STAC ELECTRONICS TECHNICAL SUPPORT BULLETIN NUMBER: 013 SUBJECT: DOS-MISC, BOOT-ERRORS DATE: June 26, 1991 TIME: 4:20 PM SOURCE: Tech Support, Engineering SUPERCEDES/ SUPERCEDED BY: RELEASE STATUS: Public TITLE: DOS "Cannot find command interpreter" and a message incorrect DOS version Bad or missing COMMAND.COM OVERVIEW: The command interpreter (usually COMMAND.COM) can be specified in CONFIG.SYS (SHELL=...) or in AUTOEXEC.BAT (SET COMSPEC=...). It may be invoked in both. If not specifically invoked, the default is COMMAND.COM. ISSUES/COMMENTS: 1) When DOS is unable to locate the specified command interpreter on disk, it issues the message "Bad or missing command interpreter", and the system halts. 2) STACKER's incremental installation copies COMMAND.COM (and/or whatever interpreter is specified by SHELL=...)into the newly created volume, so that it can be located even when drives are swapped. Free space installation does not provide for this. 3) On systems where the DOS version has been changed or where a boot diskette has been used, the "Incorrect DOS version" message may result from a discrepancy between the COMMAND.COM files on the boot drive and on the STACKER volume. RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: 1) Ensure there is agreement between the SHELL= and SET COMSPEC= statements in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, respectively. 2) Ensure there is a copy of the command interpreter in the drive and directory indicated. For example, if SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM, verify that: a) the \DOS directory is present on the boot drive (and swapped STACKER volume, if applicable); b) COMMAND.COM (or the command interpreter) is located in the directory/ies. 3) Compare the file sizes, dates and times of COMMAND.COM wherever present (root and \DOS directories).