Using the F3 Key to re-enter commands in DOS works on one Win-XP computer but not the other. Why?

Answer 1

There are a couple of reasons that I can think of,

1) It may be because doskey is not loaded.
Try running 'doskey' at a DOS command prompt, then using 'F3' to recall prior commands. This is less likely because calling the DOS emulator should enable these functions by default.

2) It may also because the command prompt on the second system is called with using "command" instead of "cmd". The function keys will only work when starting command prompt with Cmd.exe, they will not work if running the MS-DOS emulator Command.com.