You Cannot Off Turn off Windows Keyboard Shortcuts for MS-DOS-Based Programs (321417)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000
This article was previously published under Q321417

SYMPTOMS

When you try to turn off a Microsoft Windows 2000 keyboard shortcut so that an MS-DOS-based program responds to the keyboard shortcut instead, the keyboard shortcut is not turned off. This issue occurs when you try to turn off the keyboard shortcut by following these steps:
  • You right-click the executable file (.exe) for the MS-DOS-based program, and then you click Properties.
  • You click the Misc tab, and then you click to clear the check box for the keyboard shortcut.
In the MS-DOS-based program, when you use the keyboard shortcut, Windows 2000 responds instead of the MS-DOS-based program. For example, when you press CTRL+ESC, the Start menu appears instead the action that you assigned to CTRL+ESC in the MS-DOS-based program.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, you must create a program information file (.pif file) for the MS-DOS-based program; you create the .pif file on a Microsoft Windows 98-based computer or a Microsoft Windows 95-based computer. A .pif file is a shortcut that is used to start an MS-DOS-based program in Windows. With the .pif file, you can configure a unique environment for individual MS-DOS-based programs that run in MS-DOS mode.

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
  1. On a Windows 98-based computer or a Windows 95-based computer, right-click the MS-DOS program's executable file (.exe file), and then click Properties.
  2. In the Properties dialog box, click the Program tab, and then click Advanced.
  3. In the Advanced Program Settings dialog box, click to select MS-DOS mode, and then click OK.
  4. Click the Misc tab, and then click to clear the check boxes for Windows shortcut keys, and then click OK.
  5. Copy the shortcut to the Windows 2000-based computer.
  6. Right-click the shortcut, and then click Properties.
  7. In the Properties dialog box, click Program.
  8. In the Cmd line text box, type the path to the MS-DOS-based program on your Windows 2000-based computer.
  9. In the Working text box, type the path to the working directory for the MS-DOS-based program on your Windows 2000-based computer.
  10. Click to select the Close on exit check box, and then click OK.

MORE INFORMATION

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

Q131877 How to Create Default PIF for MS-DOS-Based Programs

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/21/2002
Keywords:kbprb KB321417
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.