I don't recall any particular problems like that with XDS.
What version and what platform are you trying to run it on?
My copy identifies itself as Version 2.50
Environment 2.51 build 103
(c) 1999-2003 Excelsior
It is s few years old now. Likely that there is a newer version.
Have you tried compiling the samples included with the compiler?
I was mostly using it to port old Topspeed code onto Win7.
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Regards,
Martin Brown