Microsoft KB Archive/71211

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Windowed MS-DOS Apps Revert to Full Screen in Windows

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Q71211

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11

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SUMMARY
While running an MS-DOS application in a window, Microsoft Windows may switch it to full screen if an MS-DOS critical error occurs. Typically, the critical error will be a disk error, but there are other causes as well.

The common critical MS-DOS errors are:


 * attempting to access a floppy drive with no disk
 * attempting to write a file to a write-protected floppy disk
 * attempting to access an unformatted floppy disk

When an MS-DOS critical error occurs, MS-DOS is unstable until the critical error is resolved. To maximize stability, Windows switches the application to full-screen text mode. This is by design and there is no workaround. Press ALT+ENTER, after the error is resolved, to switch the MS-DOS application back to the windowed display mode.

Switching Between Full Screen and Windowed Display Modes
The &quot;windowed&quot; display mode of MS-DOS applications is only available in 386 enhanced mode. There are three actions that can be performed to run an MS-DOS application in a window or full screen:

 Select the desired mode in the PIF Editor. Press ALT+ENTER to toggle between the two modes. Select the desired mode from the MS-DOS application's system menu:

 Start the MS-DOS application in question. Press ALT+SPACEBAR to display the system menu. Select Settings (press T). Select Windowed (press W). Press ENTER.</li></ol> </li></ol>

MS-DOS Int 24H Critical Errors
The critical error handler is a function of interrupt 24H. A complete listing of the MS-DOS Int 24H critical errors are listed below.

<pre class="FIXEDTEXT">Error Code Hex    Dec  Description -

00H     0   Write-protect error 01H     1   Unknown unit (invalid drive number) 02H     2   Drive not ready (no disk or driver door open) 03H     3   Unknown command requested 04H     4   Data error (CRC) 05H     5   Bad request structure length 06H     6   Seek error; move to requested cylinder failed 07H     7   Unknown disk format 08H     8   Sector not found 09H     9   Printer out of paper 0AH    10   Write fault 0BH    11   Read fault 0CH    12   General, nonspecific error 0FH    15   Invalid disk change (MS-DOS version 3.0 or later) Additional query words: 3.00 3.00a 3.10 3.0 3.1 3.11 win31 win30

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Issue type :

Technology : kbWin3xSearch kbWin300 kbWin300a kbWin310 kbWin311