Figure 34: MS-DOS Window
This is an MS-DOS Prompt window with the Windows GUI title bar
and toolbar. However, there is no menu bar. Use the Control Menu
instead of the normal menu bar for working in this window (Alt +
Spacebar). The figures 10 x 20 in the drop-down listbox indicate
the size of the text in the window. Use the Properties Sheet to
change the appearance of this window (choose Properties from the
Control Menu). Toggle between this GUI appearance and full-screen
DOS with Alt + Enter. End of Figure description.
These points are all described in detail in the following sections, but
first a cautionary note about installing Windows 95:
++ L 1: A Cautionary Note about Installing Windows 95
During the installation of Windows 95 from the CD you will be
offered choices which will determine whether you can run your
previous version of DOS and Windows. If you are ever likely to
want to run either of these you must make install Windows 95 into
its own directory, so not over-writing your previous version of
Windows 3.1 and DOS.
When asked to specify which directory you wish to install Windows
95 into, you can choose either the radiobutton for C:\Windows (or
wherever your current version of Windows is stored), or you can
choose the radiobutton for Other directory. If you choose the Other
radiobutton and choose Next to continue, you will be required to
type in the directory where you wish to install Windows 95. If this
directory does not exist it will be created now and Windows 95 will
be installed into this new directory. This makes it possible for you
to run your previous version of Windows as well as Windows 95.
If you don't have the recommended disk space to save Windows 95
into a separate directory (an installation for comfortable use requires
well over 100 MB of free disk space), or if you are not likely to want
to run your previous version of Windows, then you can answer Yes
to this question and save Windows 95 into your current Windows
directory. At this point you will be asked if you want to save the
system files of your previous versions of DOS and Windows. Saving
the system files of your old Windows and DOS is a good idea so that
if necessary you can completely and cleanly un-install Windows 95
and restore your previous versions of DOS and Windows. You will
require around 6 MB of space to save these old system files.
If you already had Windows 3.1 on your computer, then Windows
95 will detect your Program Manager Program Groups, and put them
onto the Start, Programs Menu ready for you to start your programs
easily.
++ L 2: A Note About Installing DOS Programs
You need to install new DOS programs in the normal way. That is,
you run a DOS session from Windows 95 and follow the installation
instructions.
++ L 3: Working with Long Filenames in DOS
When you are working in DOS it shortens the long filenames you can
use in 32 bit applications to the old 8.3 filename format. It takes the
first 6 letters of the long filename (ignoring spaces), adds a tilde
symbol and a number, and then adds the first three letters of the
original extension.
However, the version of DOS supplied with Windows 95 has some
support for long filenames. If you run a DOS session and type DIR
to obtain a directory listing, the listing displays the shortened 8.3
filename using the tilde symbol, followed by its size, date and time
of last modification, followed by its Windows 95 long filename. For
example:
letter~1.txt 778 03-02-96 12:00pm Letter to John.txt
letter~2.txt 833 03-02-96 13:40pm Letter to Mary.txt
You can use the long filenames when working in DOS but you must
enclose them in double quotes to tell DOS to treat the text between
them as one block. For example, to find out what files you have in
your folder My Letters, you would type the following at the C
Prompt: Dir "My Letters". To copy the file Letter to John.txt to a
floppy disk, you would type the following at the C Prompt: Copy
"Letter to John.txt" A:\. As in real DOS, case is unimportant in
filenames. You can, of course, also refer to the file by its shortened
8.3 filename, e.g. copy letter~1.txt a:.