Mscdex is a “redirector” that enables CD-ROM access from the MS-DOS.
Availability
Mscdex or mscdexnt are external commands that are available for the following versions of Microsoft operating systems as mscdex.exe or mscdexnt.exe.
Availability
Mscdex syntax
Mscdex examples
Errors and issues
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All Versions of MS-DOS
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows NT
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Mscdex syntax
MSCDEX.EXE /D:x /M:n /E /V /L:x /S /K
Extra notes
When loading the MSCDEX line in Windows 3.x, make sure to define the LASTDRIVE= statement with a line similar to “LASTDRIVE=Z” line.
Mscdex examples
Below is an example of how the MSCDEX line should look in your autoexec.bat:
LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001
Remember that if you use the example above must have the same device driver name as the CD-ROM driver in the config.sys.
- Information and help with the autoexec.bat and config.sys.
- Information on loading CD-ROM drivers in MS-DOS.
Errors and issues
When booting, I receive the message “MSCDEX is already running,” and if I continue, all programs stop running.
It’s likely you have more than one MSCDEX statement in your autoexec.bat. Edit the autoexec.bat and place a REM in front of one of the MSCDEX lines in the autoexec.bat.