How to Boot to a Command Prompt by Default

ID: Q141721

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article describes how to configure Windows to boot to a command prompt automatically.


MORE INFORMATION

To configure Windows to boot to a command prompt automatically, follow these steps:

  1. Restart your computer. For Windows 95, when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, and then choose Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu. For Windows 98, press and hold down the CTRL key after your computer completes the Power On Self Test (POST), and then choose Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu.


  2. Type the following lines. Press ENTER after each line:

    attrib -s -h -r msdos.sys
    edit msdos.sys


  3. Change the line that reads

    BootGUI=1

    to read:

    BootGUI=0



  1. Save the Msdos.sys file and then close the editor.


  2. Type the following line, and then press ENTER:

    attrib +s +h +r msdos.sys


  3. Restart your computer.


When the computer restarts, it automatically boots to a command prompt. To load the Windows graphical user interface (GUI), type win at the command prompt.

Additional query words: 98 


Keywords          : kbenv win95 winshell win98 
Version           : 95 98
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: January 27, 1999