Microsoft KB Archive/67246

PowerPoint Setup Cannot Install Fonts When COMSPEC Is Invalid PSS ID Number: Q67246 Article last modified on 10-29-1991 PSS database name: W_PowerPt

2.00

WINDOWS

Summary:

The Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows Setup program cannot start the embedded Bitstream Fontware installation program if the SET COMSPEC= statement in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file does not point to the correct location of the COMMAND.COM file.

More Information:

After completing the installation of PowerPoint, the Setup program automatically starts the Bitstream Fontware installation program. In order to do this, Setup needs to load the DOS command processor (COMMAND.COM). Setup locates this file by referring to the SET COMSPEC= line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If the COMSPEC environment variable is invalid, PowerPoint Setup will not be able to start the Bitstream Fontware installation program and a series of messages will be generated (see the end of this article.)

There are several possible causes for the COMSPEC environment variable being invalid. For example:


 * 1) If you boot the computer from a floppy disk (for example, in order to avoid loading a network), and then replace the boot disk with the PowerPoint Setup disk, the COMSPEC environment variable will point to drive A; however, COMMAND.COM will no longer be there.
 * 2) The error messages will also be received when the computer is booted from the hard drive if the SET COMSPEC statement points to a directory where the COMMAND.COM file does not actually exist.

Setup Messages
The following are PowerPoint Setup messages:

PowerPoint Setup has successfully completed your entire installation except for creating printer fonts.

To create the fonts that you requested, Setup will now start the Bitstream Fontware installation program.

Bitstream Fontware: Cannot start application

PowerPoint Setup: Sorry, Bitstream Fontware could not be run. Read the instructions below for further details. Instructions:

The Bitstream fontware installation program could not be run or completed. This is most likely due to a lack of system memory, system resources, or a user Abort. You may switch out of PowerPoint Setup and close some other applications in order to free system memory, then press RETRY.

It is also possible that you have an incompatibility in DOS. If you have no other applications running, or you closed your other applications and you still receive this error message, cancel this dialog and the PowerPoint installation will complete without the Bitstream Font files being installed. Then go to the DOS prompt and type “SET”. Check to make sure that your COMMAND.COM is located in the path specified in the line beginning with “COMSPEC=”. (e.g. COMSPEC=C:.COM.) If it isn’t already there, copy COMMAND.COM to that path location.

Once this is corrected, run PowerPoint Setup again, but this time only choose to install fonts.

NOTE: The example SET COMSPEC statement presented in the instructions is incorrect. Make sure that the entire path to the location of the COMMAND.COM file is listed, using the following syntax:

SET COMSPEC=C:\directoryname\COMMAND.COM NOTE: The information labeled “Instructions” appears in a box at the bottom of the screen. The box is sized so that only the first paragraph is visible. It is necessary to scroll downward in order to see the rest of the information.

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1991.