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Q73316: MS-DOS Shell Error Message: Unable to Load COMMAND.COM

Article: Q73316
Product(s): Microsoft Disk Operating System
Version(s): MS-DOS:5.x,6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 17-DEC-2000

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system versions 5.0, 5.0a, 6.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

You may get the following error message when trying to run an application from
MS-DOS Shell:

  Unable to load COMMAND.COM or DOSSWAP.EXE.

CAUSE
=====

Your DOSSHELL.INI may be corrupt.

WORKAROUND
==========

To correct this problem, the DOSSHELL.INI file must be expanded from the
Microsoft MS-DOS 5 or 6 Upgrade disks. There are different DOSSHELL.INI files
for various video systems. Because there is no compressed .INI file for VGA
video systems, the EGA.IN_ must be expanded for VGA video systems. The names of
the compressed INI files are as follows:

  MONO.IN_     2990     04-09-91     5:00a
  CGA.IN_      3330     04-09-91     5:00a
  EGA.IN_      3333     04-09-91     5:00a

For MS-DOS 5, these files can be found on Disk 3 (5.25-inch disk set) or Disk 2
(3.5-inch set).

For MS-DOS 6, these files are on Disk 1 (both disk sets).

The following command is an example of how to expand the EGA MS-DOS Shell .INI
file to the \DOS directory on drive C. Type the following from the drive that
contains the MS-DOS 5.0 upgrade disk:

  EXPAND EGA.IN_ C:\DOS\DOSSHELL.INI

REFERENCES
==========

For more information on installing DOSSHELL.INI files, see pages 44-46 of the
version 5.0 "Microsoft MS-DOS Getting Started" manual. For version 6.0, refer to
page 195 of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Guide" and to online help.

For more information on MS-DOS Shell, query on the following words:

  " MS-DOS and DOSSHELL and <version number> " (without the quotation
  marks)

where <version number> is the version of MS-DOS that you are using.

Additional query words: 5.00 5.00a 6.00 6.20, 6.21, 6.22 err msg

======================================================================
Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbMSDOSSearch kbMSDOS600 kbMSDOS500 kbMSDOS500a
Version           : MS-DOS:5.x,6.0

=============================================================================

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