"File not found" when NTVDM loads AUTOEXEC.NT...

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This is weird. After upgrading 98SE to XPPro, and
installing SP2, a DOS app doesn't run because the files
loaded high (DOSX.EXE, etc.) by AUTOEXEC.NT aren't found.
But they're in the %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32 folder, which
translates to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32, and marked as "Hidden".
But I can easily see them with "dir /ah".

The hard disk is formatted as FAT32, and I thought that it
might be an ACL problem, but ACLs are available only on
NTFS disks.

Is this a security issue? Anybody have any ideas.

TIA.

 

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Another development: I tried to unhide all of the hidden
files in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 using "ATTRIB *.* -H", but I
couldn't switch off the "Hidden" attribute. ATTRIB
returned the error message "Not resetting system file -

 

[Guest]

OK, I fixed it. Seems that it helps to be listen to
wailin' blues on the radio while trying to debug a problem
like this.

ATTRIB doesn't permit the unhiding of a system file.
Solution is to switch off the "system" attribute first,
and then use ATTRIB to unhide the file.

Still don't know why all of the files in \SYSTEM32 were
hidden, but I ain't gonna worry about it no more.