PRB: Cannot Execute DOSXNT.EXE -- Permission Denied

 Last reviewed: July 22, 1997
Article ID: Q125780
1.00 1.50 1.51 WINDOWS kbtool kbprb

The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.5, 1.51

SYMPTOMS

When building an application using NMAKE under MS-DOS without having Windows loaded, you may receive this error: 

   Cannot execute DOSXNT.EXE -- Permission denied
This may occur when SHARE.EXE is loaded, and you use MORE.COM to pipe the output of the compiler in the makefile.

CAUSE

The error occurs because the swap file for DOSXNT is locked. When MORE spawns another process, DOSXNT cannot access that file. The problem is in the Phar Lap DOS extender supplied with Visual C++ versions 1.0 and 1.5x.

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem:

  • Turn off the swap file used by the DOS extender. This can be done by setting an environment variable in MS-DOS as in this example:

    SET DOSX=-novm<Enter>

    The success of this switch depends on the amount of RAM installed.

    -or-

  • Remove SHARE.EXE from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, or do not use MORE.COM.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

Additional reference words: 8.00 8.00c 1.30 1.40 1.00 1.50 1.51
KBCategory: kbtool kbprb
KBSubCategory: DOSXNTIss
Keywords : kb16bitonly kbprb kbtool
Version : 1.00 1.50 1.51
Platform : WINDOWS

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Last reviewed: July 22, 1997
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