System file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Windows applications

If you trying to install a 16 bit DOS application on Windows 32 bit PC then you may encounter an error – The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. In this article, we are going to fix this issue with the help of some simple solutions.

These are the notifications you will receive if you are dealing with this problem.

“16-bit MS-DOS Subsystem
C:Windowssystem32cmd.exe
config.nt. The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose ‘Close” to terminate the application.”

“16-bit MS-DOS Subsystem
path to the program that you are trying to run or install
C:WindowsSystem32config.nt The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose ‘Close’ to terminate the application.”

“16-bit MS-DOS Subsystem
path to the program that you are trying to run or install
config.nt The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose ‘Close’ to terminate the application.”

“16-bit MS-DOS Subsystem
path to the program that you are trying to run or install
C:WindowsSystem32Autoexec.nt The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose ‘Close’ to terminate the application.”

The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications

These are two things you can do to fix this error.

1] Change Variable Value

There are some MS-DOS programs that won’t work if the filename path of Environment Variables is too lengthy. Therefore, to fix the issue, we are going to assign a shorter file path value to the same.

To do that, launch Run by Win + R, type the following command, and hit Enter.

systempropertiesadvanced

Make sure, you are on the Advanced tab and click Environmental Variable > TEMP > Edit.

Paste the following location in the Variable Value section and click Ok.

C:WindowsTemp

Now, select TMP from the Environmental Variable and click Edit.

Paste the following location in the Variable Value section and click Ok.

C:WindowsTemp

Now, retry installing the software that was causing you the trouble.

2] Re-generate required files

Another reason for this problem is that the following files are either corrupted or missing.

We are going to create new files of “Config.nt” and “Autoexec.nt” and place them in the correct location.

For Config.nt, open Notepad and paste the following text.

dos=high, umb
device=%SYSTEMROOT%system32himem.sys
files=40

Now, click File > Save as. Go to the following location, change “Save as type” to All Files, name the file “config.nt”, and click Save.

C:WindowsSystem32

For Autoexec.nt, open Notepad and paste the following text.

@echo off
lh %SYSTEMROOT%system32mscdexnt.exe
lh %SYSTEMROOT%system32redir
lh %SYSTEMROOT%system32dosx
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 P330 T3

Now, click File > Save as. Go to the following location, change “Save as type” to All Files, name the file “autoexec.nt”, and click Save.

C:WindowsSystem32

Now, restart your computer. Hopefully, these solutions will fix the “The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications” error.

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