# cant get out of MS-DOS



## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

Everytime i started up my computer the Mcafee virus scan turned on. Recently it turns on and says that its now ready to start so i just push enter. The it says that its finished and please remove the diskette and reboot your system. I didnt even insert a diskette. So i reboot and the same thing happens all over again. So i edited some files such as AUTOEXE.BAT and MSDOS.SYS and the virus scan doesnt come up anymore. But now once i turn it on, it says "you started your computer with a version of MS-DOS incompatible with this version of windows. Insert a diskette mathcing this version of windows and restart. The system is halted. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart your computer." I think i have the right startup diskette but on the command prompt i dont know what to type in. This problem is on my laptop which runs on Windows 95. [Version 4.00.1111]. I dont know what to do, i cant open up windows. If there is anyway to bypass MS-DOS or reinstall everything somehow than that would be great. So im stuck for now. Thanx for trying to help.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Hi Alex,

Win 95 needs DOS in order to run.
Have you tried typing win at the prompt,
(thats the flashing bit)

John


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

i typed in win at the prompt and it said that HIMEM.SYS is missing.


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## brianF (Dec 2, 1999)

You may want to post the contents of your autoexec.bat and config.sys files into this thread. Seems as though something is missing, you may have not completely editted the files or editted out something you need.

Just a though


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

my AUTO.EXE.BAT file is empty. The file AUTOEXEC.BAT is also empty. 
The file CONFIG.SYS contains
files=30
buffers=15,0

The file MSDOS.SYS contains
;FORMAT
[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
BootMulti=1
BootGUI=1
AutoScan=1
DoubleBuffer=1
;
The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs.
;Do not remove them (MSDOS.SYS needs to be >1024 bytes
____________________________________________________
This information, i got from the computer that im typing on now which is a desktop. I just retyped it into the laptop. I know that the systems are different but i didnt know what else to do.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

I have another PC running Win95b.
I have started it in DOS mode to see what should be in
those files, and to let you know how to do it.

John


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## pyritechips (Jun 3, 2002)

Does your mysdos.sys actually have the last lines like the sample below?
*
[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
BootMulti=1
BootGUI=1
DoubleBuffer=1
AutoScan=1
WinVer=4.10.2222
;
;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs.
;Do not remove them (MSDOS.SYS needs to be >1024 bytes).
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxb
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxc
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxd
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxe
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxg
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxh
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxi
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxj
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxk
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxm
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxn
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxo
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxp
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxq
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxr
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxs
*


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Hmm ...

i havent got that on mine.
i'm running Win 95 Ver 4.00.1111


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

in my file those xxxxxx are not there so im gonna put them in and see if that works.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

hey john if we have the same version of windows, can you tell me what to type in these files cause i have no clue.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

> _Originally posted by alex3266:_
> *So i edited some files such as AUTOEXE.BAT and MSDOS.SYS and the virus scan doesnt come up anymore*


May I ask what possessed you to edit the MSDOS.SYS file? I can see editing the autoexec.bat or config.sys file for startup issues, but............ 

Can you look to see on your hard drive if you have a MSDOS.BAK file listed?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=129998

If not, follow that info to create a new one....at least you should be able to get the system started.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Alex,

If you're not in C put cd\ then

dir/o/

should bring up your folders and files,
the folders are called DIR in dos .. directories,
you should get a handfull up, then the folders in C:


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Hi,

Attached is a text copy of my Msdos.sys file -
it was there, as pyrites described, i just missed it.

I think its pretty standard, its from Win95b.

There are 'attributes' with that file,
so rather than cut and paste,
or renaming that text one,
i would suggest altering the one thats there,
to match the text copy ive sent.

use EDIT msdos.sys from dos, that should bring it up in a blue window.

I will also have go, and get back to you.

John


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Or you could match the one pyritechips sent in,
it looks so similar its probably the same.


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## pyritechips (Jun 3, 2002)

Yes, John. My is a standard msdos.sys from my OS that I haven't fiddled with. As you can see, mine is from W98se, as indicated from the following line:

WinVer=4.10.2222


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Mmm ...

Ive just tried to edit mine,
and the PC has prevented me,
and given me the message:
"You cannot modify a read-only file"


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Cheers P.C. nice to see you are still here!

So, it looks like the 'attributes' will have to be turned off
and then turned back on!

I will have to have a look at it,
Unless Pyro knows what to do ... ... ?


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## pyritechips (Jun 3, 2002)

John: did you right click the file and click properties, then uncheck the *read only* box?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

John, you've got network and boot multi on that. Just go to the link I provided and copy and paste that one......I think you guys are trying to make this harder than it is. Or if the poster has a backup on on his hard drive, just rename it. 

His can't be hidden or read only, he's already edited it once


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

here is one that should work..........


