About this page | Emergency troubleshooting | Basic keystrokes | Printing and faxing under Windows | Add WP to the Explorer right-click menu | Set environment variables | Customize WPDOS memory and window settings | Maximize memory in WPDOS | Insufficient file handles | Using the Windows clipboard | Installation problems solved | Enable expanded memory (EMS) | Enabling the mouse | Force WPDOS to start in full-screen mode | Windows icons | List Files screen and large drives | WPDOS 6.x Directory Tree locks up with drive C: | WPDOS on Windows networks | Home page
Note: If you have a modern Windows computer that runs 64-bit Windows, this page is not for you! Ignore it! Instead go immediately either to this site's new vDos-based vDosWP system or the older DOSBox-based DOSBoxWP system. Do not try to be clever and use the information on this page with the vDosWP or DOSBoxWP system! You will only cause problems for yourself. Don't be clueless!
The information on this page applies to 32-bit versions of Windows only! That includes 32-bit Windows 7, 8.1, and 10. Remember: If you are not absolutely certain that you have 32-bit Windows, you almost certainly have 64-bit Windows, and this page is not for you!
If you use Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP, see also this site's separate WPDOS under Windows NT, 2000, and XP page. If you use Windows Vista, see this site's WPDOS under Vista page. If you use 32-bit Windows 7 or 8 or 10, see this site's WPDOS under32-bit Windows 7 or WPDOS under 32-bit Windows 8 or WPDOS under 32-bit Windows Ten page. If you still use Windows 95 or 98, see also this site's separate WPDOS under Windows 95 and 98 page. If for some obscure reason you use Windows Me, see also this site's separate WPDOS under Windows Me page. The page you are now reading contains material applicable to all versions of Windows, but you may also need the troubleshooting and installation advice on the special Windows NT, 2000, and XP page or the special Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Me pages.
WordPerfect 5.1 and 6.x for DOS can be used without difficulty under all versions of Windows, and with the FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS file systems, although later releases of 6.x are somewhat more compatible than early ones. This page includes suggestions follow for making WPDOS and Windows more compatible with each other, and for maximizing the performance of WPDOS under Windows. Unless noted, all these suggestions apply to Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, 2000 Professional, Millennium Edition (Windows Me), and XP. They probably apply, with minor modifications, to Windows 3.1 and to the Windows 3.1 subsystem of OS/2. (A user-contributed set of suggestions for running WordPerfect under OS/2 Warp is on a separate page.)
Absolute beginners may want to read this site's step-by-step instructions for installing WPDOS under Windows. If you already have WPDOS running under Windows, you may ignore those instructions.
I recommend that every WPDOS user study the recommendations in the separate page on customizing the WPDOS shortcut. Major improvements in speed and performance can be achieved by following the suggestions offered here.
You may also want to read separate pages about opening WordPerfect files in Microsoft Word, and about converting Microsoft Word files for use in WordPerfect.
If WPDOS ignores any settings that you change, or if you can't select the settings that you want: You probably used a CD-R or CD-RW disk in order to copy your WPDOS files between computers (in other words, you copied files to a CD-R or CD-RW disk on your old machine, and then copied the files from that disk to your new machine). To fix the resulting problem, you must change the way Windows reads the newly copied files. Any file that is copied to your hard disk from a CD-R or CD-RW disk is marked "read-only," which means it can't be changed until you remove the "read-only" setting, and WPDOS can't make changes in its settings files. To fix the problem, open Windows Explorer to the directory into which you copied the files from your CD-R or CD-RW; select (highlight) all the files that you copied (you can select all the files by clicking once in the list and pressing Ctrl-A); right-click anywhere in the highlighted list of files (Wait! What exactly does "right-click" mean?); choose Properties from the pop-up menu; clear the checkbox next to "Read-only"; click OK.
