Config.sys & Autoexec.bat

[aug4570]

Hey all,

Advice please, about my msconfig settings on my laptop. In both Config.Sys and Autoexec.bat there are long lists of check boxes on each tab. I understand these are commands that automatically run upon starting up Windows; however, next to several of these checked boxes (approx 10-12 of them) there is nothing at all. They are all blank lines, at least, nothing visible that I can see. Can I uncheck these with no problem or could there be hidden code? I suspect since the box is checked, Windows is looking for whatever may, or may not be there, and that adds to my boot up time. If it won't cause a problem, I'd like to uncheck all these empty line boxes. Why were they checked in the first place?
Also, on the General tab, when I click the advance button, disable fast shutdown is checked for the advanced troubleshooting settings. Is that correct or necessary?
All advice are welcome. Thanks.

 

[lgebhart]

Disable fast shutdown being checked is fine.

I would open your Autoexec.bat in Notepad and see if there is anything that can be deleted, the same with config.sys

The only thing those two files are used for is if you have DOS programs you want to run in Dos Mode. If you never do anything like play games in dos, you could in theory completely delete everything in both.

I hope this works! ggebhart@clover.net
I hope I never get too old or arrogant to learn something new!

 

[HugoGuessit]

find out the easy way. Create a win98 boot disk. copy the config.sys & autoexec.bat files to that disk before you start playing, then go through and unmark all empty lines. If you find that you have screwed up the system by making those changes, boot to your windows98 boot disk and copy the files back to C:\windows directory and move on with life. hg :-Þ

 

[dxd]

The blank lines are caused by blank lines in your autoexec.bat file. I have seen this happen as well and don't whether it is by design or sneekie-ness. But, some programs that need to modify the autoexec.bat will do so at the end of the file and I am guessing inlcude a number of carriage returns to move the modification below the visible area, so that when you open the file in an editor it is not openly visible. Make sure you scroll all the way down to the end of the file.

Bascially, all you need to do is edit the file and delete all the blank lines prior to the command(s) at the end.

If you are running Windows 98SE or have installed some of the MS hotfixes (QFE) to fix the shutdown hangs, then the Disable FastShutdown will be checked by default or checked and grayed out.
Doug
dxd_2000@yahoo.com

 

[reghakr]

I wouldn't recommend editting within msconfig.

It's much easier opening Windows Explorer, going to the root of the c: drive. Then right-click on autoexec.bat ,choose rename. Name it autoexec.old. Right-click on config.sys and rename it to config.old

Then right-click in the same pane, choose New>Text Document, name it autoexec.bat. Ignore the warning. Do the same for config.sys.

The only line that may be nccessary in the autoexec.bat is for your virus scanner. Post back with the original contents of the autoexec.bat and we can advise what to add to the file.

If you run DOS programs, you can add lines in c:\windows\dosstart.bat but it's better adding DOS commands into the Exit To Dos file in the Windows directory. There are options here for autoexec.bat and config.sys. Go to c:\windows, right-click on Exit To Dos.pif, choose Properties, click the Program tab,click the Advanced button, check MS-DOS mode and specify a new MS-DOS configuration.

The only stipulation is you have to choose Start>Shutdown>Restart in MS-DOS mode to get to the DOS programs. But at least all those unneccessary drivers are not loading every time Windows starts.

reghakr

 

[aug4570]

Thanks all.
Went into sysedit and this is in autoexec.bat:
@ECHO OFF
@REM Setup for QR, BW & HIBERNATE
@PATH C:\CPQS\SAVEREST;C:\CPQS\TOOLS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\WINDOWS;%PATH%
@IF EXIST C:\APPL.ZIP\*.* IF EXIST C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE
@IF EXIST C:\CPQS\SAVEREST\QRSETUP.* CALL C:\CPQS\SAVEREST\QRSETUP /MFG C: D: E: F:
CALL c:\hibernat\hibchk.bat
CALL C:\CPQS\TOOLS\WINPATH.BAT
@ECHO OFF
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C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\NETWOR~1\VIRUSS~1\40~1.XX\scan.exe cIF ERRORLEVEL 1 PAUSE
And this is in Config.Sys:
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DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CPQIDECD.SYS /D:IDECD001
I've placed some "]" brackets in the blank areas above to show that when I highlighted the lines to copy and paste on here, the highlighted lines end at approximately where the brackets are placed. Very strange, just as if there is invisible or hidden text in there, not just carriage returns (which are usually situated at the very left margin). It's all blank where there isn't any text but the highlighted lines in the blank areas are uneven (like a bar chart that you read from left to right instead of bottom to top) in Autoexec.bat.
The 2 blank lines before the command in Config.sys are the same length.
Could I just delete these blank lines in the System Configuration Editor?

 

[dxd]

You can delete all the blank lines you want to.

They are blank lines with no code regardless of the size...there is just a different number of spaces/tabs in each line. Delete them all.

It appears to be a Compaq laptop you are running...which model?

Another thing to note in your Config.sys,,,,you are installing the 16bit/Dos CDROM driver....you may want to comment out(put a semicolon at the beginning of the line) this driver and let Windows use it's 32bit CDROM driver.

To see if this driver in the config.sys is actually being used and/or causing problems...you should boot into Windows, right-click on My Computer, go to Properties, and then click on the Performance Tab. Windows will tell you what is or is not running 32bit and possible provide additional info.
Doug
dxd_2000@yahoo.com