Re: Command in Windows

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: R. C. White (rc_at_corridor.net)
Date: 11/18/04

  • Next message: Bob Anderson: "XP Network Connection Problem" 
    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 15:54:17 -0600

    Hi, Kieron.

    It's time to lose the MS-DOS/Win3x/9x/ME mindset. WinXP is not built on
    MS-DOS and does not include MS-DOS at all. (Except for just enough to
    create an MS-DOS boot floppy - but booting from that floppy won't let you
    get into WinXP.)

    WinXP does have an excellent emulator that runs most MS-DOS (and Win9x/ME)
    programs and executes most MS-DOS commands. There are two such emulators,
    in fact: a 16-bit version (Command.com) and a 32-bit version (Cmd.exe). To
    open the 32-bit emulator, click Start | All Programs | Accessories | Command
    Prompt. This opens a "DOS" window; I put "DOS" in quotes to emphasize that
    this is an emulator, not true MS-DOS.

    You can customize the "DOS" window significantly by right-clicking on
    Command Prompt and using the Properties screen, much as we used the PIF
    screen in Win3x/9x. Click the Compatibility tab on this Properties screen
    to learn more about "Getting older programs to run on Windows XP".

    A major difference between MS-DOS/Win3x/9x/ME and WinXP is in how they deal
    with hardware. Software (including games) that properly used hardware calls
    in DOS and older Windows probably will run just fine in WinXP. But programs
    that bypassed DOS - to make a game run faster, for example - probably will
    not work in WinXP without special handling. And they may not be able to run
    at all in WinXP.

    Using F8 to enter Safe Mode with Prompt actually starts WinXP and then
    WinXP's DOS emulator. This is not the same as in Win9x, where it first
    started MS-DOS and then used that to load Win.com and run Windows if we
    typed "Win" at the Command Prompt. Even in Safe Mode with Prompt, WinXP has
    no way to load config.sys and autoexec.bat, so WinXP provides for .nt
    equivalents that can be used in some contexts to achieve compatibility when
    required.

    WinXP looks a lot like Win98 - but there are a lot of differences under the
    surface, and this is one of the biggest differences.

    RC 

    -- 
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@corridor.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
"Kieron Capehorn" <kcapehornX@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message 
news:D%7nd.3763$08.1174@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> Hi,
>
> I have some old CDs with games on them that were designed for Windows 
> 95/98
> (Quake I, LBA etc).  When I try to run their installation batch files in
> windows, the cmd window opened and I get this message in an error prompt:
>
> "16 bit MSDOS subsystem
>
> C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe
> C:\windows\system32\autoexec.nt.  The system file is not suitable for
> running MSDOS and Microsoft Windows applications."
>
>
> A search reveals I don't have an autoexec.nt file in the system32 folder. 
> I
> get a similar error if I try using CMD and use a command such as edit. 
> How
> can I solve this??
>
>
> Also another question.  Is it possible to prevent Windows from starting 
> up,
> so I can just get a DOS prompt?  If I press F8 while the system is 
> loading,
> I get the option of Windows Safe Mode with DOS Prompt, but is it possible 
> to
> have just the prompt before windows loads?
>
>
> Thanks
>
> --
> Kieron
  • Next message: Bob Anderson: "XP Network Connection Problem"

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