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Thread ID: 37871 2003-09-20 21:00:00 For Dos-heads. An autoexec.bat conundrum, but not life threatening... Terry Porritt (14) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
176672 2003-09-22 01:12:00 Your autoexec.bat doesn't really say @ECHO=OFF does it?

Slight mistake I believe.

Now I'm unsure what the operator = does, since my batch programming has kinda been outdated, but ECHO = OFF probably does as it says. I'd change the line @ECHO=OFF to @ECHO OFF
Kame (312)
176673 2003-09-22 02:07:00 Very interesting Kame. Checking back through print outs of past autoexec files echo=off seems to have crept in about 2 years ago, probably as a typo.
However '=' doesnt seem to cause any problem, it appears to work identicly to echo off, or rather as though it isnt there. There is no bad command error message either.

Thanks for for drawing my attention to that, I wonder what else I see all the time but dont take in or really notice? :)
Terry Porritt (14)
176674 2003-09-22 03:27:00 If you go into dos and type @echo=off you'll see what it does.

It just prints out "off" to the screen. What @echo off is meant to suppress messages being printed to the screen.

If you have Win9x, at the Win9x loading splash screen (after reboot or just turned on the computer) press ESC key to see what goes on underneath.
Kame (312)
176675 2003-09-22 05:11:00 Good to learn that DOS doesn't make an environment variable with the name of a command. :D

However that line is extremely unlikely to cause the [i]interesting[/b] problem.

Is it a Microsoft advanced feature, perhaps? Automatically repairing changed essential OS files? ;-)
Graham L (2)
176676 2003-09-22 07:47:00 I dont have a splash screen Kame, as I like to see what is going on, and all autoexec commands have been suppressed from showing on screen (all except the SET BLASTER command which is being written before the @echo command), even though the echo command was not right. How strange, that was why I didnt pick up the typo. Terry Porritt (14)
176677 2003-09-22 07:55:00 This is my autoexec.bat Kame, with the correct @echo command. You can see how much would appear on screen if there was no @echo command, hardly likely to miss it. :)

SET BLASTER=A240 D0 T4
@ECHO OFF
REM C:\CFG801
REM C:\DOS801
REM @C:\LETASSIG\LETASSIG.EXE @LETTERS.INI /O:DRIVEMAP.DAT /CD
@C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG6\bootup.exe
PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\;C:\DOSUTIL; C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG6;
GOTO %config%
:dos
LH C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE
LH C:\MOUSE\MOUSE
PROMPT $E[35;40;1mTerry's Computer $E[1;33m$P$G$E[37m
SET TEMP=C:\TEMP
LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\DOSKEY /INSERT BUFSIZE=1024
SET DIRCMD=/O:GN/L/P
rem - By Windows Setup - LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD000
GOTO END
:Win98
PROMPT $E[35;40;1mTerry's Computer $E[1;33m$P$G$E[37m
SET TEMP=C:\TEMP
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\DOSKEY /INSERT BUFSIZE=1024
SET DIRCMD=/O:GN/L/P
REM CALL DELINDEX
WIN
:END
Terry Porritt (14)
176678 2003-09-22 08:49:00 Is there a bug with pressf1 insert a mystery spaces?

there's a space in the PATH= with the word COMMAND but I'm sure it's not your fault.

I'd check config.sys see what sound driver is being loaded. This maybe changing your autoexec to display the command at the top of the autoexec before all other commands are executed since they made sure they were given the resources and not some other hardware.
Kame (312)
176679 2003-09-22 09:29:00 Yes Kame. Press F1 does put extra spaces in for some reason especially long lines and long URLs.
Quite funny, it took a colon D in the remmed line and made an emoticon out of it :D.

No there isnt any soundcard device driver in config.sys, which is one reason why I havent yet found the source of what is writing to the autoexec file.

Just experimented again putting in a '=" sign in the echo command. It makes no odds whether it is there or not. The subsequent commands are not echoed to screen.
Terry Porritt (14)
176680 2003-09-22 10:51:00 > Yes Kame . Press F1 does put extra spaces in for some
> reason especially long lines and long URLs .

Its to stop pages from getting too wide . If you remember the old PF1 if you posted a long line the ads etc on the right ended up off the screen .
bmason (508)
176681 2003-09-23 11:27:00 Just noticed that you use Win98SE, hehe, how observant :P

Win98SE doesn't rely highly on the autoexec.bat, it's there for backwards compatibility. It's mostly done in the registry now, so it's probably a driver being loaded up in there.

Go Run | type sysedit and have a look there. Displays most of the system files (win.ini, system.ini, etc...) and there maybe something there.

What happens if you remove @echo off altogether? possibly a default option of win98se is to turn it off during loading of the autoexec?
Kame (312)
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