Vista issues

[Mike Doty]

1) No full screen mode
2) Can't edit c:\windows\system32\config.nt with notepad.
Edited with my own editor that updates read-only files.
3) Start, Run no longer works.
Click Start, All programs, Accessories, Run.


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[Michael Torrie]

http://dosbox.sf.net

I would not expect Vista to natively support DOS in the same way as it did in the past. It's about time, don't you think? DOS programs under modern OSs really need to be relegated to emulated environments which get rid of much of the problems anyway. I mean if we can emulate with almost 100% accuracy an old 386 both hardware and software, that's better than trying to kludge our dos programs under Windows' partial MS-DOS support anyway.

That sucks that the run menu item disappeared. Vista looks more and more to me like a UI disaster. I mean it may meet up with the latest theories, but has Microsoft ever asked their customers what they wanted? Of course not. We'll buy it anyway.

As for the lack of full-screen support, I've always been of the opinion that I have a large screen for a reason. I think the maximize button should be struck from our GUI consciousness. Apple got that one right by replacing "maximize" with "optimize." For a CAD program, this likely would make it full screen, but for documents and web pages, this adjusts the window so you can most optimally see things. MS-DOS windows are good candidates to not run full screen. I really don't want to see 80x25 text on a 20" screen! But dosbox can do full-screen stuff in case someone should need it.

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[This message has been edited by Michael Torrie (edited February 04, 2007).]

[Mike Stefanik]

1. That's really a driver issue. If you select the stock VGA driver then you can switch to full-screen mode. Of course, your desktop will look rather hideous in the process. And to be honest, I don't understand why anyone would want to run a DOS application in full-screen these days unless they have 20/200 vision or something.

2. Files under C:\Windows are protected system files and only the administrator running with elevated privilege should be able to modify them. By the way, that file is not read-only. What your editor probably did was create a copy in the virtual store.

3. You typically don't need to use Start > Run, you can just type in the search box. However, you can add it if you really want. Just right-click on the Start orb, select Properties > Start Menu > Customize and scroll down and check the "Run command" checkbox.


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Mike Stefanik
www.catalyst.com
Catalyst Development Corporation

[Mike Doty]

Many of our customers want full screen in a point of sale system.
Is a copy in a virtual store executed as the default?
Why was my editor allowed to do this when notepad can not?

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[This message has been edited by Mike Doty (edited February 04, 2007).]

[Kev Peel]

Just an observation: Why on earth did they upgrade a P.O.S system to Vista?? Seems kind of pointless since the main attribute of Vista is it's upgraded GUI!

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kgpsoftware.com - Downloads
kgpsoftware.com - Development and Consulting

[Mike Stefanik]

Originally posted by Mike Doty:
Many of our customers want full screen in a point of sale system.
Is a copy in a virtual store executed as the default?
Why was my editor allowed to do this when notepad can not?

Vitualization is enabled by default, and if a copy of it is found in the virtual store, then it will use that copy. The reason that Notepad is giving you an error is because it's aware of the security changes in Vista and is doing the right thing. Your editor is not, so the system is effectively compensating for it by creating a virtualized copy of the file.

To edit it with Notepad, you would need to run it with elevated privileges (right-click on the shortcut and select Run as Administrator).

My guess is you'll find a copy of that file in C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows\System32\config.nt

I would really suggest going to Microsoft's site and reviewing the developer documentation for Vista, in particular the User Account Control system. Otherwise, you're going to be stumbling around and running into things that you don't understand why it's happening or think that it's a bug in the operating system, when it's really not.

In some ways Vista is a significant change to the operating system. It's not safe to make the assumption that because something worked a certain way under Windows XP or Windows 2000 that you can do the same under Vista.

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Mike Stefanik
www.catalyst.com
Catalyst Development Corporation

[This message has been edited by Mike Stefanik (edited February 04, 2007).]