Have you ever seen the familiar DOS prompt, typed WIN for Windows, and then found yourself running a second copy of Windows 3.0? Well, with Windows 3.1, you can spare yourself that problem by setting a special Windows DOS prompt in the autoexec.bat that comes up only under a Windows' DOS session. Include this line in your autoexec.bat:

SET WINPMT=Type Exit to Return to Windows $_$_$P$G

This will display the return to Windows message, and give you another blank line before giving you your traditional drive and path prompt (i.e. C:\DOS>).

Another question that you probably have had for awhile, is why do we need the nebulous "/Y" parameter in mouse.sys and mouse.com? The Windows Setup program automatically adds a /Y switch to the end of the mouse.sys command in your config.sys file when installing for the Microsoft Mouse. This switch, which stands for yes, forces text mode DOS applications that support a mouse to display the position of the mouse cursor as a rectangular block. If this switch is removed from mouse.sys, the cursor becomes a graphical character called a "sprite". Also, removing the /Y switch may cause a DOS application to have difficulty displaying the mouse cursor when you change applications and then change back. It may display two mouse cursors, one normal cursor and one frozen in a position on the screen.

Keeping with our mouse problems, I'm sure you'll agree that mousing around on monochrome VGA portables isn't much fun on Windows. It can be frustrating to see the mouse pointer on small or dim portable screens. There are additional utility solutions like running the "Big Cursor" program located on bulletin boards, or you can use the little known feature called "Mouse Trails". This feature, when enabled, makes your mouse pointer stay visible on a computer by making the mouse pointer stay on screen for a few seconds after it is moved. This effect causes a shadow like mouse trail that makes the mouse pointer easier to keep in sight. To enable this feature, you will have to edit your win.ini file. Include this line under the [windows] section of your win.ini:

MouseTrails = 7

You can have from one to seven mouse images following your mouse around, whichever makes your mouse pointer the most visible. If you do not have a Microsoft Mouse, then your mouse driver may not support this feature, and the command MouseTrails will simply have no effect.