Special note about WPDOS 6.x under any Windows version: Under any Windows version, you may be able to improve WPDOS's performance, and avoid obscure problems, by adding the command-line switch /NS (no sound) to your WPDOS 6.x shortcut, or, if you launch WP from a batch file, by adding the switch to the line that runs WP. (Help! What's a shortcut?) You may also improve stability with WPDOS 6.1 or 6.2 by also adding the similar switch /DU (don't use upper memory blocks). For details, see the general note on customizing the WPDOS window below. These switches are not needed, and should not be used, with WPDOS 5.x.
If WPDOS 6.x crashes or won't start, under any Windows version: Some web sites recommend that you increase DOS memory under Windows by opening your SYSTEM.INI file and adding, under the [386enh] heading, the line LocalLoadHigh=1. On some systems, this line prevents WPDOS 6.x from starting; the program does not fail with an error message but simply does not run at all. On other systems, it causes WPDOS 6.x to crash with an error message. If you are having trouble launching WPDOS 6.x under Windows, check your SYSTEM.INI file, and remove this line if you find it.
If WPDOS causes an "illegal instruction" error message under any Windows version: You can usually improve the stability of WPDOS 5.1 and 6.x by adjusting expanded memory settings. You will need to make different adjustments under Windows NT, 2000, and XP (follow similar advice for 32-bit Windows 7 or later versions), and under Windows Vista. Some versions of WPDOS manage memory badly under Windows; if you have WPDOS 6.0 or 6.0a, you should try to find a later version, such as 6.0b, 6.1, or 6.2. Some very old versions of WPDOS (for example, WPDOS 4.2) and related products will not run at all under Windows Me.
To toggle a WPDOS session (or any DOS program) between full-screen and windowed mode, press Alt-Enter.
To switch from a WPDOS session to the Windows desktop or to another open application, press Alt-Tab.
To minimize or resize a WPDOS window (or any DOS window), press Alt-Spacebar and select from the dropdown menu.
Instructions for making these changes semi-permanent may be found elsewhere on this site.
A separate page provides information on printing and faxing from WPDOS under Windows. It includes instructions for printing from WPDOS to printers connected by a USB cable.
When you select a file in Windows Explorer, you can bring up a "context menu" by right-clicking on the item or pressing Shift-F10. (Wait! What exactly does "right-click" mean?) If you want to add an item to this menu that will open the selected file in WPDOS, carefully read and follow the following instructions.
After you have successfully followed the instructions, you will be able to open a document in WPDOS by performing the following steps: first, in Windows Explorer, right-click on the document that you want to open in WPDOS; next, on the pop-up menu that appears when you right-click the file, click on "WordPerfect"; WPDOS will attempt to open the document. Make sure you understand this paragraph before you begin! Make absolutely certain that you understand that you must right-click on the document and then click the "WordPerfect" item on the pop-up menu! This procedure will not cause WordPerfect to open a document when you double-click on the document! You must right-click, and then click on the "WordPerfect" item on the menu!
Read this now: If you fail to read and follow the instructions with extreme care and attention, the procedure will not work. If you do not understand the instructions - really and truly understand them - then stop now and go no further!! You must understand the part of the instructions in which you type in the name of your WPDOS directory!!!
If you don't know the drive letter (C:, D:, E:, or something else) and the directory name (C:\WP51, D:\WP62, or something else) that contains your copy of WordPerfect, stop now, and don't even think about trying this procedure! The drive letters and directory names shown below are examples! If you don't understand the concept of an "example," stop now, and don't even think about trying this procedure! If you don't understand any of this, stop now!
