Important Notice

The pages on this site contain documentation for very old MS-DOS software, purely for historical purposes. If you're looking for up-to-date documentation, particularly for programming, you should not rely on the information found here, as it will be woefully out of date.

◄Example►  ◄Syntax►
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                              DOSSHELL──Notes
 
Running MS-DOS Shell with Microsoft Windows
 
Do not start Microsoft Windows from within MS-DOS Shell. If you want to use
both Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS Shell, start Windows, and then start
MS-DOS Shell from within Windows.
 
Memory requirement
 
To run MS-DOS Shell, you should ensure that your computer has at least 384K
of available conventional memory.
 
Adjusting screen resolution
 
Once you have started MS-DOS Shell, you can adjust the screen resolution by
using the Display command on the Options menu. A dialog box displays the
mode (text or graphics), the number of lines, the resolution category, and
the specific number within each category for all possible screen-resolution
modes available for your hardware.
 
The DOSSHELL.INI file
 
Your current MS-DOS Shell settings for program items and groups, options,
screen resolution, colors, and so on, are stored in a file called
DOSSHELL.INI. The DOSSHELL.INI file will be updated whenever you make a
change or start a program item, so it must be located on a drive that is not
write-protected. You can specify the location of the DOSSHELL.INI file by
setting a DOSSHELL environment variable in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
 
For example, if the DOSSHELL.INI file is located in the DOS directory on
drive C, type the following command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
 
    dosshell=c:\dos
 
If you customize MS-DOS Shell to suit your own needs, you should back up
this file regularly. If the DOSSHELL.INI file is deleted or corrupted, a new
file will be created the next time you start MS-DOS Shell.
 
Setting the location to store temporary files
 
When you run a program from MS-DOS Shell, temporary files are created in the
directory where the DOSSHELL.EXE file is located. You can specify that
temporary files should be placed elsewhere by setting the TEMP environment
variable in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
 
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