a serious DOS problem!

from WinCustomize Forums
well, i have a serious DOS problem on my system with the following specs:
Acer Aspire 1600 series (laptop)
Win XP SP1/Win Longhorn 4051 :> (Dual boot)
Intel Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz. 256 MB DDR SDRAM
30 gb hdd. doesnt matter here i suppose.
And graphics by: ATi Mobility Radeon 9000 (64 MB)


Ok, coming to the problem.
when i boot into Win XP. and if i open Turbo C++ (DOS mode) the system becomes so slow. and if i switch to full screen, there is a system hang (only for DOS. i am not able to interact with it, type, mouse etc). but when i press the START button, the computer returns to Windows mode. and i have to close TC.

but the same thing: DOESNT happen in Longhorn. i guess it has a better DOS support. i can go into full screen, use graphics etc etc. no problem.

so, the question: what is the problem with Windows XP?
and its stupid DOS support?
i try this same thing in my friend's comp(same OS) and at school too (same OS), they work perfectly fine. or is it due to my Graphics card?? ATi?

even DOS games DONT work. they just show a blank screen. my fav game: Aladdin (DOS) doesnt work too!! now...this isnt good. it says: EMS/XMS allocation error.
but the games (not aladdin) work in Longhorn.

now i get a feeling: why not go back to Win98? but Win XP wont let me do that!!

any help would be appreciated!


Thanks


-=[ V ]=-
7,359 views 17 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
oh and::
Happy New year to everyone?
i couldnt come online as i had my exams

too late eh?

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
wtf is dos?
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
JK.... I have no idea, maybe Yrag or someone can help you.

Happy Happy New Year To you Too!
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Which did you install first?

LH or XP?
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
what happens when you click on the start button is you are calling explorer. Explorer and dos don't mix well in xp.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The bigger problem is wanting to play DOS games when there's better* games out.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
well, if XP was installed first and it worked before LH, I would say that LH took control of the boot process and XP doesn't care for LH's directions. If you never tried in XP before installing LH, then I would say you don't have much of a chance in removing LH as a factor right off the bat.

Config.nt and Autoexec.nt would be interesting to see, and the dos .scf control file in system(32) or windows dir would be another one to look to see what is in it...

try this...

Load XP

ctrl-alt-del and open taskmanager, kill the explorer shell, then run "cmd" so a Vanillia (as you can get in NT) Dos window opens up, and see what it runs like....

Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
"The bigger problem is wanting to play DOS games when there's better* games out."

Different != better. There are millions of people sitting around playing Game Boy Advance and other hand-held games that are DOS-era quality. Emulators are insanely popular. If anything, that kind of attitude just pigeonholes the game industry.

( Sorry for the off-topic rant, but I get tired of "Anything older than Quake sux" attutude. )
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
DO you have sufficient HD space left to allow WinXP to page memory properly? Is the HD too fragmented? It strikes me that Longhorn may well do these things differently and doesn't show up the problem.

regards, Jerry

PS anything before Balderdash sux.



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Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
/me *waves*

Good to see you. I wondered how you were doing...
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ther is no DOS in XP. There is a command window that allows DOS type commands. Open "help & support" and type DOS.

Longhorn has not been released yet. So who can say except the people that coded the OS.



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Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/ This site is very good for getting old MS-DOS programs to run on WinXP machines. While there, get VDMSound, it's free and will get a lot of MS-DOS proggies to run. Read everything and search for everything, unlike here the Admin over there is not so nice.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
hmm so i guess i should update my pong game ?
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
WinXP came installed on my Laptop


got the LH beta only later.
Essencay :: Thanks for the link! browsing now...
IPlural i will try out out...thanks for the suggestion! i didnt know Explorer hated dos!
but the interesting fact is that: this happens only on MY system!!! my friends system (running LH too) is running fine.

Jerry, i have 10 GB of free space on C (XP) and 8 GB on D (LH) but i guess i have to de-fragment my drive too...

gm! nice to see you too

mrtee: everything is available Longhorn has been 'leaked' if not released :> how about DOOM III, HL2 ... all have been
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Vimal, the following link might help you gain some insight into a fix or work around for your games...
http://www.subsowespac.org/sh_xp/silent_hunterxp.shtml


mtree, actually there is dos in xp...

It is a virtual_DOS_Machine ( I wonder if they happened to peek into the OS/2 kernal at some point in time )

But, without a doubt, DOS lives in all flavors of NT in some shape or form...

BTW, XP is nothing more than an attempt at a BLing BLing Label for NT...
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
See KB article 314106 at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314106&Product=winxp

re: Windows XP and DOS
Friday, February 28, 2003 at 5:26 pm
Windows XP Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by j frangquist [find other messages by j frangquist]


Obviously you need to be more specific, but here's the basics...

THERE IS NO TRUE DOS IN XP.

DOS in XP is an emulation run by ntvdm.exe. Some DOS programs work fine under the
emulation, some encounter problems, some simply don't work.

If you are trying to get a command prompt, look for Command Prompt under Accessories,
or type cmd (XP prompt) or command (emulated DOS prompt) in Run.

If you are trying to run a game, and you get a hanging blank screen, try restarting
XP in VGA Enabled mode. (Tap f8 as your computer starts to get the option.)



On Friday, February 28, 2003 at 6:17 am, Malcolm wrote:
>How do I access DOS in Windows XP, to use a DOS based program?





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Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I installed Win98SE and WinXP on separate partitions to fix that problem. WinXP is more stable without DOS. Most of the DOS based games just won't work with WinXP.