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What should be in my AUTOEXEC.BAT file?

This is just a basic list of some of the things that you should have in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, you may require more depending on your system.

These lines should appear at the beginning of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
@ECHO OFF
SET TEMP=C:\TEMP
PATH C:\DOS
Note that you should create a directory called TEMP so that C:\TEMP exists. Also if your DOS directory is not DOS, change the PATH line appropriately.

If you need to change your keyboard layout, you should add KEYB XX as shown in How do I change the keyboard layout?

If you have a Sound Blaster compatible sound card you should set the BLASTER variable, see How do I set up a soundcard?

If you need a mouse then the driver it is best loaded from here rather than command line, refer to How do I set up a mouse?

If you have a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM then you should probably run MSCDEX or equivalent here, see How do I access the CD-ROM? for details of doing this.

If you wish to change the display mode or keyboard typematic rate then the mode command is best placed here. For details refer to:
How do I change the display mode?
How can I change the typematic rate?

I also recommend that you include this line at the end:
DOSKEY /INSERT
Among other things this will allow you to easily recall (by using the up and down arrow keys) and modify previously issued commands.

Copyright © Jonathan Fox 2001.