts be replaced with,
NET USE X: \\SERVER\SHARE2
without having to do them one by one (I just want to do them all at the same
time).
Answer : Try my utility Switch.exe - it will allow you to make those changes
quickly and easily from cmdline or in a BAT file.
http://ped.deadartists.com/switch.zip
--
Paul Doherty
http://members.home.net/iqueue
DOS/Windows Utilities
Rating : 5PowerUsers.info - Paul Doherty Askme Archive of Questions and Answers