Hello Klaus!
Quoting Klaus's message:
 RB>> This is one of the problem when someone try to jump-in a conversation
 RB>> without having followed ALL the threads...
 KM> I detect a faintly adversary tone again in your answer to someone trying
 KM> to help.
Not at all. Thanks to Jason Betts, we have found a solution to the situation 
I was encountering with 4DOS under MD-DOS v7.0
 KM> ...If you look at your message base, you will find that I jumped in
 KM> quite early with some advice, however ill-suited to your problems,
 KM> and I have tried to follow your endeavours.
Indeed, and I appreciated your advice. But, nothing you recommended allowed 
me to call something else than AUTOEXEC.BAT at bootup.
 KM> ...Maybe the difficulty lies in how you define those problems here...
I tought my explanation of the problem I was encountering were clear enough - 
obviously they were as Jason Betts was able to give me advices.
 KM> ...In my last message I had some solid advice, and I detect no hint
 KM> that you even tried to implement any of that.
I tried everything everyone recommended... But, in order not to pollute the 
echo, I replied only to messages that had solutions that would correct my 
problem.
 KM> For your information: I have just renamed AUTOEXEC.BAT to *.SAV, and
 KM> rebooted. I arrived with no sign of any hassle at my usual (4)DOS 
rompt,
 KM> verified that no AUTOEXEC.BAT was present. All this under MS-DOS 7.10. I
 KM> could then proceed to start W95.
Remember that my system has MS-DOS V7.0
How could you arrive to a 4DOS prompt if you had no AUTOEXEC.BAT file? 
Indeed, you have arrived at a MS-DOS prompt without AUTOEXEC.BAT
The reason that MS-DOS v7.0 will get to a MS-DOS prompt is because, by 
default, it adds "/D /K AUTOEXEC" to the "SHELL=" line in CONFIG.SYS
 KM> ...But an entry like BOOTGUI=0 is a likely candidate.
In my MSDOS.SYS file I have BootGUI=0
 KM> ...As outlined in "The Windows 95 Boot Sequence"
 >>> If you use the default command processor, COMMAND.COM, it will be loaded
 >>> automatically at the end of CONFIG.SYS if needed to process
 >>> AUTOEXEC.BAT, then the GUI is loaded as described above.  If you use a
 >>> SHELL command in CONFIG.SYS to load a different command processor (such
 >>> as 4DOS), it will be loaded just as under previous versions of MS-DOS,
 >>> and can then invoke the Windows GUI if desired (see below for details).
 >>> However the SHELL command is ignored if AUTOEXEC.BAT is not present.
After adding the following line to my CONFIG.SYS, I am able to load something 
else than AUTOEXEC.BAT:
   SHELL=C:\4DOS\4DOS.COM C:\4DOS @C:\4DOS\4DOS.INI /F /D /K C:\4DOSEXEC.BTM
 KM> ...I would interprete this in just the reverse way: Without
 KM> AUTOEXEC.BAT 4DOS never gets loaded as shell. Note that this
 KM> contradicts my personal experience as outlined above. Perhaps written
 KM> for V. 7.00?
From what I have "lived throught", without the additional entries in the 
"SHELL=" line of CONFIG.SYS, 4DOS.COM gets loaded but for some unknown 
reason, AUTOEXEC.BAT is called, no matter if the "/PC:\4DOSEXEC.BTM" switch 
is used in the "SHELL=" line of the CONFIG.SYS file or/and the 
"AutoExecPath=C:\4DOSEXEC.BTM" command is used in the 4DOS.INI file.
 KM> ...You could still circumvent this by renaming 4DOS.COM to
 KM> COMMAND.COM, a not very elegant solution imho.
I probably would encounter the same problem.
Remember that the problem is not caused by 4DOS but rather by something 
written in the I/O sub-routines of MS-DOS v7.0
And remember also that I never had problem loading 4DOS.COM instead of 
COMMAND.COM
The problem was that no matter what I tried, I could not load anything else 
than AUTOEXEC.BAT at bootup.
 KM> ...However, in another place, 4DOS HELP states:
 >>> Whenever it is started as a primary shell, 4DOS runs AUTOEXEC.BAT
 >>> immediately after 4START.
 KM> This statement suggests to me that 4START.BTM is processed before
 KM> autoexec.bat (something I have not tested, but believe to be correct).
Again, that is not right. With my new "SHELL=" line, I am able to load 
4DOSEXEC.BTM at bootup, before anything else, before 4START.BTM
 KM> Again, I suggest a carefully planned approach to the problem as outlined
 KM> in my earlier messages. You may want to try some things before 
ismissing
 KM> them out of hand.
I am not dismissing anything... But, with the suggestions of Jason Betts I 
was able to circumvent Microsoft little trap...
Sincerely, Raymond.
           Co-Moderator 4DOS
INFODATA Communications [+1 514 432 8467]
... You are a Redneck if: You think a hot tub is a stolen bathroom fixture.
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Next conference: FIDO Message Area
Next topic: 149 Disney

FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 149 DISNEY        Ref: D5K00000 Date: 05/12/96
From: RUSTY BOWDEN                                          Time: 07:19am
\/To: CHRISTINE CAMPBELL                                  (Read 6 times)
Subj: Waiting

 -=> Christine Campbell said to Stephanie Lynch <=-
 
 CC> small correction of the title of the show (I think) it was the
 CC> Wonderful World of Disney. as I remember it.
 Hope you don't mind me butting in.  I was lurking around in here
 and noticed your message.  You're right about the name of the show
 being the Wonderful World of Disney, but before that it was called
 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.
 Going back to lurk mode now.
... Shoot low, boys...they're ridin' shetlands.
--- FMail/386 1.02
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