This chapter describes the original operating system for PCs, called MS-DOS, which is available from within Windows 95. This chapter explains the basics of how MS-DOS works and how to use it.
Click Start, then choose MS-DOS Prompt from the Programs submenu on the Start menu.
MS–DOS lets you give commands by typing instructions at the MS–DOS C:\> prompt.
MS–DOS includes a simple screen editor which you can use to create, edit, and print plain text files. You can choose editing commands from menus and edit text using the mouse. The MS–DOS editor is particularly useful for editing MS–DOS batch programs such as AUTOEXEC.BAT and other files such as CONFIG.SYS.
EDLIN, the less powerful line editor provided with earlier versions of MS–DOS, is also provided.
MS-DOS includes a comprehensive help system which you can use to display information about MS-DOS commands, and the procedures for using MS-DOS.
You can resize the SoftWindows MS-DOS window to one of three alternative fixed sizes, 1.0x, 1.5x, and 2.0x, up to the size of your workstation screen.
Drag the window by any of its resize corners.
When you release the mouse button the window will snap to the closest fixed size.
The status bar shows the status of SoftWindows using the following indicators:
Table 4-1. Status Bar Indicators
Indicator | What it means |
|---|---|
Floppy disk drive A:/B: is in use | |
Caps Lock mode is selected | |
Scroll Lock mode is selected | |
Num Lock mode is selected | |
The display type | |
SoftWindows graphics driver is in use for Microsoft Windows. |
If you have a mouse attached to your computer, it will be automatically attached when you run Windows applications. You can also use it with MS-DOS programs that support a Microsoft Bus mouse by using the SoftWindows Attach Mouse command.
 | Note: Before you can attach the mouse ensure that MOUSE.COM has been started, either from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file (the command is commented out by default), or by entering the following command at the MS-DOS command prompt: |
C:\> C:\INSIGNIA\MOUSE.COM |
You can attach the mouse from the keyboard as follows. Hold down Ctrl-Alt and click the middle mouse button (or both buttons on a two-button mouse).
When you attach the mouse the workstation mouse disappears. The SoftWindows menus will be inaccessible, and you cannot access X Windows windows belonging to other UNIX applications.
Type the following command at the C:\> prompt:
EDIT filename |
where filename is the name of the file you want to edit, or omit the filename to create a new file.
For example, to edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT startup file type:
EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT |
The file will then be displayed in the MS–DOS editor window.
Choose Attach Mouse from the Actions menu.
Ensure that MOUSE.COM has been started before you attach the mouse.For more information refer to “Using the mouse in MS-DOS.”
Position the cursor using the arrow keys or by moving and clicking the mouse.
Type to insert text at the cursor.
Press and drag the mouse pointer over the text you want to cut or copy.
Use the Cut, Copy, Paste, and Clear functions from the MS-DOS editor's Edit menu.
Press and drag the mouse pointer over the text you want to delete.
Press d or type the text you want to replace it.
You can type MS–DOS commands at the MS-DOS prompt as you would on a real PC.
The following list gives the most useful MS–DOS commands; refer to an MS–DOS reference guide for more detailed information.
In the syntax for each command, square brackets indicate optional arguments.
Note that MS-DOS is not case-sensitive; that means MS-DOS treats upper and lower case characters as equivalent.
Changes the current directory.
Copies one or more files between two directories.
Deletes specified files.
Lists the files in a directory.
Converts an MS–DOS text file to UNIX format.
FORMAT [drive:] [/option]
The options are shown in the following table:
Table 4-2. Disk Format Options
To format | Give this command |
|---|---|
5.25-inch low density | FORMAT A: /F:360 |
3.5-inch low density | FORMAT A: /F:720 |
3.5-inch high density | FORMAT A: /F:1.44 |
Note that you should format only low-density disks in the 720 Kbyte format and only high-density disks in the 1.4 Mbyte format.
A drive set up as a SoftWindows FSA drive cannot be formatted.
Selects a foreign keyboard character set.
KEYB [xx,,[[drive:][path][file]]]
where xx is a two-letter keyboard code and file is the name of the keyboard definition file; refer to Setting up keyboards in the SoftWindows 95 for UNIX Administrator's Guide.
Makes a subdirectory.
Removes an empty directory.
Displays the contents of a text file on the screen.
When SoftWindows is displaying the MS-DOS window, text can be copied from and pasted into the SoftWindows window using the following procedures.
Select the text you want to copy by holding down the Select mouse button (left, by default) and dragging the pointer over the text in the UNIX window.
Lift your finger off the mouse button.
Move the mouse pointer into the SoftWindows MS-DOS window and position the cursor where you want to paste the text.