Here are the instructions. First, copy the following lines into Windows Notepad or some other text editor:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\WPDOS]
@="&WordPerfect"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\WPDOS\command]
@="c:\\wp51\\wp.com /w-*,* /r %1"
Before you save this as a file, very carefully edit the last line as follows: (1) make sure it contains the directory in which your copy of WPDOS really is, and that it contains the name of a file that really exists, and (2) move the cursor to the end of the last line and press Enter to create a blank line below the last line of text. Note that the last line of text contains double-backslashes ( \\ ) instead of the single backslash ( \ ) used in ordinary DOS paths. In other words, if your copy of WPDOS is E:\WP51\WP.EXE, then you must change the line shown above to read something like this (but don't copy this blindly, because E:\WP51 is almost certainly not where your copy of WPDOS is!):
@="e:\\wp51\\wp.exe /w-*,* /r %1"The part of this line that reads /w*,* /r is entirely optional (these are WPDOS "command-line switches"), but they let you make the best use of available memory for WPDOS; if you use WPDOS6.x, you may change /w-*,* to read /w-*,*,* and of course, with either 5.1 or 6.x, you may replace these strings with any combination of command-line switches that you normally use when running WPDOS.
Now, and only now, save the file in a convenient place under a name such as WPContextEdit.reg. The only part of the filename that really matters is the .reg extension. The file must have the extension .reg or the procedure will not work!! (If you use Windows Notepad, enter the name, with the .reg extension, in quotation marks! If you do not use the quotation marks, Notepad will save the file under the name WPContextEdit.reg.txt and this procedure will not work!!!)
Now find the WPContextEdit.reg file that you just created; right-click on it (Wait! What exactly does "right-click" mean?); choose Merge from the context menu; answer Yes to any prompt. You should now find a "WordPerfect" menu item on the right-click context menu of any file.
If you use Tame: I strongly recommend that you set up this system so that you use the same Tame settings for WordPerfect whether it runs from the right-click menu or a shortcut on your desktop. Probably the best way to do this is to copy your desktop shortcut into your WordPerfect directory, for example E:\WP51. Carefully note the name of your desktop shortcut; for example, it might be "WordPerfect 5.1". Edit your WPContextEdit.reg file (the one you created in an earlier step), and find the line that reads:
@="e:\\wp51\\wp.exe /w-*,* /r %1"Change that line to read as follows, and note that I have added \" before and after the filename, because filenames with spaces (such as the space in "WordPerfect 5.1") require quotation marks for Windows to understand them:
@="\"e:\\wp51\\WordPerfect 5.1.pif\" /w-*,* /r %1"Very carefully notice that I have added .pif immediately after "WordPerfect 5.1"! This is absolutely essential! And again, note the \" before and after the filename. And note that I did not remove any existing quotation mark! Check your work. Check it again. Check it a third time. If you make a mistake, I can't help you fix it! Now right-click on the WPContextEdit.reg file and choose Merge from the context menu. If WordPerfect does not start when you choose WordPerfect from the Explorer context menu for a file, then keep trying until it does.
Strongly recommended: You should modify a special Windows file so that the copy of WPDOS that you launch from the right-click context menu runs with the same memory and other settings that you prefer to use. See the instructions elsewhere on this site.
If you later wish to remove this new menu item, follow a similar procedure to create a file that looks like this and has a name such as RemoveWPMenuItem.reg:
REGEDIT4
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\WPDOS]
After saving the file, right-click on it; choose Merge from the context menu; answer Yes to any prompt. The "WordPerfect" menu item will no longer appear on Explorer's context menu.
Don't be clueless! Clueless Visitor No. 17 did not know the name of the directory that contains his copy of WordPerfect, so he simply copied the example above. As a result, the menu item that he created did not open his copy of WordPerfect. Clueless Visitor No. 17's copy of WordPerfect was in fact in the folder C:\WP51, but he cluelessly copied one of the examples shown above, one that works only on an actual system in which WordPerfect was in E:\WP51. Don't follow the bad example set by Clueless Visitor No. 17! Instead, try to understand what an "example" means! It is a concept that is widely useful in many areas of life, and it is well worth taking some time to understand. (One of a series of Don't be clueless! warnings, presented by this site as a public service.)
