Beware: MS Windows DOSX.EXE
Basil Halhed
clients. Consequently, some alpha scheduling software (written
in MS Visual C++ and using WatCom SQL) had completely installed
itself into the c:\windows\system directory on one of our
machines. As this particular project is now over, I decided last
week that it was a good time to prume the more than 120 MB of
\system directory down to managable size.
Thankfully, most of the file names had been appropriately
selected which made the purging job fairly straight forward. I
was doing the job using WFW v3.11 File Manager, to make the job
as bulletproof as possible.
I reached the file DOSX.EXE. (To help make sure that I didn't
delete anything important if I wasn't sure, I had been
double-clicking the file to see what happens. This was my
undoing...) I double-clicked DOSX.EXE from file manager, the
screen went black for about two seconds, (it went to MS-DOS, I
assume) and returned me to the file manager. There had been no
messages or (apparent) applications launched during this time.
I again clicked on DOSX.EXE in preparation to deleting it and
received and error message -- something along the lines of
"cannot find File Manager or one of its components..."
To make a long story short, running DOSX.EXE as described above
deleted _and_ scrubbed all files in c:\DOS, C:\WINDOWS, and _all_
files and directories in and below C:\WINDOWS. All in all, this
program pruned my 1.8 GB hard disk by about 470 MB! What was
interesting was that the c:\WINDOWS directory was left behind.
All it had in it was a few 1992-vintage Borland(!) MS_Windows 3.1
demo files: chelp.c, chelp.hpj, chelp.ide, chelp.rc, chelpm.h and
chelpr.h. Also left behind was the MS msacm.ini which sets
priorities for various MS ADPCM codecs. Strange that these
should be left behind from nearly 700 files. And how did these
Borland files get into the \system dirctory?
I then phoned Microsoft Canada, our local MS mentors. They had
no information as to the purpose of DOSX.EXE but they did tell me
that it was part of the standard Win 3.1 and WFW 3.11
distributions. That I already had determined.
Many $-worth of long-distance calls to various folks at MS in
Redmond WA proved fascinating. Each person I spoke to first
asked if I was using the Microsoft Software Development Kit
(SDK). My answer was a uniform "no" -- (we only do a bit of ab
hoc development and find that Borland C++ provides an affordable
solution -- but I didn't tell them that...).
I finally got connected to a person with a bit of knowledge
regarding MS Windows. He admitted that DOSX.EXE is a 32-bit DOS
extender that was included with Windows. He said that during
development, they had considered making this a hidden file or
otherwise protecting users but it was decided to leave it as a
standard .EXE. He also said that DOSX.EXE was only to be called
from other programs as detailed in the SDK. Recovery? He was
aware that the program's actions are unpredictable and that it
can delete and scrub (over-write) much of one's hard disk. He
also said that the hard disk's file allocation table (FAT) was
probably corrupted.
When asked if MS had a utility to restore my files, with a bit of
a chuckle, he said FDISK and FORMAT. He was right...
Four days later, I have this machine up and running again. (We
used to only back up data files but I guess that it's time to do
mirror backups...)
RECOMMENDATION:
===============
I recommend that anyone running MS Windows rename DOSX.EXE and
see if the computer still works correctly. (All of ours here
seem to be OK without it -- we use QEMM). If you don't need
DOSX.EXE, delete it! If you do need it, change the attributes to
hide it from the casual person.
This can save you many hours of hair-pulling...
Afterwards:
-----------
I found it a sardonic touch that DOSX.EXE left fome Borland help
files behind... I guess that they want to teach me the error of
my ways in not using the MS SDK for development...
Looking in the MS Windows Resource Kit, it seems that DOSX.EXE is
a DOS extender for running DOS applications from Windows in
standard mode, and is called by win.com. I could not find any
caveats re its use in the WRK or in the file itself. Strange
that the many people at MS couldn't tell me this...
-----
Basil Halhed, Principal Consultant
Halhed Enterprises Inc., Box 8001, RR#2 Ottawa, ON Canada K0A 1T0
Consultants in Videoconferencing and Telecommunications
hal...@hei.ca hal...@itu.ch
Telephone: (613)832-0451 Facsimile (613)832-0452
JWA...@news.delphi.com
delete unless you never plan to run Windows in standard mode and even so,
one should keep it around because frequently one needs to load Windows /S
in order to debug apps or setups that are not working properly. I don't
know who you talked to at Microsoft, but this is a well documented file.
ANYONE ELSE LISTENING: DON'T TAKE THE ADVICE OF THE POSTER - KEEP
DOSX.EXE IN YOUR WINDOWS\SYSTEM SUBDIRECTORY. DON'T DELETE IT!
There is also no reason to run it directly. Anyone that has
experience with end-user support can vouch for the many problems caused
by people who click on a file just to see what it does, or delete a file
because they think it isn't needed (say, I don't need this hidden file
msdos.sys...)
jon
Wim Verveen
problem to delete it there.
