Will Vista still run extended memory DOS programs?

[gbhall]

I would like to know, without having access to a Vista PC, if certain Dos programs can still be run at all under Vista?

As far as I know, there is no longer a 'command prompt' one uses just 'run' instead, but can you get at the memory properties of the 'run' command to control it's behaviour?

The particular example to hand is Foxpro 2.6 runtime, which can be got working under XP but only by effectively replacing the default cmd.exe by command.com in fundamental system environment. Having done that, the program properties (which are absolutely minimal under cmd.exe), become much more extensive, and one can specify that the program uses DPMI memory and so on.

Without that, one gets weird and wonderful messages like "Phar-lap error" which is actually from the extended memory handler underneath Foxpro.

 

[mscrx]

vista has a command prompt and supports dos programs almost at the same level as xp. not sure on far you can config the cmd but its still available.

you could install a virtual vista machine in vmware and test it. you could also tell me what you want to test and I can do it. but I don't have too much time at the moment... my wife got very sick

 

[raybay]

Depends. You have to download a special environment from Microsoft for most of them. Microsoft considers most of the old programs danagerous, and has set VISTA to disable them. As I understand it, they have created a fix that includes moving the old files and programs to a separate link or partition on your drive before running them.
There is information available on the Microsoft site that you can probably pull up by searching for "... running older programs in VISTA..." or "running software developed before 1995..."
I have seen this documentation on microsoft very recently... It also affects Office 2003 and Office 2007 ability to run older word processing files.

 

[mscrx]

yes it depends and since the uac is not configurable it might not allow some programs to run. there is alot of knowledge base entries around this at microsoft support sites as raybay said.

 

[gbhall]

Thanks a lot fellows. Very useful. Amazing how many times a really good google search term is the best help !!! The only ones better are those that start...well, on my PC.....

 

[mscrx]

could you please post some info you found, some knowledge base links with answers to your question. might save time for others later...

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

You can change the memory settings by starting explorer as administrator (it's in Start Menu -> Programs -> Accessories by default). Navigate to \Windows\System32, right-click command.com, change the settings in Memory tab.

 

[mscrx]

thanks for that, Mictlantecuhtli !