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Working with MS-DOS

Working with MS-DOS Applications

Although Windows 98 is designed to shield the user from the often-confusing world of the command line, AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, and memory-management practices, it offers surprisingly rich support for those users who still desire or need to work in the MS-DOS environment. Windows 98 offers extensive control over MS-DOS application environments, allowing you to fine-tune your MS-DOS sessions to optimize performance.

Many MS-DOS applications will run under Windows 98 without any modifications. In some cases, you will need to modify the setup for the application for it to run in Windows. For applications that won't run at all under Windows 98, a special mode helps you run them quickly and easily from within Windows, and then automatically returns you to your Windows session when you're finished.

Installing and Uninstalling MS-DOS Applications

Installing MS-DOS applications is a straightforward procedure. Simply locate and run the installation program for the application. The installation program will create a folder for the application and copy the files to it. In addition, it will perform the additional operating system configuration chores that may be necessary for successful operation. You may have to handle some of the steps yourself. Look for the documentation which details the manual program installation process in the program folder. Often this is a simple text file, labeled README.TXT or INSTALL.TXT.

You can also run the installation program for an MS-DOS application from the MS-DOS prompt. Running the installation program from an MS-DOS prompt is just like doing it on a machine that's running only MS-DOS. Follow these steps to begin:

1. Open a new MS-DOS session from the Start menu.
2. At the MS-DOS prompt, enter the command to start the installation program (for example, a:\install.exe) and press Enter.
3. When the installation program is finished, close the MS-DOS session manually or run the application if you want.

Some MS-DOS applications don't have installation programs at all. This is most common with shareware applications or small utility programs.

To install your application manually, follow these simple steps:

1. Open a new MS-DOS session from the Start menu.
2. At the MS-DOS prompt, enter the command to create a folder for your program (for example, md c:\myprog) and press Enter.
3. Enter the command to copy the program to the new folder, such as xcopy a:\*.* c:\myprog. MS-DOS copies the files to the new folder.

Note
If the files that you want to copy to the new folder include any sub-folders, you must use the following command or the sub-folders will not be copied:
xcopy a:\*.* c:\myprog /s

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You may need to alter the preceding routine slightly if your application comes as a compressed archive (such as a ZIP or an ARJ file). Usually all this means is an additional step for decompression once the files are copied.

Configuring Your MS-DOS Application

Your MS-DOS applications are very likely to run fine without any reconfiguration. Preset configurations for the most popular MS-DOS applications are stored in Windows and in many cases these configurations will work perfectly. However, in those cases where your application doesn't run properly (or at all), you can modify many settings using the Properties sheet to control how your MS-DOS application runs. To display the Properties sheet click the Properties button in the toolbar of the MS-DOS window.

General Properties

The General properties page is primarily informational, with minimal controls other than file attributes.

The only real controls exposed in the General properties page are the file attribute settings. These are used mainly to protect documents (by setting the read-only attribute), and you shouldn't alter them unless you have a specific reason.

Program Properties

The Program properties page gives you control over the basic environment your application starts with.

Choosing the Advanced button in the Program properties page opens the Advanced Program Settings dialog box.

If you need to run your application in MS-DOS mode, here's where you can enable it. You can even set up custom CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT values for your session. If you click the Specify A New MS-DOS Configuration option, you can edit the special CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT values right in this dialog box.

If you click the Configuration button, you see a dialog box displaying controls for expanded memory, disk caching, disk access, and command-line editing.

All the settings under the Advanced dialog box should be altered only if your MS-DOS application simply won't run in a standard session with the default settings. For that matter, don't even enable MS-DOS mode unless your application demands it.

Font Properties

The Font properties page is primarily informational, with minimal controls other than file attributes. It works just like the Font list control on the MS-DOS session toolbar.

Memory Properties

The Memory properties page makes simple work of the traditional maze of MS-DOS memory management. With a few mouse clicks, you can configure your application memory precisely as needed.

If your application works without altering these values, do not change them. If your application doesn't work with the default settings, consult the documentation for your application to determine what the appropriate settings are. Then you can alter the values in this dialog box. Proceeding in any other way, unless you have considerable experience with the techniques involved, can severely inhibit the performance of your system.

Screen Properties

The Screen properties page lets you control the appearance of the MS-DOS session.

You may find that certain MS-DOS programs (especially those running in Graphics mode) respond poorly to the video emulation used in windowed mode. If so, try defeating the performance defaults by clearing the Fast ROM Emulation and Dynamic Memory Allocation options. Fast ROM Emulation tells the Windows 98 display driver to mimic the video hardware to help display MS-DOS programs faster. Dynamic Memory Allocation releases display memory to other programs when the MS-DOS session isn't using it. If you experience strange display problems with your MS-DOS programs, try changing these settings. You can also solve poor graphics performance by executing the poorly behaving MS-DOS application in full screen mode.