Wim Verveen (wver...@xs4all.nl) | Generals are in the nice white tent
| on the hill, sipping sancerre
| directing the battle; They are
| men of honour Rimmer
Robert Mashlan
>DOSX.EXE is used to load standard mode Windows. There is no reason to
>delete unless you never plan to run Windows in standard mode and even so,
>one should keep it around because frequently one needs to load Windows /S
>in order to debug apps or setups that are not working properly. I don't
>know who you talked to at Microsoft, but this is a well documented file.
>
>ANYONE ELSE LISTENING: DON'T TAKE THE ADVICE OF THE POSTER - KEEP
>DOSX.EXE IN YOUR WINDOWS\SYSTEM SUBDIRECTORY. DON'T DELETE IT!
I believe that the original poster said that he was running Windows for
Workgroups. Windows for Workgroups doesn't support standard mode, thus the
DOSX.EXE file is an artifact from a Windows 3.1/3.0 installation.
Robert
--
Robert Mashlan mailto:rmas...@r2m.com http://www.csn.net/~rmashlan
PGP key available via key server/request or finger rmas...@csn.net
Resources for Windows Developers
http://www.csn.net/~rmashlan/windev/windev.html
Gregory Massel
>Path:
>cstatd.cstat.co.za!ticsa.com!ucthpx!quagga.ru.ac.za!howland.reston.ans.net!gatec
>h!newsfeed.pitt.edu!uunet!fonorola!genesis!BHslip.resudox.net!halhed
>From: hal...@hei.ca (Basil Halhed)
>Newsgroups:
>comp.os.ms-windows.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools,comp.os.ms-windows.s
>etup,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
>Subject: Beware: MS Windows DOSX.EXE
>Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 13:39:54
>Organization: Halhed Enterprises Inc.
>Lines: 98
>Distribution: world
>Message-ID: <halhed.1...@hei.ca>
>NNTP-Posting-Host: bhslip.resudox.net
>Keywords: DOSX.EXE, scrub disk, delete files
>X-Newsreader: Trumpet for Windows [Version 1.0 Rev A]
>Xref: cstatd.cstat.co.za comp.os.ms-windows.misc:30340
>comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools:12365 comp.os.ms-windows.setup:13200
>comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc:17988
>I again clicked on DOSX.EXE in preparation to deleting it and
>received and error message -- something along the lines of
>"cannot find File Manager or one of its components..."
DOSx.EXE is the 286-mode Windows startup code. When you run Win.COM to
load Windows, it checks if you have a 286 or 386+. If you have a 286 or, you
run Win/2, Win.COM runs DOSX.exe. If you have a 386 or better, it runs
Win386.exe.
In Windows 3.1, DOSX.exe is a necessity. I'm not sure how it fits into
W/workgroups as wfw only runs in 386 mode.
Do not Delete it!
---
Gregory Massel <gr...@goth.vironix.co.za>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Some people are born mediocre, some people achieve mediocrity, and some
people have mediocrity thrust upon them."
-- Joseph Heller, "Catch-22".
"This is indeed true. But what about us odd folk who try all our lives
to be mediocre, fail miserably, and end up being completely
exceptional. I guess we're just stuck with it!" -- Geoffrey Ellison.
========================================================================
*** Gregory Massel: gma...@iaccess.za ***
========================================================================
Konstantin L. Topanov
Hi, All!
In letter
>From: hal...@hei.ca (Basil Halhed)
>Subject: [News] Beware: MS Windows DOSX.EXE
>Date: Sun, 26 Feb 95 13:39:54 GMT
was written:
>machines. As this particular project is now over, I decided last
>week that it was a good time to prume the more than 120 MB of
>\system directory down to managable size.
>
>Thankfully, most of the file names had been appropriately
>selected which made the purging job fairly straight forward. I
>was doing the job using WFW v3.11 File Manager, to make the job
>as bulletproof as possible.
>
>I reached the file DOSX.EXE. (To help make sure that I didn't
>delete anything important if I wasn't sure, I had been
>double-clicking the file to see what happens. This was my
>undoing...) I double-clicked DOSX.EXE from file manager, the
>screen went black for about two seconds, (it went to MS-DOS, I
>assume) and returned me to the file manager. There had been no
>messages or (apparent) applications launched during this time.
>
>I again clicked on DOSX.EXE in preparation to deleting it and
>received and error message -- something along the lines of
>"cannot find File Manager or one of its components..."
>
>To make a long story short, running DOSX.EXE as described above
>deleted _and_ scrubbed all files in c:\DOS, C:\WINDOWS, and _all_
>files and directories in and below C:\WINDOWS. All in all, this
>program pruned my 1.8 GB hard disk by about 470 MB! What was
>interesting was that the c:\WINDOWS directory was left behind.
I had twice _EXACTLY_ the same result when tried to run DOSX.EXE file.
I twice formated hard disk because can not recognize what can I save!
FAT was destroyed. Now all compures in our network shown following
message during boot:
Never run program "DOSX.EXE" in Windows catalog. Hard disk will be destroyed!
