edit autoexec.bat?

leileilol wrote:

edit autoexec.bat?

That's on Windows start up.

It should be executed for both. Really I'd put in a CONFIG.SYS menu if it's going to interfere with Windows though. Try reverse-engineering the Win98 startup disk's CONFIG.SYS in notepad/edit or Google "Config.sys menu" to figure it out. If you need any specific help I have a decent understanding of how those menus work.

If you're going from Win98 to DOS, you should edit DOSSTART.BAT - it's located in the Windows directory.

That file, I wondered what it was called... Just wanted to say thanks as I've been trying to find that on a Win95 machine because I have TSRs loading for stuff I don't even have installed anymore when I shut down to DOS and it's been annoying me. I couldn't remember the name of the file.

That should work if you're using the "Restart computer in MS-DOS Mode" option.

j^aws wrote:

If you're going from Win98 to DOS, you should edit DOSSTART.BAT - it's located in the Windows directory.

This fixed it.

Apart from dosstart.bat, there's winstart.bat. It is executed on windows startup (after drivers are loaded, but before desktop appears).

Another alternative is to set up a boot menu that enables you to boot up straight into (real) DOS.
To achieve ths, you need to edit your Autoexec.bat & Config.sys files to create a boot menu, as well as the Msdos.sys file (hidden in your root directory) in order to bypass the GUI.
I have a guide somewhere that takes you through the whole process in detail.

Dosstart.bat is similar to your Autoexec.bat file. Therefore, practically anything you see in your Autoexec.bat file, you can also put in your Dosstart.bat file.
Just take note that certain DOS based drivers are loaded via your Config.sys file and you therefore need to ensure that you load these drivers when Windows boots up (for example, your CD/DVD-ROM device driver that usually comes with your CD/DVD-ROM drive).
Unless, of course, you have a boot menu. You can then exclude certain drivers to be loaded when you boot up into Windows.

Personally, I prefer to boot up straight into DOS if I want to run DOS based software and/or games.
It rather pointless for me to boot up straight into Windows, only to shut down and then reboot into DOS (just takes up more time) and this method doesn't always free up the much needed conventional memory that some games require.