DOS shortcuts (PIF) not working

[rclendenon]

Whenever I create a shortcut to a DOS program (PIF file) and try to run it on a Windows XP machine I am prompted to select the application to use to run the file. Is there something I can do to fix this problem short of reinstalling XP?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
Be sure to follow these steps( from the XP Halp system):


To create or change a program information file (PIF)
Prior to creating or making changes to the PIF, please review the MS-DOS-based program documentation. Changing the PIF affects how the program interacts with Windows. The program might only work correctly with specific default settings.

Open My Computer.
Do one of the following:
If you want to create a program information file (PIF) for a program, locate the program and right-click it. Then click Properties and change the default settings to match the program requirements.
If you want to change the settings of an existing PIF file, locate the shortcut to the program file and right-click it. Click Properties and make the appropriate changes.
Notes

To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.
Creating a program information file (PIF) for an MS-DOS-based program creates a shortcut to the program executable. All the settings saved in the PIF file are contained in the shortcut.
To specify whether an MS-DOS-based program starts in a full screen or in a window, change the Run properties on the Program (or Shortcut) tab.
To view MS-DOS-based program output on the screen faster, after clicking Properties in step 2, on the Screen tab, select Fast ROM emulation under Performance. Please review the documentation that came with your video card to ensure it supports Fast ROM emulation.
To increase the performance of the MS-DOS-based program, you can allocate more memory. To make this change, after clicking Properties in step 2, on the Memory tab, set Expanded (EMS) memory or Extended (XMS) memory to Auto, and no limit will be imposed. If you experience program errors, set the value in the Total window to 8192. For more information, click Related Topics.
The Properties dialog box has replaced the PIF Editor used in earlier versions of Windows.






To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[linney]

Do you have this registry entry?

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile\shell\open\command

Value is "%1" %*


Do you have these files?

%SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT
%SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\CONFIG.NT



Some general things to try.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem.

Try Safe Mode (Do you have this problem in Safe Mode?).

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

 

[JohalaReewi]

Is your shortcut a real PIF or a link to a PIF or EXE. I had no end of strange problems when using link (.LNK) shortcuts to PIFs (eg. On the desktop, create a shortcut and point it to a PIF or MSDOS EXE). Things are a lot more stable now I use a PIF directly (eg. take a copy of the PIF and paste it to the desktop). On the other hand, it could be something else. I assume you can run the EXE (ie you double click the EXE in explorer and it runs).