Forum Home
Press F1
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
176682	2003-09-23 21:00:00	Yes, Ive already looked in win.ini and system.ini, but the blaster command is being written way before windows starts. I think I mentioned I have a multi-configuration boot in config.sys and autoexec.bat, so that I get a menu with 2 options, either to start dos, or to start Windows. it's a sort of legacy from when I first had Windows 95 and had problems loading drivers in config.sys when restarting in dos from Windows. With that option there is no provision for a new config.sys, only a dosstart.bat. I can remember having CDROM conflicts between protected mode windows drivers and real mode dos drivers, and other similar conflicts. Also lack of conventional memory in dos was a problem. Whilst Windows can do without autoexec and config files, more customisation is possible if they are there. Also there was all that annoying Redmond hype when Win95 and later versions came out that tried to pretend dos no longer existed, culminating in Win ME If I remove @echo off command (whether is has an equals in it or not), then of course I get a screenful of autoexec lines. Also this "problem" isnt really a problem, just a puzzle, I like to know what is happening behind my back :) Thanks for all your suggestions and help Kame and all.	Terry Porritt (14)
176683	2003-09-24 00:37:00	Terry, you have me confused. If you like to know what's going on behind your back, remove @echo off :P	Kame (312)
176684	2003-09-24 04:45:00	No, you cant really be confused Kame, I'm not, at least I dont think so! I know what Ive written in autoexec.bat, so it's not behind my back, just that I dont need to see it every time :) Its the sneaky set blaster that was behind my back.	Terry Porritt (14)
176685	2003-09-25 00:37:00	been watching this thread with interest, I would try 2 things: 1. Start the machine in safe mode so that the sound card driver doesn't load, delete the SET BLASTER line in autoexec.bat and then restart again in safe mode and see if it reinserts the line, this would show if it was the driver initiation reinserting the line. 2. Start up in normal mode, delete the SET BLASTER line then go into msconfig and disable everything in the startup category, restart the machine and if the line hasn't reinserted itself in the autoexec.bat file go back into msconfig startup and enable each line one by one until the SET BLASTER line reappears, when it does - you know what the culprit is. bottom line is that if you want your sound card to work you'll have to put up with it !! Mike	pompeymike (4601)
176686	2003-09-25 03:09:00	Thanks for your suggestions Mike. However that set blaster command gets written into autoexec.bat before windows starts, in fact before autoexec.bat is processed, and also if I start up in "pure"dos it also gets written in. I have just found out that dosstart.bat also gets the set blaster command written into it. I thought there may be a possibility of the command coming from the registry, as when the step-by-step confirmation via F8 is chosen at start up, the first thing to be processed is the Registry. Now I assume this is processed even if dos is started instead of windows. However if the Registry is chosen not to be processed dos can still be started. I searched the Registry but could find no set blaster command, so I am still no wiser as to where the hidden/obscure program is that is doing this writing, or where the activation comes from. In Windows, the set blaster command is not needed anyway as it is for dos. If autoexec.bat has the set blaster command deleted and the file made read only then the command no longer appears on the screen during startup.	Terry Porritt (14)
176687	2003-09-25 03:44:00	The registry won't have the SET BLASTER command, it's most likely the driver that's doing it as the driver will either be processed with the system.ini file? probably called sounddrv.sys or similar lines. I suppose remarking out the line just means it'll insert another line (REM)? If you comment out the sound driver whereever that is and try fixing seeing whether that has any effects, possibly systemwide crash :P then it's to do with the driver. I would have to say that this is not a problem apart from not being able to do what you want with the line so I guess it's just one of those things. How important is autoexec for you? I'd rename it to autoexec.bat.bak and config.sys to config.sys.bak and have an empty autoexec.bat file and config.sys file and see what happens.	Kame (312)
176688	2003-09-25 04:28:00	Windows is really just a red herring Kame, as dos doesnt need system.ini, in fact its name can be changed and dos will still start. This is looking like a very cleverly hidden dos program/file somewhere that is somehow told to start when the boot process is started and write the set blaster command, which is after all a legacy feature for sound in dos. It may be much like the hidden dos files that were sometimes used in dos shareware to count up the number of times or days the shareware had been used for. I need and want my autoexec and config files, I would feel lost without them :) But I would like to know exactly what happens when the registry is processed on starting, but then instead of windows, start dos which doesnt need the registry?	Terry Porritt (14)
176689	2003-09-25 04:32:00	Maybe they are extra clever and have put a ROM with BIOS extensions on the card, like a VGA or SCSI card. :D That's about the only way to get code executing before the DOS boot.	Graham L (2)
176690	2003-09-25 06:22:00	I think you could be right Graham. Those fiendishly clever Chinese :)	Terry Porritt (14)
176691	2003-09-25 14:23:00	Well whip the card out and let us know how you get on :)	-=JM=- (16)
1 2 3 4