Reading DOS help files in XP

[jim p]

Hi

I've got some old 16-bit DOS help files I want to read.
Anyone know how I can do this on XP.

JimP

 

[Eric Shen [MSFT]]

Hi Jim,

Normally, you can try boot from a Windows 98 startup disk to start MS-DOS
environment and then you can use a DOS help application to read this help
document. However, this depends on the format of this help file. You know,
the DOS help document may have different formats and they are incompatible
with each other. Could you email me the Help for check? Thus, I can check
this help to see if there is any way to open it under Windows XP. My email
address is (e-mail address removed). The file you sent to me will be kept
confidential.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Eric Shen
Product Support Services
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

 

[Eric Shen [MSFT]]

Hi James,

I checked the help document. I am unable to open it as well. As I know,
when we use DOS, every manufacturer can use its format to create files.
Even the files are with the same extension, they can be in different
format. The most effective approach would be to use the application which
includes the help file to open this help document. You can try to install
this application onto your Windows XP computer and then run it to read this
help document. If it cannot run on Windows XP DOS (Command Prompt in
NTVDM), you can try to use Windows 98/ME startup disk to access this
application.

Furthermore, this kind of files appears to be in a simple format and can be
read as a plain text file. I tried to use NOTEPAD to open this file and
found that I can read most of this file. I suspect that you just would like
to pull up some contents from this file. You can try this to see if you can
copy this information out.

I hope this information helps you on this issue. Please feel free to let me
know if you have further questions. I hope to hear from you soon.

Regards,

Eric Shen
Product Support Services
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

 

[jim p]

Thanks Eric