Q58412: Do Not Use the MS-DOS APPEND Utility in Windows
Article: Q58412
Product(s): Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.0,3.1
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kb16bitonly
Last Modified: 06-NOV-1999
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) versions 3.0, 3.1
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SUMMARY
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The MS-DOS APPEND utility remaps the contents of specified directories into the
current directory, which makes the files of these directories available to an
application. Do not use this utility on systems running the Windows operating
environment because the APPEND utility is fundamentally hostile to the operation
of Windows. The design of Windows rests on its ability to build a
fully-qualified path for each file it opens.
MORE INFORMATION
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When Windows opens an application file (for example, WINWORD.EXE), it stores the
fully-qualified path of this file (for example, D:\WINWORD\WINWORD.EXE). With
this information, Windows can reopen the file even if user or application
activity changes the current drive and current directory.
The problem with the APPEND utility is that it prevents Windows from reliably
determining the proper fully-qualified path to a file. If an application calls
the open function when C:\EXCEL is the current drive and directory, and the
D:\WINWORD directory is specified in the APPEND search path, Windows may
improperly record the fully-qualified path to the WINWORD.EXE file as follows:
C:\EXCEL\WINWORD.EXE.
In this situation, when Windows reopens the file later, it receives an error from
MS-DOS because the file is not actually located in the drive and directory
indicated by the stored fully-qualified path. When Windows detects this error,
it displays the Change Disk message box.
The APPEND utility can cause similar problems for the WINOLDAP module, which runs
MS-DOS (non-Windows) applications under Windows. These problems can result in
unexpected "File Not Found" errors, failure to start an MS-DOS-based
application, failure when the MS-DOS-based application exits, or failure when
the user tries to switch back to Windows.
The current versions of all the major application software available today do not
require the APPEND utility. The MS-DOS version 4.0 and 4.01 installation
programs usually add the APPEND utility to the user's configuration, which
consumes valuable application memory without providing any benefits to the end
user. The APPEND utility is usually found in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The line
with APPEND can be removed or commented out by placing the word "remark" at the
beginning of the line.
Additional query words: 3.00 no32bit 3.10
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Keywords : kb16bitonly
Technology : kbAudDeveloper kbWin3xSearch kbSDKSearch kbWinSDKSearch kbWinSDK300 kbWinSDK310
Version : WINDOWS:3.0,3.1
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