International Keyboard Settings Do Not Work in an MS-DOS Prompt (272719)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
This article was previously published under Q272719
If this article does not describe your hardware-related issue, please refer to the following Microsoft Web site to view more articles about hardware:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/w98?sid=460

SYMPTOMS

After you change the language selection on the International tab of the System Configuration Utility (Msconfig.exe) and restart the computer, the new keyboard layout settings do not take effect in an MS-DOS prompt.

Note that the language selection settings are stored in the registry, and this is documented in the "More Information" section.

CAUSE

This problem can occur if the Io.sys file misinterprets the path specification in the "Keyboard Data File Name" control.

RESOLUTION

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to computers that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

NOTE: In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later: 
   Date        Time    Version      Size    File name
   -----------------------------------------------------
   09/19/2000  10:11p  4.90.0.3001  101,888 Msconfig.exe

To work around this problem, in the "Keyboard Data File Name control on the International tab of the System Configuration Utility, delete the path specification for the keyboard data file, leaving only the keyboard data file name.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

The Msconfig International tab settings are initialized from the registry, and are stored in the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\Codepage

Sample Registry Settings

                         Registry
Control label            Value Name      Sample [Portuguese (Brazilian)]
------------------------ --------------- ---------------------------------
MS-DOS Code Page:        DOSCP           "850"
Country Code:            OEMCC           "55"
Country Data File Name:  COUNTRYFNAME    "C:\Windows\COMMAND\country.sys"
Display Data File Name:  CODEPAGEFNAME   "C:\Windows\COMMAND\ega.cpi"
Keyboard Data File Name: KYBFNAME        "C:\Windows\COMMAND\keyboard.sys"
Keyboard Type:           KYBTYPE         (not present, blank)
Keyboard Layout:         KYBLAYOUT       (not present, blank)
Language ID:             LANGID          "br"
The following values that are also contained in the preceding registry key, are returned by the indicated National Language Support (NLS) functions. They are only read from the registry during system initialization, and should not be changed: 
Registry    Sample  NLS API
Value Name  Value   Function    Meaning
----------  ------  ----------  ----------------------------------------
ACP         "1252"  GetACP()    Windows 3.1 Latin 1 (US, Western Europe)   
OEMCP       "437"   GetOEMCP()  MS-DOS United States
The system ANSI Code Page (ACP) is used as a lookup value within Msconfig.exe to build the list of available languages. The system Original Equipment Manufacturer Code Page (OEMCP) registry value is not used in the Msconfig.exe International tab. The values shown in the preceding table are the default values that are used if the registry values cannot be read.

For additional information about Msconfig.exe and the Keyboard command, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

261417 Keyboard Command Does Not Work in Command Prompt

For additional information about Windows Me hotfixes, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

295413 General Information About Windows Millennium Edition Hotfixes

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/8/2006
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbfix kbQFE KB272719
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