Loading and Using COMMAND.COM from a RAMDrive (33111)


The information in this article applies to:
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.1
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.2
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.21
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3a
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.0
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.01
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0a
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.0
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.2
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.21
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.22
This article was previously published under Q33111

SUMMARY

When some programs exit, or shell out to MS-DOS, they need to reload the command interpreter, COMMAND.COM. To make the process of reloading the command interpreter more efficient, you can place COMMAND.COM on a RAMDrive. To do this, follow these steps:

    • In your AUTOEXEC.BAT batch file, copy the file COMMAND.COM to the RAMDrive.
    • Set the COMSPEC environment variable to point to the copy of COMMAND.COM on the RAMDrive.
    • Set the PATH environment variable to include COMMAND.COM's location on the RAMDrive.

MORE INFORMATION

The following is an example of copying COMMAND.COM to a RAMDrive called E: 
   COPY C:\COMMAND.COM E:\
   SET COMSPEC=E:\COMMAND.COM
   SET PATH=E:\;...  <---  Fill in the rest of your PATH
Modification Type: Major Last Reviewed: 5/12/2003
Keywords: KB33111
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