cbk@se-sd.UUCP (cbk) (02/04/86)
[ Inscribed on the line, in very tiny letters, were the words: EAT ME ]
Synopsis:
A bug in MS/DOS 2.x causes the COMSPEC environment variable to be ignored.
Background:
MS/DOS ignores the setting of the COMSPEC environment variable. The net
effect of this is to look on A: for COMMAND.COM when it needs to be reloaded
(because a program overwrote COMMAND.COMs memory space). This can be very
annoying if you have a hard disk and the system keeps demanding a floppy in A:!
There are two ways to fix this:
1. There is a program listed in the July 85 issue of "PC Tech Journal" which
will fix this problem. ("A change in command", Ed Nisley, p. 149) I don't
know how well this works as I didn't try it. On DOS 2.11, you just...
2. Use the SHELL parameter in CONFIG.SYS. Several people suggested this, as
well as a letter in the December 85 "PC Tech Journal" (p. 16). NOTE: this
doesn't seem to work on 2.0 DOS !!! The exact format of the command is:
SHELL = C:\BIN\COMMAND.COM C:\BIN /P
The "/P" option (not documented) means "permanent" (I think), and the SHELL
parameter didn't work without the /P option (generated a message that said
"Specified COMMAND search directory bad"). On DOS 2.0, the SHELL parameter
always generates the "Specified ... bad" message with no ill side effects.
On DOS 2.11, a mistake in the SHELL parameter gets you the message, and the
system doesn't run AUTOEXEC.BAT! Hmmmm ... mighty strange ...
Anyway, many and profuse thanks to all who replied - I'm now happily
re-reading COMMAND.COM off my hard disk.
Oh yes, the system in question: NCR Decision Mate V, with (now) DOS 2.11 and
a 10 Mbyte hard disk.
-- Carl Kuck (apply all standard disclaimers to the preceeding babble)
UseNet (west) : {wherever}!sdcsvax!ncr-sd!se-sd!cbk
(east) : {wherever}!ihnp4!ncr-sd!se-sd!cbk
PacBell: (619) 450-6271 (w), 944-1705 (h)
Quote #1: Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.
Quote #2: 55 mph isn't a good idea, it's just the law...