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

i did the editing that should be correct but now i restart the laptop, and its a black screen with a blinking line, and i cant type and there is no C:\ or A:\ . All i could do is turn it on and off. I have no clue what happened. Maybe i need to reinstall windows but the laptop is old and does not have a cd-rom drive and i have no clue where to get the floppy.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

You need to boot with a boot disk, get to the a: prompt first.

Once there, put the floppy disk in with the edited file and type (be sure that is the only thing on the a: drive) 

copy *.* c:\


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Yes, you're quite right AcaCandy.

Alex, that doesnt sound good ...
What to do now AcaCandy ?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Excuse me, i seem to be a post behind ...


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

you could consider restoring the attributes,
not that it matters much.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

i dont have a boot disk only a startup disk and nobody i know has win 95 so noone can make me one


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

www.bootdisk.com


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Download one:

http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml

don't save it to floppy, save to desktop, double click and follow instructions.


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## pyritechips (Jun 3, 2002)

Go here and download the W98se OEM bootdisk (_don't_ get the one without RAMdrive):

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm


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## pyritechips (Jun 3, 2002)

DArn! Candy beat me to the punch again!


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

I like my link better, I think it is more user friendly


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

i downloaded the one that was win95 and 95a. i put it in my laptop then it said device driver not found: 'NOSPIN'
No valid CDROM device drivers selected.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Try the one for Win95b,
thats the usual one.


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## pyritechips (Jun 3, 2002)

Like i said, you should have got the w98se bootdisk- it is the best one and will work on all w9x systems. It has built-in CD-ROM drivers, which the W95 boot disk doesn't.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

ill try to download the win 98se bootdisk but once i put it in what do i do next


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

hows it going ?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

so far so bad


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

cheer up !


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

from what i recall,
when you have downloaded from the bootdisk site,
i think you have to 'open' it or run its 'self-expander'
or something like that .... its been so long ...

Pyritechips - is it something like that ... ?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

once you downloaded the bootdisk all u have to do is follow directions. But i dont know what i should do now that i have it on a disk.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

i have downloaded one


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

i downloaded 98se custom,
the one i have has a little pic of a blue floppy.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

when the A:\ comes up what am i suppose to do


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

I think that you run this download,
and make a boot disk from it.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

yes thats what you do i think.

Is that what you did ?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

it seems i am a post or two behind again


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

once i out the boot disk in the computer it does some loading then the A:\ appears. What am i suppose to do here.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

You now have a A> prompt, yes ?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

type cd C:


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

yes i have the a prompt but what do i do now


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

then try win


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

it says bad command or file name


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

what is a boot disk suppose to do anyway?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

what did you type at the A prompt ?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

i typed in win and cd C: just like u said


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

It will put sufficient DOS on to run quite a lot of stuff


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

cd C: [enter]


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

cd C: takes me to the C:> prompt


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

got to C drive yet ?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

dir/o/p


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

i dont know what u mean by C drive beacuse i only have a floppy drive but if u mean C:\> prompt then yes i am at the c prompt


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

you should get a few directories [DIR]
then the rest are files, in order


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

yes, the C: promp is ready to show you C drive


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

ok, dir/o/p worked just as u said now what should i do


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

could you get to chat ?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

i cant chat because my cookies are disabled and i dont know how to enable them.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

chat is along the top somewhere


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

oh,

this is just TSG chat,
give it a try ...


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

my chat doesnt work


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

the chat says that it cant recognize me


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

If I may interrupt all your fun here 


If you are finally at an a: prompt with the boot disk......do you have the edited msdos.sys file on another floppy disk?????????????


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

yes i copied the attachment to the floppy


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

OK.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

now what should i do


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

still here,
trying stuff


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

At the a: prompt, type

copy *.* c:\

and press enter
it should say 1 file copied

Watch the spacing.......space after the 'y' in copy and the last *

Of course that is with the floppy disk in the floppy drive that you have the msdos.sys file on


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

ok,

you tried 
win [enter]
yes ?

im glad AcaCandys back,
im getting tired,
its late here


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

ok the file was copied


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

what am i suppose to do now


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Ok, take the disk out of the drive and restart the computer....either by power off, then on, or CTRL-ALT-DEL


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

nothing happened. I restarted it and the screen is black and i cant type in it.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Restart again. Tell me everything that scrolls by........the only thing you copied to the hard drive was that msdos.sys file correct? The one that I uploaded here?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

And to be certain, there is no disk in the floppy drive right now, correct?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

the name of the file was msdox and it is the one that u uploaded


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Ah


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

yes there is no floopy disk in the drive


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Oh, ok, I thought you knew you had to use that to replace the msdos.sys file.

Don't worry, no biggie, we'll fix it.

Rename that file on your floppy 
Do you know how to do that? I just used john1's link and edited it.

