China DOS Union

Question: in Windows, is the DOS from "Shut Down System" -> "Shut down the computer and switch to MS-DOS mode" pure DOS? Thanks!

Yes

The following is quoted from hufge at 2003-9-5 19:43:57:
Question: in Windows, is the DOS from "Shut Down System" -> "Shut down the computer and switch to MS-DOS mode" pure DOS? Thanks!

You can think of it this way:
+-------------+
| |
| MS-DOS |
| + control |
| |
| |
+-------------+

No! That's the so-called "application SHELL mode," just like "Shell to DOS" in QB. Yesterday iceboy, Master Rushi, and I happened to be talking about this very question. The DOS you return to after choosing "Shut down the computer" in Win9x is the real pure DOS!

Let me explain it with a diagram:

After choosing "Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode" and entering "Shell to DOS", it's equivalent to going from:
IO.SYS -> COMMAND.COM -> WIN.COM
to:
IO.SYS -> COMMAND.COM -> WIN.COM -> COMMAND.COM (at this point it does not count as "pure" DOS)

But if you choose "Shut down the computer" to exit WIN, it's equivalent to going back from:
IO.SYS -> COMMAND.COM -> WIN.COM
to:
IO.SYS -> COMMAND.COM (only at this point is it pure DOS)

If the screen shows "It is now safe to turn off your computer," then it's actually only displaying a picture (that is, LOGOS.SYS). At this time, if you type the CLS or MODE CO80 command, C:\> will appear. This is the pure DOS mentioned above.

Wengier: your topic is very interesting. In particular, the part "If the screen shows 'It is now safe to turn off your computer,' then it's actually only displaying a picture (that is, LOGOS.SYS). At this time, if you type the CLS or MODE CO80 command, C:\> will appear. This is the pure DOS mentioned above." I want to try that when I have time.

Wengier: Doesn't it work? Typing the CLS or MODE CO80 command on the keyboard gets no response. The screen still shows "It is now safe to turn off your computer."

cwcr: please boot into DOS by selecting "Command Prompt Only" at startup, then use the WIN command to enter Win9x, and then try it again at the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" screen that appears when shutting down.

Oh, I see. I'll go try it again.

Quite interesting. Moderator Weng explained it thoroughly. However, Wengier's power supply may be AT; if it's an ATX power supply, don't try it, the whole screen goes black and it shuts down directly.

If it's an ATX power supply, run the NOOFF.COM program before starting Win9x. That way, when Win9x shuts down it won't power off directly, but will instead display those messages like an AT power supply does. I have several computers, some with AT power supplies and some with ATX power supplies.

The following is quoted from Wengier at 2003-9-6 8:02:43:
No! That's the so-called "application SHELL mode," just like "Shell to DOS" in QB. Yesterday iceboy, Master Rushi, and I happened to be talking about this very question. The DOS you return to after choosing "Shut down the computer" in Win9x is the real pure DOS! (rest omitted)

I agree with Wengier's view. That's how I see it too.