16bit inWinXP

O

onvol

Hi all!
I have been running all my old msdos utils in winxp pro (Ntfs Filesystem)
without any problems for some time.
However lately the old dos programs are refusing to run giving me the
following Error
---------------------------------

16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem
=======================
C:\WINDOWS\System32\cmd.exe
The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows
applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.
---------------------------------
I must have changed somthing without knowing or onother program might have
changed some setting somewhere.
Any help how I can rectify this?

I thank you all
Regards
Carmel Grech
 
J

JJ

If you are getting old Dos programs to run on XP , you are lucky. XP is not
Dos based , and running non XP programs are not recommended by MS. JJ
 
G

Guest

I got the same error message today and I don't do any dos stuff. What did I
do? I just installed Norton Internet Security yesterday. Is that the
problem?
 
O

onvol

Hi!
Following is the answer I got in the dos newsgroup from Martin Wittaker, and
it worked for me, check things out as per these instructions:
===============================
You've lost your autoexec.nt or config.nt file/s in that folder.

I've included them here...the file names should be in all CAPS (XP treats
all cap 8.3 filenames diferently than mixedCASe or longfilenames...)



*************AUTOEXEC.NT

@echo off

REM AUTOEXEC.BAT is not used to initialize the MS-DOS environment.
REM AUTOEXEC.NT is used to initialize the MS-DOS environment unless a
REM different startup file is specified in an application's PIF.

REM Install CD ROM extensions
lh %SystemRoot%\system32\mscdexnt.exe

REM Install network redirector (load before dosx.exe)
lh %SystemRoot%\system32\redir

REM Install DPMI support
lh %SystemRoot%\system32\dosx

REM The following line enables Sound Blaster 2.0 support on NTVDM.
REM The command for setting the BLASTER environment is as follows:
REM SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 P330
REM where:
REM A specifies the sound blaster's base I/O port
REM I specifies the interrupt request line
REM D specifies the 8-bit DMA channel
REM P specifies the MPU-401 base I/O port
REM T specifies the type of sound blaster card
REM 1 - Sound Blaster 1.5
REM 2 - Sound Blaster Pro I
REM 3 - Sound Blaster 2.0
REM 4 - Sound Blaster Pro II
REM 6 - SOund Blaster 16/AWE 32/32/64
REM
REM The default value is A220 I5 D1 T3 and P330. If any of the switches
is
REM left unspecified, the default value will be used. (NOTE, since all
the
REM ports are virtualized, the information provided here does not have to
REM match the real hardware setting.) NTVDM supports Sound Blaster 2.0
only.
REM The T switch must be set to 3, if specified.
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 P330 T3

REM To disable the sound blaster 2.0 support on NTVDM, specify an invalid
REM SB base I/O port address. For example:
REM SET BLASTER=A0
REM Install network redirector

lh %SystemRoot%\system32\nw16

lh %SystemRoot%\system32\vwipxspx



***********CONFIG.NT

REM Windows MS-DOS Startup File
REM
REM CONFIG.SYS vs CONFIG.NT
REM CONFIG.SYS is not used to initialize the MS-DOS environment.
REM CONFIG.NT is used to initialize the MS-DOS environment unless a
REM different startup file is specified in an application's PIF.
REM
REM ECHOCONFIG
REM By default, no information is displayed when the MS-DOS environment
REM is initialized. To display CONFIG.NT/AUTOEXEC.NT information, add
REM the command echoconfig to CONFIG.NT or other startup file.
REM
REM NTCMDPROMPT
REM When you return to the command prompt from a TSR or while running an
REM MS-DOS-based application, Windows runs COMMAND.COM. This allows the
REM TSR to remain active. To run CMD.EXE, the Windows command prompt,
REM rather than COMMAND.COM, add the command ntcmdprompt to CONFIG.NT or
REM other startup file.
REM
REM DOSONLY
REM By default, you can start any type of application when running
REM COMMAND.COM. If you start an application other than an MS-DOS-based
REM application, any running TSR may be disrupted. To ensure that only
REM MS-DOS-based applications can be started, add the command dosonly to
REM CONFIG.NT or other startup file.
REM
REM EMM
REM You can use EMM command line to configure EMM(Expanded Memory Manager).
REM The syntax is:
REM
REM EMM = [A=AltRegSets] [B=BaseSegment] [RAM]
REM
REM AltRegSets
REM specifies the total Alternative Mapping Register Sets you
REM want the system to support. 1 <= AltRegSets <= 255. The
REM default value is 8.
REM BaseSegment
REM specifies the starting segment address in the Dos conventional
REM memory you want the system to allocate for EMM page frames.
REM The value must be given in Hexdecimal.
REM 0x1000 <= BaseSegment <= 0x4000. The value is rounded down to
REM 16KB boundary. The default value is 0x4000
REM RAM
REM specifies that the system should only allocate 64Kb address
REM space from the Upper Memory Block(UMB) area for EMM page frames
REM and leave the rests(if available) to be used by DOS to support
REM loadhigh and devicehigh commands. The system, by default, would
REM allocate all possible and available UMB for page frames.
REM
REM The EMM size is determined by pif file(either the one associated
REM with your application or _default.pif). If the size from PIF file
REM is zero, EMM will be disabled and the EMM line will be ignored.
REM
dos=high, umb
device=%SystemRoot%\system32\himem.sys
files=40
or...
I should have said the autoexec.nt or config.nt files are missing
or...
your Windows PIF settings might have changed.
Right click on the icon for your 16-bit MS-DOS program, click on Properties,
select the Program tab and click on the Advanced button.

The Autoexec Filename should read : %SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT

and the Config filename should read : %SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\CONFIG.NT

Martin
=================================================

Regards
Carmel Grech
 

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