🚀 go-pugleaf

[ 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)
  
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