On Tue, 2004-08-31 at 04:29, Asa Rossoff wrote: > Vincent Voois wrote: > > Asa Rossoff wrote:
****snip**** > > > Second, Windows boots from the first boot-device, but it can be > > configured to have it's OS on another drive by altering the MSDOS.INI > > and in case of WinNT 4.x, 5.x you can alter the BOOT.INI to set the > > drive and startup-path where the os is stored. > > If your bootmanager on the primary IDE drive allows you to boot from the > > second drive, you can install all of the Windows data on there but in > > the win9x/ME cases you for sure have to modify the system settings to > > make it boot properly. > > I didn't realize Win98 and Me had a similar boot config file to NT/XP. > It looks like it's actually msdos.sys on Win98 at least, rather than > msdos.ini. > > Since he is running both 98 and Me, on seperate drives and partitions, > and using Lilo to select them (currently), in theory he could just edit > the msdos.ini (or msdos.sys) file on his WinMe partition (second drive) > to indicate that the OS is on drive D: -- it might work. BUT, he would > have to reinstall WinMe while the drive is recognized as D: (if the > WinMe installer allows it) or do some major registry, shortcut and > config file hacking. > > > IMHO:Ditch WinME, it's really not worth the trouble, either install > > '98SE or XP, but Win'98 is currently less vulnerable to virusses these > > days as most viruses dedicates themselves to NT5.x exploites > > (XP/2000/2003). > > Asa I'm not at all sure you guys have a good understanding of what msdos.sys does. Msdos.sys doesn't have jack to do with the boot process; that is set at windows installation time. The only thing that msdos.sys does is set the path for windows; it merely tells windows where to look for it's binaries (dll exe etc). The true motherload of drive relevant information resides in the registry. Msdos.sys merely sets environment variables; that's all. Another thing to realize is that at it's core, msdos.sys is truly a dos artifact and NOT a windows artifact. Dos loads first and then winblows gets loaded by the dos environment, depending on what dos tells it to do by virtue of the parameters in msdos.sys. Also, msdos.sys was not always a text file. In Dos version 6.22 it was binary and was actually part of three components of the operating system. (I include the command interpreter in that number.) Subsequently in dos 7.00 it was kept for some wierd compatibility reasons, but changed to a parameter text file. Dos 7.10 kept that convention. Barring reinstallation it is very problematic to mess around with the msdos.sys file path line. You still have a bazillion inf and registry entries to deal with if there is a drive change. Much better to reinstall. Having said that there's alot of stuff you can do with msdos.sys. For instance: -------------------------------------------------------------- [Paths] WinDir=C:\USR\98R2 WinBootDir=C:\USR\98R2 HostWinBootDrv=C [Options] AutoScan=0 BootDelay=0 BootWarn=0 BootGUI=0 BootKeys=1 BootMenu=1 BootMenuDelay=2 BootMulti=1 DoubleBuffer=0 DblSpace=1 DrvSpace=0 LoadTop=0 Logo=0 ; ;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs. ;Do not remove them (MSDOS.SYS needs to be >1024 bytes). ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxb ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxc ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxd ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxe ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxg ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxh ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxi ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxj ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxk ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxm ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxn ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxo ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxp ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxq ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxr ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxs DisableLog=0 WinVer=4.10.2222 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Why the funky nonstandard path? Once upon an age ago I was experimenting with wine and 98se under Linux. But in any case, as some examples, looking above you can see where you can keep the logo from being displayed or you can have the system boot you directly into dos and then load windows yourself with "win". This latter is controlled by the "Bootgui" option. You can also affect how Dos treats it's environment by messing around with "loadtop", which can potentially give you a boost in your maximum available conventional memory. LX
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