DOS ain't dead

How to put COMMENTS in MS-DOS CONFIG.SYS? (Users)

posted by CluelessInSeattl, Seattle, USA, 28.02.2013, 17:04

I'm trying to debug a complicated COW (can-of-worms) consisting of multi-level nesting of batch files and text editor macros. This particular COW had been working fine for weeks until a few days ago when it just crashed mid-execution.

I suspect the problem may be coming from my AUTOEXEC.BAT file, because I noticed that its date-stamp is the same day that my COW stopped working. But in my old age, my memory is so poor these days that I have no recollection of having made any changes to AUTOEXEC.BAT.

But, I digress.

In the course of trying to isolate the bug that caused my COW to crash, I've been editing the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and then rebooting. Each time I do this I have to wait while HIMEM.SYS runs a memory test.

I'd like to edit my CONFIG.SYS file so that it has two HIMEM.SYS lines and then REM one of them out, depending on whether or not I want the memory test at boot up. I'd also like to insert a comment explaining why I did it (Because with my poor memory I won't be able remember the next day why I put two HIMEM.SYS lines in my CONFIG.SYS file).

Checking around, I seem to have found that the comment marker for DOS 6.21 is the semi-colon [;]. Is that right?

But I also found something interesting in a Wikipedia article on CONFIG.SYS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCONFIG.SYS

"COMMENT (DOS 4.0 and higher and RxDOS, ignored under DR-DOS 7.02 and higher)
Redefines the lead-in character(s) for CONFIG.SYS inline-comments, or causes the following line to be ignored."

This suggests to me that there might be a way to substitute the colon [:] character for the semi-colon in my CONFIG.SYS file.

Is that right? If so, then I'd be grateful if someone could tell me how to accomplish that.

Is there any reason why I shouldn't try using the colon character as a comment marker in CONFIG.SYS files?

---
Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"
Running MS-DOS 6.21

Complete thread:

• How to put COMMENTS in MS-DOS CONFIG.SYS? - CluelessInSeattl, 28.02.2013, 17:04 (Users)
  • How to put COMMENTS in MS-DOS CONFIG.SYS? - Rugxulo, 28.02.2013, 19:58
    • How to put COMMENTS in MS-DOS CONFIG.SYS? - CluelessInSeattl, 28.02.2013, 21:36