HOWTO: Perform a "Clean Boot" for FoxPro

ID: Q95314

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 2.0, 2.5, 2.6, 2.6a

SUMMARY

A "clean boot" (rebooting the computer after all unnecessary commands have been removed from your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files) is used as a basic troubleshooting step to test possible conflicts between FoxPro and various terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs and device drivers.

MORE INFORMATION

Before clean booting, do the following:

Create a startup disk that contains the MS-DOS system files and any other files that are required to make the system operational, such as disk-compression utilities (for example, Stacker), disk- partitioning drivers (for example, Disk Manager), the MS-DOS search path to your FoxPro files (for example, PATH = C:\DOS;C:\FOXPRO2), and other third-party device drivers.

If disk-partitioning, disk-compression, or other third-party software is required to boot the computer, the startup files on the disk created above should appear as follows:

CONFIG.SYS AUTOEXEC.BAT

FILES=60 PROMPT $P$G

BUFFERS=20 PATH = C:\DOS;C:\FOXPRO2

<Third-party disk-partitioning software>

<Third-party disk-compression driver>

<Other third-party drivers>

NOTE: For more information on what to remove and what not to remove, see "Drivers That Should Not Be Removed" and "Items That Should Be Removed" below.

Rename the FOXUSER.DBF and FOXUSER.FPT files.

Either run FoxPro with the -C switch to avoid loading the CONFIG.FP file, or rename the CONFIG.FP file.

CONFIG.SYS	AUTOEXEC.BAT
FILES=60	PROMPT $P$G
BUFFERS=20	PATH = C:\DOS;C:\FOXPRO2

Drivers That Shouldn't Be Removed

The following are examples of drivers that SHOULD NOT be removed; they are used when the computer is turned on to make the hard disk accessible. This is not a complete list, but it does include frequently used drivers:

Hard Disk Drivers:

SQY55.SYS, SSTBIO.SYS, SSTDRIVE.SYS, AH1544.SYS, ILIM386.SYS, ASPI4DOS.SYS, SCSIHA.SYS, SCSIDSK.EXE, SKYDRVI.SYS, ATDOSXL.SYS, NONSTD.SYS

Disk-Partitioning Software:

DMDRVR.BIN, SSTOR.SYS, HARDRIVE.SYS, EDVR.SYS, FIXT_DRV.SYS, LDRIVE.SYS, ENHDISK.SYS

Disk-Compression Utilities:

STACKER.COM, SSWAP.COM, SSTOR.EXE, DEVSWAP.COM

NOTE: The products listed above are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.

If you do not know the purpose of a device driver or program, DO NOT remove it. Most device drivers and programs display a message describing their purpose when they are initialized.

Items That Should Be Removed

A clean boot DOES NOT include the following items:

DOS=HIGH,UMB - Third-party disk caches

EMM386.EXE - Various third-party TSRs

INSTALL=SHARE.EXE - CONFIG.FP

INSTALL=FASTOPEN.EXE - Virus checkers

Third-party memory managers - Drivers for scanners/fax

RAM disk devices - Drivers for CD-ROM/network

JOIN, GRAPHICS, PRINT, SUBST, APPEND - Tape backup spoolers/redirectors/ buffers

MODE for printer redirection - Data-acquisition units

Multiple PATH statements - Keyboard accelerators/buffers

MS-DOS-level mouse drivers

Third-party MS-DOS shells - 4DOS, NDOS, etc

Additional query words: FoxDos tshoot


Keywords          : 
Version           : MS-DOS:2.0,2.5,2.6,2.6a
Platform          : MS-DOS 
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: April 13, 1999