When I boot up, I get a momentary message "Invalid file setting: MS-DOS: double buffer" right before the windows ME screen comes on...windows seems to run okay...is this something I have to fix?...is so how? Thanks.

JC

I'm not familiar with WinME, but I'm guessing there is a line in your config.sys file that is setting the MS-DOS double buffer command. Did you upgrade to ME from an earlier version of Windows? Is your computer an older model? Unless there is something about your system setup that requires double buffering, I'm not sure why that command would even be there. If you would post back with more specific information about your system it would help us figure out what's going on.

You can try editing the config.sys file by going to Start, Run, and typing in sysedit [OK]. If you see a line in config.sys about double buffer, type rem and one space at the beginning of that line (i.e.,rem device=whatever). Save and exit the config.sys file, then restart your computer to see if the error message is gone.

Hope this helps...
Kim

I have a newly built computer with a Intel D815EEA motherboard and a PIII 800/133 CPU. I initially upgraded with Win 98 and then again with Win ME. I believe the message initially appearred when I was using Win 98 and had to reboot several times during an attempted installation of a SCSI PCI card (Another story, maybe I can get help with later). The actual message I get is "Invalid file in MSDOD.sys: Double Buffer".

Can you please clarify your instructions to correct the problem..what do I need to type in and where do I need the space? Thanks.

JC

rem_device=whatever replace the underscore ( _ ) with a space.

Rem means remark, and is lots better than deleting the line, since you can easily re-add it later if needed. It tells the machine to ignore that line. Make sure you save your changes before closing sysedit. A semicolon ( ; ) will work too, and is normally used in .ini files.

Just so you'll know, the autoexec.bat, config.sys and any .ini file can be edited using notepad as well, provided you know where to find the file...

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When I run the system configuration editor, the windowC:\config.sys is blank...I didn't see a reference to a "double buffer" in any of the other windows...is that window supposed to be blank?...or is that the window in which I type the command?

JC

Config.sys is usually blank in Windows, since it normally isn't used, except in a few cases to initialize mouse or CD ROM drivers to be used in DOS. Same for autoexec.bat, which will also sometimes have a path statement pointing to fax software.

Try looking in MSDOS.SYS and see if you can find a reference line pointing to double buffer. Here's a copy of mine, it's found in the root directory of C drive, and can be edited with notepad, or the DOS edit command.

;FORMAT
[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
BootMulti=1
BootGUI=1
DoubleBuffer=1
AutoScan=1
WinVer=4.10.1998

Changing the 1 to a 0 in the doublebuffer line should turn it off. Copy the file to a floppy before changing it so it can be easily replaced if necessary.

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One more novice question...how to I check the "MSDOS.sys"...do I get there?
Thanks,

JC

MSDOS.SYS is located in the root directory of C drive, in Windows use Windows Explorer, and set the properties to show all files. Notepad will edit it. Right click msdos.sys and click "Open With" then check Notepad, and uncheck the box at bottom that says "Always Open With". You can also open notepad, and set it to all files instead of just txt files, and find it that way.

In DOS, type edit_msdos.sys replacing the underscore ( _ ) with a space. [Alt] [F] [S] will save changes, [Alt] [F] [X] will exit the DOS editor. Do this from the C:\> prompt.

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Pete,
I found the following note in windows...I thought I should leave it alone after reading it...thanks again.

JC

DBLBUFF.SYS - DOUBLE BUFFERING
==============================

DBLBUFF.SYS loads the Dblbuff.sys device driver to perform
double-buffering. Double-buffering provides compatibility
for many hard disk controllers during real-mode MS-DOS
booting. Once the 32-bit native Windows 98 drivers are
loaded, the real-mode double buffering is no longer used.

Double buffering does not affect system performance once
32-bit disk drivers are loaded. Although it can add
approximately one-half second to boot time, if your system
has this set, it is probably needed to ensure the data
integrity of your hard disk. Removing this setting when
it is needed can cause data corruption on your disk. If
this is set in your MSDOS.SYS file by Windows 98 Second
Edition setup, you should not remove it.

If Windows Setup determines that your system may
need double-buffering, it adds a DoubleBuffer=1 entry
to the [Options] section of MSDOS.SYS, so that
DBLBUFF.SYS loads automatically. To manually set up
double-buffering, you can either add the above entry
to MSDOS.SYS or add a DEVICE command in your CONFIG.SYS

Good find, I wasn't aware of that. I know when troubleshooting Start Up errors, Double Buffer is one of the things to leave in Step by Step Confirmation, but wasn't aware of what it actually did. I'm glad you found that, could have caused things to get worse. And I learned something new too, before I've even been awake 2 hours!

I guess if the computer seems to be working ok, you could just let it be...sure is annoying to have any kind of error message lurking around like that though...

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