I am creating a multi-choice menu on a floppy disk, through the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, using the standard DOS [MENU] command. Something like this:

[MENU]
MENUDEFAULT=UBDLFN,6
MENUITEM=UBD,Ultimate Boot Disk menu
MENUITEM=UBDLFN,Ultimate Boot Disk + Long File Name support
MENUITEM=UBDUSB,Ultimate Boot Disk + USB flash drive / floppy support

My problem is that the top of the menu is always entitled:

"Windows 98 Startup Menu"

I really, REALLY want to change this default menu to something else in order to make it look professional. Unfortunately, there does NOT seem to be a "MENUTITLE" command or anything like it. (I really looked, but there is no such command.)

I suspect this has everything to do with how I copied the system files to the blank floppy using the SYS command. I think that one of the system files copied is slightly modified to tell DOS that it is running off of a Windows 98 Startup Disk and not through a normal Windows 98 runtime environment. However, I am at a loss on how to change my floppy to tell it otherwise.

I did notice that the MSDOS.SYS file on the floppy originally contained this:

;SYS

Anotherwords, DOS is told this was coppied via the SYS command. And I know that the Windows 98 MSDOS.SYS is very different and that the MSDOS on other floppies are often different. So, I changed my floppy MSDOS.SYS to this:

;ULTIMATE BOOT DISK v3.4
;

Unfortunately, this did NOT change anything.
Please help.

"The ruling class has the schools & press under its thumb. This enables it to sway the emotions of the masses." -- Einstein

If you want to change the default menu title, the only choice you have is to edit with an hex editor the string

Windows 98 Startup Menu

That is contained in the IO.SYS file as far as I remember. I did that *for personal use* long time ago, but pay attention that manipulating MS software is not legal at all.

Any way the hacking operation is straightforward using as said a plain DOS hex editor like FED.

Windows 98 Startup Menu

is in io.sys

You can try editing it but if it checks itself for changes, all bets are off.

=====================================
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.

M2

Hi IVO,

I need to type faster. Or think faster LOL.

I never found a hex editor I liked. Got a link to FED?

=====================================
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.

M2

Thanks for that! I'll see if it will work for me.

BTW: I wrote that late last night while I was tired. I noticed now how silly my comments about MSDOS.SYS seem now. That is, the fact that ";SYS" was in my MSDOS.SYS file shouldn't make any difference. I forgot that anything following a semicolen is ignored as a comment.

It's a shame that it comes down to HACKING a MS-DOS file. Goes to show how backwards some M$ products are. I figure now that if I were to share my boot floppy it would be best to use FreeDOS instead. I don't believe that FreeDOS would show a silly "Windows 98 Startup Menu" message, either.

Mechanix2Go,

Just try a search engine! There are countless relevant links to FRED and "Free Hex Editor" and which version to choose depends on your OS and needs.

Here's one exclusively for Win 2000/XP/Vista:

Free Hex Editor Neo

http://www.hhdsoftware.com/Products...

And here's an UNRELATED hex editor that works under most any Windows flavor:

Freeware Hex Editor XVI32

http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delp...

Personally, I prefer using FRED (Free Hex Editor) version 1.0.155, which is a much older version that runs on Windows 98 (among others). Can't find a working link for this at the moment, though.

"The ruling class has the schools & press under its thumb. This enables it to sway the emotions of the masses." -- Einstein

Hi bsperan,

thanks for the info you gave to my friend M2 about hex eds as to find a link to FED is much like to discover the Holy Graal (and that is no so precious).

About FreeDOS which I support and like, its multi config menu is quite raw even if you can tailor it with a bit of ingenuity. Nothing to do with MS menu however.

Thanks for the link to XVI32. I have been using A.X.E. for a long time, but XVI32 sounds interesting, especially since it gets the green award at TinyApps.org.

Sometimes I use edit.com /nn from Win 9x / NT5+ for hex-editing. I only do this as a last resort when I do not have better tools around (or when I'm already booted into DOS.)