Using an AUTOEXEC.BAT File

You may want to run some commands every time you turn on your computer. To run a command or a series of commands automatically upon startup, you can type the commands in a special file called AUTOEXEC.BAT. When you load MS-DOS, it always 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:

Li 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.

0Add the command to start your most commonly used application program (such as a word processing or spreadsheet program) so that it loads automatically when you turn on or reset the computer.

0Change the information the MS-DOS command prompt includes.

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.

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