A Little Help, Please, With This Old Computer!!

There’s like 6 EXE files in there and the only one which loaded was the one for editing! The others mainly gave me a string of code, something to do with input and output. CRIPES! I hate DOS!

Yeah. When I get working on trying to clear up a computer problem, time flies. Not anymore tonight though. I’ve resisted throwing the thing out of the door, so I’ll pack it up and go crash. It’s 04.11 here.

OK guys, I’ve downloaded and printed DOS commands - which seem to me to mainly tell one how to create, erase and generally mess up files but NOT to run any programs loaded in. I have yet to find a run command, or even start.

I did find, thanks to you all, Word processing programs in DOS, loaded them to disk, then loaded them into the lap top.

Now, here is my latest fix.

They won’t run.

I type in the name of their main program and all I get is ‘Bad Command.’ I deleted one of the WP programs – twice. The delete command worked, but the darn listing still shows up on the directory.

So, how does one get a damn program to run?

If you installed the software correctly and you type in the name of the program and it doesn’t boot, there are two things that could be the problem:

  1. You are not in the correct directory (see my previous post) or the correct directory is not in your path (look it up). DOS will not “see” a program unless one or the other condition exists.

  2. You are typing in the wrong name. List the directory and look for any files that have the extension .EXE, .COM, or .BAT . Then type in the name of any one of those files. Just the name. Nothing else. You can leave the extension off, since DOS will assume that you want to run a file with one of those three extensions. If that file doesn’t work, try the next. Repeat that procedure until something works.

There is no “RUN” command in DOS. And, yes, most of the commands are there so you can “create, erase and generally mess up files.” That’s the function of a disk operating system.

Then why have a system consisting only of DOS?

Anyhow, I got the WP program to install by typing A:install.exe and when it popped up, had it dump into C. The name is something like PEW that comes up on the C dir. When I type in C>PEW, or C>:PEW or C>=\PEW or C>:\PEW\ nothing happens, just ‘Bad Command’. My DOS sign is C>, not C:\ like I’ve been used to seeing. I’ll try what you suggested … after I take a handful of aspirins and maybe a beer or two.

A:install.exe ?
Did you notice where it put the program when you ran that?

Yes. C drive. I switched to the floppy drive (A) to access the program and when the install loaded, it asked where to put it, so I indicated C, the hard drive. Afterwards, I switched back to C and ran the DIR command and saw the files all loaded in there. Problem is, I’ve not been able to access them.

Okay, I am going to give you some information that will greatly help ease your pain.

Take the laptop out to a field in a deserted area.

Place the laptop on a stump or other such object that will raise it off the ground.

Next, take out a rifle or hand gun. Then walk away from the laptop, turn and blast the laptop to pieces.

This will rid you of the laptop which will in turn rid you of your pain. It will also act as a release of all the pent-up anger that this machine has caused you.

Kill it. Put it out of its misery.

Jeffery

I’ve been thinking about it. It only cost me $15 but it’s such a sweet little laptop!

Plus, I’m a Taurus and stubborn. I must get it to work! My old Toshiba, which I purchased second hand without any instructions, took me 2 months to manage to learn most of it’s tricks.

OK, I think I’m making progress. I can get some files to load. Now, anyone out there know how to stop the directory from scrolling when I punch up DIR?

dir /p - this will display a page at a time
dir /w - this displays in “wide” format

The default prompt for DOS 3.3 is the C> you’re seeing. You have to change it yourself. Type:

prompt=$p$g

and you will see the current directory name in the prompt.

Most computers back in the DOS 3.3 days had that in the autoexec.bat file, so it did it at startup all the time. You can put it in there by editing the autoexec.bat file, and typing that exact line in at the bottom of the file. Remember to save it in text-only mode. I’d tell ya how to do it, but seeing as I’m not familiar with your word processor, and I refuse to remember ‘ed’, I can’t.

(boyoboy, I better get the prize for “most arcane DOS thing remembered ten years after last use”. I not only remembered the existance of the ‘prompt’ command, but the $p$g thing was right on my first try!)

You got some files to load? Good! <condescending pat on your head>

All this crap may seem like arcane, useless BS, but it will prepare you for LINUX. Yes, some people still get paid for using arcane, useless BS.

People give laptops to our thrift shops. They don’t have a power supply or a battery. I think this is really particular & they are probably hot too. I jumpered one today to work & it seems to belong to a teacher, or did. Most of the programs don’t seem to have the corresponding EXE or COM like they are supposed to.

uh, Prism, if I recall, to change directories is
c:&gt; cd \whatever
c:\whatever>

may want to check your path, or make a batch file, like

cd \whatever
<process program name>

and the “Run” command is implied - type in a file name that ends in .exe and it runs.

I’ve been typing in EXE file names until my fingers are about to bleed and the darn things don’t run.

Then I went to delete some files and the computer hummed, deleted the file and the file is STILLTHERE!

DOS sucks!!

On he web I found menus for DOS and a lot of them. I located what appeared the most idiot proof one and was delighted, figuring that I could install it and through it, start the word processor I put in place.

I installed it easily. Followed all of the instructions. Went back to the C> prompt and typed in the command ‘MYMENU,’ like instructed and it did not load. I ran the directory and got some of the files to pop up, but not the main one which controls the menu!

The thing says it is designed for DOS 3 and higher. When I type in just MENU, I get only a little instruction box which explains part of the program. I tried deleting the program and, according to the system, I did – but according to the directory – it is still there. I can even load one or two files – but not the operating one, of course.

Now I forgot the command to get C> to switch to A>.

And some of you people like DOS? Are you nuts?

Hey! Don’t give up yet!!

I have two disks with the computer, one is a UTILITIES DISK and one is GW-BASIC. Once loaded in and the computer turned on, the drive shifts automatically to A. I can read the directories of both but, again, only get one or two files to boot up.

EXE files seem to not boot for some damn reason. On the GW-BASIC are the DOS files I thought were already in the hard drive – those files everyone had been telling me to download the commands for.

In drive C, the hard drive, is a large file called Command COM, which does nothing.

Sheesh!

Correction. GW-Basic EXE loads and brings me to some crazy editor that has certain functions like TRON and SAVE listed for the F-keys and refuses to obey an exit command or escape. I have to turn the system off to clear the screen.

Actually, command.com does everything.

Type in SYSTEM to get out of BASIC.

God, you folks who grew up with Windows and Macs are crippled.

[QUOTE]
**

The only thing I see missing here is what you should have typed, which is this:

CD\PEW

If that doesn’t take you into the directory named “PEW”, then you must have the name of the directory wrong.

To change the drive you’re working on (such as to change from hard drive “C” to floppy drive “A”), simply type the letter of the drive followed by a colon, like this:

A:

And, if you haven’t done so already, make sure you go up and read Athena’s post about how to change the prompt on your system. You’ll be glad you did.

If all else fails, I can mail you a bare-bones copy of MS Word 5.0, which will run from a 1.44MB floppy disk inserted in your “A” drive. (I still use it sometimes on an old 386 laptop with only 2MB of RAM, if you can believe that!) Email me if you want it.