Vista Forums - View Single Post - Question About "autoexec.nt" and "config.nt" (in Vista)

02-20-2007

On Feb 19, 10:27 pm, Jesper <Jes...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> "bjackson...@yahoo.com" wrote:
> > We are creating an installer for our application which we of course
> > anticipate will be installed under Vista (more and more as Vista
> > becomes more commonly used). One thing this installer does is set the
> > attributes of the files "autotexec.nt" and "config.nt" to READ-ONLY
> > (BTW, in Vista, these files are located in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32).
> > There is something peculiar about our app which is why, under XP, we
> > had the installer "protect" these files by setting them to READ-ONLY.
> > My question is, does anyone see any problem in setting these same
> > files to READ-ONLY under Windows Vista? We had no customer complaints
> > after thousands of installations under XP. But maybe Vista, at some
> > point, changes these files (ie. "autotexec.nt" and "config.nt") for
> > whatever reason and, if we set them to READ-ONLY, Vista wouldn't be
> > able to change them.
>
> 1. Modifying system files, particularly in a way that might break the
> operating system in unexpected ways is _a really bad idea!_ You may want to
> rethink that plan altogether.
>
> 2. Is your application a 16-bit application? If not, those files have
> absolutely no impact on it at all. They are only used to initialize the
> 16-bit WOW subsystem.
>
> 3. If your app is a 16-bit application it won't run at all on Vista 64-bit
> as that OS has no 16-bit subsystem. You may want to note that before people
> buy the app.
>
> 4. If your app is actually a 16-bit application and it needs to rely on the
> autoexec.nt and config.nt files to be formatted a particular way to work
> properly you would be a whole lot better off by using a .pif file that
> overrides those files instead.

Yes, this particular app is a 16-bit app. Our installer doesn't
modify "autotexec.nt" and "config.nt" at all, it only makes them Read-
Only.
We had no problems reported by customers who were using XP (ie.
regarding our installer making "autotexec.nt" and "config.nt" Read-
Only) and I'm wondering if it will be as safe under Vista?
Thanks.

02-20-2007	#3 (permalink)
bjackson445@yahoo.com n/a posts	Re: Question About "autoexec.nt" and "config.nt" (in Vista) On Feb 19, 10:27 pm, Jesper <Jes...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > "bjackson...@yahoo.com" wrote: > > We are creating an installer for our application which we of course > > anticipate will be installed under Vista (more and more as Vista > > becomes more commonly used). One thing this installer does is set the > > attributes of the files "autotexec.nt" and "config.nt" to READ-ONLY > > (BTW, in Vista, these files are located in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32). > > There is something peculiar about our app which is why, under XP, we > > had the installer "protect" these files by setting them to READ-ONLY. > > My question is, does anyone see any problem in setting these same > > files to READ-ONLY under Windows Vista? We had no customer complaints > > after thousands of installations under XP. But maybe Vista, at some > > point, changes these files (ie. "autotexec.nt" and "config.nt") for > > whatever reason and, if we set them to READ-ONLY, Vista wouldn't be > > able to change them. > > 1. Modifying system files, particularly in a way that might break the > operating system in unexpected ways is _a really bad idea!_ You may want to > rethink that plan altogether. > > 2. Is your application a 16-bit application? If not, those files have > absolutely no impact on it at all. They are only used to initialize the > 16-bit WOW subsystem. > > 3. If your app is a 16-bit application it won't run at all on Vista 64-bit > as that OS has no 16-bit subsystem. You may want to note that before people > buy the app. > > 4. If your app is actually a 16-bit application and it needs to rely on the > autoexec.nt and config.nt files to be formatted a particular way to work > properly you would be a whole lot better off by using a .pif file that > overrides those files instead. Yes, this particular app is a 16-bit app. Our installer doesn't modify "autotexec.nt" and "config.nt" at all, it only makes them Read- Only. We had no problems reported by customers who were using XP (ie. regarding our installer making "autotexec.nt" and "config.nt" Read- Only) and I'm wondering if it will be as safe under Vista? Thanks.
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