Problem installing PPC software - Windows XP

[andrewjhscott]

I need someone who knows a bit about Windows XP and a file called autoexec.nt....

I've started haing problems installing software on my PPC - it's not related to the PPC - it's the bit where I run the exe for the software to install (on my Windows XP desktop) and get this:

'c:\windows\system 32\autoexec.nt The file system is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose Close to terminate the application.'

Any ideas? I install quite a lot of desktop and PPC/HPC software so I'm guessing I've corrupted this file somewhere along the way.

Unless someone has a bright idea I may just have to to a clean re-install of XP.

Thanks in advance...

[ironguy]

Autoexec.nt is a piece of software that runs in your Xp system to initialize the MS-DOS software. MS-DOS is necessary to allow XP to initiate or load 16 bit programs. Something has happened to your file as you have probably guessed. As far as a fix is concerned, I'm not sure. Google 'autoexec.nt' and you'll find many, many references to it, including some tech forums. They might be a better source of the fix.

[Janak Parekh]

Can you take a look in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 and see what your AUTOEXEC.NT file contains? Mine contains a bunch of lh (loadhigh) statements, and a BLASTER environment variable.

--janak

[andrewjhscott]

Interestingly (at least to me) I've found the autoexec file in c:\windows\repair and it contains:

@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

REM The following line enables Sound Blaster 2.0 support on NTVDM.
REM The command for setting the BLASTER environment is as follows:
REM SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 P330
REM where:
REM A specifies the sound blaster's base I/O port
REM I specifies the interrupt request line
REM D specifies the 8-bit DMA channel
REM P specifies the MPU-401 base I/O port
REM T specifies the type of sound blaster card
REM 1 - Sound Blaster 1.5
REM 2 - Sound Blaster Pro I
REM 3 - Sound Blaster 2.0
REM 4 - Sound Blaster Pro II
REM 6 - SOund Blaster 16/AWE 32/32/64
REM
REM The default value is A220 I5 D1 T3 and P330. If any of the switches is
REM left unspecified, the default value will be used. (NOTE, since all the
REM ports are virtualized, the information provided here does not have to
REM match the real hardware setting.) NTVDM supports Sound Blaster 2.0 only.
REM The T switch must be set to 3, if specified.
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 P330 T3

REM To disable the sound blaster 2.0 support on NTVDM, specify an invalid
REM SB base I/O port address. For example:
REM SET BLASTER=A0

I'm wondering if this has anything to do with Norton Antivirus?

Should I just put the autoexec.nt file back into the system32 folder?

Thanks for your interest.

Cheers

[andrewjhscott]

Problem solved... :oops:

Just copied the autoexec.nt file into teh system32 folder and all seems well.

Don't think I need to know why/how/when....

Just be happy I can get back to installing.

Cheers

[Janak Parekh]

Congrats! It looks like some stuff from that file was needed for a command-line portion of the installer.

--janak