# WinME DOS Boot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2000, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winme-dos-boot/38406 "2000-10-26T13:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AndyKeats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@AndyKeats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyKeats)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winme-dos-boot/38406/1 "2000-10-26T13:17:07Z")
Is there a way to make WinME boot in DOS with the hard drive? I know I can use a floppy boot disk, but I want the option to do it from a boot menu, like on my 98 machine. I know M$ supposedly removed DOS, but the floppy boot technique kind of disproves that. There has to be a way around it. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winme-dos-boot/38406/2 "2000-10-26T13:26:03Z")
search [winmag.com](http://winmag.com), I believe they have the thing you’re looking for there. I think Fred Langa or one of those writers covered it. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winme-dos-boot/38406/3 "2000-10-26T14:49:45Z")
Sure, use the Boot disk. ---
**Author:** ![Timothy\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Timothy\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timothy_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winme-dos-boot/38406/4 "2000-10-26T18:31:36Z")
Umm, I got the “boot menu” once when I really needed it. I think I had to hit F8 at some critical point during the boot-up process. I also seem to remember that in Win95 there was something you could put in CONFIG.SYS that would bring up a boot menu, but I forget how that worked. I couldn’t find anything about the procedure in my Dell’s documentation, nor on their support web site. Grr! It’s amazing how such things aren’t documented any more. Just the other day I was trying to find out the command line parameters for IE5. You know what? I couldn’t find it anywhere – not in the IE5 help, nor on the net. I did find the parameters for IE4, though, so that told me what I needed to know. If they keep “dumbing down” things this way, we’re going to all end up like Mac users, with no clue of what happens underneath the interface. ---
**Author:** ![muppetsoup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@muppetsoup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muppetsoup)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winme-dos-boot/38406/5 "2000-10-26T18:58:05Z")
sorry to disappoint you, no ‘real mode’ dos in Windows me. there is a dos box under accessories on the start menu. config.sys and autoexec.bat are simulated for old dos apps that expect them to be there. the only way to get to a true dos mode is with a boot disk a la windows 98 startup disk. or try [www.bootdisk.com](http://www.bootdisk.com) ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winme-dos-boot/38406/6 "2000-10-26T19:11:16Z")
I’ve been using Windows Me for about a month now, and have been wondering same thing myself that whole time. I went over to the Microsoft support articles, and found this. [“Restart Computer in MS-DOS Mode” Option Is Not Available in the Shutdown Dialog Box](http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q262/8/46.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0) It pretty much sums it up. ---
**Author:** ![monkeylucifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@monkeylucifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monkeylucifer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winme-dos-boot/38406/7 "2000-10-26T19:20:29Z")
Ah, so did they FINALLY remove DOS from the OS? This is something that Microsoft has been talking about since the release of Win95…it took them long enough. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winme-dos-boot/38406/8 "2000-10-26T20:48:55Z")
Not exactly, monkeylucifer. Win ME still rests entirely on DOS underpinnings, it’s just that MS has made real mode inaccessible to the user. See, it’s a feature. Sort of like making a “maintenance free” automobile by welding the hood shut.