Stuck again guys. This is on my 386/25 DOS only machine. Some programs off my menus run A-OK. On others I'm getting
run-time error R6006
bad format on exec
I'm basically computer illiterate and ran the only problem solvers I know with no improvement Scan Disk and De-frag.
Any pointers ?
Thanks !
run-time error, bad format on DOS ?
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RadioSouth
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That is not a DOS error, it is "C" programming error message from a program attempting to run a file that is not a valid executable.
What program gives you this message? It sounds like some file associated with that program is corrupt or missing.
You mention programs off your "menus". Possibly you are running some menu program that is attempting to run a file that is not an executable?
What program gives you this message? It sounds like some file associated with that program is corrupt or missing.
You mention programs off your "menus". Possibly you are running some menu program that is attempting to run a file that is not an executable?
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thebigphish
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RadioSouth
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Hi guys,
It's an oldee, bought it new about 12 years ago and it's a dedicated programming machine so usage is pretty low. I had the same errors about 6 yrs. ago and a guru at work got it humming again without having to do any re-installs or using recovery discs. I recall he de-frag'd. it and added double-space, what he did to the machine took a bit over 8 hrs. running time to accomplish, it sat in the corner running doing something for at least 90% of the 8 hrs. Don't know what he did past the 2 things mentioned but the only discs he had to use was the double-space program. And until today (about 6 yrs.) everything ran smooth again, till this snag appeared on a few of the programs which had worked fine just last month. It doesn't go online at all so I discounted any viruses. So not knowing much about computers I'm stumped, the machine was set up for me using menu's so basically it's a point and click, beyond this about the only thing I know how to do with a DOS driven machine is to bring up the C prompt and bringing up a program from there. After defrag and scandisk I'm empty. Also, I started getting a drive A failure about a year ago which didn't effect anything until now where I would have tried to do some re-installs which isn't do-able at this point. Lost cause ?
It's an oldee, bought it new about 12 years ago and it's a dedicated programming machine so usage is pretty low. I had the same errors about 6 yrs. ago and a guru at work got it humming again without having to do any re-installs or using recovery discs. I recall he de-frag'd. it and added double-space, what he did to the machine took a bit over 8 hrs. running time to accomplish, it sat in the corner running doing something for at least 90% of the 8 hrs. Don't know what he did past the 2 things mentioned but the only discs he had to use was the double-space program. And until today (about 6 yrs.) everything ran smooth again, till this snag appeared on a few of the programs which had worked fine just last month. It doesn't go online at all so I discounted any viruses. So not knowing much about computers I'm stumped, the machine was set up for me using menu's so basically it's a point and click, beyond this about the only thing I know how to do with a DOS driven machine is to bring up the C prompt and bringing up a program from there. After defrag and scandisk I'm empty. Also, I started getting a drive A failure about a year ago which didn't effect anything until now where I would have tried to do some re-installs which isn't do-able at this point. Lost cause ?
Does this occur when you run a program from the "C" prompt or from some menu program? If so, does it happen only when you try to run specific programs from the menu program? and, if yes, what if you try to run the program directly from the "C" prompt.
It sounds like the menu program is what is generating the error message when it attempts to run a program that is apparently not a valid executable program.
It could be something gone wrong with doublespace but fragmentation itself should not cause this problem. Doublespace can be risky and I don't think it is a good idea for a computer running RSS.
If the programs also will not run from the "C" prompt, then you may have a drive problem that has corrupted the program. But, if scandisk did not find disk problems, that is not likely.
If you can't run the problem programs directly from the "C" prompt, it would certainly look like the program files have been corrupted, possibly from errors caused by doublespace.
It sounds like the menu program is what is generating the error message when it attempts to run a program that is apparently not a valid executable program.
It could be something gone wrong with doublespace but fragmentation itself should not cause this problem. Doublespace can be risky and I don't think it is a good idea for a computer running RSS.
If the programs also will not run from the "C" prompt, then you may have a drive problem that has corrupted the program. But, if scandisk did not find disk problems, that is not likely.
If you can't run the problem programs directly from the "C" prompt, it would certainly look like the program files have been corrupted, possibly from errors caused by doublespace.
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thebigphish
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I've seen run-time errors on corrupt RSS installations. Reinstalling fixed that problem.
Maybe after 12 years that hard drive is going? Maybe when that guy installed double-space, it utilized the good areas of the disk and is now either writing to the bad areas or the bad areas are getting worse.
try this from DOS: CHKDSK /F and see if there are any bad clusters.
Maybe after 12 years that hard drive is going? Maybe when that guy installed double-space, it utilized the good areas of the disk and is now either writing to the bad areas or the bad areas are getting worse.
try this from DOS: CHKDSK /F and see if there are any bad clusters.
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RadioSouth
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You need to know the name of the EXE or BAT file that starts the program and be in the proper directory or have the proper DOS PATH set up to access the program.
If the directory that the program is in is not in your DOS path, you need to be in that directory or include the directory and subdirectories ahead of the program name at the C prompt to start the program.
If you are in the proper director or the directory is in your path, then you just type the name of the BAT or EXE file and enter and it should run.
For example you want to run radmbl.exe and it is located in c:\rss\radius:
If your PATH statement includes c:\rss\radius all you need to enter is "radmbl".
If not, you could enter C:\rss\radius\radmbl and it should run but there may be errors as the program tries to find other files in a directory that is not in the path.
So, it is best to change to the directory\subdirectory that the program resides in and then run it:
cd \rss\radius
The prompt then shows:
C:\RSS\RADIUS>
Then enter "radmbl" and it should run.
If the directory that the program is in is not in your DOS path, you need to be in that directory or include the directory and subdirectories ahead of the program name at the C prompt to start the program.
If you are in the proper director or the directory is in your path, then you just type the name of the BAT or EXE file and enter and it should run.
For example you want to run radmbl.exe and it is located in c:\rss\radius:
If your PATH statement includes c:\rss\radius all you need to enter is "radmbl".
If not, you could enter C:\rss\radius\radmbl and it should run but there may be errors as the program tries to find other files in a directory that is not in the path.
So, it is best to change to the directory\subdirectory that the program resides in and then run it:
cd \rss\radius
The prompt then shows:
C:\RSS\RADIUS>
Then enter "radmbl" and it should run.
If you ran a full surface scan with SCANDISK and then CHKDSK\F and both found no problems, I would say it is probably not a hardware problem.
It looks like doublespace either corrupted your menu program or all of the programs that produce the error. I think the most likely is the menu program is the problem and you could still run your programs from the DOS prompt.
It looks like doublespace either corrupted your menu program or all of the programs that produce the error. I think the most likely is the menu program is the problem and you could still run your programs from the DOS prompt.
If you want to know what directories are in your PATH variable, type ECHO %%PATH at a DOS prompt.
If you want to edit the directories that are loaded into the PATH variable, then from a DOS prompt, type EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT. You will see a line that says "PATH=C:\;". All you do is enter the directory names after the ; and each one separated by a ;
If you want to edit the directories that are loaded into the PATH variable, then from a DOS prompt, type EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT. You will see a line that says "PATH=C:\;". All you do is enter the directory names after the ; and each one separated by a ;