"Bad or Missing Command Interpreter"/"Incorre

DocumentID: 619283
Revision Date: 29-Feb-96 1:38:32 PM

The information in this document applies to:
WordPerfect® 5.1 for DOS

Problem

Solutions: The message "Bad Or Missing Command Interpreter" when first booting the computer, indicates that the COMMAND.COM file has been deleted, renamed, or has become damaged. The two hidden system files are present, but there is a problem with COMMAND.COM. Usually, this situation can be remedied by booting from a bootable floppy disk (if the user normally boots from the hard drive), or if the user normally boots from a floppy, boot from a separate floppy, and then copy COMMAND.COM from one disk to the other. (The COMMAND.COM file must be from the same version of DOS as is already installed on the disk receiving the error.) One customer received the messages "Incorrect DOS Version" and "Bad or Missing Command Interpreter" after adding the line SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /E:512 /P to the CONFIG.SYS file. This customer rebooted the computer with a DOS disk and edited the line in the CONFIG.SYS file to read SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /E:512 /P to solve the problem. The dates of the COMMAND.COM file in the root directory and the DOS subdirectory were different. One method of checking for the correct version of COMMAND.COM is to type COMMAND at a DOS prompt, note the version number, type VER at a DOS prompt, and compare the reported version number against the COMMAND.COM version. The two should match. The SHELL= command is equivalent to the COMSPEC command which is commonly used in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

Answer:

Details:

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