Click the middle mouse button.
Select the text you want to copy, by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the pointer over the text in the SoftWindows MS-DOS window.
Lift your finger off the mouse button.
Move the mouse pointer into the UNIX window and position the cursor where you want to paste the text.
Click the middle mouse button.
The text will be typed into the UNIX window at the current cursor position.
| Note: This may vary depending on the platform you are using. If you encounter problems when pasting refer to your system documentation for details of how to paste text. |
Most MS-DOS applications give best results when set up for a dot-matrix printer such as the widely-used LQ-2500.
Choose Printer Ports… from the COM/LPT Ports cascade menu on the Options menu.
The Printer Ports dialog box appears.
Choose Pipe from the LPT1: popup menu. Check that this is set to the default setting, which sends output to the local print spooler, lp.
Set Enable Windows PostScript Flushing to flush output to the pipe; refer to “Flushing with pipes.”
Choose the appropriate command to print from your MS-DOS application.
You can print from an LPT port to a serial printer with the following fixed communications settings:
9600 baud, no parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, XON/XOFF handshaking
Connect the printer to the serial port.
Choose Printer Ports… from the COM/LPT Ports cascade menu on the Options menu.
The Printer Ports dialog box appears.
Choose Device from the LPT1: popup menu. By default this sends output to one of the serial ports. You may need to change this depending on which port you are using.
If you need to use different communications settings, set a COM port to Printer and use the MODE command to set the communications parameters. For example:
MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1 |
sets 9600 baud, no parity, 8 data bits, and 1 stop bit, the default setting. XON/XOFF handshaking is supported.
If your application can only print to an LPT port, use the MODE command to direct LPT output to the COM port, for example:
MODE LPT1:=COM1: |
Include the MODE commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you want to use these settings every time you run SoftWindows.
To install an MS-DOS application you should follow the installation instructions in the manual supplied with the application.
MS-DOS software is typically supplied on one or more floppy disks, and to install the program you copy the files from these disks to your PC hard disk.
To simplify the installation process most PC programs provide a batch file which automatically copies the files for you. The batch file is typically called SETUP.BAT or INSTALL.BAT, and you run it by typing SETUP or INSTALL at the MS-DOS prompt.
The simplest way of installing PC software, if you have a floppy disk drive available, is to install directly from 3.5-inch installation disks.
A typical sequence will be as follows:
Set up the workstation's floppy disk drive as drive A: or B:; refer to “Setting up floppy disk drives” in the SoftWindows 95 for UNIX Administrator's Guide.
A: or B: appears in the SoftWindows status bar, indicating that the drive is available to SoftWindows, and you can now access the disk from SoftWindows.
Follow the instructions supplied with the software. For example, you may be instructed to type:
A:\SETUP
If at any stage in the installation you need to change disks, refer to “To eject a floppy disk.”
If the software is supplied on 5.25-inch disks, in some cases you can use a PC to copy the software onto 3.5-inch MS–DOS format disks, and then install from these.
Instead of installing directly from 3.5-inch disks, you can copy the software from a PC to a directory on your workstation via a network or serial connection. Attach the directory to SoftWindows as a VFSA drive so that you can access the files in it from SoftWindows, as described in Setting up VFSA drives in the SoftWindows for UNIX Administrator's Guide. Then install from the files in this directory.
Note that some installer programs assume that you are installing from floppy disk. They may not work correctly if you copy all the files to a hard disk first, and then try installing from the hard disk.
The installation program will typically give you the option of where to install the files it is copying from the installation disks.
You have the following options:
Install here | To do this |
|---|---|
Drive C: or D: SoftWindows hard disk file. | If you are sure that the files you are installing will fit on your SoftWindows hard disk file, and you do not need to access the files using other UNIX programs. |
Drive D: to Z: SoftWindows VFSA drive; refer to Using PC files stored in UNIX. | If you want to install into the UNIX file system rather than your SoftWindows hard disk file so that you can share data with other UNIX applications or other SoftWindows users. |
Note that some PC application installer programs will only install onto a hard disk. Also, some installers will assume that drives E: to Z: are a PC network, and install additional networking software if you specify these drives.
Before installing onto the hard disk, check the disk space requirements specified in the PC application's manual, and verify the available hard disk space. For example, if you are installing to drive C: type:
CHKDSK |
at the C:\> prompt in SoftWindows.
Note that 1048576 bytes = 1 Mbyte.
If you do not have enough space on your hard disk to install the application, refer to the SoftWindows 95 for UNIX Administrator's Guide for details on how to enlarge or create hard disk drives.