SYSTEM.INI was an initialization (INI file) used in early versions of Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 (from 1.01

Windows 1.0

Windows 1.0 is a 16-bit graphical operating environment, developed by Microsoft and released on 20 November 1985. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows...

 up to Me

Windows Me

Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....

) to load device drivers and the default Windows shell

Windows Shell

The Windows shell is the main graphical user interface in Microsoft Windows, and since Windows 95 hosted by Windows Explorer. The Windows shell includes well-known Windows components such as the Taskbar and the Start menu...

 (Program Manager

Program Manager

Program Manager is the shell of Windows 3.x and Windows NT 3.x operating systems. This shell exposed a task-oriented graphical user interface , consisting of icons arranged into program groups. It replaced MS-DOS Executive, a file manager, as the default Windows shell.The program derives from the...

 or Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer

This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...

), among other system settings. Many of these settings were honored in Windows 9x (95

Windows 95

Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...

, 98

Windows 98

Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...

 and Me

Windows Me

Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....

), although the INI files had begun to be phased out in favor of the Windows Registry

Windows registry

The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...

. Windows NT 4.0

Windows NT 4.0

Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996...

, 2000

Windows 2000

Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...

, XP

Windows XP

Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...

 and Server 2003

Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005...

 still acknowledge some SYSTEM.INI entries in order to provide backwards compatibility with older 16-bit applications. However, when a fresh install of XP

Windows XP

Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...

/Server 2003

Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005...

 is performed, the SYSTEM.INI file created contains by default only these lines:

; for 16-bit app support

[drivers]

wave=mmdrv.dll

timer=timer.drv

[mci]

[driver32]

[386enh]

woafont=dosapp.FON

EGA80WOA.FON=EGA80WOA.FON

EGA40WOA.FON=EGA40WOA.FON

CGA80WOA.FON=CGA80WOA.FON

CGA40WOA.FON=CGA40WOA.FON

Editing

Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 bundles two specialized text/ASCII

ASCII

The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...

 editors for core configuration file

Configuration file

In computing, configuration files, or config files configure the initial settings for some computer programs. They are used for user applications, server processes and operating system settings. The files are often written in ASCII and line-oriented, with lines terminated by a newline or carriage...

s (such as PROTOCOL.INI, WIN.INI

WIN.INI

WIN.INI is a basic INI file that was used in versions of the Microsoft Windows operating environment up to Windows 3.11 to store basic settings at boot time. By default, all font, communications drivers, wallpaper, screen saver, and language settings were stored in WIN.INI by Windows 3.x...

, SYSTEM.INI, CONFIG.SYS

CONFIG.SYS

CONFIG.SYS is the primary configuration file for the DOS, OS/2 as well as similar operating systems. It is a special file that contains setup or configuration instructions for the computer system.- Usage :...

, and AUTOEXEC.BAT

AUTOEXEC.BAT

AUTOEXEC.BAT is a system file found originally on DOS-type operating systems. It is a plain-text batch file that is located in the root directory of the boot device...

) with its operating systems. Sysedit

Sysedit

Sysedit is a specialized text/ASCII editor for core Microsoft Windows configuration files . This executable is installed in the Windows system directory: %windir%\SYSTEM or %windir%\SYSTEM32...

 is an MDI

Multiple document interface

Graphical computer applications with a multiple document interface are those whose windows reside under a single parent window , as opposed to all windows being separate from each other . Such systems often allow child windows to embed other windows inside them as well, creating complex nested...

 text editor

Text editor

A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....

 that opens all these files simultaneously, available in all versions of Windows beginning with Windows 3.0

Windows 3.0

Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front...

, except Me

Windows Me

Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....

. MSConfig

MSConfig

MSConfig is a system utility to troubleshoot the Microsoft Windows startup process...

 is a front end interface application that allows the user to enable and disable drivers, Windows shell and applications separately from being loaded at startup by the aforementioned files and from the Run, RunEx, and RunOnce Windows Registry

Windows registry

The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...

keys.

External links

SYSTEM.INI in Windows 3.x (3.0, 3.10 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11) and Windows 9x (95, 98 and Me):

• Microsoft Knowledge Base (MSKB): List of SYSTEM.INI articles
• MSKB: Windows 3.1 Resource Kit SYSTEM.INI [386ENH] Section A-L
• MSKB: Windows 3.1 Resource Kit SYSTEM.INI [386ENH] Section M-Z
• MDGx: SYSTEM.INI TWEAKS