Program Group File Format Differences with MS-DOS Shell (73406)

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 Q73406

SUMMARY

MS-DOS Shell versions 5.0 and later use a different file format to save program group information than MS-DOS 4.x Shell does.

MORE INFORMATION

MS-DOS 5.0 and later Shell uses one file (DOSSHELL.INI) in a text format to store all of the information about Shell, including program groups. MS-DOS 4.0 Shell uses a SHELL.MEU for the Main group and creates a separate file (*.MEU) for each additional program group. .MEU files are in an undocumented binary format. The two formats are incompatible with one another, and you must re-create the program groups in MS-DOS 5.0 and later Shell that you had in MS-DOS 4.0 Shell.

PC-DOS version 5.0 includes a utility, MEU2INI.EXE, to convert the .MEU files to .INI files. For more information about converting .MEU files to .INI files, query on the following words:

PC-DOS and 5.0 and Shell

Modification Type:

Major

Last Reviewed:

5/12/2003

Keywords:

KB73406