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From: funkstr@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Larry Hastings)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.apps
Subject: Re: Desqview and 4Dos
Message-ID: <11542@darkstar.ucsc.edu>
Date: 25 Jan 91 06:50:13 GMT
References: <1991Jan24.191946.1@cbrown.claremont.edu>
Sender: usenet@darkstar.ucsc.edu
Organization: Knowledge Dynamics Corporation
Lines: 34


+-In article <1991Jan24.191946.1@cbrown.claremont.edu>,
| dhosek@cbrown.claremont.edu (Don Hosek) wrote:
|
| I noticed while reading through the Desqview documentation that
| it needs to have command.com in the root directory of the boot
| disk. Does this mean that it won't work with 4Dos? Just thought
| I'd check before I ordered my copy.
|
+----------

No, DESQview works fine with 4Dos.  However, DESQview appears to pay no
heed to the COMSPEC environment variable, which is why it needs COMMAND.COM
in the root directory of the boot disk.

You'd think that you'd have complete control of whether DESQview used
COMMAND.COM or 4DOS.COM, but that's not true.  You can change the "Big Dos"
and "D1" and "D3" programs to run 4DOS.COM (and in fact I recommend it) but
those are not the only places that DESQview will load a command processor.
You see, if the program you're loading doesn't have a complete path specified,
or doesn't have a .com or .exe extension, DESQview loads a command processor.
Since it apparently doesn't pay attention to COMSPEC, it always goes to
COMMAND.COM in the root of the hard disk.

So, to answer your question, it works just dandy, except that you won't always
be using 4DOS.  Now that you've brought the subject up, I think I'll call it in
to QOS technical support.  I'm sure they've heard it before, but it can't hurt
to let them hear it again.
--
larry hastings, the galactic funkster, funkstr@ucscb.ucsc.edu

I don't speak for Knowledge Dynamics or UC Santa Cruz, nor do they speak for me

"It's Fonzie with Tourette's syndrome!" --Dennis Miller on Andrew Dice Clay