Hi-
I am completely new at programming. In fact, I haven't even started classes yet, just reading an old second-hand book on QBASIC. I've gotten to a part where it tells me how to get into QBASIC and how to write a sample program. At the DOS prompt, I typed in the command the book gave me and apparently my system does not seem to have QBASIC files at all. I tried both QBASIC and QBASIC.exe. Is there something I'm doing wrong or something I can download to get my computer to be compatible with what I'm trying to learn? Hopefully someone can help me out because I'm totally lost here. And please not too much technical wording. I can understand most but not a lot of it. Like I said I'm really new.

First search for Qbasic.exe on your computer.
Qbasic was included starting with DOS version 5.0 and was also on the Win95 and Win98(i think) CD-ROMs.

If you find it, be sure that either you are in the folder containing Qbasic.exe when you are at the prompt or that it in the Path. (type Path from the prompt to see the directories included).

If you don't find it, then you can get it from the internet. simply do a search for it from
any search engine. Many of the QuickBasic sites will either have it or a link to it.

Yes use a search engine like google and get Qbasic 4.5, its better than the qbasic that comes with dos or windows. You make programs that run outside the IDE

i have been running q basic in xp for months, and rfecently, msdos will not run, i am getting the error message, 16bit msdos subsystem, and the file is not suitable for msdos or windows applications, any ideas

Try going to properties of QBX.exe, click memory, set EMS to None, everything else to Auto and check uses HMA. You don't set compatibility to windows 95 or 98, and you can check the "close on exit" (optional), and then click OK. The system automatically creates the qbx.pif file that has the same attributes.

You can double click on either qbx.exe or qbx.pif and it will load any size file which some people have had a problem with. These settings works for Qbasic or Qbx.

For BASIC fans, you might want to take a look at

http://www.qbcafe.net/english/index.....html~qbc_main

In reply to the original post, let's distinguish between QBASIC and QuickBASIC.

I suggest strongly using the latter - if you're actually going to write programs to use you'll need features the former doesn't offer.

And yes, one form of Basic or another was built into most PC's when they were DOS based. But I think that ended with Windows 3.1 and it became necessary to install some version of BASIC on your own.

Did you eventually work out how to get into QBasic? I am in a similar situation as you were. Please help. :-|

I'm guessing the problem is because QBasic is NOT installed. It came with older versions of Windows, and just about all DOS systems... however, with the advent of 2k and XP, I'm pretty sure that they don't have QBasic any more. I'm sure you can search around, and find a freeware version waiting for download out there somewhere..... try:
http://www.qbasic.com/frames.shtml, then click files, and compilers....

Quickbasic 4.5 for MSDOS was rather good - made me a lot of £. Hmm. I don't have any progs that won't run on my Windows XP home edition, though qbasic is even older. Qbasic was before Mr gates (who knows BASIC well, in fact that is what MSDOS was programed in all those years ago) had pushed his Co. to make BASIC (due to the retrospect obvious "make .exe option" a force to be reckoned with). Although some of the things M.Soft have done annoys me, pushing BASIC to the forefront of programing says a lot for Mr G. I expect the C++ lot will be annoyed, but it depends what you want to achieve.