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:

  1. In your AUTOEXEC.BAT batch file, copy the file COMMAND.COM to the RAMDrive.
  2. Set the COMSPEC environment variable to point to the copy of COMMAND.COM on the RAMDrive.
  3. 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:MajorLast Reviewed:5/12/2003
Keywords:KB33111
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