Very interesting
He took it mid November last as his fix SP2 or whatever

Not just from my computer but other people too

So maybe he only deletes (moves it and makes it text-unreadable)...

What an interesting idea! Very sensible and probable too! The winters here in UK are very damp, and we do not dry out with central heating like the Yanks

So next time it shuts down on me (say next...

If there is already a file called autoexec.nt in the location I gave then you have not yet installed the Gates "fix" that stops QBAS and DOS working.

On my computer there WAS a file named...

I have discovered what Gates did (Nov 2004, his fix called SP2) to stop all applications like QBASIC working.

What he did is deleted autoexec.nt

Replace it and those DOS programs he sabotaged...

(I spent a few hours trying to find the right IDIOT button to start a new thread as this is DOS AS WELL AS QBAS and the other basics.)

I have discovered what Gates did (Nov 2004, his fix called...

See my new thread "How to run Qbasic and Dos under windows XP

My thinking about the earthing is that on turn-on various transients are going on (like degaussing of the screen) which put MAX strain on an earth connexion. I do not have eqpt to measure the...

Many thanks for the pictures - now I know the jargon!
My mice are PS/2

My OS is Windows XP professional

Yes, I tried interchanging mouse with kbd.
That way NEVER works
The whole puzzle here...

OK, thanks, so help me out a bit:-

USB means it uses small round plug? (DIN)
PS/2 means it used a D-shaped plug?
Controller means?
How do I check the controller?

What do you think of my...

Thanks for this good advice - excellent for normal circumstances
However, if each time you turned off it took FOUR HOURS to get restarted, would you turn off every night?
Or leave it on working...

Many thanks
Did not know you could!
Mrwhy

If you want your BASIC progs to go on running on XP you can do any of the following:-
(a) Get rid of Windows
Wait 2years and CHINA will do this for you
The reason Windows is a mess is it was...

The hardest programs I've ever written

Most trouble with:
On the Altair (1965 a.d.) we hade to KEY in 8-bit code watching leds and when you went home the computer woiped it all out (not even...

The hardest programs I've ever written

Most trouble with:

I am very sorry for you!
And if you really want to go crazy, try Visual Basic - which does nothing Basic didn't do but enmeshes you in a inextricable web of jargon-nonsense to do it!

The problem arose in Mid Nov last when Gates (probably without asking you) downloaded a "fix" that (among other things) killed off your BASIC progs for good.

If you were lucky enough to miss this...

How about warning those who have happily been using BASIC for decades that this "Fix" is TERMINAL DEATH for all the thousands of basic progs they may have written!
And once installed it cannot be...

Yes, sometimes I did
No other times I didn't

Yours is an interesting idea, but remember the computer works FINE as long as nobody ever turns it off (so probably the mouse and kbd are Ok)
It has...

ON Nov 15 2004 Bill Gates fixed my Windows XP by downloading stuff

I tried resetting system to 1 Nov, but this DOES NOT undo the fix

(Among other things this fix stopped all my thousands of...

My CD R/W, working for 2 years, suddenly says all discs are blank
But the winbdows troubleshooter says "This device is working fine"

The disc goes round
The laser lights (for 6 secs while...

I NEVER turn my computer off! For if I do it takes 20 restarts (2 hours") to get it going again

This is a NEW problem, after many years OK

I changed the mouse
I changed the keyboard
I changed...

On 15 Nov 2004 Bill Gates downloaded a "fix" to my Win XP (without informing me)
From then on XP no longer allowed me to run BASIC

I have been writing ALL my progs in BASIC for 30 years so this...