<s>
MS-DOS	B-Application
7	I-Application
is	O
a	O
real	B-Application
mode	I-Application
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
for	O
IBM	O
PC	O
compatibles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
earlier	O
versions	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
it	O
was	O
not	O
released	O
separately	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
but	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
Windows	O
9x	O
family	O
of	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
RTM	O
reports	O
to	O
be	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
7.0	I-Application
,	O
while	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
OSR	O
2.x	O
and	O
Windows	B-Device
98	I-Device
report	O
as	O
7.1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	O
9x	O
runs	O
under	O
DOS	B-Device
similar	O
to	O
Windows	B-Application
3.1x	I-Application
,	O
and	O
while	O
according	O
to	O
Microsoft	O
the	O
role	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
was	O
reduced	O
to	O
a	O
bootloader	B-Application
and	O
acted	O
as	O
the	O
16-bit	O
legacy	O
device	B-Application
driver	I-Application
layer	O
,	O
it	O
has	O
been	O
stated	O
that	O
there	O
is	O
almost	O
no	O
difference	O
in	O
the	O
relationship	O
between	O
Windows	O
9x	O
and	O
its	O
included	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
7.x	O
and	O
Windows	O
3.x	O
and	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
6.x	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
real-mode	B-Application
MS-DOS	O
7.x	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
is	O
contained	O
in	O
the	O
IO.SYS	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
in	O
the	O
series	O
,	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
7.0	I-Application
added	O
support	O
for	O
long	O
filename	O
(	O
LFN	O
)	O
awareness	O
,	O
and	O
its	O
DIR	B-Device
command	I-Device
for	O
example	O
will	O
show	O
them	O
with	O
an	O
LFN	O
driver	O
such	O
as	O
DOSLFN	O
(	O
earlier	O
versions	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
would	O
n’t	O
show	O
long	O
filenames	O
even	O
with	O
such	O
a	O
driver	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
supports	O
for	O
larger	O
extended	B-Device
memory	I-Device
(	O
up	O
to	O
4GB	O
)	O
via	O
its	O
HIMEM.SYS	O
driver	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
smaller	O
improvements	O
are	O
also	O
introduced	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
enhanced	O
DOS	B-Operating_System
commands	I-Operating_System
,	O
more	O
efficient	O
use	O
of	O
UMB	B-Device
memory	I-Device
(	O
COMMAND.COM	B-Operating_System
and	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
kernel	O
are	O
loaded	O
high	O
automatically	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
environment	O
variables	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
DOS	B-Operating_System
command	I-Operating_System
line	O
directly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MS-DOS	B-Application
7.1	I-Application
added	O
FAT32	B-Application
support	O
(	O
up	O
to	O
2TB	O
per	O
volume	O
)	O
,	O
while	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
7.0	I-Application
and	O
earlier	O
versions	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
only	O
supported	O
FAT12	O
and	O
FAT16	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Logical	B-Device
block	I-Device
addressing	I-Device
(	O
LBA	O
)	O
is	O
also	O
supported	O
in	O
MS-DOS	O
7.x	O
for	O
accessing	O
large	O
hard	O
disks	O
,	O
unlike	O
earlier	O
versions	O
which	O
only	O
supported	O
cylinder-head-sector	B-Device
(	O
CHS	O
)	O
-based	O
addressing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Year	B-Error_Name
2000	I-Error_Name
support	I-Error_Name
was	O
added	O
to	O
DIR	B-Device
command	I-Device
via	O
the	O
new	O
/4	O
option	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MS-DOS	B-Application
7.x	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
running	O
the	O
graphical	O
interface	O
of	O
Windows	O
9x	O
,	O
which	O
cannot	O
be	O
run	O
on	O
older	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
releases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
though	O
VER	B-Device
command	I-Device
usually	O
shows	O
the	O
Windows	O
version	O
,	O
the	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
version	O
is	O
also	O
officially	O
mentioned	O
in	O
other	O
places	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
if	O
one	O
attempts	O
to	O
run	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
OSR2	O
or	O
Windows	B-Device
98	I-Device
’s	O
VMM32.VXD	O
file	O
(	O
renamed	O
to	O
VMM32.EXE	O
)	O
directly	O
from	O
an	O
earlier	O
version	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
the	O
following	O
message	O
will	O
be	O
