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Author Topic: 16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem problem
doublefresh
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posted 03-03-2005 09:03 AM     Profile for doublefresh   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
HELP! I can't run Qbasic on my XP machine.

NTVDM has encountered a System Error. The system cannot find the file specified.


Any ideas on a fix?

I know it's an old 16 bit program but it should still work on xp right?


Posts: 1824 | From: USA | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged
doublefresh
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posted 03-03-2005 09:07 AM     Profile for doublefresh   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
The NT Virtual DOS Machine (a.k.a WOW, or Windows on Windows), is a Win16 subsystem that runs under Windows NT, which allows 16-bit applications to run as if they were being executed on a DOS machine, with that machine's multitasking and segmented memory model.

Because the system is multitasked 16-bit DOS and Windows applications cannot crash NT. However, 16-bit apps within a Win16 subsystem run the exact same way as they do on a DOS/Win 3.x machine; therefore, 16-bit apps within the subsystem can crash one another, or the subsystem. To prevent this, you can launch multiple WOW subsystems as long as your program does not communicate using shared memory.


Windows NT will not allow NTVDM to execute instructions that try to directly manipulate hardware or memory locations. As a result, some DOS and Windows 3.x applications (such as games) may not run under Windows NT.


Posts: 1824 | From: USA | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged
doublefresh
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posted 03-03-2005 09:15 AM     Profile for doublefresh   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
AppName: ntvdm.exe AppVer: 5.1.2600.1106 ModName: ntvdm.exe
ModVer: 5.1.2600.1106 Offset: 0000e8b4

Posts: 1824 | From: USA | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged
J0SH
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posted 03-03-2005 09:54 AM     Profile for J0SH   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
make a shortcut to qbasic.exe, then right click it, goto properties and goto the compatibility tab. try changing it to win95 or something and you may have some luck. If not I can try to dig up my old copy of qbasic 4.5 which runs ok on XP as far as I can remember.

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I am.


Posts: 1591 | From: buffalo new york | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged
doublefresh
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posted 03-03-2005 10:16 AM     Profile for doublefresh   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
I tried the shortcut trick no luck. I've got both Qbasic 4.5 and the newer Qbasic 7.1
they both give the same results.

I'm off to my storage house today. I may just grab an old 98 machine for my qbasic programing.

Stupid question but is Visual basic also a 16 bit app?

This is the programming language my servos work with, unless I want to learn JAVA which I may do in the future.


Posts: 1824 | From: USA | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged
J0SH
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posted 03-03-2005 11:13 AM     Profile for J0SH   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
Visual Basic 3.0 or so would be 16bit. If you post a copy of the QBASIC you're using I'll try it on my XP machine here. That way we can tell for sure if it's the software or your PC settings.

--------------------

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Posts: 1591 | From: buffalo new york | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged
GFKiller
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posted 03-03-2005 11:40 AM     Profile for GFKiller   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
Try this too, it fixed alot of 16-bit errors I get with legacy apps in the office.

Edit C:\Windows\System32\config.nt

Look at bottom of file, set these:

files=125
buffers=40

Save, exit, reload cmd shell.


Posts: 1761 | From: Staten Island, NY | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged
doublefresh
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posted 03-03-2005 01:33 PM     Profile for doublefresh   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
GK Where should I put those?

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

Sorry for the stupid question. I know enough to find the file and open and read it but not enough to know where I should put those numbers you gave me.


Posts: 1824 | From: USA | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged
doublefresh
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posted 03-03-2005 02:20 PM     Profile for doublefresh   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
Never mind. I just stuck them at the bottom of the list and low and behold Qbasic works. THANKS GK :-)
Posts: 1824 | From: USA | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged
GFKiller
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posted 03-03-2005 07:33 PM     Profile for GFKiller   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
No problem dude, there's an autoexec.nt too if you ever go any deeper into running legacy app's on an NT environment.
Posts: 1761 | From: Staten Island, NY | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged
Snag
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posted 03-04-2005 11:27 AM     Profile for Snag   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
QBasic...somebody wanting to toss the ol' banana?
Posts: 2606 | From: Canada | Registered: Nov 1999  |  IP: Logged
Scooby
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posted 03-04-2005 11:55 AM     Profile for Scooby   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
Well geeze man, you didn't have to go through all that trouble; just get a DOS emulator
Posts: 2802 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jul 1999  |  IP: Logged
AcidWarp
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posted 03-04-2005 12:02 PM     Profile for AcidWarp   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Snag:
QBasic...somebody wanting to toss the ol' banana?

You trying to tell us something Snag?

--------------------

“I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.”

“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”

--Dr. Stephen Hawking.


Posts: 4363 | From: Waterloo, Ontario | Registered: Nov 1999  |  IP: Logged
J0SH
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posted 03-04-2005 01:16 PM     Profile for J0SH   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
LOL, I always liked nibbles more.

--------------------

I am.


Posts: 1591 | From: buffalo new york | Registered: Jun 1999  |  IP: Logged

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