Article ID: 67929 - Last Review: May 12, 2003 - Revision: 2.0

Rebooting from Within a Batch File

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SUMMARY

The MS-DOS batch language does not provide a means of restarting a system. However, it is possible to restart a system from within a batch file by calling an executable program that performs the task.

NOTE: This article provides instructions that you can use to create the REBOOT.COM file. These instructions have not been tested on all hardware configurations, and are provided "as is" with no warranty stated or implied.

MORE INFORMATION

The executable file can be created using DEBUG as follows:

  1. Start DEBUG by typing the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:
    debug
  2. At the dash prompt, enter the following sequence of commands, each followed by pressing ENTER. (Comments are preceded by ";".) 
       A 100                     ; Debug instruction for assemble
   MOV AH,0D                 ; Disk Reset
   INT 21h                   ; causes SmartDrv 4.x to write cache
   MOV AX, 40                ; set up segment addressing
   MOV DS, AX
   DS:
   OR  BYTE PTR    [17],0C   ; equivalent of pressing CTRL+ALT
   MOV AX,4F53               ; Issue a "DEL" (53h = DEL scan code)
   INT 15h                   ; EMM386 sees this & shuts down
   DS:
   MOV WORD PTR [72],1234    ; Set REBOOT flag to Warm-Boot (0=cold)
   JMP F000:FFF0             ; Execute the internal restart routine
   <CR>                      ; This line must be blank (just hit ENTER)
   R CX
   20                        ; File size to be written to disk (in hex)
   N REBOOT.COM              ; Filename
   W                         ; Write the file to disk
   Q                         ; Quit Debug
NOTE: The REBOOT.COM file created with this debug script is compatible with SMARTDrive and its write-behind cache feature. The instructions in REBOOT.COM cause SMARTDrive to write (flush) its write-behind cache to disk before the computer is rebooted.

This procedure creates the file REBOOT.COM in the current directory. At this point, you can call the file in the same manner as any other executable file, either from the command line or within a batch file, and the system will reboot.
APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft MS-DOS 3.3 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft MS-DOS 4.0 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft MS-DOS 4.01 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0a
  • Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft MS-DOS 6.2 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft MS-DOS 6.21 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft MS-DOS 6.22 Standard Edition
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Retired KB ArticleRetired KB Content Disclaimer
This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.
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