immediately	O
displayed	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Cannot	O
run	O
Windows	O
with	O
the	O
installed	O
version	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upgrade	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
to	O
version	O
7.1	O
or	O
higher	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
RTM	O
,	O
the	O
version	O
number	O
7.0	O
is	O
displayed	O
in	O
place	O
of	O
7.1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
major	O
difference	O
between	O
earlier	O
versions	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
is	O
the	O
usage	O
of	O
the	O
MSDOS.SYS	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
older	O
boot	O
style	O
,	O
where	O
Windows	O
is	O
not	O
automatically	O
started	O
and	O
the	O
system	O
boots	O
into	O
a	O
DOS	B-Operating_System
command	I-Operating_System
shell	O
,	O
could	O
keep	O
on	O
using	O
that	O
same	O
style	O
by	O
setting	O
BootGUI	O
=	O
0	O
in	O
the	O
MSDOS.SYS	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Otherwise	O
,	O
Windows	O
from	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
onward	O
will	O
automatically	O
start	O
up	O
on	O
boot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
and	O
98	O
are	O
both	O
dependent	O
on	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
to	O
boot	O
the	O
32-bit	O
kernel	O
and	O
to	O
run	O
legacy	O
16-bit	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
device	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
,	O
although	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
7	I-Application
possibly	O
is	O
more	O
"	O
hidden	O
"	O
than	O
earlier	O
versions	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
also	O
true	O
for	O
Windows	B-Device
Me	I-Device
,	O
but	O
Me	O
prevents	O
users	O
from	O
booting	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
without	O
booting	O
the	O
32-bit	O
Windows	O
kernel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
the	O
paths	O
for	O
(	O
a	O
plausible	O
but	O
actually	O
not	O
necessary	O
)	O
Windows	O
directory	O
and	O
Boot	O
directory	O
are	O
to	O
be	O
set	O
in	O
this	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
MSDOS.SYS	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whilst	O
IO.SYS	O
(	O
although	O
binary	O
different	O
)	O
remained	O
as	O
the	O
initial	O
executive	O
startup	O
file	O
which	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
booting	O
routines	O
fire	O
up	O
,	O
if	O
located	O
correctly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
the	O
COMMAND.COM	B-Operating_System
file	O
implements	O
the	O
command	O
prompt	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
typical	O
DOS	B-Device
setting	O
files	O
CONFIG.SYS	B-Device
and	O
AUTOEXEC.BAT	O
essentially	O
retained	O
their	O
functions	O
from	O
earlier	O
versions	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
(	O
although	O
memory	O
allocation	O
was	O
no	O
longer	O
needed	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
only	O
included	O
in	O
Windows	O
releases	O
(	O
the	O
last	O
official	O
standalone	O
release	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
ever	O
was	O
version	O
6.22	O
)	O
,	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
7.x	O
can	O
fairly	O
easily	O
be	O
extracted	O
from	O
Windows	O
95/98	O
,	O
and	O
be	O
used	O
alone	O
on	O
other	O
computers	O
,	O
just	O
as	O
the	O
earlier	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
to	O
be	O
installed	O
on	O
an	O
FAT	B-Application
partition	I-Application
,	O
and	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
7.0	I-Application
the	O
partition	B-Application
must	O
be	O
located	O
at	O
"	O
the	O
top	O
"	O
of	O
the	O
hard	O
drive	O
and	O
formatted	O
as	O
FAT12	O
or	O
FAT16	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
difference	O
is	O
that	O
MS-DOS	O
7.x	O
requires	O
a	O
80386	B-General_Concept
or	O
higher	O
processor	O
,	O
it	O
fails	O
to	O
boot	O
on	O
80286-class	O
or	O
lower	O
x86	B-Operating_System
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
manual	O
installation	O
,	O
MS-DOS	O
7.x	O
can	O
be	O
installed	O
through	O
the	O
SYS	B-Language
command	I-Language
(	O
executing	O
the	O
SYS.COM	B-Language
file	O
)	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
from	O
a	O
folder	O
on	O
a	O
Ramdrive	B-Application
created	O
by	O
a	O
bootable	O
disc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Correct	O
versions	O
of	O
IO.SYS	O
(	O
especially	O
)	O
must	O
exist	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
folder	O
as	O
SYS.COM	B-Language
together	O
with	O
MSDOS.SYS	O
and	O
COMMAND.COM	B-Operating_System
(	O
and	O
optionally	O
DRVSPACE.BIN	O
,	O
CONFIG.SYS	B-Device
,	O
and	O
AUTOEXEC.BAT	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