For Windows XP, but not for Vista or Windows 7, 8, or 10: If you want to specify whether WPDOS opens in full-screen or windowed mode, use Windows Explorer to navigate to your WPDOS directory (typically something like C:\WP51 or C:\COREL\WP62 or something similar); right-click on WP.COM (if you have such a file; right-click on WP.EXE if you don't), choose Properties, go to the Screen tab, and select either Full-Screen or Windowed; click OK, and close the Windows Explorer window. (Wait! What exactly does "right-click" mean?) If you have both WP.COM and WP.EXE in your directory, perform this step on both files. If you don't see WP.COM or WP.EXE, then you need to tell Windows to display file extensions; see the procedure described elsewhere on this site. (Note for experts only: If you use a batch file to launch WP, you may need to add a line to the batch file that changes the current directory to the directory that contains WP.COM or WP.EXE before the batch file launches WP; of course, if you prefer, the batch file can then change the current directory to any other directory after the step that launches WP.)
If you use Tame, and want to use the same display settings for WPDOS launched from the context menu that you use when you launch WPDOS from its desktop shortcut, you should edit the WP shortcut (PIF) file inside your WPDOS directory so that it includes the settings you want. You can edit this file by right-clicking on WP.EXE or WP.COM in your WPDOS directory, and choose Properties. (Wait! What exactly does "right-click" mean?) After doing that, modify the instructions above for creating a .reg file so that you use the string wp.pif instead of wp.com or wp.exe. Also see the instructions on this site's page about Tame. By following these instructions, you will be able to specify the Tame window size and other settings.
WordPerfect's memory and other settings can be controlled most easily with command-line "switches," which are abbreviations appended to the WPDOS command line, like this (for WPDOS 6.x)
c:\wp62\wp.com /R /DL /W-*,*,* /NS
or this (for WPDOS 5.1+):
c:\wp51\wp.com /R /DL /W-*,*
Each of these examples launches WPDOS; adds speed and saves memory by loading much of the program into expanded memory, or in WPDOS 6.x, extended memory if available, expanded memory if extended is not available (/R); does not load the program launcher that allows WPDOS 5.1+ and 6.x to launch its fax software and font installer (/DL); uses as much conventional, expanded, and extended memory as possible (/W-*,*,* for WPDOS 6.x or /W-*,* for WPDOS 5.1); and turns off the sound feature in WPDOS 6.x (/NS) a feature which causes many obscure problems when left on (and which does not work under Windows anyway).
Important notes about the /DL switch: If you include the /DL switch, WPDOS 5.1+ and 6.x will have more memory for documents, but much less memory available for running DOS applications when you "Shell to DOS" or "Go to DOS." You should omit the /DL switch if you find that it prevents features such as the WPDOS 6.x font installer from working within WP itself. Also, under Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7, you probably should omit the /DL parameter if you find that it prevents the "compose" feature from working ("compose" is the feature in which you press Ctrl-2 and then two characters to create a symbol, as, for example, Ctrl-2, then L, then -, to insert the Pound Sterling symbol).
A command-line switch may also be used to run a macro immediately when WPDOS starts up, using the syntax /M-macroname to launch the macro; add this switch to any others that you may want to use. A list of available switches may be found in an appendix to the WPDOS manual, and you may view a summary by entering WP /? at the command line.
These switches may be used on the command line, or in batch files, and it highly convenient to add them to any desktop shortcut that runs WordPerfect, by adding them to the Program tab of the shortcut, as described on another page. However, if you have any switches that you want to use every time you run WPDOS, whether from a shortcut or the command line, or any other way, it is convenient to add them to the "environment" so that they run automatically whenever WPDOS is launched. The following techniques add switches to the environment under different versions of Windows:
For Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, or 10: Two methods work equally well in most cases, but if you encounter problems with one, try the other:
(a) Use the system-wide method described on one of Microsoft's knowledgebase pages (and consult this sample illustration while doing so). Or:
(b) Use the following DOS-programs-only method:
Use Start/Find or Start/Search to locate your Autoexec.nt file, typically found in C:\Windows\System32. (Help! I can't find my Autoexec.nt file!) Using a text editor like Notepad or EDIT.EXE, add a line like this at the bottom of the file.
SET WP=/R /DL /W-*,* /M-macroname
Note: See the important notes on the /DL switch above.
