Error: "The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Windows applications."

[fov]

What's the problem?
This error message has started cropping during installations of all sorts of games (some old, some not so old) since people started using Service Pack 2. It seems that SP2 either alters or removes a few key files that are needed to install certain games. As a result, the following error occurs when you try to install a game:


16 bit Windows Subsystem

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

[Close] [Ignore]

This has been observed on games all over the spectrum, including Gabriel Knight, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Sanitarium, Morpheus, and others.

What can I do about it?
I haven't installed SP2 myself, but here is what I've gathered from others about this issue. The following are several solutions to the same problem. I don't know if one solution is better than another (and don't plan to test it myself - I'm not touching SP2 with a ten-foot pole!) If anyone has experience with this problem or knows of a better way to fix the issue, please post what you know.

SOLUTION 1
Check C:\WINDOWS\System32 for the following files: Config.net, Autoexec.nt, Command.com. If you do have them it means that one or more of them is corrupted. You need to re-install these files from your ORIGINAL Windows XP CD-ROM. To do this:

1. Insert the Windows XP CD in your CD-ROM drive.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
4. At the command prompt, type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command:


expand CD-ROM "Drive Letter":\i386\config.nt_ c:\windows\system32\config.nt
expand CD-ROM "Drive Letter":\i386\autoexec.nt_ c:\windows\system32\autoexec.nt
expand CD-ROM "Drive Letter":\i386\command.co_ c:\windows\system32\command.com
exit

5. Restart you PC and try installing and running the game again.

SOLUTION 2
Go to the C:\Windows\Repair folder and copy the autoexec.nt file from there to the C:\Windows\System32 folder.

SOLUTION 3
Apply this patch (http://support.packardbell.com/uk/mypc/index.php?dwn=6945970000;dosapps_sp2_patch.exe).

I believe that this patch is offered by Packard Bell but will work on any computer. It's probably a good idea to run System Restore before applying the patch, so you can roll your computer back to an earlier point if necessary.

[Bobske]

This was one of the MANY reasons I didn't keep my install of SP2. I ran into a lot op problems. Most of my problems were solved with the following information I found on another forum.


http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_m.htm#16bit

MS-DOS or 16-bit Windows-based program Error Message

This installation program will reinstall the missing or corrupt Windows XP system files command.com, autoexec.nt and config.nt. The absence or corruption of one or more of these files causes a "16 Bit Subsystem" error.

XP_Fix.EXE by TRF Systems, Inc.
http://www.visualtour.com/downloads/xp_fix.exe


Problems from other users:

Running Audit on my computer showed that a program called WINDUPDATE.EXE (not WINUPDATE.EXE) was deleting my Autoexec.nt file on boot up. If I replaced the file it would delete it again.
Go to \Program Files\WINDUPDATE folder and delete it!

Go to your registry and delete anything named WINDUPDATE. Put the Autoexec.nt file back into your \system32 folder and all is well! This was definately the
problem here and I bet most everyone has the same nasty bugger, WINDUPDATE.EXE on their infected computer.

Another note and workaround:

C : \Windows\System32\Autoexec.nt The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

This problem just started around mid August 2004, so I suspect it to be related to a recent Microsoft Update that you may have downloaded for Windows XP.

HomeSchool Easy Records (the current version) is a Windows program (not a DOS program) but it is a "16 bit" Windows program. Apparently HER and other 16 bit Windows programs will run into this error when you try to run them. Note: HER version 3, now in the works, is a 32 bit Windows program, so it won't be prone to this problem.

There is a cure. Please read the following tip and follow the steps to reinstall three files: autoexec.nt, config.nt, and command.com

Side note: You also want to look for the file "windupdate.exe" (note the spelling closely -- the 'd') and if you find it anywhere on your hard drive, delete it! This is a secondary problem and you are not very likely to find this file. But if you have it, it actually deletes the autoexec.nt file each time you start your PC, so even if you restore the file, it will get deleted again!

Here is the tip originally posted to the Internet by Spencer Greystrong:

This article http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...kb;en-us;324767 is the Microsoft response to that error message. The fix involves expanding the original files from your XP CD and overwriting. The problem with that solution is that many people do not have the original CD. [So the links below were created so you can get the files directly].

When you click on either link below you will see a file-download window appear. Click on the "Open" button and you will get a WinZip self-extractor window. Leave the "Unzip to folder" set to "c:\windows\system32" and leave the "Overwrite files without prompting" check box checked. Ignore the yellow warning sign (this is trustworthy code). Click on the "Unzip" button. The files will save to your hard drive. Then click on the "Close" button.

For Windows XP Professional click on this link: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/spence.../XPProfiles.exe
windupdate.exe is spyware and will read as: DPF: {15AD4789-CDB4-47E1-A9DA-992EE8E6BAD6} - http://public.windupdates.com/get_f...0f91b20c15a3e0e



Hope this helps ;)

[Panthera]

Thank you so much for this post. I've just found this site but I've had a problem with this error for two years! I feel really embarrased that it was so easy to fix (solution 2 fixed it), but I'm utterly grateful..
<- Okey two years is an exaggeration, but I actually had this problem long before sp2. may be about one and a half year.

Either sp2 canselled out my old problem and gave me this, or I've had a corrupt version of xp..
well, fixed now!;)

[fov]

Glad you got it fixed. :)

It's possible that one of the Windows updates before SP2 caused the problem initially.

[Dara100]

XP SP3 has been out now for a while and if you haven't already installed it you should. It fixes a number of annoyances and is very stable.