Answer by Stephen Kitt for Why did SMARTDRV have to be started with /x when...
The /X flag was specified by default in MS-DOS 6.22 at least. (See further down for the detailed history.)What /X does is disable the write-back cache in all cases. The write-back cache is used to...
View ArticleAnswer by Euro Micelli for Why did SMARTDRV have to be started with /x when...
There is no “shutdown” process/command in DOS. You just cut the power at the end of your work. That was fine when PCs were simple, your storage options was either One Floppy or Two Floppies, and DOS...
View ArticleAnswer by Mike Spivey for Why did SMARTDRV have to be started with /x when...
It's quite simple: write-behind caching means that after you have (for example) saved a file in a word processor, the saved file may live in the cache in RAM for a while before being written to the...
View ArticleWhy did SMARTDRV have to be started with /x when DOS started?
In the default autoexec.bat for DOS 6.22, you see these lines:C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE /X@ECHO OFFPROMPT $P$GPATH C:\DOSSET TEMP = C:\DOSAccording to this source, /X disables write-behind caching....
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