i can't run any kind of DOS program on my computer, how can i fix this?

Question

i want to be able to run some DOS programs without a DOS emulater like DOSbox, because i want to play some of my old computer games like, unreal, duke nukem 3d, and blood but every time i put one of them in a message pops up that says "C:\WINDOWS\system32\autoexec.nt. the system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and microsoft windows applications choose close to terminate the application" this sucks because i had an older computer that ran the same operating system as the one i have now (windows xp) and it ran them fine but i don't have that old computer anymore, so dose anyone know how to fix this problem, like is there a file i need to download to get this working, PLEASE HELP!

Answer 1

Find the file that runs the program (the .exe or .com file) in windows explorer. Right click on that file and select Properties. Click the Compatibilty tab. Check the box "Run this program in the compatability mode for:" and try using Windows 95 or Windows 98. Note that even doing so may not allow it to run and you'll need something more complicated like DOSBox to run it. Visit DOSBox at http://dosbox.sourceforge.net and good luck!

Answer 2

Let's say you want to run Unreal, go find the main executable file (unreal.exe or whatever it is) and rightlick it, then go to properties.
Then under "Compatibility" select "Run this program in compatibility for: Windows 95".
That should do the trick.

Answer 3

THE API and ABI are different. They are so different and DOS execuables are so old that emulating them is the easiest thing to do. In addition adding the DOS ABI into the kernel would be difficult and make changes and improvements very difficult, in return for very little gain.

Answer 4

Make an icon, and set compatibility mode settings for each program.