I use several older dos programs. They all apparently run as ntvdm.exe
and therefore if I change any of the settings (ie. window size or
mouse characteristics), they change the settings for all the programs.

Am I missing something? Is it possible to have different settings for
different 16 bit dos programs under XP?

Thanks

Type: create a pif in the Search box in Help and Support.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:c5vqr1p6d79mrpkagt21pm5335e4d04t4p@4ax.com,
Bruce <crown@removeme.interaccess.removemeagain.com> hunted and pecked:
> I use several older dos programs. They all apparently run as ntvdm.exe
> and therefore if I change any of the settings (ie. window size or
> mouse characteristics), they change the settings for all the programs.
>
> Am I missing something? Is it possible to have different settings for
> different 16 bit dos programs under XP?
>
> Thanks

Thanks for the suggestion.

No matter what the pif properties are, when the various programs run,
the system seems to think it is running ntvdm.exe. Therefore if I
change the properties from within a running program, the changes end
up being applied to all of my dos programs which open via shortcut /
pifs.

As an example, I have a shortcut which points to
"C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe". If I run that shortcut and then click
on properties from the running window, the property page for
:C:\windows\system32\ntvdm.exe" is presented.

I understand that ntvdm is the NT Virtual Dos Machine and apparently
it runs anytime a 16 bit dos program is run. Therefore all of my 16
bit dos programs currently run with the same property settings. If I
change the properties from within a program it is actually changing
the ntvdm properties and applies to future 16 bit programs

On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 14:03:36 -0700, "Wesley Vogel"
<123WVogel955@comcast.net> wrote:

>Type: create a pif in the Search box in Help and Support.

Bruce,

You have something wrong. I am not sure what.

cmd.exe has nothing to do with ntvdm.exe. cmd.exe is not a 16-bit program.

If you open command.com and click properties from the running window, you
will get the C:\windows\system32\ntvdm.exe Properties. command.com is a
16-bit program and runs under ntvdm.exe

Try this.
Open cmd.exe from your shortcut
Open Task Manager, Ctrl + Shift + Esc
Click on the Applications tab
Right click on Command Prompt and select: Go To Process
What is highlighted under the Process tab?

It should be cmd.exe not ntvdm.exe.

Try the same thing for command.com and ntvdm.exe will show up for the
Process.

What happens if you paste ...

C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe

into Start | Run and click OK?

Do you actually get cmd.exe running? Or do you get an error message?

Update your antivirus software and run a complete system scan.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:bv3rr1ll5na6jkj7gu3f5kfp81bg856c2b@4ax.com,
Bruce <crown@removeme.interaccess.removemeagain.com> hunted and pecked:
> Thanks for the suggestion.
>
> No matter what the pif properties are, when the various programs run,
> the system seems to think it is running ntvdm.exe. Therefore if I
> change the properties from within a running program, the changes end
> up being applied to all of my dos programs which open via shortcut /
> pifs.
>
> As an example, I have a shortcut which points to
> "C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe". If I run that shortcut and then click
> on properties from the running window, the property page for
>> C:\windows\system32\ntvdm.exe" is presented.
>
> I understand that ntvdm is the NT Virtual Dos Machine and apparently
> it runs anytime a 16 bit dos program is run. Therefore all of my 16
> bit dos programs currently run with the same property settings. If I
> change the properties from within a program it is actually changing
> the ntvdm properties and applies to future 16 bit programs
>
> On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 14:03:36 -0700, "Wesley Vogel"
> <123WVogel955@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> Type: create a pif in the Search box in Help and Support.

Interesting results.

When I run from the shortcut, and "go to process" I am taken to
ntvdm.exe.

If I run from the start run, I get the actual NTVDM.

Any ideas why this may be happening? It appears from looking at my
desktop that the cmd.exe command is setup as a pif instead of a lnk. I
don't know why but when I created a new shortcut, it set up properly.

(Two minutes later) Now that I think about it, I think when I
initially set this system up, I probably copied the command.com link
and edited it to a cmd.lnk. Am I correct that command.com is a 16 bit
program?


I still think I have the same problem with various 16bit programs
which I still use. They all default to ntvdm, is this correct, and all
have the same properties?

Thanks,


On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 15:08:52 -0700, "Wesley Vogel"
<123WVogel955@comcast.net> wrote:

>Bruce,
>
>You have something wrong. I am not sure what.
>
>cmd.exe has nothing to do with ntvdm.exe. cmd.exe is not a 16-bit program.
>
>If you open command.com and click properties from the running window, you
>will get the C:\windows\system32\ntvdm.exe Properties. command.com is a
>16-bit program and runs under ntvdm.exe
>
>Try this.
>Open cmd.exe from your shortcut
>Open Task Manager, Ctrl + Shift + Esc
>Click on the Applications tab
>Right click on Command Prompt and select: Go To Process
>What is highlighted under the Process tab?
>
>It should be cmd.exe not ntvdm.exe.
>
>Try the same thing for command.com and ntvdm.exe will show up for the
>Process.
>
>What happens if you paste ...
>
>C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
>
>into Start | Run and click OK?
>
>Do you actually get cmd.exe running? Or do you get an error message?
>
>Update your antivirus software and run a complete system scan.

