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In order to use a CD-ROM Drive, yourcomputer must first have a CD-ROM software driver installed. Thisis usually supplied with the drive but may not necessarily havebeen installed. The CD-ROM software driver is normally suppliedon a floppy disk and includes a SETUP or INSTALL program.Following installation, the CD-ROM software driver is normallyloaded at system startup time via a series of entries in themachine's C:\CONFIG.SYS & C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT files.For example:

The first /D: switch is the drive number, which must bethe same in both config.sys and autoexec.bat. In the aboveexample its "/D:mscd001". (If you had 2 drivesfitted the second may be /D:mscd002) The /l:D switch setsa drive letter for your CD-ROM. (In this case Drive D:\)You can make this anything you want after your Hard Drives thatis not taken, but make sure you put a "LASTDRIVE=" lineat the end of config.sys to allow for enough environmental space.This can be made as the letter after your last drive in use (i.e.=F) as each letter used, uses a small piece of availableenvironment. (LASTDRIVE=Z would enable ALL available DriveLetters) In this example HIMEM.SYS is used to load driver intoupper memory block.

Dos Cd Rom Driver Download

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Windows 95 does not need a CD-ROM Driverinstalled as above, as it installs its own driver. However youmay want to install a DOS Driver in this way to enable you to useyour CD-ROM at the DOS Prompt. Remember that Windows 95 storesits DOS files at C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND not C:\DOS as in olderversions!

CD-ROM God v5.5 CD-ROM God Ver 5.5 is a boot disk that has 50+ CD-ROMdrivers.(Including SCSI) It has basic ATAPI drivers, and modelspecific drivers. This version unzips drivers to a ramdrive! Ithas a better - sleeker - shareware free menu. This disk usesDEVICE.COM to load. This way you won't have to re-boot a milliontimes! ISO-9660 CD Support and SMARTDRV.EXE

Bootdisk Page A selection of DOSBootdisks with Add-On IDE & SCSI CD-ROM Drivers.Note TheMS-DOS 6.22 Emergency Boot Disk (EBD) has been replaced on thissite with the Bootdisk Project Files, to give a wider selectionof MS-DOS versions and to include both IDE & SCSI driverswhile reducing download size and web storage space..

Have a nice selection of CD-ROM Bootdisks that will start mostsystems. The Autoexec.bat & Config.sys files and drivers canbe copied and used to start your system, Or in the case ofWindows 95/98, To start your CD-ROM to install Windows.

Hello all, I seem to be having some trouble getting DOS to recognize the CD-ROM in my Packard Bell. I am using some generic ATAPI dos drivers I found figuring it should work seeing as that's what windows looks at it as. So when I installed these drivers they went to the folder "C:\CDROM\" and it auto edited my Autoexec.bat and Config.sys. However when I boot into dos I still cannot use the drive and I checked the Autoexec.bat and it has this in it: "LH C:\CDROM\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD000 /L:D" and the Config.sys contains this : "DEVICEHIGH=C:\CDROM\GSCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD000" which to me looks correct since the driver is called GSCDROM.sys and is in that file.

I am in the process of installing a C++ compiler on this computer (see Install C++ compiler on old MS-DOS computer with floppies for more details). To facilitate that installation, I am attempting to install a CD-ROM drive. The drive is a Top Glory Electronics BCD G621D. I have found the correct driver ( =349099) and have followed the instructions in the manual (included in the driver download) to connect the drive to the system and install the software.

However, a problem has occurred. After installing the driver and restarting the system, one of two things happen 1. Information about the driver is displayed. 2. An unusually large cursor flashes on-screen.

The problem appears to be caused by the line in CONFIG.SYS. When I boot MS-DOS from a floppy disk rather than the HD and remove that line from the file, the computer works just fine when I reboot from the HD. (Of course, MSCDEX.EXE cannot access the device, as the driver is not loaded).

This leads me to believe that I have the drive and its driver set up correctly. However, that does not help me considering that I am unable to do anything with the computer once the driver loads. Does anybody know how I would be able to gain access to the MS-DOS prompt and use the computer while the driver is loaded?

If the problem is the CONFIG.SYS driver, try changing it. I don't know just what DriverGuide offered you, but there are some drivers that tended to work on almost all drives, and use up far less conventional memory than most other CD drivers. See:TOOGAM's Software Archive: CD drivers for DOS for details. Because conventional memory was often important in DOS, I would be fairly try those drivers in just about any case, even if official manufacturer's drivers weren't causing stability issues. Confix.sys can also be useful, allowing you to echo messages and pause bootup during config.sys processing. This may really help you confirm that the config.sys line is what is causing stability issues.

Your sample config.sys output shows quite a lot of IRQ info. Hardware conflicts can cause symptoms like what you describe: where the second time the computer boots then things don't initialize as desired. If you continue to have problems with different drivers, make sure that there's no conflicts of I/O address or IRQs (or DMA). That was a common source of problems with computers in that era, and can typically be fixed for free by just figuring out what hardware (or possibly driver) needs to have settings be changed.

To access a CD-ROM drive when you boot to a Windows command prompt or restart the computer in MS-DOS mode, you must load the real-mode CD-ROM driver in the Config.sys file and the MSCDEX driver in the Autoexec.bat or Dosstart.bat file. If your CD-ROM drive is supported in protected mode in Windows, the real-mode CD-ROM and MSCDEX drivers are most likely not being loaded in the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat or Dosstart.bat files on the hard disk. In addition, if you boot from a floppy disk, the CD-ROM and MSCDEX drivers will not load unless you manually configure the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files on the floppy disk to load them.

