CONFIX.SYS (VERSION 1.0)                Copyright (c) 1994 Douglas Boling
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 Version 1.0 First Published in PC Magazine Feburary 22, 1994 (Utilities)
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CONFIX by Douglas Boling

PURPOSE:
          CONFIX is a device driver that lets you issue commands such as
PAUSE or CLS early in the boot process. CONFIX's commands aid you in locating
and fixing errors in your CONFIG.SYS file.

SETUP:
          To use CONFIX, simply copy CONFIX.SYS to your hard disk and load
it in CONFIG.SYS with a DEVICE= statement. The CONFIX commands are PAUSE,
ECHO, REM, PRINTSCR, SMLFONT, NORMFONT, VIDMODE, CLS, NUMLOCK, CAPSLOCK,
SCROLLLOCK, PEEK, POKE, IN, and OUT. 

REMARKS:
           The CONFIX commands fall into four main groups: batch language,
display, lock-key state, and memory access.

           The batch commands (PAUSE, ECHO, REM, and PRINTSCR) let you pause
the boot process to give you time to read the on-screen messages, echo
(display) text on the screen, or print the information on the screen.
CONFIX's REM command lets you add comments to your CONFIG.SYS file if
you're using a version of DOS prior to DOS 5.0.

     The display commands (SMLFONT, NORMFONT, VIDMODE, and CLS) let you
switch into a compressed text mode so you can see more of the messages
before they scroll off the screen. You can revert back to 25-line mode
with NORMFONT, and clear the messages from the screen with CLS.

     The lock-key state commands (NUMLOCK, CAPSLOCK, SCROLLLOCK) let you
change the default lock status of these keys.

     The memory access commands (PEEK, POKE, IN, and OUT), while mainly
of interest to programmers, provide some unusual capabilities. PEEK lets
you read and display the contents of a memory location, while IN lets you
read an I/O port. The POKE and OUT statements let you write to a memory
location or I/O port, respectively.
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The CONFIX.SYS commands fall into four broad categories: batch language,
display, lock-key state, and memory access.

                   Allowable Commands for CONFIX.SYS

Batch language commands
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PAUSE                        Pause processing of the CONFIG.SYS file
ECHO                         Display a line of text on the screen
REM                          Perform no action
PRINTSCR                     Send the current display contents to the
                               printer
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Display-related commands
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SMLFONT                      Select the 43/50 line mode on EGA and VGA
                               displays
NORMFONT                     Select the 25 line mode on EGA and VGA displays
VIDMODE hex number           Set the vidio display mode
CLS                          Clear the screen
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Lock-key state commands
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NUMLOCK ONIOFF               Set or Clear the NumLock state
CAPSLOCK ONIOFF              Set or Clear the CapLock state
SCROLLLOCK ONIOFF            Set or Clear the ScrollLock state
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Memory-access commands
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PEEK segment, offset,                 Read and display the contents of a
  [num-bytes,[1(for word)]]             memory location
POKE segment, offset, byte 1          Write a series of bytes to memory
  [, byte 2,...,byte 8]
IN port                               Read an I/O port
OUT port, byte                        Write to an I/O port

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Douglas Boling is a Contributing Editor of PC Magazine.
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