Maurice N
December 6th 03, 12:45 PM
Garfield R. Morgan wrote:
>
> Also, my DOS programs ran fine on my old computer which I
> upgraded to Windows XP from 98. The version of XP that
> came with my new computer can't handle my DOD programs.
> Anything I can do to resurrect them?
It may well take some research & fine-tuning on your part to run =
DOS-based programs under XP.
Or if the programs are not well-behaved (or non-standard) you may not be =
able to do at all.
A) Check your programs' documentation on run requirements. See if they =
need special entries for 'so-called startup files'.
On Win XP (or other NT-based Windows) the o.s. does NOT use Config.sys =
or Autoexec.bat.
XP uses Config.NT & Autoexec.NT -- you will find those at =20
the \System32 sub-folder of \Windows ( or \WINNT).
B) Be aware the XP Command prompts do not allow usage of real mode for =
dos apps;
nor do they allow real-mode device drivers. If the dos programs have =
instructions that access hardware directly or
"non-XP-friendly" programming, they may fail to run in XP.
C) XP has an emulator that looks like ms-dos. It is not the real dos =
you may have used in the past.
The XP command prompts (emulator) is really a Windows program ---not a =
pure dos --
that only looks as if it were a dos. =20
Bring up Help and Support (from the XP menus). Search on "create custom
startup files for an MS-DOS-based program".
=20
D) To open command prompt, click Start, point to All Programs, point =
to Accessories, and then click
Command Prompt.
Another way to get that (while normal WinXP is up and running) is: =
Start menu/Run option/ then type
cmd <enter>
That will get you a command-prompt-window where you can try running your =
dos program.
To quit a command prompt session, type exit at the blinking cursor in =
the command prompt window.
E) See the following MS article:
Running Nonnative Applications in Windows 2000 Professional (applies =
to XP as well)
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=3D/TechNet/prod=
technol/windows2000pro/reskit/part8/proch36.asp
F) If you still have a problem running those programs, and ONLY IF you =
have a FAT32 or FAT formatted partition on this pc's hard drive....then =
you can have your data & dos programs on the HD, and run the dos =
programs.....by first booting off from a 'DOS bootup diskette'.
Eg., like if you upgraded from Win 98 or Win ME & did not convert file =
system to NTFS !!
--=20
Maurice N
MVP Windows - Shell / User
-----
>
> Also, my DOS programs ran fine on my old computer which I
> upgraded to Windows XP from 98. The version of XP that
> came with my new computer can't handle my DOD programs.
> Anything I can do to resurrect them?
It may well take some research & fine-tuning on your part to run =
DOS-based programs under XP.
Or if the programs are not well-behaved (or non-standard) you may not be =
able to do at all.
A) Check your programs' documentation on run requirements. See if they =
need special entries for 'so-called startup files'.
On Win XP (or other NT-based Windows) the o.s. does NOT use Config.sys =
or Autoexec.bat.
XP uses Config.NT & Autoexec.NT -- you will find those at =20
the \System32 sub-folder of \Windows ( or \WINNT).
B) Be aware the XP Command prompts do not allow usage of real mode for =
dos apps;
nor do they allow real-mode device drivers. If the dos programs have =
instructions that access hardware directly or
"non-XP-friendly" programming, they may fail to run in XP.
C) XP has an emulator that looks like ms-dos. It is not the real dos =
you may have used in the past.
The XP command prompts (emulator) is really a Windows program ---not a =
pure dos --
that only looks as if it were a dos. =20
Bring up Help and Support (from the XP menus). Search on "create custom
startup files for an MS-DOS-based program".
=20
D) To open command prompt, click Start, point to All Programs, point =
to Accessories, and then click
Command Prompt.
Another way to get that (while normal WinXP is up and running) is: =
Start menu/Run option/ then type
cmd <enter>
That will get you a command-prompt-window where you can try running your =
dos program.
To quit a command prompt session, type exit at the blinking cursor in =
the command prompt window.
E) See the following MS article:
Running Nonnative Applications in Windows 2000 Professional (applies =
to XP as well)
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=3D/TechNet/prod=
technol/windows2000pro/reskit/part8/proch36.asp
F) If you still have a problem running those programs, and ONLY IF you =
have a FAT32 or FAT formatted partition on this pc's hard drive....then =
you can have your data & dos programs on the HD, and run the dos =
programs.....by first booting off from a 'DOS bootup diskette'.
Eg., like if you upgraded from Win 98 or Win ME & did not convert file =
system to NTFS !!
--=20
Maurice N
MVP Windows - Shell / User
-----