Megamarcello's Book of Spells

Megamarcello's DOS Spells

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Codes for DOS-games

Getting your DOS-prompt to show you available diskspace
Are you fed up with having to enter 'dir' or 'df' every time you want to know how much physical diskspace you have left to store a program or data in? Well, if you are using 4DOS (and if not, why in hell is that so? You really don't know what you're missing out on!), here's a nice way to have your DOS-prompt inform you as to the amount of free diskspace constantly.
In your AUTOEXEC.BAT-file (located in your root-directory, e.g. c:\) insert the following line in place of the original 'PROMPT $P$G'-line:

PROMPT (%%@DISKFREE[%%_DISK:,M]MB FREE) $P$G

Instead of 'DISK:,M]MB FREE', you can also use 'DISK:,K]KB FREE' or 'DISK:,B]Bytes FREE', whichever you like best. Note: the amount displayed is not exact, as the process uses a different method of calculation. It is usually two Megabytes on the downside. You can counter this problem by changing 'MB FREE' to 'MB + 2MB' free. Or just keep it in mind. All the same, it makes life in DOS so much easier.

DOS Error Messages
In this section, we discuss several of the DOS-problems we encountered over the years. Not all of them concern themselves with error-messages, but they all have something to do with something or other that does-not-work.

"I can't seem to get 4DOS V.5 up and running, yet I'm sure I followed the correct procedures".

Answer: sure, but you are obviously running DOS V.6.2. 4DOS V.5 doesn't work on DOS V.6.2. So, either upgrade to something like Novell DOS 7, or get hold of an earlier version of 4DOS.

"Out of environment/alias space"

Answer: this is not serious, but it means you cannot use your 4DOS aliases, because they are not read into the memory. To counter this problem, check up on the presence of 4DOS.INI in your root directory (e.g. c:\), then either diminish the number of lines in your aliases-file, or increase the amount of memory available to 4DOS as specified behind the COMMAND.COM-reference in your CONFIG.SYS-file (located in your root-directory, e.g. c:\). Note: this last option will slow down your DOS operations, so it is clearly not preferrable.

"Whatever I do, and no matter how long I take, I can't seem to get Heretic up and running".

Answer: you are using an 80386 processor or lower, and that just won't cut it. Beautiful computers as they are, Heretic (by ID Software, check 'em out!), unlike DOOM and DOOM2 (the best games in PC history), does not run on anything less than an 80486. Sorry!

"I've obtained a copy of LEMMINGS. They tell me it's a great game, but I can't get it up and running. At least, not properly. Every time I select a graphics adapter the screen turns black and nothing happens after that".

Answer: some versions of this legendary game (illegal ones, mostly) can cause a lot of irritation, because they don't seem to work beyond the 'choose graphics adapter'-screen. Not to worry. You do not necessarily have a trashable item on your hands. Follow the steps below and it probably will run. If not, then rest assured: nothing else helps, and you'll be on your way to the garbage can, forever hungry to obtain a real, working version of this classic, a work of true genius in all its simplicity (when that happens, maybe it's not such a bad time to just go out and buy a copy ;-D).
The steps to follow are:

In DOS, go to the directory in which the files for Lemmings are.
Copy the file RUSSELL.BAK to the file RUSSELL.DAT (or, for Lemmings 2, to OHNO.DAT).
Type: 'attrib +rsh RUSSELL.DAT' (or OHNO.DAT, for Lemmings 2) - note: if you are running Quarterdeck's Expanded Memory Manager, or attempt to run Lemmings from Hans Salvisberg's Boot Sys, type 'attrib +h' instead of 'attrib +rsh'.

And hey presto! Things should be cool and froody, from hereon - except for the lemmings themselves, of course; poor little buggers.

Additional Note: if you cannot seem to be able to get the mouse running in Lemmings (considering the nature of the game, that's a regular disaster), try getting hold of gmouse.sys. It is a mouse-driver that, when located in your DOS-directory and called upon in your CONFIG.SYS-file (or, in case you are using Salvisberg's Boot Sys, in the appropriate part of the CONFIG.SYS-file), makes almost any mouse run under the most bizarre circumstances; like Lemmings, for instance. Oh, and your CONFIG.SYS-file is, of course, located in your root-directory, e.g. c:\.

"I can't get 2M V.2.1 to work on my system".

Answer: 2M, a program that boosts the capacity of your floppy-disks to unseemingly high values in a safe, reliable way, is a moneysaver par excellence, and, as such, a wonderful program. However, it is strictly not compatible with an AMI-BIOS. Check if yours is, and if so, weep. So sorry.

Getting rid of the Himem-message
If you are trying to get rid of all this scribbly white stuff that scrolls across your screen at startup, too fast to read anyway, you'll be positively delighted with this one. Particularly, because the message in question considerably slows down the startup process.
It is, of course, the 'HIMEM.SYS testing memory'-message. To remove it, insert the following line into your CONFIG.SYS-file (which is located in your root-directory, e.g. c:\), in place of the original HIMEM.SYS-line:

DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM: OFF

Save the file, reboot and... be happy!