switches MS-DOS Command

Type: Internal (5.0 and later)

Syntax:

SWITCHES= [/K][/F][/N][/W]

Purpose: Used in the CONFIG.SYS file to configure DOS in a special way; for example, to tell DOS to emulate different hardware configurations.

Discussion

One useful function of the SWITCHES command is if you are using older applications with a new enhanced keyboard you can use the /K option to cause the keyboard to act like a standard keyboard.

Options

/K – Causes an enhanced keyboard to act as though it were an older standard keyboard. /F – Removes the two-second delay that occurs when the Starting MS-DOS … message is displayed on the screen (DOS Version 6 only). /N – Disables the F5 and F8 keys during system start-up (DOS Version 6 only). /W – Tells DOS that the WINA20.386 file has been moved to directory other than the root directory.

Example

To cause your enhanced keyboard to act like an older standard keyboard, enter the following line in your CONFIG.SYS file: switches=/K