Using an AUTOEXEC.BAT File

You may find that there are some commands you want to run every time you turn on your computer. To run a command or a series of commands automatically upon startup, you can type the commands into a special file called AUTOEXEC.BAT When you load MS-DOS, it automatically looks for this file. If MS-DOS finds an AUTOEXEC.BAT file in the root directory, it executes the commands in that file.

Here are some tasks you can perform using an AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

Modify the PATH command to include the directories containing other software programs you commonly use. This reduces the number of times you need to change directories or specify pathnames.

Add the command to start your most commonly used application program (such as a word processor or spreadsheet program) so that it loads automatically when you turn on or reset the computer.

Change the MS-DOS command prompt so that it displays the current directory-or your name, or anything you want.

See your MS-DOS Reference Manual for instructions on using the PATH command, the PROMPT command, and any other commands you want to include in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Also see the chapter on batch processing commands in your MS-DOS Reference Manual for detailed information about AUTOEXEC.BAT files.

Creating an AUTOEXEC.BAT File

You can create an AUTOEXEC.BAT file using any command or program that lets you create a text-only file. If you have a word processing program that can save a file as a text-only file (sometimes called an ASCII text file), you can use that program to create your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

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