Note
When a MS-DOS application is executing, you can rapidly toggle it between full screen and window operation by typing Alt+Enter.

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Miscellaneous Properties

The Misc properties page covers the remaining configuration items that don't fit under the other categories.

• The Allow Screen Saver control lets your default Windows screen saver to operate even if your MS-DOS session has the foreground.
• Always Suspend freezes your MS-DOS application when you bring another application (either MS-DOS or Windows) to the foreground. If you have an application that must perform time-sensitive operations (such as a communications program), make sure to disable this option.
• Idle Sensitivity tells your MS-DOS program to yield the system to other applications if it really isn't doing anything important. A word processor, for example, won't have a problem letting go of the system clock when you're not using it. A communications program, however, may need to respond quickly, so you want to set its idle sensitivity to Low.
• The Mouse controls enable QuickEdit mode (letting you mark text using just the mouse) and Exclusive Mode (the MS-DOS application has control of the mouse cursor when the application is in the foreground, even if you try to move the mouse out of the MS-DOS window).
• The Warn If Still Active item in the Termination box tells Windows to notify you before the MS-DOS session is closed. It's really best to leave this enabled, unless you are absolutely certain that the MS-DOS program will never, ever have open data files when you close it.
• The Fast Pasting setting simply tells Windows that your MS-DOS program can handle a raw data stream dump from the Windows Clipboard. Some MS-DOS programs clog at full speed, so if you paste to your MS-DOS application and you consistently lose characters, turn this one off.
• Windows Shortcut Keys allows you to override the standard quick navigation aids built into the Windows environment, just for your MS-DOS session (some MS-DOS programs think they can get away with using the same keys, and something has to give — Windows!). By default, Windows "owns" these shortcuts, but you can lend them to your MS-DOS application by clearing them here.
  
  

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Using MS-DOS Mode

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Although you will be able to run most DOS applications without any difficulties from within Windows, you may run into problems with some poorly designed MS-DOS applications — that demand total control over system resources and access hardware directly.

Windows 98 accommodates a poorly behaved application to the best of its ability, via MS-DOS mode. This mode is the equivalent to the Real mode present in older versions of Windows, with some improvements. MS-DOS mode works by giving the errant MS-DOS application the entire system for the duration of the session. Windows removes itself from memory, leaving only a small "stub" loader in preparation for its return to control of your system.

Before you decide to enable MS-DOS mode for an application, try these other options:

• Confirm that you've optimized the MS-DOS session settings for that application. Check the program's documentation for special memory requirements or other unusual needs. You may be able to adjust Windows' MS-DOS support to make the application work in a standard MS-DOS session.
• Try running the application in full-screen mode, using the Alt+Enter key sequence.

If either of the preceding methods works, you will have a faster, more convenient alternative, allowing you the full benefit of Windows' multitasking and other features, all of which disappear during the MS-DOS mode session.

Whenever possible, Windows 98 determines that an application needs to run in MS-DOS mode and closes down all other applications and switches to this mode automatically. Unless you specify otherwise, you'll be warned when Windows is about to switch to MS-DOS mode.

In some cases, you may have to manually configure an application to run in MS-DOS mode. If you try to run such an application, you get an error message telling you that you can't run the application in Windows. If this happens, you should manually configure the application to run in MS-DOS mode, using the following steps:

1. If you haven't created a shortcut for the application, create one now. You can only modify the settings of a DOS application using a shortcut.
2. Right-click the shortcut for the application and choose Properties.
3. Select the Program tab and choose Advanced to display the Advanced Program Settings dialog box.
4. Select the Prevent MS-DOS-based Programs from Detecting Windows option.
5. Choose OK.

Click the shortcut icon to try running the application. If the application still doesn't run, follow these steps:

1. Open the Advanced Program Settings dialog box again, as in steps 2-3 above.
2. Select the MS-DOS Mode option.
3. Choose OK.

Try running the application again. If it still doesn't run, you have to modify the configuration for the MS-DOS mode, using the following steps:

• Open the Advanced Program Settings dialog box.
• Select the Specify a New MS-DOS Configuration option. A dialog box appears.
  Selecting this option allows you to override the default settings for the MS-DOS-mode session.
• Modify the lines in the CONFIG.SYS for MS-DOS Mode and AUTOEXEC.BAT for MS-DOS Mode windows as needed to allow this application to run.
  The changes you make here only affect this application. In this way, you can individually customize each application that must run in MS-DOS mode.
• If necessary, choose the Configuration button and select from the options in the Select MS-DOS Configuration Options dialog box and choose OK.
  Be aware that when you choose from among the options in this dialog box, you remove the entries that already appear in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT text boxes.

Caution
Use the Direct Disk Access option with great care. It is possible for an MS-DOS application to destroy long file name support when you select this option.


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• Choose OK twice to close the dialog boxes.