Hi Bruce,

I just created a shortcut to command.com named MS-DOS Prompt.
command.com opened fine from that shortcut/pif.
I changed the Cmd line to C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe from
C:\WINDOWS\system32\command.com under the Program tab and Applied it.
I opened the shortcut, cmd.exe and ntvdm.exe both started.
Using Task Manager, ntvdm.exe showed up as the Process for cmd.exe/MS-DOS
Prompt from that shortcut.

A Search for *.pif found that shortcut that I had created.

I deleted the shortcut/pif.

So your suspicion is probably correct.

Delete that pif/shortcut and create a new shortcut for cmd.exe if you want
to. Maybe that will help with your other problem.

One way to tell a pif from a regular shortcut is that pif Properties have
Program, Font, Memory, Screen and Misc tabs and regular shortcuts do not
have those tabs.

Also a 16-bit .exe file does not have a Version tab under file Properties
and a 32-bit .exe does.

There should be a file called command, with no extension, in
C:\WINDOWS\system32. That command file is a pif for command.com

> If I run from the start run, I get the actual NTVDM.

Do you mean Start | Run | cmd | gets you ntvdm?


wowexec.exe is used in conjunction with ntvdm.exe to run old DOS
applications.

[[MS-DOS and 16-bit Windows programs actually run as a Win32 process. The
program that creates the virtual MS-DOS environments for these to run in
(NTVDM.EXE) is a Win32 program. A virtual DOS machine (VDM) is created for
the program, so it thinks that it is running on a machine by itself.
However, the virtual machine is a normal 32-bit Windows NT process and is
subject to the same rules of preemptive multitasking as is other programs.
However, this only applies to MS-DOS programs. ]]

[[To run 16-bit Windows applications, NT uses a VDM that contains an extra
software layer called the Win16 on Win32 (WOW) layer. Although the VDM for
Windows shares some of the code for MS-DOS VDM, all Windows applications
share the same VDM. The reason this is done is to simulate the environment
that 16-bit Windows applications run in. Because Windows applications might
want to communicate with one another, a single VDM is used. Each 16-bit
application runs as a thread of the VDM; however, the WOW layers ensures
that only one of these threads is running at any given time. ]]
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...owsn.mspx#ETAA

[[ntvdm.exe is process that belongs to the Windows 16-bit Virtual Machine.
It provides an environment for a 16-bit process to execute on a 32-bit
platform. ]]
http://www.liutilities.com/products/...library/ntvdm/


Troubleshooting MS-DOS-based programs in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;314106

How to Troubleshoot 16-Bit Windows Programs in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;314495

If you're running a bunch of old 16-bit programs, take a look at this,
Lots of good 16-bit info here...
Appendix D - Running Nonnative Applications in Windows 2000 Professional
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...8/proch36.mspx

HOW TO Identify a 16-bit Program in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=320127

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:io6rr15p8cr5bu3h439o83fbsfpte0cndv@4ax.com,
Bruce <crown@removeme.interaccess.removemeagain.com> hunted and pecked:
> Interesting results.
>
> When I run from the shortcut, and "go to process" I am taken to
> ntvdm.exe.
>
> If I run from the start run, I get the actual NTVDM.
>
> Any ideas why this may be happening? It appears from looking at my
> desktop that the cmd.exe command is setup as a pif instead of a lnk. I
> don't know why but when I created a new shortcut, it set up properly.
>
> (Two minutes later) Now that I think about it, I think when I
> initially set this system up, I probably copied the command.com link
> and edited it to a cmd.lnk. Am I correct that command.com is a 16 bit
> program?
>
>
> I still think I have the same problem with various 16bit programs
> which I still use. They all default to ntvdm, is this correct, and all
> have the same properties?
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 15:08:52 -0700, "Wesley Vogel"
> <123WVogel955@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> Bruce,
>>
>> You have something wrong. I am not sure what.
>>
>> cmd.exe has nothing to do with ntvdm.exe. cmd.exe is not a 16-bit
>> program.
>>
>> If you open command.com and click properties from the running window, you
>> will get the C:\windows\system32\ntvdm.exe Properties. command.com is a
>> 16-bit program and runs under ntvdm.exe
>>
>> Try this.
>> Open cmd.exe from your shortcut
>> Open Task Manager, Ctrl + Shift + Esc
>> Click on the Applications tab
>> Right click on Command Prompt and select: Go To Process
>> What is highlighted under the Process tab?
>>
>> It should be cmd.exe not ntvdm.exe.
>>
>> Try the same thing for command.com and ntvdm.exe will show up for the
>> Process.
>>
>> What happens if you paste ...
>>
>> C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
>>
>> into Start | Run and click OK?
>>
>> Do you actually get cmd.exe running? Or do you get an error message?
>>
>> Update your antivirus software and run a complete system scan.