Home \ Software \ DOS

Disk Operating System

Intro

Disk Operating systems dominated the computing market from 1985 to about 1995. Many computer technicians still consider a DOS Boot Disk a invaluable tool for repair jobs.

Of the OS versions, MS-DOS is the most widely used and accepted, being the basis for the earlier versions of Windows (9x range). PC-DOS was developed by IBM, and was very similar to MS-DOS. DR-DOS was developed by Digital Research, and was cheaper to license compared to MS-DOS.

DOS System Files:
  • MSDOS.SYS: 9x; executes the shell in the shell line command in config.sys
  • IBMDOS.COM: used for the same purposed as the MSDOS.SYS
  • AUTOEXEC.BAT: located in the root; automatically started; runs programs; not required for OS to start up
  • CONFIG.SYS: loads low-level drivers for hardware and memory drivers like HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE; not required for OS to start up
  • IO.SYS: defines basic input/output routines for the processor. Is hidden and read-only. Required for OS to start up
  • MSDOS.SYS: defines system file locations; required for OS to start up
  • COMMAND.COM: command specifier; heart of the command prompt and executes commands such as COPY, DIR, etc.
  • HIMEM.SYS: controls extended memory management
  • EMM386.EXE: Controls expanded memory in the upper memory area
  • ANSI.SYS: loads a character set
  • REGEDIT.EXE: edit registry in Windows 9x
  • REGEDIT32.EXE: edit registry in Windows NT

Bookmark Us | Getting Started | Site Map