Microsoft KB Archive/89379

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APPEND.EXE Causes Problems in All Versions of Windows

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Q89379

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows versions 2.03, 2.1, 2.11, 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11
 * Microsoft Windows for Workgroups versions 3.1, 3.11

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SUMMARY
MS-DOS APPEND.EXE (or APPEND.COM) should not be used with Windows or Windows for Workgroups. It prevents Windows and Windows-based applications from creating valid well-formed-path (WFP) names for the files they are using. (A well-formed-path name is the complete name of a file, including the drive letter and full path specification, starting from the root directory.)

This article discusses the following:


 * Windows Setup hangs
 * Windows Program Manager and MS-DOS Prompt
 * Windows File Manager
 * Windows applications cannot be found

Windows Setup Hangs
If APPEND.EXE is loading when running Windows' Setup, then the installation of Windows may be corrupted. You may also receive error messages such as:

Error 6

"-or-"

Cannot find file: WIN.SRC

Windows Program Manager and MS-DOS Prompt
You may see the error message &quot;Cannot start application&quot; when you attempt to run the MS-DOS icon in Windows 3.0 or the MS-DOS Prompt in Windows 3.1 if APPEND.EXE is loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file as:

"APPEND C:\DOS"

Windows File Manager
If you are using Windows 3.0 or 3.1 File Manager, while APPEND.EXE is loaded, and you attempt to format a system disk, you may receive the error message:

Bad Or Missing Command Interpreter

There will also be problems when attempting to read floppy disks. An example would be attempting to read drive A, but receiving a directory of drive C.

Windows Applications Cannot be Found
APPEND.EXE confuses Windows and may prevent Windows from finding applications. When this occurs, the following error message will be displayed:

                   Change Disk Cannot find &quot;AppName.EXE&quot;, Please insert in drive A:                     < OK >

Additional query words: 3.00 3.00a 3.10 3.11 excel.exe winword.exe err msg

Keywords :

Issue type :

Technology : kbAudDeveloper kbWin3xSearch kbWFWSearch kbWin203 kbWin210 kbWin211 kbWin300 kbWin300a kbWin310 kbWin311 kbWFW310 kbWFW311