16 bit windows subsystem

[Sharon]

Hi there!

I really need help! Ever since I installed windows service pack 2 I have been getting the following message every time I start up my computer.

16 bit windws subsystem

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT
The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate te applicaton.

Then there are 2 options close or ignore, clicking ignore does nothing so I have no option but to click close.

Please help me as I have no idea what to do about it.

Thanks

Sharon

[NHH]

Hi Sharon..

Sounds as if your AUTOEXEC.NT file may have become corrupt.
Try the following...
Click on the Start button and then Run.
Type notepad in the box and click on the OK button.
In Notepad, click on File, then Open
When the 'Open' box opens, type C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT in the File Name box and click OK.
Now you got AUTOEXEC.NT open... are the contents the same as the following?.....


@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


If yours doesn't contain the above text, delete all the contents and copy/paste the above text into Notepad.

Once AUTOEXEC.NT matches the above text, click File, then Save.

Now restart your PC and see if the problem has been fixed..
If the problem still occurs... read this Microsoft article.

[Sharon]

Hi there

Thanks for replying I have tried what you said but when I get into notepad then 'File' and 'Open' and type in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT
I get an error message saying File not Found Please verify the correct file name was given.

Any ideas?

Sharon

[NHH]

If AUTOEXEC.NT doesn't exist then you could create it yourself.
Just open notepad as before, copy the AUTOEXEC.NT contents given in my previous post and paste into Notepad.
Then do File, Save As..., browse to c:\windows\system32, type in the AUTOEXEC.NT as the file name and save.
Now you should have AUTOEXEC.NT on you system.

This file tells Windows XP what DOS drivers to load when an old DOS program is launched and it looks as if you have a DOS program set to run on startup.
If you've followed the above instruction and the problem still occurs, follow the Microsoft instructions for recreating the VDM files from the Windows CD.

Following the Microsoft instructions should sort the problem, but if it doesn't get back to me



If you want to find out what this DOS program running on startup is, you could do the following and I'll have a look at your startup processes....

Click HERE, then select to Open the file. This will open the zip file, drag HijackThis.exe to your desktop.
Click on the Do a system scan and save a logfile button, once the scan is done save the logfile to your desktop.
Copy the contents of the log, and paste it into a reply here.