MS-DOS

[Ken]

Could someone please remind me how I start my computer in
MS-DOS mode. I have been given instructions to follow
thereafter, but can't get in. Many thanks.

 

[Guest]

Hi,

Press the F8 key several times as you boot up (especially
before the Windows logo appears). This will bring you into
a menu screen, one option is Command Prompt only.

Out of interest ... why are you doing this ?

Regards,

Tim

 

[Tim Slattery]

Could someone please remind me how I start my computer in
MS-DOS mode. I have been given instructions to follow
thereafter, but can't get in. Many thanks.

In XP, you don't. There is no DOS layer in XP. You can open a console
window by choosing "Command Prompt" from the "Accessories" group. If
you need true, 16-bit, real-mode DOS, you'll have to boot from a
floppy. Get one here: http://www.bootdisk.com

 

[Ken]

-----Original Message-----
Hi,

Press the F8 key several times as you boot up (especially
before the Windows logo appears). This will bring you into
a menu screen, one option is Command Prompt only.

Out of interest ... why are you doing this ?

Regards,

Tim

.Tim, Many thanks for the response. I am following

the instructions of a HP technician who is helping me
with a printing problem. I will be trying to
completely uninstall an HP printer, prior to installing a
new one. Thanks again. Ken.

 

[Lem]

the instructions of a HP technician who is helping me
with a printing problem. I will be trying to
completely uninstall an HP printer, prior to installing a
new one. Thanks again. Ken.

If the "hp technician" has told you to "start in MS_DOS mode" he or she
either doesn't know that you have Windows XP or doesn't understand XP.

You should
(a) follow the steps on MVP Cari's web site to "Completely Uninstall and
Reinstall your Printer and 'force' XP to see new drivers":
http://www.coribright.com/windows/Article One.htm

or (b) list the steps given to you by the hp tech so that someone here
can clarify them for you

or (c) post a description of your problem in
news://news.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsxp.print_fax

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

There is no way to reboot a WinXP PC into Real Mode DOS unless
you've set up a dual-boot system. The WinNT family of 32-bit
graphical operating systems, of which WinXP is the latest generation,
has never used or included MS-DOS. The closest they have is the
Command Prompt window.

WinXP, like its predecessors WinNT & Win2K, is a pure 32-bit GUI
OS, and does not include or "ride upon" any version of DOS, as did
Win3.x & Win9x/Me. WinXP does include a command-line emulator for
those times when GUI applets are unnecessary/redundant, but it cannot
be started in "DOS mode."


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[NobodyMan]

Hi,

Press the F8 key several times as you boot up (especially
before the Windows logo appears). This will bring you into
a menu screen, one option is Command Prompt only.

Out of interest ... why are you doing this ?

Regards,

Tim

No, this doesn't put the XP computer in MS-DOS mode. It does bring
you to a full screen Command Prompt, but it is NOT ms-dos.

 

[Alex Nichol]

Press the F8 key several times as you boot up (especially
before the Windows logo appears). This will bring you into
a menu screen, one option is Command Prompt only.

Note that this is *NOT* DOS - it is a basic Safe Mode XP, running its
cmd.exe as shell. If you need a true DOS mode it is not supplied as
part of XP. You can make a minimal DOS mode startup floppy if in My
Computer you r-click the drive, take Format and select 'MSDOS startup
disk'. That has command.com only, no 'external' commands like Format,
but will do to say add a BIOS flash program and its data. Or else boot
a Win98 startup floppy