Under MS-DOS, two files are needed to access a CD-ROM drive: thedriver for that particular drive (provided by the manufacturer) andMSCDEX.EXE, which is included with MS-DOS 6.x and all versions ofWIN95/98.The CD-ROM driver is loaded on bootup through CONFIG.SYS. MSCDEX.EXEis loaded on bootup through AUTOEXEC.BAT.AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS must both be located in the root directoryof the boot drive, which may be a floppy drive (A:) or the first harddrive (C:). A PC will normally boot from drive C: unless there is abootable disk in drive A:, in which case it will boot from that disk.AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS are both plain text files, which may becreated and/or edited with any text editor, such as EDIT, which isprovided with MS-DOS 6.x and all versions of WIN95/98. To create or edit CONFIG.SYS in the root of drive C:, typeEDIT CONFIG.SYS at the C:\> prompt. This may require that the EDITcommand is present in the root directory or in a directory in thepath or on a boot disk. Note that the EDIT.COM file with MS-DOS 6.xis only part of the editor - it actually uses QBASIC.EXE as aneditor, so that file must be present as well. With WIN95/98, thisis no longer true - EDIT.COM is the only file needed for the editorin WIN95/98.The line to add to CONFIG.SYS would be:DEVICE = C:\CDROM\driver.sys /D:MSCD001(substitute the name of the driver for driver.sys in above example)This assumes that there is a directory C:\CDROM and that the CD-ROMdriver is located in this directory. You may need to create thisdirectory and copy the driver to it. The /D: parameter is required.The D stands for device (has nothing to do with drive letter assignedto CD-ROM drive). The label after the colon can be any string as longas it matches the /D: label that is used on the MSCDEX line inAUTOEXEC.BAT. Also, this string cannot be a directory or file name.Some drivers may require additional parameters to indicate the portaddress and/or IRQ for the IDE interface where the CD-ROM drive isconnected.To create or edit AUTOEXEC.BAT in the root of drive C:, typeEDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT at the C:\> prompt. The line to add to AUTOEXEC.BAT would be:C:\CDROM\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001This assumes that there is a directory called CDROM and thatMSCDEX.EXE is present there. MSCDEX.EXE may also be located in the DOSdirectory or (on WIN95/98 systems) in the WINDOWS\COMMAND directory.The /D: parameter is required. The D stands for device (has nothing todo with drive letter assigned to CD-ROM drive). The label after thecolon can be any string as long as it matches the /D: label that isused on the CD-ROM driver line in CONFIG.SYS.After adding the above lines to AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS on theboot drive, reboot the system and see if the CD-ROM drive isaccessible. Test by inserting a CD-ROM into the drive (not anaudio CD such as would be played in a stereo system) and do aDIR listing for that drive letter. If a DIR listing shows fileson the CD-ROM, then the driver and MSCDEX loaded successfully.Also, watch for error messages from CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT onbootup. An error such a "Bad command or filename" indicates thatthere is a spelling error in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT or aspecified file or directory does not exist. An error messagefrom MSCDEX may indicate that the driver in CONFIG.SYS did notsuccessfully load, since it must load before MSCDEX will load. Sometimes the CD-ROM driver will give a specific error message,perhaps indicating that it cannot find the drive. This may indicatethat the drive is not working or is not correctly installed or itmay be that the driver requires some additional parameters on the linein CONFIG.SYS to tell it where the drive is.Some CD-ROM drives come with a diskette that has an automaticinstallation program to install the needed driver. This disketteusually includes MSCDEX.EXE. It may be preferable to just run theinstallation program rather than following the above manualinstallation instructions. In many cases, the installation programsprovided with CD-ROM drives have limitations or bugs, in which casethe manual installation approach should work. Normally, the driver forthe CD-ROM drive will be present on the diskette, perhaps in asubdirectory. In some cases the driver may be contained in acompressed file used by the install program. The driver will normallybe a file with an extension of SYS.If the driver for a particular CD-ROM drive has been lost, it is usually possible to download a driver from the manufacturer's web site. It may be necessary to open the case and have a look at thedrive (which may require removing it) to determine the brand andmodel.If you are installing a driver to access a CD-ROM drive just toinstall WIN95/98, you may be able to disable the driver after Windowsis installed. WIN95/98 automatically supports most ATAPI CD-ROMdrives. WIN95/98 will often change the path to MSCDEX.EXE inAUTOEXEC.BAT and may REM this line out. Usually, even though thedriver is not required, it will not be disabled by the WIN95/98installation. To disable the driver, edit CONFIG.SYS and add theletters REM (followed by a space) to the front of the line inCONFIG.SYS that loads the CD-ROM driver.A WIN98 Startup disk may be able to access an ATAPI CD-ROM driveautomatically, without having to configure any drivers for it.ATAPI CD-ROM drives must be correctly jumpered as master or slave.Also, any other drives on the same cable must also be correctlyjumpered as master or slave. Refer to manufacturers documentation orwebsite for jumper info. Also, the colored edge of the ribbon cablemust be matched to PIN 1 where it connects to the drive and to the IDEinterface.CD-ROM drives are not normally set up in CMOS setup. The setting forthe drive would normally be left at NONE or NOT INSTALLED. Somenewer BIOSes will have a setting for ATAPI or CD-ROM or mayautodetect a CD-ROM drive. This feature is present in the BIOS justto support booting from a bootable CD-ROM. Even in such BIOSes theCD-ROM drive should still work if just set to NONE or NOT INSTALLED.The system BIOS normally has nothing to do with CD-ROM drives, execptperhaps to enable the interface that the drive is plugged into. Ifa CD-ROM drive is plugged into an IDE interface on the motherboard,you may need to check and see if there is an option in CMOS setupto enable or disable this interface and make sure it is enabled.SALES -SUPPORT -CONTACT -LINKS -HOME 2ff7e9595c