Of course, replace macroname with the real name of any macro you want WPDOS to run when it starts up, or omit /M-macroname entirely if you do not run a macro when the program starts up. Under WPDOS 5.1, use /W-*,* but under WPDOS 6.x, use /W-*,*,* and /NS
Restart your computer after you modify the file. At a DOS prompt, enter SET to see whether your WP variable is in use. If you do not see your variable on the list, repeat the steps, checking your typing carefully, until the variable appears after rebooting.
Important: If you normally use the equals sign in command-line switches (as in /NT=4), you must use a hyphen instead (as in /NT-4) when specifying switches with the SET WP= command. The SET command will fail if it has any equals sign other than the one immediately after SET WP= .
This information has been moved to a separate Desktop Shortcut page.
WordPerfect for DOS needs all the memory it can get. To increase available memory in WPDOS, you can make any or all of the following modifications to the desktop shortcut that you use to launch WordPerfect. (Help! What's a shortcut?)
Under Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, or 10, see also the instructions on a separate page for maximizing DOS memory!
If you are using WPDOS 5.1+ or 6.x, before and after making each change, run WP, use Alt-Equals, Help/WP Info to see the amount of available memory; if the change reduces available memory, undo it and try another option. If you are using the original WPDOS 5.1, run WP, use Ctrl-F1, Go to DOS, navigate to your WP directory and run WPINFO.EXE to see how much memory is available; then enter Exit to return to WP. (The WPINFO program is installed with the utility files when you install WP, and if you do not have it on your disk, run the WP installation program, and install the utility programs when prompted. When starting the program, if you see "Not ready reading drive X" messages, simply press F each time the message appears.
To maximize memory in WP, right-click your WPDOS shortcut and choose Properties. (Wait! What exactly does "right-click" mean?)
On the Program tab of the Properties sheet, go the Cmd line (or similar field) where you should see a path and filename that looks something like C:\WP51\WP.EXE. Insert a space after WP.EXE, and, for WPDOS 5.1+ and 6.x, add the /dl switch (disables interaction with the WP Shell, which you probably aren't using anyway). For any version of WPDOS 5.1, if you are desperately low on memory, add the /n2 switch (disables window 2 so you can only have one file open at a time).
Note: See the important notes on the /DL switch above.
(The following suggestion may or may not increase available memory in WPDOS; depending on your configuration, you may see an increase in Windows 2000 or XP, but a decrease in Windows NT. Experiment for best results!) With any WPDOS version, under Windows NT, 2000, XP, Vista, or Windows 7, add command /c (the /c is essential), followed by a space, to the very start of the Cmd or Cmd line field so that the field looks something like this:
command /c c:\wp51\wp.exe /dl
Note: See the important notes on the /DL switch above.
Of course, the WP directory and program name, and any switches, should not be changed from what you already had in this field.
On the Memory tab of the Properties sheet:
Experiment with the settings for environment size, and for expanded and extended memory. Under Windows Me, with WPDOS 5.1+ and 6.x, environment size must be a number, not auto. With any Windows versions, using WPDOS 5.1 and 5.1+, you may get best results by setting EMS to the highest possible number and XMS to None. Under WPDOS 6.x, you may get best results by setting EMS to None and XMS to Auto. Experiment with different combinations.
Also, in your WordPerfect reference manual, look under Memory and read the section on Freeing Up Memory.
If WordPerfect displays an "Insufficient file handles" error message when you launch it, perform one of the following steps, depending on your Windows version:
Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, or 10: Find and edit your Config.nt file. For the technically minded, this file is located in the %SystemRoot%\System32 subdirectory. For everyone else, this file is typically found in the C:\WinNT\System32 directory; or, under Windows XP, the C:\Windows\System32 directory. (Help! I can't find my Config.nt file!) Add this line at the end of the file
Files=60
If the error message persists, try a larger number than 60 (80 should be adequate, but you may need 100).
