Try using small and unique one word descriptions.
Refer this post for some guidance: How to create a boot (start up) menu under Windows 9x/ME

I'm the exact opposite of a config.sys wizard and just started messing with them last spring with help from here, but I was taught to format it like this:

[MENU]
MENUITEM=WINDOWS, Microsoft Windows 98SE
MENUITEM=DOS1, MS-DOS 7.10
MENUDEFAULT=WINDOWS, 10

So is it possible it's taking the first word as the name of the config and the rest of the line is the menu name? I've got no idea are those commas necessary to separate the two.

Sombrero wrote on 2022-10-20, 05:48:

So is it possible it's taking the first word as the name of the config and the rest of the line is the menu name? I've got no idea are those commas necessary to separate the two.

Not really, no. But, you can imagine how confusing it will be to make sense of what is the menu item and what is the menu name without the comma? Just gives you a bit more structure.

So far, I always used dos menus this way:

1[menu]
2menuitem=label1,description bla bla bla
3menuitem=label2,another description huh
4menudefault=label1,10
5
6[label1]
7some device drivers etc..
8
9[label2]
10another device drivers...

Works like a charm 😀 With commas separating label from description it looks more structural 😉

Thank you for the replies. This is what I have going on (just going to show the first menuitem after the [menu]:

[MENU]
rem MENUITEM=WTF EXPANDED MEMORY NO NETWORK FULL AWE32
MENUITEM=DOS, EXPANDED MEMORY+NO NETWORK+FULL AWE32
MENUITEM=DOS: NO-EMS NO NETWORK & FULL AWE32
MENUITEM=DOS: EXPANDED MEMORY, NO NETWORK & NO EXTRA AWE32 DRIVERS
MENUITEM=DOS: NO EMS, NO NETWORK, NO EXTRA AWE32 DRIVERS
MENUITEM=DOS: EXPANDED MEMORY, WITH NETWORK AND FULL AWE32
MENUITEM=DOS: NO EMS, WITH NETWORK AND FULL AWE32
MENUITEM=WINDOWS FOR WORKGROUPS 3.11: FULL NETWORK FULL AWE32
MENUITEM=unedited original

[DOS, EXPANDED MEMORY+NO NETWORK+FULL AWE32]

Then I get this:

1. EXPANDED MEMORY+NO NETWORK+FULL AWE32

Even the bottom menuitem, "unedited original," shows up as 8. original. I have tried:

[DOS,EXPANDED MEMORY+NO NETWORK+FULL AWE32]
[DOS: EXPANDED MEMORY+NO NETWORK+FULL AWE32]
[DOS+EXPANDED MEMORY+NO NETWORK+FULL AWE32]

...and other variations. No matter what, if I have more than one word, the first one isn't presented; only every word and symbol after the first word. I mean, I suppose I could do this:

[WTFISTHISCRAP DOS, EXPANDED MEMORY+NO NETWORK+FULL AWE32] so that it shows up with the first word I want shown...

This is weird as hell!!! I see all sorts of screenshots of long menu lines being shown. I remember having multi-word menuitems very similar to what I am trying to do, and on DOS 7.1 (which I have been using exclusive for DOS systems since 2003 or 2004.) What could be causing this? I have posted about a curse in that every time I solve an issue with this build, another one crops up... Could it be some weird old DOS virus?

Your menu structure and descriptions of your menuitems are too bloated.

To simplify, give a short description for each menuitem (like DOS1), make sure it is unique and, only contains one string (without any spaces). It must then be followed by a comma and then you can type out whatever lenghtly description you like for each item

Look at @zyga64's example.

jesolo wrote on 2022-10-20, 19:08:

Your menu structure and descriptions of your menuitems are too bloated.

To simplify, give a short description for each menuitem (like DOS1), make sure it is unique and, only contains one string (without any spaces). It must then be followed by a comma and then you can type out whatever lenghtly description you like for each item

Look at @zyga64's example.

Thank you. Right before I read your post, I went to http://info.wsisiz.edu.pl/~bse26236/batutil/help/MENUITS.HTM. I changed my menu to look like this:

[MENU]
MENUITEM=DOS1, MS-DOS+EXPANDED_MEMORY+NO NETWORK+FULL_AWE32

[DOS1]

And it works. It has simply been a long time since I worked on stuff like this and like you said, my lines were bloated. I feel a little silly, but I am forgetful these days. Thank you all for your help. Once I have this menu completed, the only things left to do are to reduce the amount of memory my NIC is using or choose a different NIC, buy a 90's switch to connect the 486 and my Pentium III to my network, and find a 90's printer with Win3.x drivers which I can still get ink for, and this project will be complete!