The little-known winstart.bat batch file

This article explains the purpose of the winstart.bat file in Windows 95 and its role during system startup compared to autoexec.bat. It details how the virtual machine manager utilizes winstart.bat before launching the user-mode kernel.

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Reader Otul Osan wants to know what the use case for C:\ WINDOWS\ WINSTART.BAT was, compared to C:\ AUTOEXEC.BAT and when exactly during system startup it launches.

In Windows 95, you could create a winstart.bat file in your Windows directory. During startup, the virtual machine manager initializes and creates the so-called “System virtual machine” (the “System VM”), which is the virtual machine that all Windows programs run in. But before running the user-mode kernel in that virtual machine, the virtual machine manager runs the winstart.bat batch file if it exists.

In pictures: First, we boot up MS-DOS and the command prompt. (Note: All diagrams omit lots of details not relevant to the discussion and are not to scale.)

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