Why doesn't Microsoft make the Win98SE Upgrade CD bootable, and why isn't there a program to do this similar to nLite for slipstreaming and making bootable Win2k, WinXP and Vista CDs? I plan to replace my floppy drive soon with an internal card reader, and I found a solution to make bootable Win98SE CD and incorporate the Win98SE Startup disk into the boot CD. Using Nero "Make Boot CD" I first selected files to add from the Win98SE Startup floppy, then selected to add files on Win98SE Upgrade CD and finally selected "Read files on drive A:" option for boot files source to burn CD. The resulting CD does the normal auto run to do Win98SE install when inserted into CDROM, and it boots to the CD same as Win98SE Startup floppy only much faster than from floppy. However, it does boot as drive A:, and it's necessary to type "X:" and press "Enter" in order to access "Setup" or other files on the CD where "X:" is drive letter of drive containing CD. Another advantage besides bootable and faster than floppy is FDisk or other programs which may not be on Win98SE floppy may be added to the compilation before burning. In addition CDs have much longer shelf life than do floppies as many already know. Just thought I'd share this idea if there are others with similar goals as mine.

This post provide further information for fix windows XP CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT file error.A program can be loaded at startup from various places. By knowing where these are located, you have more direct control over them. How to edit and control startup program launching is different in Windows 95 than in Windows 98 and Millennium, primarily due to the innovation in Win98 of MSCONFIG.EXE. In the instructions below, the programs MSCONFIG, SYSEDIT, and REGEDIT each can be launched by clicking Start, then Run, typing in the program name, and clicking OK. (MSCONFIG does not come with Win95, and looks significantly different in Windows XP. SYSEDIT does not come with Windows Millennium. Either may be copied over from a version of Windows that has it. Consult your operating system licensing agreement to determining whether you may do this legally.)

Launch SYSEDIT and examine the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. At machine startup, configuration steps in CONFIG.SYS and command lines listed in AUTOEXEC.BAT will execute. For more information on individual MS-DOS or command prompt commands, open a DOS or command prompt window and type the individual command followed by /?. For more information on special batch file commands, see the Batch File Commands article on this site. You can temporarily suspend any line of this file by placing REM (followed by a space) in front of the line.

QUIRKS by QUIRKE: South African Windows watchdog, Chris Quirke, has alerted me to a strange Windows quirk I never knew about. In Win95/98, COMMAND.COM launches not “Autoexec.bat” per se but, rather, the simple command AUTOEXEC. This means that the usual command line launching rules apply so that a .BAT file is first sought (AUTOEXEC.BAT) but, if one isn’t found, the OS next will look for AUTOEXEC.COM and, thereafter, AUTOEXEC.EXE! On the one hand, this is a useful trick; on the other hand, it’s an especially useful trick for malware designers!

In Win98, you have the additional option of launching MSCONFIG, clicking on the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS tabs, finding these lines, and unchecking the box in front of them. In Windows Millennium Edition, the MSCONFIG method, or editing AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS with Notepad, are your only options unless you migrate SYSEDIT.EXE to your system. In Windows XP, the only option is to edit AUTOEXEC.BAT (if it exists) with Notepad.

NOTE ON RESTARTING IN MS-DOS MODE: Though somewhat outside the scope of this article (which primarily deals with Windows startup program loading), some mention should be made of the DOSSTART.BAT file. If you use the option, from within Windows 95/98, to “Restart in MS-DOS Mode,“ different startup execution files are run depending on certain options you select when shutting down to DOS. Under most circumstances, the DOSSTART.BAT file in the C:\Windows folder is executed much like AUTOEXEC.BAT (except that it will not execute SET commands). However, if you create a shortcut for shutting down to DOS and select the option to specify a new MS-DOS configuration (thereby creating custom AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files), DOSSTART.BAT is not executed, but your custom AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files are executed instead. A more detailed explanation of what happens in these situations is given in MS Knowledge Base Article 138996, Description of Restarting Computer in MS-DOS Mode.

A somewhat related, but quite distinctive, process occurs in Windows ME when you open a command prompt (that is, a “DOS window”). Windows ME does not have a provision to shut down to DOS. However, when you open a command prompt window it executes commands contained in the CMDINIT.BAT file in the C:\Windows\Command folder. By default, CMDINIT.BAT launches the DosKey program for each command prompt session.