MS-DOS Editor is a DOS-based text editor that comes with 32-bit Windows XP Home and Professional (As well as virtually all other versions of Windows before it.)
Since Notepad can only handle small files; Editor is sometimes used as a substitute for Notepad. It is a Text User Interface; the color scheme of which is adjustable. Editor can edit files that are up to 65,279 lines and up to approximately 5MB in size. The editor can also open files in binary mode.
The window can be split down the middle into two panes. These can be used to view two files in a single window, or different parts of the same file. Windows has retained this program, and the program file has retained its .com file extension, from its original DOS version back in MS DOS 3.1; although in reality it is an .exe file.
There are 2 ways in which to access this program: The first is by typing “edit” into a command-line. The second, and the more convenient, is by creating an icon on the Desktop. Here’s how to do that:
1. Locate the file “Edit.com” in the folder
%systemroot%\Windows\System32
Where %systemroot% is your system drive. (Usually C:)
2. Right-click on the file and click on “Create Shortcut” to create a shortcut to it.
3. Drag & drop the shortcut to your desktop.
4. Right-click the shortcut icon, select “Properties” from the drop-down box, select the “Program” tab, and ensure that the “Close on Exit” check-box has a tick in it.
5. Click OK
Any time you need to use MS-DOS editor simply click on the Desktop shortcut and the program will activate. To close it click on the X in the right-hand corner or click on “Exit” in the file menu.
You don’t have to locate EDIT.COM at all or do any of that drag/drop stuff as it’s in the Windows system path.
Right click desktop, select New, Shortcut, type “edit.com”, click Next, it auto-titles itself “MS-DOS Editor”, click “Finish”, done.
It even assigns itself its own little keyboard icon.
Fair comments: ‘Perhaps a little over-pedanticism on my part?
You’re already to run a text-only program, so what’s so hard about typing Windows key-R, and then edit and enter?
It’s even on Windows Server 2003. Didn’t realize that.
I wasn’t aware whether it was on anything later than XP so I didn’t say anything about it. I don’t have a working Vista installation here at present; although it may well still exist on Vista too?
Rich has a Vista install I believe; so I expect he’ll no doubt tell us.
I don’t have Vista, but EDIT.COM goes all the way back to MS-DOS 5. Every version of Windows since 3.0 (possibly as far back as 2.0) has been able to launch the MS-DOS EDIT application.
EDIT itself is nothing more than QBasic in editor mode.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edit.com
It goes that far back! I understood it started with 3.1
I wish you’d written this now. :-~
Yep…it’s on Vista too (at least on the 32-bit version).
It’s not available on my XP64 machine or on Server 2003 (64-bit).
If you wanted to waste time and be pointlessly retro, you can even try the earlier EDLIN editor, in Vista. That ridiculous editor seems to have made a reappearance in Vista, for some crazy reason. I remember having to use that rubbish on my dad’s 286. My Amiga was far superior.
[...] here I refer particularly to Notepad. Unchanging, primitive, basic, functional, simple. But even the MS-DOS text editor that’s been around since the year dot is more [...]