Why MS-DOS Shell May Require Updated Mouse Driver (78596)


The information in this article applies to:
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0a
    • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.0
This article was previously published under Q78596

SUMMARY

This article describes the two reasons why MS-DOS Shell requires recent mouse driver versions.

MORE INFORMATION

The first reason that Shell requires a recent mouse driver is that some older versions have bugs that may cause unexpected behavior when used in graphics modes or on certain types of monitors. Some examples of this behavior include:
    • Mouse "smear" on the screen
    • Inability to move the cursor more than half way across the screen
    • Occasional crashes
The second reason Shell requires a recent mouse driver is that Task Swapper relies on certain functions of the mouse driver that are not present in older versions. These functions were added to the mouse driver to support Task Swapper and Windows (among other reasons). If this functionality is not supported, task swapping can cause the mouse to act unexpectedly and possibly crash the machine.
Modification Type: Major Last Reviewed: 10/16/2003
Keywords: KB78596
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