>> Dan Hughes <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>> >My friend has a very old Zenith 286 computer with a stock 40mb hard
>> >drive (sorry, don't know the brand or specs).
>        [Hahnel, Winfried (W.A.)]  BIG   SNIP
>> >Is this a sign that the hard drive is on its last legs?
>> >
>> >One other strange thing:  though the autoexec.bat file seemed
>> >undamaged, when I typed AUTOEXEC at the c: prompt the computer came
>> >back with "no such file".  Even though it clearly showed up on a DIR
>>
>        [Hahnel, Winfried (W.A.)]  Just typing autoexec will result in an
>error message.  You must also type in the extension of the file for the
>computer to see it.  In this case the proper thing to type at the c: is
>"type autoexec.bat" to view
>
>"edit or editor autoexec.bat" to edit the file.
>

Actually, you *can* type the name of any executable file, that is, .com,
.bat, or .exe files, and it should not result in an error message. This
will run the program, in this case, the autoexec.bat program. He didn't say
he wanted to edit the program, just that when he types "autoexec", that it
says "no such file." I am not sure why it says this, unless possibly he is
in the wrong directory when he types this command. For example, if you are
in the "windows" directory, and you type "autoexec", which is in the root
directory, it could result in an error message; but this would only happen
if your root directory is not in your "path" statement, which would be
unusual, but not impossible.

Anyway, it is definitely not necessary to type the file extension to RUN
the program, but it is necessary to EDIT the program.

Susan Sutherland