Subj : Re: REPOST: Re: 4BATFAQ Update To : Ray From : Joseph A o'Loughlin Date : Thu Jan 31 2002 04:37 pm From: "Joseph A o'Loughlin" "Ray" wrote in message news:9$--$%%%_$%$_$$__$@news.noc.cabal.int... > In a previous message, Outsider wrote: > > > ...Replace command.com with 4DOS and it is no longer MSDOS, but 4DOS. > > Not only that, nothing will bootup unless you specify in the CONFIG.SYS file that > the command interpretor is now called 4DOS.COM > > To complete the argument you made in your previous message, COMMAND.COM will be > automatically called/loaded (without the use of either a CONFIG.SYS or an > AUTOEXEC.BAT file). > This is largely a symantec argument. From FoxPro, Lotus 123, WordPerfect etc you could "shell out to DOS". In this case DOS is referring to (typically) Command.com, i.e. Command.com is the Shell. However turning things on their head some utility and BIOS update diskettes use install= in config.sys to invoke themselves omitting a command processor altogether. Despite that the operating system below is still DOS. OS/2, NT, W2k, WXP are not DOS despite being able to run command.com. Over Christmas my first PC, a Commodore PC 10 III, an old 8088 machine died. I spent a lot of time tweaking this machine, and have never been as organised as when I had only the one PC. From Config, using menus, install= was used to invoke inittab from the MKS toolkit. I could load different sets of TSR's depending on the requirements. Despite not really being a 'command processor', install= was used to invoke FoxPro 2. It's windowed interface, text editor, calendar etc were useful bonuses to the flexible database. It could even display stdout text behind the windows when I returned from shelling out to DOS, bash, 4DOS, an ASCII host, etc The reason for not invoking command.com as a TSR was to maximise available memory. I could exit FoxPro to invoke a bloated wordprocessor or mainframe block mode terminal emulator without returning to a command prompt. One the first commands I type on an new machine is echo @path=%1;%path% > addpath.bat If the addpath command then works it's DOS to me, be it PC-DOS, Caldera, CMD.EXE etc So I've just contradicted myself! Which postings are appropriate for each newsgroup is up to the participitants, however go easy on the zealots as the industry would not be where it is without them. Joseph o'Loughlin --- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-2 * Origin: Mach2 Systems (1:342/3) .