MS-DOS crashes

[Nick F]

Whenever I attempt to open an MS-DOS window it closes
itself a few seconds after it opens.
I am trying to install an old game which requires an MS-
DOS window for installation. I am told by Windows that I
need to instal it through control panel, which I have
managed to achieve, but during the installation, the DOS
window still closes itself for no reason. Is there any
way to get the DOS windows to remain open? Thanks

 

[Jim Macklin]

XP has no DOS, but you can open a command line window that
will stay open by using START/run and typing cmd in the
line. The do your "dos thing" in the open window.

The program you install may or may not work, it depends on
how it addresses hardware calls.


| Whenever I attempt to open an MS-DOS window it closes
| itself a few seconds after it opens.
| I am trying to install an old game which requires an MS-
| DOS window for installation. I am told by Windows that I
| need to instal it through control panel, which I have
| managed to achieve, but during the installation, the DOS
| window still closes itself for no reason. Is there any
| way to get the DOS windows to remain open? Thanks

 

[Rob Schneider]

You are aware, I hope, that there is no MS-DOS in XP. It's just an
emulation, and not everything that works in MS-DOS operating system
works on XP.

Re installing the game, use the Compatibility Wizard to *try* to get it
going.

Re why the command prompt box closes ... don't know. Something is
closing it. Are you sure there are no nefarious programs (virus,
spy-bot, worms, etc.) doing the closing? Something is the cause. Some
of these nefarious programs like to make it appear as though XP is at fault.

Hope this is useful to you. Let us know.

rms

 

[Guest]

No MS-DOS window will remain open, and CMD is the one I
was using anyway. (This is the one that tells me to
access the DOS installation through control panel).

I did not know of a Compatability Wizard, though I do
know of compatability mode and this had no effect. How
will teh Compatability Wizard differ?

 

[Pop Rivet]

Install the program from the Command Prompt.
To get to the Command Prompt:
Click Start; Programs, Accessories, click on Command Prompt to get what you
think of as a DOS window. From here you should be able to install your
game. IF XP can handle the install - it might not.
It IS possible that it will not run under XP, so don't think sometning
is broken if it won't work even though it seemed to install properly.

As for the closing window:
If a program executes, and then closes itself, it will do just what you are
saying. eg if you had a shortcut to the command "dir", it would show the
directory for the particular folder, and as soon as it was done displaying,
and the command exits, the screen returns to windows.
Unless you KNOW the window is supposed to stay open, what you are seeing
is probably normal operation but can't tell without more details. You often
cannot do a DOS install from within the windows desktop using the RUN
command.
If you are executing a "DOS" command, and can't get the window to stay
open, go instead to a Command Prompt (DOS prompt) to issue the command.
There, when the command completes, you will still be able to see the results
of the program's execution on the screen.

As for the snotty and ego-centric commentors about XP not having DOS, well
they're snottily trying to say that it's now called the Command Prompt. So
DOS = Command Prompt in XP. DOS itself has been separated out, sort of, but
many of the commands DO still exist, and DO work as expected from the
Command Prompt (DOS prompt). To see a list of the supported DOS commands,
type "help /?" (no quotes) at the Command Prompt.
Ignore the jerks who are unwilling to answer your question and are more
interested in showing off that they read somewhere that XP does not have
DOS, rather than bothering to answer the question you asked. That's 2-year
old sandbox play.
When one has nothing useful to say, that's what one should say -
nothing. Unfortunately there are always those who must instead loosen their
sphincters.