Let me upload it again with the correct name, that will make it easier.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Here you go, put this one on the floppy instead. Get rid of the one you have and do the same thing with the copy *.* c:\

sorry, I should have caught that the first time


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

so i should rename it to msdos.sys and then put it on a floppy?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

as the file is there,
could it just be re-named in situ ?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

yes, rename it to msdos.sys and put it on a floppy.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

its in the pc (i think)


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

how about,
back to C:
ren (name)

try again ?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

overwrite ?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

ok i did what u told me


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

john, I'm going on the assumption that the poster isn't that versed in dos commands. I think it'll be easier if he just tries to redo what he has already successfully done.......


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Ok, did you go thru the copy command again? Do we have the 'new and improved' msdos.sys file on the c: drive now? If so, remove floppy and reboot/restart.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

i didnt use the win 95 boot up because the boot up was aborted so someone else told me to use win 98se boot up and now i cant find the file msdos.sys all there is is the file msdos.w40


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

It didnt let me overwrite it said access denied


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

It doesn't matter what boot disk you use, as long as you got to the a: prompt.

Once there, you will take out whatever boot disk you used, put the floppy disk in with the file msdosy.sys (double check to be sure that is what you called it).

Then type:

copy *.* c:\
and hit enter
You probably will be prompted to overwrite, say yes.

1 file copied

then restart.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

it said access denied


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

maybe its OK

access denied ?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

attrib -s -h -r

type that first, then try again.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

it wouldnt let me overwrite


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

is it 2k ?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

it still says access denied after i type in attrib -s -h -r


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

When you typed that, what happened next? You didn't get an error message did you?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

no i didnt get any error messages


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

ok, what happens if you try this.....

type

c:
and press enter
it changes the prompt to c:

type

del msdos.sys
and press enter

error message?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

it says file not found


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

are you sure you typed it correctly?

If so, if it's not found, you should be able to copy it to the hard drive.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Try it again, if still not found, put the floppy with that file (double check the spelling again!) in the floppy drive and change back to the a: prompt by typing

a:
and hit enter

at the a: prompt, type

copy *.* c:\
and press enter

it should say one file copied.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

i changed it to the c: prompt then typed del msdos.sys and it said file not found 

and the other time when it asked me to overwrite i typed yes and pushed enter and it said access denied 0 files copied


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

ok, try again, if the file is not found, you should be able to copy what you have......be sure of the spelling of the file you are trying to copy......be sure it's still not the old one.

do a dir on the a: drive to see what is there.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

when i type in edit and search through the files, i cant find msdos.sys the closest to msdos.sys is msdos.w40 MSDOS.W40 is the only file that starts with MSDOS. 
And when i type in edit msdos.sys, all these different symbols come up.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

when i type in dir on the a prompt, this comes up 

Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
MSDOS SYS 1,818 02-01-90 10:16p
1 file(s) 1,818 bytes
0 dir(s) 1,455,616 bytes free


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

ah, you need to rename it again. It should be msdos.sys with the dot. That could/would appear to be the problem.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

am i suppose to rename the actuall file that u sent me


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

When you renamed it to copy it to the floppy, it appears you renamed it incorrectly. The file I sent you needs to be named

msdos.sys

it should appear on the floppy disk the same way.


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

im sorry that it took me so long to answer because i got knocked off


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

when i clicked on my computer and floppy, it sid 1 hidden file and i couldnt see any files inside of the floppy


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

hows it going ?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

not so good. Noones helping me and where i live its already 1:12 AM


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

i have to get to bed soon,
meanwhile,
could you get back to the C: prompt ?


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

i got back only with the boot up disk


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

good.
I think.
are you saying you got back to C: using the bootdisk?
or
are you - not ?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

could you get back to the C: prompt using the bootdisk ?


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## e-liam (Jun 19, 2003)

Morning all,

Sorry if this is a bit lame, but there were several times mentioned where access was denied when trying to overwrite the msdos.sys file on the floppy.

Just a thought, but has the tab been slid across on the floppy?

That would deny access, and nothing could be done until it was slid back.

Just a thought,

Cheers

Liam


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Open Windows explorer, go to the top, view, folder options, view, then under hidden files, be sure to select show all files.

Sorry about last night, it was late.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Evenin' all


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## alex3266 (Jul 26, 2003)

thanx acacandy for the tip but i didnt solve the problem and probably wont. Thats what ahappens when ur not an experienced computer user like me.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Hi Alex,
ive just got here,
Whats the position now ?
John


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Alex,

Can you get to the C: prompt?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

If you can,
could you put
*edit msdos.sys* then enter.

This pic is from a Dos box in windows,
not just Dos, but the black bit is the same.
I dont think i can get a pic of a proper Dos screen.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

That should bring up the Dos Edit screen,
like the pic below,
Chances are you wont be able to actually edit it,
cos of the attributes,
but have a look and see what it says.

It should be pretty much the same,
well except for the windows edging anyway.


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