DOS - QBASIC APP FAILS TO RUN

[Gary Sherry]

I have a new Dell workstation that is running Windows 2000 Professional SP3.
The machine came with the OS pre-installed and has an IDE disk with a DELL
utilities partition and a single FAT32 partition, where W2K is installed.

I have a compiled DOS application that was written in Quick Basis. The
application uses a TOKEN that is copied to the hard disk during the
installation routine as a copy protection mechcanisms like many old DOS
games did.

My problem is, if I attempt to run the installation program from a CMD
prompt, it displays an error message when attempting to copy the token to
the hard disk. The installation routine continues and installs the
application but you are unable to run the app as the token hasn't been
installed.

However if I boot from a Win98 boot disk, I can install the application, the
token is copied to the hard disk and I'm able to run the application.

If I restart the workstation and attempt to run the application from a CMD
prompt in W2K, I receive an error message stating that the token is missing,
even though I can run the app from a Win98 DOS boot disk.

I have been told by the develop that other clients are using the software on
W2K, although I haven't managed this even after re-installing the
application. Any ideas would be gratefully received whether fixes tothe
prompt or links to decompliers for QB programs

Gary

 

[Ritchie]

The machine came with the OS pre-installed and has an IDE disk with a DELL
utilities partition and a single FAT32 partition, where W2K is installed.
I have been told by the develop that other clients are using the software on
W2K, although I haven't managed this even after re-installing the

May be the app assumes the o/s resides on the first partition. The Dell
partition is NOT required. Personally I'd zap the whole disk and start
again. A less drastic option would be to use a partition editing utility,
say Partition Magic. I don't know of any specific free utils but I bet
the linux community have some.

 

[Gary Sherry]

I wasn't sure if the problem was related to the Dell
machine and elimiated this by installing and testing the
software with W2K on a Compaq PC which didn't have two
partitions, so W2K was on the first partition.

So I guess this answers your question, in so much that
this isn't the problem.

Gary

 

[Mark Blain]

I have a new Dell workstation that is running Windows 2000 Professional SP3.
The machine came with the OS pre-installed and has an IDE disk with a DELL
utilities partition and a single FAT32 partition, where W2K is installed.

I have a compiled DOS application that was written in Quick Basis. The
application uses a TOKEN that is copied to the hard disk during the
installation routine as a copy protection mechcanisms like many old DOS
games did.

My problem is, if I attempt to run the installation program from a CMD
prompt, it displays an error message when attempting to copy the token to
the hard disk. The installation routine continues and installs the
application but you are unable to run the app as the token hasn't been
installed.

However if I boot from a Win98 boot disk, I can install the application, the
token is copied to the hard disk and I'm able to run the application.

If I restart the workstation and attempt to run the application from a CMD
prompt in W2K, I receive an error message stating that the token is missing,
even though I can run the app from a Win98 DOS boot disk.

I have been told by the develop that other clients are using the software on
W2K, although I haven't managed this even after re-installing the
application. Any ideas would be gratefully received whether fixes tothe
prompt or links to decompliers for QB programs

Since the program was written in Quick Basic, it's not likely that the
problem is related to the Registry: it's probably file-related.

Did you install from the Administrator account or from a user account?
The Adminstrator account allows installs to do things that a user
account can't. On the other hand, file permissions are set based on the
account you install from.

First, try installing from the user account and test from the same
account. If that fails, try reinstalling from Administrator, and test
the program both from Adminstrator and from the user account. If the
program only works when you're logged in as Administrator, then the
installation succeeded but you have a problem with file permissions...
you'll have to figure out what/where this "token" is and change its file
permissions (in Explorer, "Security Properties") so the user account has
full read/write control of it.

 

[Bob I]

Try running it under "command.com" instead of "cmd.exe"

 

[Gary Sherry]

Thanks for the idea Bob but I had already tried that.

 

[Gary Sherry]

Mark

Thanks for th suggestions. I have installed the application as an admin
eqivilent user and the disk is a FAT32 partition so file and directory
permissions aren't being used. The QB program writes a marker to the disk in
much the same way old DOS games did and this is where I belive the problem
is occurring in so much as the app can't access the disk directly to see the
token

Gary.

 

[Mark Blain]

Mark

Thanks for th suggestions. I have installed the application as an admin
eqivilent user and the disk is a FAT32 partition so file and directory
permissions aren't being used. The QB program writes a marker to the disk in
much the same way old DOS games did and this is where I belive the problem
is occurring in so much as the app can't access the disk directly to see the
token

Makes sense. If an old ms-dos application is trying to bypass the
operating system's disk API and access the disk hardware directly, it
will absolutely not be allowed to do that in Windows 2000. See
<http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=uaM9WrlpAHA.1300@tkmsftngp05>
<http://groups.google.com/[email protected]>