Kind regards,
--
Konstantin L. Topanov
tel. 863-2-64-98-00, RMTS, Rostov-na-Donu, RUSSIA
JWA...@news.delphi.com
can't find any mention of DOSX.EXE in the WfW Resouce Kit...
jon
Kimberly Long
gma...@goofy.iaccess.za (Gregory Massel) wrote:
>>[...]
>
>DOSx.EXE is the 286-mode Windows startup code. When you run Win.COM to
>load Windows, it checks if you have a 286 or 386+. If you have a 286 or, you
>run Win/2, Win.COM runs DOSX.exe. If you have a 386 or better, it runs
>Win386.exe.
>
>In Windows 3.1, DOSX.exe is a necessity. I'm not sure how it fits into
>W/workgroups as wfw only runs in 386 mode.
>
>Do not Delete it!
This is simply untrue!! According to the Microsoft Windows Resource Kit,
if you only operate in 386 enhanced mode, you may remove the following
files that are used for standard mode support:
DOSX.EXE The MS-DOS Extender
DSWAP.EXE Standard mode support for swapping non-Windows applications
KRNL286.EXE The standard mode kernel for 80286 PC's and for 80386 and
higher PCs with less than 2 MB of RAM
WINOLDAP.MOD The standard mode support for executing non-Windows applications
WSWAP.EXE Standard mode support for swapping Windows applications
*.2GR The standard mode gragber file. The actual filename depends
on the display driver installed. For example, for VGA.DRV,
this file is VGACOLOR.2GR
NOTES: Deleting any of the above files disables standard mode in Windows.
Removing theses files will decrease the Windows footprint by 183K
Namaste'
Kimberly Long
sib...@usis.com
Robert Mashlan
>Robert Mashlan (rmas...@r2m.com) wrote:
>
>: I believe that the original poster said that he was running Windows for
>: DOSX.EXE file is an artifact from a Windows 3.1/3.0 installation.
>
>the WfWG system files. That means it was part of the WfWG installation.
>
>My understanding was that the file was needed for standard-mode _DOS_
>support, not Windows.
You're right, I have a DOSX.EXE with a timestamp of 3:11. It looks like
they included it in the WfWG installation, even though it will never get
used. DOSX.EXE provides DPMI and a DOS extender support to Windows
standard mode, in enhanced mode, this is provided by the VxD subsystem.
DOSX.EXE is not needed to run DOS application from Windows (unless they use
DPMI) It is there to provide Windows, a protected mode application, a way
to call operating services in the real-mode DOS kernel from protected mode.
David W. Fenton
: On 27 Feb 1995 08:51:39 -0500, JWA...@news.delphi.com (JWA...@DELPHI.COM) said in article <3isldb$e...@news2.delphi.com>:
: >DOSX.EXE is used to load standard mode Windows. There is no reason to
: >delete unless you never plan to run Windows in standard mode and even so,
: >one should keep it around because frequently one needs to load Windows /S
: >in order to debug apps or setups that are not working properly. I don't
: >know who you talked to at Microsoft, but this is a well documented file.
: >
: >ANYONE ELSE LISTENING: DON'T TAKE THE ADVICE OF THE POSTER - KEEP
: >DOSX.EXE IN YOUR WINDOWS\SYSTEM SUBDIRECTORY. DON'T DELETE IT!
: I believe that the original poster said that he was running Windows for
: Workgroups. Windows for Workgroups doesn't support standard mode, thus the
: DOSX.EXE file is an artifact from a Windows 3.1/3.0 installation.
I have WfWG on my machine and the DOSX.EXE file is dated the same as all
the WfWG system files. That means it was part of the WfWG installation.
My understanding was that the file was needed for standard-mode _DOS_
support, not Windows.
David W. Fenton
New York University
dwf...@is2.nyu.edu
Duncan Booth
>
> You're right, I have a DOSX.EXE with a timestamp of 3:11. It looks like
> they included it in the WfWG installation, even though it will never get
> used.
It will get used. Once during installation.
When you install windows, it copies files from the first 4 discs and
then starts up standard mode windows before copying the rest of the
discs and completing the installation. Deleting files like DOSX.EXE
won't matter because they will be reinstalled as part of the
installation, but you can run into problems if you use an enhanced
mode only video driver (such as the Mach 32). When you come to
upgrade windows you find that the setup crashes as it starts in
standard mode but with your video driver (the solution for the Mach32
is to downgrade to 8514/A or even SVGA before upgrading!).
--
Duncan Booth dun...@rcp.co.uk
int month(char *p){return(124864/((p[0]+p[1]-p[2]&0x1f)+1)%12)["\5\x8\3"
"\6\7\xb\1\x9\xa\2\0\4"];} // Who said my code was obscure?
Arithmetic is being able to count up to twenty without taking off your shoes.
Horst Epp
found. I would never do that without knowing what that program is for.
It's god for them to get such an experience and learn from it.
--
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