MSCDEX.EXE
MSCDEX.EXE ( M icro s often MS-DOS CD -ROM Ex tensions) is a system developed by Microsoft TSR program , the MS-DOS and then based graphical user interfaces such as Windows 3.1 to support CD-ROM drives expanded. MSCDEX.EXE first had to be purchased separately, but has been part of the operating system since MS-DOS 6.0; an updated version is supplied with the Windows 9x operating systems.
MSCDEX.EXE uses the network support implemented since MS-DOS 3.1. It installs itself as a network redirector, but does not redirect the data to an external server like a network drive, but rather directs them to the CD-ROM drive. MSCDEX.EXE can be used together with other network redirectors.
To use MSCDEX.EXE, a separate real-mode driver is required in order to address the CD-ROM drive. One of the best-known drivers is OAKCDROM.SYSfrom Oak Technology , which supports most of the common IDE CD-ROM drives and is included on the boot disks created by Windows 95 and 98, among others .
Windows 95 and other operating systems of the Windows 9x series use a 32-bit driver to access CD-ROM drives and in principle no longer require MSCDEX.EXE; it is still included in order to be able to use special drives for which there is no Windows driver.
In the meantime there are various free alternatives to MSCDEX.EXE, which above all have a lower memory consumption. This includes, among other things SHSUCDX.COM, that is part of FreeDOS .
Web links
- Command line parameters of MSCDEX.EXE in the Microsoft Knowledge Base