Did a clean install of W98 on a HD. Went to Start>Run>SysEdit to look at the AUTOEXEC.BAT, and I was told that all that is there is the default AUTOEXEC.BAT from the boot diskette. CONFIG.SYS is blank, there is nothing in it!! I think I need some help. How does one get the proper entries in there? Appreciate your assistance.

Here's a possible reason for your situation... Windows 9x doesn't require config.sys or autoexec.bat. But as you install other programs, they will add lines to those files... Mostly (I think) so stuff like your sound card and CD can be used in DOS mode.

What specifically do you want to put in them? Windows 98, by default, doesn't require any entries.

Ditto: Win 9.X does not require anything in Autoexec.bat or Config.Sys. They are retains from the old Win 3.1X days. Right again, some device install programs will write to these files so you can play DOS games and such...but who needs DOS games these days?????? Anyway, there are two ways, to answer your question, to write entries into Autoexec.bat and Config.sys. 1). Open Notepad (drag an icon to your desktop from the Windows directory). Open Notepad and write your DOS command lines into it and then use the SAVE AS menu choice and save As: c:\Autoexec.bat And or c:\Config.sys Depending, of course, on which file you are working on. 2). Method 2: Goto Start--->>Run and enter the following term: SYSEDIT This directly opens up both your Autoexec.bat and Config.Sys files. You can modify and save any changes. If you are an old DOS hand like I am, I prefer using Notepad, as its quick and dirty and does the job. And not only that, but you can write ANY batch file you want (ending of BAT) using Notepad. Ha ha ha haha, I still have all of my old DOS manuals going all the way back to DOS 3.1 A lot of the old time DOS commands which were really useful and neat have been gotten rid of by Microsoft. I think its a BIG mistake myself, and its one of the MAIN reasons why I will not upgrade to Windows ME. I still use DOS, mainly to FDISK, FORMAT and then install the O/S. I am not sure how you recover from a crash under ME, or if you have a virus infection and need to clean the computer from DOS, or whatever... I am seriously thinking of Linux just because, I don't like Microsoft making my decisions for me about what I will or will not like....DOS is still VERY useful, at least to me...but one thing I have given up, are OLD DOS games... Good luck...P.S., better know just exactly how to write DOS command lines before you try things out. If you write something to Autoexec.bat, it may hang your computer on bootup if it is an illegal command. Just thought I would warn you. Be prepared, by having a system disk that boots to A: so you can use the delete command to delete the autoexc.bat file in case of a hangup. By the way, the way to use this command is: DEL c:\AUTOEXEC.BAT BE CAREFUL!!!! This is a dangerous command. It will delete anything on a computer.

AND, anytime you plan to edit the autoexec.bat and config.sys, make a copy of them!!! You might find yourself not able to boot up and if you have these two files on a floppy, you can save your butt by copying them back onto the system. Here's how: Insert a floppy in the floppy drive. At a C:\> prompt (such as click start/programs/ms-dos prompt) type "copy c:config.sys a:config.sys" (without quotations), or type "copy c:autoexec.bat a:autoexec.bat" (without quotations) To restore, just reverse the command; for example, type "copy a:config.sys c:config.sys" (without quotations). You can also just rename the files (I don't really recommend this if you are exploring unknown territory! If you have to boot from a floppy and don't know how to restore from drive c: - bummer!) Here's how: At a C:\> prompt, enter "copy autoexec.bat autoexec.bak" (or what ever suits your fancy for the second file extension). Same with the config.sys file. Personally, I'd say that saving to a floppy is a much safer route to go - then you will have several paths to recover your system from :-).

I always upgrade from win 3.1 when installing win 98. Before installing I run memmaker in dos to maximize the lower 640K where older dos programs need to run. Also when exiting to dos the cd drivers are properly loaded. Otherwise the cd is not recognized because win 98 drivers are dropped when going to dos.