WPDOS (unlike the later versions of Microsoft Word for DOS) has no built-in support for the Windows clipboard, but you can still import and export text between WordPerfect and Windows applications. The simplest way to do this is to install a set of macros by Robert Holmgren available elsewhere on this site, but you can also use more laborious methods as described in the following paragraphs.
To import text from the Windows clipboard, run WPDOS in a window, not full-screen. (You can toggle between full-screen and windowed modes by pressing Alt-Enter.) Either press Alt-Space or click on the icon at the upper-left corner of the WPDOS window. This will drop down the window's System menu. Choose Edit/Paste, and the text in the clipboard will be "typed" into WordPerfect.
To export text to the Windows, run WPDOS in a window. Either press Alt-Space or click on the icon at the upper-left corner of the WPDOS window. This will drop down the window's System menu. Choose Edit/Mark. Move the cursor to the upper left corner of the text you want to select. Hold down the shift key and move the cursor to the lower-right corner of the text you want to select. Press Enter. You can now paste the text into Windows applications by pressing Ctrl-V or choosing Edit/Paste from the application's menu.
Alternatively, you can copy text from WPDOS (in a window) to the Windows clipboard by dragging to select a block of text with the mouse and pressing Enter. This will work only if, in the Properties of your WPDOS shortcut (right-click on the shortcut, and choose Properties; [Wait! What exactly does "right-click" mean?]), on the Misc tab, there is a checkmark next to Quick Edit and no checkmark next to Exclusive Mode. (Exclusive Mode means that the physical mouse will move the WordPerfect mouse pointer, not the Windows mouse pointer, when WordPerfect is the active window.) (Help! What's a shortcut?)
During the initial installation process, if WPDOS displays an error message when you try to install a printer, don't panic. Launch WP after the installation finishes, and select a printer by choosing (in WPDOS 5.1) Shift-F7/Select Printer or (in WPDOS 6.x) Shift-F7/Select.
For Windows XP, see the notes on Windows NT, 2000, and XP installation problems on a separate page.
For Windows Vista, see the notes on Windows Vista installation problems on a separate page.
For Windows 7, see the notes on Windows 7 installation problems on a separate page.
If you cannot install or run WPDOS in Windows 95 or 98, especially if you see an error message indicating "Insufficient file handles", add the following line to your C:\Config.sys file (Help! How do I edit my Config.sys file?):
FilesHigh=60
If this number does not solve the problem, try 100 instead of 60.
Note: If for some reason you do not have the line DOS=UMB,HIGH in Config.sys (and you definitely should have such a line in Config.sys), use this line instead of the one indicated above: Files=60
If WPDOS still does not run, or if it runs extremely slowly, see the section on sound card conflicts elsewhere on this page.
The procedure for fully enabling expanded (EMS) memory under Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP is described on a separate page.
WordPerfect for DOS may not recognize your mouse when running in a Windows DOS box or full-screen DOS window. To enable the mouse in a DOS window, use the advice in the Customizing section on this page (see the paragraph about the Misc tab of the WP shortcut properties box). If WPDOS still does not recognize your mouse, open WordPerfect, use Shift-F1/Mouse, and select "Mouse driver (MOUSE.COM)".
This change may cause the mouse not to be recognized if you run WPDOS after restarting Windows in MS-DOS mode. If this occurs, use Shift-F1/Mouse and change back to your original settings. You can easily record macros that will switch mouse drivers and run different macros when starting WPDOS in Windows and in DOS mode.
Tip for experts: You can run WP from a batch file that will use a different startup macro depending on whether you are currently in Windows or DOS. The batch file can be based on this model:
IF %windir%=='' GOTO DosMode
wp /m-WinMouse
GOTO End
:DosMode
wp /m-DosMouse
:End
This method works only under Windows XP, but a similar method can, with some effort, be made to work under 32-bit Windows 7; details on another page.
