Cant Run DOS program in Win2k...

[LinkStatic]

I have a li'l DOS program that I cant run on win2k... the program opens then freezes at the opening page...

I tried running it on winME and got no such problem...

what seems to be the problem?....

[Maddman]

what program is it and what kind of requirements does it have.

[RedDeathDrinker]

The problem is there is only a DOS emulator in 2000, not true DOS. Some apps just freeze, as do some older games that ran in DOS.

[Maddman]

Originally posted by reddeathdrinker
The problem is there is only a DOS emulator in 2000, not true DOS. Some apps just freeze, as do some older games that ran in DOS.

You can get around some of it, not all problems are solvable but some are.

[LinkStatic]

the app is Basic Elex 1.exe its a Basic Electronics tutorial. I have this program for a long time already and I open it once in a while to review some electronics topics... Havent opened it since I upgraded to win2k... and when I tried to open it yesterday, I encountered the problem....

here's the file: let me know if it works on your system

[Maddman]

it didn't get in the message:(

[LinkStatic]

here it is again....

[Maddman]

I ran it on my machine and it ran just fine. Win2k sp2 2195 free. Check your autoexec.nt and config.nt files these are where you can setup your dos environment. They are analogous to the same files in dos.

[LinkStatic]

ok... I'll try to look it up...

[Maddman]

I just double clicked on it from windows explorer and it ran. Here is what is in my two files.

Autoexec.nt
@echo off

REM AUTOEXEC.BAT is not used to initialize the MS-DOS environment.
REM AUTOEXEC.NT is used to initialize the MS-DOS environment unless a
REM different startup file is specified in an application's PIF.

REM Install CD ROM extensions
lh %SystemRoot%\system32\mscdexnt.exe

REM Install network redirector (load before dosx.exe)
lh %SystemRoot%\system32\redir

REM Install DPMI support
lh %SystemRoot%\system32\dosx

config.nt
REM Windows MS-DOS Startup File
REM
REM CONFIG.SYS vs CONFIG.NT
REM CONFIG.SYS is not used to initialize the MS-DOS environment.
REM CONFIG.NT is used to initialize the MS-DOS environment unless a
REM different startup file is specified in an application's PIF.
REM
REM ECHOCONFIG
REM By default, no information is displayed when the MS-DOS environment
REM is initialized. To display CONFIG.NT/AUTOEXEC.NT information, add
REM the command echoconfig to CONFIG.NT or other startup file.
REM
REM NTCMDPROMPT
REM When you return to the command prompt from a TSR or while running an
REM MS-DOS-based application, Windows runs COMMAND.COM. This allows the
REM TSR to remain active. To run CMD.EXE, the Windows command prompt,
REM rather than COMMAND.COM, add the command ntcmdprompt to CONFIG.NT or
REM other startup file.
REM
REM DOSONLY
REM By default, you can start any type of application when running
REM COMMAND.COM. If you start an application other than an MS-DOS-based
REM application, any running TSR may be disrupted. To ensure that only
REM MS-DOS-based applications can be started, add the command dosonly to
REM CONFIG.NT or other startup file.
REM
REM EMM
REM You can use EMM command line to configure EMM(Expanded Memory Manager).
REM The syntax is:
REM
REM EMM = [A=AltRegSets] [B=BaseSegment] [RAM]
REM
REM AltRegSets
REM specifies the total Alternative Mapping Register Sets you
REM want the system to support. 1 <= AltRegSets <= 255. The
REM default value is 8.
REM BaseSegment
REM specifies the starting segment address in the Dos conventional
REM memory you want the system to allocate for EMM page frames.
REM The value must be given in Hexdecimal.
REM 0x1000 <= BaseSegment <= 0x4000. The value is rounded down to
REM 16KB boundary. The default value is 0x4000
REM RAM
REM specifies that the system should only allocate 64Kb address
REM space from the Upper Memory Block(UMB) area for EMM page frames
REM and leave the rests(if available) to be used by DOS to support
REM loadhigh and devicehigh commands. The system, by default, would
REM allocate all possible and available UMB for page frames.
REM
REM The EMM size is determined by pif file(either the one associated
REM with your application or _default.pif). If the size from PIF file
REM is zero, EMM will be disabled and the EMM line will be ignored.
REM
dos=high, umb
device=%SystemRoot%\system32\himem.sys
files=40

[LinkStatic]

strange.... we have basically the same autoexec.nt file... and I'm running SP-2 ( 2195 ) also....

[Maddman]

the only thing I can see other then processor is memory.
My current system is k6-2 400 and 256megs of ram

[LinkStatic]

is the video card has something to do with it? Sandra says my video adapter is not VGA compatible. But i have set it to EGA/VGA in the BIOS. One more thing that I think is related to this problem, when I compile my Turbo C codes, i get an error " BGI error" ( when running graphics mode ) which means I havent initialized my video setting, where in fact I already did....:(

[Maddman]

I am at a loss to explain it. Most people say you can't run dos programs in win2k but I know that a great many will run and I am sorry that I dont have anymore answers. I know the fact that I can run it is frustating. It might be something to do with the amount of memory but I don't think so. Sorry

[LinkStatic]

hey, no problem... its just that it is wierd why I cant run the app. I went to a friend yesterday and we tried it on his system ( K6-2 500, 128 MB memory, Win2K sp-2 )... and it was able to run the file... anyway, thanks for the tips and suggestions... :)