Do I still need CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT?
Last Modified: 2/27/96
Windows95 comes with Plug-&-Play, as well as drivers for most of your hardware. This means, quite simply, that you can throw away most of the contents of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files (despite what the folks at Apple tell you). The problem with the driver's you've got already loaded in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, is that they're most likely real mode, 16-bit drivers for DOS. The drivers that come with Windows95 offer easier installation, better compatibility, plug-&-play, and better performance. Follow these guidelines for removing the old drivers from your start-up files (experienced users only):
Ideally, you should delete CONFIG.SYS altogether, and should have nothing but your PATH in
AUTOEXEC.BAT. Generally, your CONFIG.SYS includes drivers for your disk cache, CD-ROM, sound card, syquest drive, scanner, as well as a myriad of parameters like Files=50, Buffers=20, and so on. Windows95 replaces most of these. Make sure you back up both files before doing anything. Otherwise, you'll be sorry. Start off by putting the word "rem" in front of every entry in CONFIG.SYS, and restart your computer. (this turns the lines into "remarks")
When Windows95 starts, it automatically scans your computer for any device without a driver, and install drivers as needed. The only problem is when Windows95 doesn't have the correct drivers. See the note below regarding CD-ROM drivers.
Once in Windows95, try out all your devices. If a device works, take out the driver from CONFIG.SYS. If not, remove the "rem" text you've placed in front of it. The same process applies to AUTOEXEC.BAT, with the exception of the PATH statement. For some mysterious reason, it never occurred to the folks at Microsoft to include Windows support for the good 'ol PATH. (refer to your DOS manual for more information on the path statement.) Slowly, as manufacturers release native Windows95 drivers for their hardware, you'll be able to do away with both CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.
Note: If you have a CD-ROM drive, odds are that you have a CD-ROM driver in CONFIG.SYS. However, when you go to remove the driver, Windows95 asks for the original installation disks so that it can install its own CD-ROM driver. This doesn't work too well if you're installing from CD-ROM! To get around this design limitation, you must install a Windows95 CD-ROM driver before removing the CONFIG.SYS driver. Double-click on Add/Remove Hardware in Control Panel, and add a driver for your CD-ROM. If your CD-ROM drive isn't listed, you'll have to contact the manufacturer for a Windows95 driver. Once you've installed the driver, remove it from CONFIG.SYS before rebooting. Note that this will disable DOS support for your CD-ROM outside of Windows. Be aware that would
won't have this problem if you have a SCSI CD-ROM drive. (more information from Microsoft)
Note: If you think that keeping these old drivers loaded is a good idea in case you need to re-install Windows95, you are mistaken. You will have better performance and stability if you use the native Windows95 drivers. However, I strongly recommend copying all your old drivers to a bootable floppy, so they are available in the event of of an emergency, such as a disk crash. No, Windows95 does not do this automatically.
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