The buffers statement sets the number of disk buffers that will be available for use during data input. The 2nd parameter is used to set a value for the number of sectors to be read in advance during data input. DOS stores information in memory buffers so that it will be available when requested by an application. The more buffers set, the faster DOS will be able to access the information requested. It typically takes some experimenting to determine the most efficient number of buffers. The same is true for determining the appropriate number of read-ahead buffers (the 2nd parameter). The read ahead buffers determine the amount of data DOS will read from the disk in addition to the data requested by the application. DOS 5.0 allows values of 1 to 8 with 1 as the default. In DOS 6.0 you can specify 0 to 8 with 0 as the default.

These commands affect the MS-DOS subsystem only. According to MSFT, Windows XP actually ignores the buffers statement but allows it for compatibility purposes. Many MSDOS apps look for a buffers line before running.



>Tracy
>Thanks for your response. I had set the files=400 which is beyond the files limit of 255. I did not realize the max files limit was 255 which Neil made me aware of. When I set files=250 it worked. If the files limit of 255 is exceeded, the default value is utilized which I believe is 40. I did use your buffers=30,8. Question, what function does the ,8 do?
>thanks again, vince