115: Why doesn't this [terminal or window-system setup] code work in my .emacs file, but it works just fine after Emacs starts up? During startup, Emacs initializes itself according to a given code/file order. If some of the code executed in your .emacs file needs to be postponed until the initial terminal or window-system setup code has been executed but is not, then you will experience this problem (this code/file execution order is not enforced after startup). To postpone the execution of Emacs Lisp code until after terminal or window-system setup, treat the code as a "lambda list" and set the value of either the "term-setup-hook" or "window-setup-hook" variable to this "lambda function." For example, (setq term-setup-hook (function (lambda () (cond ((string-match "\\`vt220" (or (getenv "TERM") "")) ;; Make vt220's "Do" key behave like M-x: (global-set-key [do] 'execute-extended-command)) )))) For information on what Emacs does every time it is started, see the lisp/startup.el file.