I realized that if you have a doskey macro defined and if you input that macro string as input for any set /p varname= command, later on varname contains the alias of your input. NOT your input! see: C:\holla\bat\t>doskey fit=dir C:\holla\bat\t>doskey xla=cls C:\holla\bat\t>set /p llll=Macro1? Macro1?xla C:\holla\bat\t>echo %llll% cls C:\holla\bat\t>set /p llll=Macro2? Macro2?fit C:\holla\bat\t>echo %llll% dir C:\holla\bat\t>set /p llll=Macro3? Macro3?DoesNotExist C:\holla\bat\t>echo %llll% DoesNotExist C:\holla\bat\t> -- Holla.[Edited to remove some confusion]

I think this may be a result of the way set /p is handled. Set /p appears to mimic a command line, which is of course evident in your example. The reason that leads me to this idea is the way input into a set /p command becomes part of the recent command list whilst at the command line. Perhaps doskey "thinks" it's being asked to supply the information attatched to the alias because set /p appears to be the command processor. Of course this is just speculation......