Getting the mouse to work in MS-DOS.

Issue:

Getting the mouse to work in MS-DOS.

Cause:

Without drivers the computer mouse will not load in MS-DOS

Solution:

Note: This document applies to older computers running MS-DOS and not a command line from Windows. If you looking for help in getting your USB mouse to work see document CH000298.

For the mouse to work in a real DOS environment, you must have either the Microsoft Mouse driver mouse.com loading in your autoexec.bat file, or the mouse device driver mouse.sys loading in your config.sys file.

Before placing any information into the Autoexec.bat / Config.sys you need to locate one of those files on your computer. To locate a file in MS-DOS type either of the below commands at C:\>.

dir mouse.com /s

or

dir mouse.sys /s

Once either of the commands are typed in you should receive a listing of what directory contains one of the above files. If you get file not found, try the alternate command.

Once the file has been located on the computer, depending upon what file is found, use one of the below examples.

IN AUTOEXEC.BAT:LH C:\Windows\MOUSE.COM

IN CONFIG.SYS:DEVICE=C:\Windows\MOUSE.SYS

Keep in mind that the above two lines are examples, and if either file is located in another directory, you would need to substitute the C:\Windows\ for the directory the file was actually found in.

Additional information:

See our autoexec.bat / config.sys page for additional information about the Autoexec.bat file

See our dir command page for additional information with this command. Additional information and links about mice can be found on our mouse help

page. See our download section if you need to download the mouse.com file.