| Forum Home | ||||
| Press F1 | ||||
| Thread ID: 28629 | 2002-12-25 20:49:00 | Installing old program from floppies | tedheath (537) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 109023 | 2002-12-28 22:42:00 | In general you can't use word processors to edit the autoexec.bat file because they save formatted text which the operating system doesn't understand. However, if you use Word (and probably some other word processors as well) and save the file as text only it should work OK. In Word, open autoexec.bat (it will be in the C:\ folder) and modify the PATH line as I suggested in my previous post. When you have made the changes select Save As, and in the Save As dialogue box, under File Type select 'Text only' then 'OK'. I think you will get a confirmation box asking if you you really want to save the file as 'Text only'. Say 'Yes' and the file will be saved without any formatting. Then try a restart and hopefully everything will work fine. | Robin S_ (86) | ||
| 109024 | 2002-12-29 03:05:00 | Thanks Robin I edited path command of autoexec.bat file to PATH=c:;c:\windows;c:\excel in word as text only format. On bootup all that has changed is the above command now hangs as before. I tried deleting the command path and on boot I still get C:\ Doesnt seem to matter what the path text says Excel still works and I get a black screen that hangs for a while. If I deleted excel version 4 and heaven forbid I bought a w98 version I would still have this stupid black screen on boot. Any help appreciated. tedheath |
tedheath (537) | ||
| 109025 | 2002-12-29 07:00:00 | For a start, I made a slip in the Path command I gave you - it should read PAth=c:\;c:\windows ...etc. I left out the first \ - sorry 'bout that but in any case I don't think it would make any difference to your problem. Try that for starters, though, and see how it goes. A few other things need clarifying. Where are the Excel 4 files currently? Part of your original post was that you wanted to move them, but have you done that? Does the folder c:\excel exist, and if so is there anything in it? There is no point in having a pointer (in the Path command) to it if it is not being used. Is Excel in your Startup folder (Start, Programs, open Startup folder)? If so, does it open properly at statup? Is there a shortcut to Excel on your Desktop? If so, R click on it, select the shortcut tab and check the entry in the Target box. Is it the same as the current location of the Excel files? When you were running Excel previously was it part of an Office suite? If so, is there any reference to MS Office on the Excel discs (see Terry Porritt's earlier posting)? I agree that it is unlikely that there would be any advantage in installing a later version of Excel. It seems to me that the hang-up problem lies not with Excel as such (especially as it runs OK) but with the startup routine. If the autoexec.bat file contains only one line (PATH= ... etc) one thing you could try (but probably without gain) is to boot to DOS at startup (F8 when 'Starting Win 98' appears on the screen, select 'DOS [or command] prompt only') then change the name of autoexec.bat to something else so that it is not found and read. To do this, at the DOS prompt type ren autoexec.bat autoexec.bax, press Enter and then Ctrl+Alt+del to reboot. If that does stop the hang then we know that autoexec.bat is causing the problem - post back. |
Robin S_ (86) | ||
| 1 2 | |||||