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Q72757: SETVER.EXE Not Affected By Read-Only Bit

Article: Q72757
Product(s): Microsoft Disk Operating System
Version(s): MS-DOS:5.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 22-NOV-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system version 5.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

You can modify SETVER.EXE even when the read-only bit has been set.

MORE INFORMATION
================

SETVER.EXE contains the version table used by MS-DOS version 5.0 to report
itself as a version number other than the one actually running. This table can
be modified by use of the SETVER command if the device driver SETVER.EXE has
been installed in the CONFIG.SYS file. For example, the following command tells
MS-DOS to report itself as version 4.01 whenever a program named FORMAT.COM is
run:

  setver format.com 4.01

You can use the MS-DOS command ATTRIB to change the status of the SETVER.EXE
program to read-only, meaning that the program should not be allowed to be
modified or deleted. The following command performs this function, assuming that
MS-DOS 5.0 was installed in the directory C:\DOS:

  attrib +r c:\dos\setver.exe

However, MS-DOS 5.0 still allows you to modify the version table even though the
file has been marked read-only.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in MS-DOS version 5.0. We are
researching this problem and will post new information here as it becomes
available.

Additional query words: 5.00

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbMSDOSSearch kbMSDOS500
Version           : MS-DOS:5.0

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