Run line problems

[Guest]

For reasons I cannot fathom, some RUN commands crash unless I add .exe to the
end. Example: CMD does not work but CMD.EXE does. Why is this?

 

[Guest]

What do you mean by crash?

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Sounds like your PATHEXT environment variable is messed up.

The environmental variable Pathext shows a list of file extensions that are
considered to be executable and regulates which extensions do not need to be
typed in a Command or Run window.

Open a command prompt, for you...
Start | Run | Type: cmd.exe | Click OK |
Type: set in the prompt and hit your Enter key |
Scroll down to PATHEXT

Should look something like this...

PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH

This registry key is what holds the environment variables...
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\
Session Manager\Environment
Value Name: PATHEXT should show the same thing.

I do not know if the fixpath2.zip (first link) fixes the PATHEXT problem.

Why don't my commands work?
http://internet.cybermesa.com/~bstewart/cmdprompt.html#6

See this...
Why do I have to type filename.bat, filename doesn't work
http://www.jsifaq.com/SUBD/TIP1700/rh1706.htm

And possibly this one...
You can't run anything from a CMD prompt
http://www.jsifaq.com/subd/tip1900/rh1918.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

A black DOS window opens for about .26 seconds then closes immediately.

 

[Guest]

I see a black DOS box open for about .26 seconds then closes immediately.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Does typing cmd.com in the Start | Run box have the same affect?

You have a trojan/virus/worm. cmd.com is *NOT* an XP file.

When you type cmd in the Start | Run box, XP finds cmd.com instead of
cmd.exe. When a command is typed without an extension, XP looks for the
..com extension first before it looks for the .exe extension, if it finds
cmd.com, it will not even look for cmd.exe. Because XP finds cmd.com XP
thinks that it needs autoexec.nt and config.nt to run cmd.com.

cmd.com is *NOT* an XP file, it's added by a trojan/worm/virus.

If you were to type cmd.exe in the Start | Run box, cmd.exe might open if
the trojan/worm/virus hasn't rendered it useless.

Update your antivirus software and run a complete scan.

Also Known As: W32.Alcan.A, Win32.Alcan.A [Computer Associates],
P2P-Worm.Win32.Alcan.a [Kaspersky Lab], W32/Alcan.worm!p2p [McAfee],
W32/Alcra-A [Sophos], WORM_ALCAN.A [Trend Micro]

[[This worm drops the legitimate file compression DLL, BSZIP.DLL in the
Windows system folder. It does this so it can compress itself. It also drops
the following files in the Windows system folder:

CMD.COM
NETSTAT.COM
PING.COM
REGEDIT.COM
TASKKILL.COM
TASKLIST.COM
TRACERT.COM

These files contain the string MZ so that this worm can disable the
following Windows tool applications:

CMD.EXE
NETSTAT.EXE
PING.EXE
REGEDIT.EXE
TASKKILL.EXE
TASKLIST.EXE
TRACERT.EXE ]]
From...
WORM_ALCAN.A - Technical details
http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=WORM_ALCAN.A&VSect=T

Symantec Security Response - W32.Alcra.A
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.alcra.a.html

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

I will try these tonight and post results tomorrow. I'm using my sister's
computer since I don't have internet access.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Read my other post. You probably have a trojan/virus/worm.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

As Wesley said. Here is an example:

Normally, users type regedit in Start, Run dialog to launch the Registry
Editor. But, if both Regedit.exe (legitimate) and Regedit.com (Trojan) are
present in your Windows or System32 folder, the file with the .COM extension
takes precedence. As a result, regedit.com process launches. When
regedit.com file runs, nothing may happen. Or, the following error may be
seen.

ERROR: An Extended Memory Manager is already installed. XMS Driver Not
Installed.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Read my other post. You probably have a trojan/virus/worm.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

Well, I looked and did not find any viruses. But I did find the .com files
mentioned. Apparently at one time, they got left by a previous virus that I
had destroyed. Deleting the .coms re-enabled my commands. They were small
files with RW and nothing else in them. Thanks for the assistance. Now I
know for next time.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

There's always something. Glad you got rid of the virus and the .com files.

Keep having fun.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In