DOS cannot create 1 file

What error message do you get?

I just created a file called "x" in two different versions of DOS...

Please remember that DOS has file name limitations, both in the name itself and its full location name.

actual file names must be no more than 8 characters with a 3 character file type added, also most special characters and blank spaces are illegal

legal examples are myfile.txt myfile2.txt my_file.txt

illegal examples are my file.txt myworkfile.txt my&joe's.txt

DOS usually rejects files that are nested more than 8 levels or whose total desciption is more than a certain length (64 characters I think), also folders/directory names are a maximum of 8 characters.
examples
legal locations are

c:\data\fred\myfile.txt

c:\data\fred\work\project1\design\draft\test1.txt

illegal locations are

c:\fred's project work\test1.txt
c:\data\fred\work\project1\design\draft\tests\trials\baseline\test1.txt

this would reject due to too many levels.

hope this helps you out.

If the file name you are using meets the criteria mentiond and does not use a blank space or special characters it should create. The only other reason for refusing to create that i can think of is if the name you wish to use is the same as a DOS system file or the same as a file that already exists in the directory / folder.

That is if the folder has a file 'fred' and you try to create 'FRED' DOS would them both as 'FRED' and refuse to allow the new file to be created due to it already existing. There are a few words and names that it will refuse to accept as it sees them as important system commands, but that is a very low probability.

I had assumed that you used x as the unknown quanitity in your original question, and cannot go much further without trying the exact file name that you are using.

I have also tried and created files of the following names in various DOS versions with and without extensions.

x "x" 'x'
x. "x". 'x'.

The only other possibility is that your version of DOS has one or more corrupt files and may need reloading.

Sorry if none of this helps you.

Viewing and opening system files can varies with DOS versions, especially if it is DOS running in Win 95/98/2000/ME/NT/XP.

If the system boots into DOS and only DOS then it should be possible using standard DOS commands

cd 'directory' to change directories

dir /w to view all files in a directory

edit 'filename' to open and look at the contents of a file

these will work in all versions of DOS, some versions of DOS within Windows you will need to be logged in as an administrator to access and view some system files, the security setting may deny access to the file or the directory/folder. Simply, in DOS you can only access the folders and files that you could access in Windows.

Also some folders and files that dont meet the rules previously mentiond can end up with shortened names in DOS, eg 'Program Files' folder becomes 'PROGRA~1' in DOS and will not always allow you to search within it as some version of DOS will shorten the name but not allow recognition of the special character ~ thus when you type in 'PROGRA~1' it sees it as an invalid name despite having given you the name.

Also some files are encoded in special symbols and wont make any sense when opened.

If the system and the folders/directories and file names are all DOS compliant and you cannot see access them I would try booting the machine from floppy disk using a Win98 Boot disk as this loads a simplified version of DOS into a virtual drive and should allow access to view any directory or files.

BTW If the hard drive is over 4 GB the DOS system may be having troubles accessing data beyond the first 4 GB, this is a problem with most early version of DOS as they do not recognise larger drives.

If you are anywhere in the ACTRegion in Australia send me an e-mail on ebywater@bgipond.net.au and I will come and have a look at the system as this does not sound like a normal problem.

Not sure if this helps

in dos u cannot recreate the following files as they are system files

command.com
msdos.sys
The 3rd i am not able to remember

This are used by DOS for booting sequence