Category: MS DOS » Tips »

No boot device found or available

29 October 2007 by Snakefoot | 2 Comments » | Trackback Off
Computer cannot start if no proper boot device exists, or if the active boot device fails.

Mapping folder as a virtual drive letter using subst

26 September 2007 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
Mount a file folder as a drive-letter, like a shortcut to make it easier to access the folder.

Environment variables

22 February 2003 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
Description of environment variables and how to configure them.

Pro and cons for using multiple disk partitions

6 July 2002 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
Describes the benefits and the costs of using multiple partitions.

Create your own file finder utility

1 March 2002 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to use the FOR keyword in a batch file to search all available partitions for a file mask.

Using FOR to perform an operation on a file collection

1 March 2002 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to use the FOR keyword to perform an operation on a collection of files that matches a wildcard.

Using Choice to get user interaction

1 March 2002 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to use the Choice program to present a set of options the user can choose from.

Using Errorlevel to handle program return code

1 March 2002 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to check the ERRORLEVEL variable to get the return code of a program.

Using batch file input parameters

1 January 2001 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How batch files gets input parameters and how to access these parameters in the batch file.

Create your own sleep / wait program

1 January 2001 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to create your own sleep / wait command, which be used in other batch files.

Use multiple DOS startup configurations

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to configure the config.sys and autoexec.bat to use multiple startup configurations.

Easy compressing and extracting using batch files

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to wrap a batch file around the pkzip and pkunzip command line utiltities.

Enhanced DIR that only lists executables

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | 2 Comments » | Trackback Off
How to create a batch file that works like a dir command but only lists executables.

Scandisk command line switches

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
List of the available command line switches for scandisk.

MEM with enhanced listing of conventional memory

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
Description of the special switch for MEM to diagnose conventional memory usage, and how to put it in a batch file.

Executing program without specifying path

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
Description of the PATH environment variable, and how to configure it.

Changing the list style of the dir command

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to change the listing of files and folders when using the dir command with an environment variable.

Changing the temporary directory

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
Description of the temporary directory, and how to change the location using environment variables.

Change the style of the DOS prompt (C:\)

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
Description of the options available for styling the DOS prompt.

Detect if a batch file is executed within Windows

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to use environment variables to detect that a batch file is executed within Windows.

Writing a batch file

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to write a batch file with description of different commands available.

Turn off Himem.sys memory testing

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to configure Himem.sys so it will not perform memory testing.

Create FAT32 partitions with size below 512 MByte

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to get fdisk to create small FAT32 partitions with special parameter.

Check if a file or folder exists

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to check if a file or folder exists

Using TYPE to create and edit text files

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to use the TYPE command to perform file manipulation on text files.

Using the command prompt as text editor

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to use the copy command to copy from the keyboard and into a text file.

Enlarge the output console screen

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to change the number of visible lines in a command prompt.

Using FDISK to remove a boot-sector virus

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to rewrite the master boot record with fdisk to disable a boot-sector virus.

Using ECHO for outputting

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
Description of the ECHO command and the possible ways to make output.

Make disk copy with only one floppy drive

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to use the diskcopy command to copy floppy disks using only one floppy drive.

Bypass or step through Config.sys and Autoexec.bat

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to bypass or single step through the startup files Config.sys and Autoexec.bat using the keyboard keys F5 and F8.

Configure the memory allocated for environment variables

1 January 2000 by Snakefoot | No Comments » | Trackback Off
How to increase the memory available for environment variables at the expense of conventional memory.