From: "Mark Moore" <Mark DOT Moore AT Alation DOT comxxx>
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
References: <1s66as8441mv8dqiouk45hagfv7g6mno3p AT 4ax DOT com> <slrn8a6d1r DOT sa DOT wilmer AT syscon DOT minilinux DOT org> <r7n6askr59rfqnslae780c1dqq93o7ltsp AT 4ax DOT com> <slrn8a8fo9 DOT 11l DOT wilmer AT syscon DOT minilinux DOT org> <dkl9as8k2u3vefcssasrl52qh6emah0p72 AT 4ax DOT com> <slrn8aah8t DOT u3 DOT wilmer AT syscon DOT minilinux DOT org> <ok0bas0nl943roorukvpbek1p68sb5861t AT 4ax DOT com> <38A59D3C DOT DCC7F1D7 AT home DOT com>
Subject: Re: "Out of environment space" in DOS mode
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Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 21:16:00 GMT
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com

Actually, this has been a feature since Windows 95.  My personal belief is
that this was a direct result of the marketing hype at the time that DOS had
been eliminated.

Windows will manufacture "fake" config.sys and autoexec.bat files if they
are missing or missing important elements (like HIMEM.SYS).

If you want to try a stupid DOS trick, you can completely eliminate
config.sys and autoexec.bat and still step through them!

First, rename the two files to something innocuous.  Then, reboot and hit
<F8> when you hear the beep, or see "Starting Windows...".  Sometimes it can
be tough to catch this before the system gets going, but if you hit it at
the beep, you will (in fact, that's the purpose of the beep).

If all goes well, you'll be given the boot menu screen where you can select
the different ways to startup the system.  I haven't memorized the list (and
I don't really feel like rebooting to get the list right), but one of them
will offer to step through the startupline by line.  Try it!  It will step
through lines you never wrote in files that don't exist.  It's pretty funny.
The last line of the autoexec file will be "win", by the way.