DOCUMENT:Q78846  22-NOV-1999  [msdos]
TITLE   :Incomplete DEVICE Line in CONFIG.SYS Causes Screen Garbage
PRODUCT :Microsoft Disk Operating System
PROD/VER:MS-DOS:5.0
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft MS-DOS operating system version 5.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

If random characters, symbols, words, and half sentences are displayed and the
machine beeps when booting MS-DOS 5.0, an incomplete DEVICE statement may exist
in the CONFIG.SYS file.

This problem can be solved by removing this line from the CONFIG.SYS.

MORE INFORMATION
================

For example, the following CONFIG.SYS file would exhibit the problem described
above:

   Files=30
   Buffers=20
   Device=
   Device=c:\dos\himem.sys
   Shell=c:\dos\command.com c:\dos /p /e:512

(Note that the third line, Device=, is incomplete.) Incomplete sentences and
other partially readable output may be displayed. The expected error message for
this line would be:

   ERROR IN CONFIG.SYS LINE #X

The above message may or may not be part of the erratic output.

Additional query words: 5.00 noupd

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbMSDOSSearch kbMSDOS500
Version           : MS-DOS:5.0

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