Bypassing the 'Welcome to MS-DOS QBasic' Window (72740)


The information in this article applies to:

  • 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 Q72740

SUMMARY

When you start the QBasic interpreter, the first screen will contain a window with the message "Welcome to MS-DOS QBasic" with additional lines following. To prevent this window from appearing when running QBasic, use the following command, where /run is optional but the filename must be specified:

qbasic [/run] [[drive:][path]filename]

MORE INFORMATION

More specifically, only the following three commands will start QBasic without displaying an initial message window: 
   Command                               Comments
   -------                               --------

   qbasic /run [valid qbasic filename]   Runs an existing QBasic program

   qbasic [valid qbasic filename]        Loads an existing QBasic
                                         program displaying the program
                                         lines

   qbasic [nonexistent filename]         Loads a non-existent file
                                         displaying a blank editing
                                         screen
Running QBasic using the /run switch or loading a valid QBasic program guarantees no initial window but does not guarantee a blank first screen. Only using the third command, which specifies the path of a filename that does not exist, will bring up the initial editing screen blank.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:5/12/2003
Keywords:KB72740
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