EMS Setting in PIF May Cause Incorrect Config.nt File to Be Used (301427)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP1
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP2
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP1
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP2
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP1
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP2

This article was previously published under Q301427

SYMPTOMS

You may receive the following error message after you modify the custom configuration settings for an MS-DOS-based or 16-bit Windows-based program:

%SystemRoot%\System32\Config.Nt. The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and MS Windows applications.

This error message occurs if a .pif file is used to establish EMS memory and a custom Config.nt and Autoexec.nt file are specified in the .pif file. The program will either use the default configuration files in the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder (if they exist), or it will generate the error message. Settings in custom configuration files in a folder other than the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder are not be used if EMS is specified in the .pif file settings.

CAUSE

The location of the custom configuration files is lost when EMS memory is established. The default configuration file location is used.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date         Time    Version         Size     File name
   -----------------------------------------------------
   6/25/2001   07:21p   5.0.2195.3778   395,024   Ntvdm.exe

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to install Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 hotfixes at the same time, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

249149 Installing Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Hotfixes

Modification Type:	Minor	Last Reviewed:	9/26/2005
Keywords:	kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbAppCompatibility kbbug kbfix kbWin2000PreSP3Fix kbWin2000sp3fix KB301427