Command: config.sys
FreeDOS reads the CONFIG.SYS / FDCONFIG.SYS file at startup to
configure the DOS system. It is read before the AUTOEXEC.BAT file
is run.
FreeDOS first tries to use FDCONFIG.SYS first (and ignores CONFIG.SYS).
If FDCONFIG.SYS does not exist, FreeDOS will use CONFIG.SYS instead.
CONFIG.SYS / FDCONFIG.SYS are text files. They can be created
or edited with a text editor such as EDIT or EDLIN.
CONFIG.SYS / FDCONFIG.SYS must ALWAYS be in the root directory
of the boot media.
Syntax:
- none -
Options:
- none -
Comments:
When booting DOS, you will find it only supports a subset
of the devices available on many computers. To support
additional devices and advanced features, device specific
driver and memory resident software must be loaded. This
allows the kernel to be easily extended to support hardware
not presently available and take better advantage of installed
hardware without wasting resources on computers lacking it.
This software is generally loaded during the kernel initialization
phase, with details describing what to load expressed in the
file CONFIG.SYS. The FreeDOS kernel will first look for a
file named FDCONFIG.SYS, should they exist, it will be used
instead of CONFIG.SYS; this allows the FreeDOS kernel to coexist
and be configured differently than another DOS kernel. There are
additional options available to adjust other aspects of the kernel's
behaviour.
There is a special set of commands for use in the CONFIG.SYS /
FDCONFIG.SYS file, see the links below.
DOS prompt and BATCH FILE commands generally cannot be used in
CONFIG.SYS / FDCONFIG.SYS. See also the MENU command.
If you press "F5" while booting up the system, CONFIG.SYS /
FDCONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT commands are ignored.
This is helpful if you have a driver installed which crashes
while booting up the system.
If you press "F8" while booting up the system, each command in
CONFIG.SYS / FDCONFIG.SYS and in AUTOEXEC.BAT has to be
confirmed with "yes" or "no". This is helpful if you want to
find out which driver crashes.
Examples:
- none - look for the single commands.
See also:
; ! ? break buffers
buffershigh country device devicehigh dos
dosdata echo eecho fcbs fdconfig.sys
files fileshigh idlehalt install installhigh
keybuf lastdrive lastdrivehigh menu menucolor
menudefault numlock rem screen set
shell shellhigh stacks stackshigh switchar
switches version
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Copyright (C) 2003 Robert Platt, updated 2008 by W. Spiegl.
This file is derived from the FreeDOS Spec Command HOWTO.
See the file H2Cpying for copying conditions.