Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Saving Memory Using the LH Command

The Load High (LH) command attempts to load a utility into high memory, instead of using application memory. Loading the utility high saves memory that memory-hungry applications can use to load. Generally, you should try to load high all of the utilities that you can, including DosX and ReDir. Windows 64-bit editions don't support this command. This command uses the following syntax:

LH

You don't need to provide any command line switches with this command. Simply add the command or utility that you want to load high after LH on the command line. The system won't display an error message if the command fails. However, you can verify the utility's location in memory using the Mem utility.

Adding CD Support with MSCDexNT Utility

Windows provides all of the CD and DVD support that you need. The name of this support under DOS is Microsoft Compact Disk (or CD-ROM) Extensions (MSCDEX). However, you still need access to this support from the command prompt. Loading the MSCDexNT utility loads several additional applications including VCDEX.DLL, which is the 32-bit MSCDEX Virtual Device Driver.

This utility uses the following syntax:

MSCDexNT

You don't need to supply any command line switches when using this utility.

Installing the Network Redirector Using the ReDir Utility

Use this utility to load the VDM Virtual Device Driver (VDD) redirector. The redirector provides virtual device access from the command prompt. Essentially, it provides network access. This utility uses the following syntax:

ReDir

You don't need to supply any command line switches when using this utility.

Server Core and the PIF: The Program Information File (PIF) is an addition to a DOS application that controls how Windows interacts with the application. You don't start the application using the PIF (although double-clicking the PIF will start the application), but the PIF always affects how Windows works with the application. From a command line perspective, you can use a PIF to perform two special tasks. First, you can create custom AutoExec.NT and Config.NT for the application so you can control the application environment. Second, you can add command line switches to the application command line so that the application starts with the features you want to use.

When working with a graphical version of Windows, you simply right-click the DOS application you want to modify and choose Properties from the context menu. This act actually creates the PIF. Unfortunately, Server Core lacks Windows Explorer, which means you don't have access to the usual graphical means of creating a PIF. At one time, Microsoft also provided the PIFEdit utility. However, this utility disappeared with Windows NT because users found it too difficult to use and there isn't a place to download this utility any longer online. Consequently, if you want to work with PIF files in Server Core, you'll have to perform the task at the client machine using the same techniques you've always employed.