AUTOEXEC.BAT is a system file that was originally on DOS-type operating systems. It is a plain-text batch file in the root directory of the boot device. The name of the file is an abbreviation of "automatic execution", which describes its function in automatically executing commands on system startup; the filename was coined in response to the 8.3 filename limitations of the FAT file system family.
Usage[]
AUTOEXEC.BAT is read upon startup by all versions of DOS, including MS-DOS version 7.x as used in Windows 95 and Windows 98. Windows Me only parses environment variables as part of its attempts to reduce legacy dependencies, but this can be worked around.
Windows NT[]
On Windows NT and its derivatives, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP, the equivalent file is called AUTOEXEC.NT and is located in the %SystemRoot%\system32 directory. The file is not used during the operating system boot process; it is executed when the MS-DOS environment is started, which occurs when a DOS application is loaded.
See also[]
- COMMAND.COM
- CONFIG.SYS
- AUTORUN.INF
External links[]
- Autoexec.bat at Computer Hope
- autoexec.bat at the Network Encyclopedia
- AUTOEXEC.BAT at Wikipedia
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