did you put autoexec.nt into system32?
could you explain the error so i can figure it out?

No. What is this ?
ON ERROR GOSUB errhdl
ON COM(1) GOSUB comint
COM(1) ON
OPEN "COM1:4800,N18,1,BIN" FOR RANDOM AS #1

=> error code 24 = timeout
Th same program runs fine with Win 98

Ok ive downloaded qbasic from geocites and when i run it i get an error message that says "invalid startup directory"

any help?

You should post in a new thread, and not bump old threads.