WPDOS works well in a DOS window, but, for some purposes, you may want it to start in full-screen mode. Custom WPDOS text fonts, including the euro-enabled text font available from this site, will not be visible if the program is first launched in a DOS window and then switched to full-screen mode. To force WPDOS to start in full-screen mode, use the following solutions:
(1) Modify the properties sheet of the WPDOS shortcut on your desktop and the shortcut in your WP directory. (Help! What's a shortcut?) To modify each shortcut, right-click on it, choose Properties, go to the Screen tab, and select Full-screen. (Wait! What exactly does "right-click" mean?) If you only launch WPDOS from the Windows desktop, you need only modify the desktop icon, and you need not take any further steps.
(2) Use this step only if you sometimes (or always) start WPDOS by typing "wp" at a Windows DOS prompt. After completing step (1), create a WP.BAT batch file that launches WP and uses the properties of the shortcut (instead of running the program directly). The contents of the WP.BAT batch file will look like this one line:
start C:\WP61\WP.PIF
(Replace C:\WP61 with the path of your WP directory.) Use lines above and below this one line for any other commands that you want to run before or after running WP.
To determine where to store this batch file, open a DOS window and enter the command path. Place the batch file in the first directory on the list, or in any directory that precedes your WP directory in the path. When you launch WP from any directory other than the WP directory itself, WP will launch using the properties of its shortcut. If you are in the WP directory when you launch WP, use the command start wp.pif when launching WP. You may also want to create another batch file (perhaps called STARTWP.BAT) in the WP directory, with the same contents as the WP.BAT above, and use it when launching WP.
(3) If you want to switch to full-screen mode in any other batch file, you may use the start command as described in step (2) or, for even more reliable results, use the FStoggle.exe program, by Vincent Fatica, which is contained in this FStoggle.zip archive. Download the archive file, run it in any temporary directory, and copy FStoggle.exe and FStoggle.txt to any convenient directory. Use the program this way: if you simply run the command fstoggle the program will toggle your DOS session between full-screen and windowed mode, but if you run fstoggle f (or fstoggle full or fstoggle 1), the session will switch to full-screen if it is not already full-screen; similarly if you run fstoggle w (or fstoggle window or fstoggle 0) the session will switch to windowed mode if it is not already in windowed mode.
Note: If you use Windows 95, 98, or Me, you can also use this FULLSCRN.EXE utility, generously provided by Haye van den Oever. (The program will have no effect if DOS is already in full-screen mode.) This utility works only in Windows 95, 98, and Me, not in Windows NT, 2000, or XP.
WordPerfect for DOS 6.0 shipped with a file containing icons that can be used to represent WPDOS in Windows shortcuts. (Help! What's a shortcut?) This file was not distributed with later versions, but may be downloaded from this site. The icons are probably under Corel's copyright, but I hope there will no objection if they are made available in this way to Corel's customers. You may also use the icons in the MORICONS.DLL file typically found in your C:\Windows directory; scroll to the right edge of the sheet of icons displayed in the "Change icon" window of your shortcut to find various WP icons.
With drives larger than 2 GB in size, the List Files screen in WPDOS displays an erroneous number for the amount of free space on this drive. This error has no serious practical effect with large modern drives, and can safely be ignored. If you need to know the real amount of free space on your disk, go to the WP editing screen, use Ctrl-F1, Go to DOS, and enter the command dir c: (replace c: with another drive letter if necessary); the true amount of free space will be displayed on the last line of the output. Enter the DOS command exit to return to WP.
With drives larger than 2 GB in size, under Windows 2000 and XP only, and with WPDOS 5.1 and 5.1+ only, you cannot use the WP feature that normally lets you press F5-F5 to display the List Files screen in the same state it was when you last exited that screen. A macro that partly solves this problem may be found elsewhere on this site.
Note: Some but not all systems that use Windows XP Service Pack 2 do not exhibit the following problem. I do not know why Service Pack 2 solves the problem in some cases (such as my own Windows XP system) but not in others.
WPDOS 6.x includes a "Directory Tree" feature that displays a tree-structured diagram of the directories on any disk. This feature is accessed by pressing F5, then F8 (or choosing File Manager from the File menu, then Directory Tree). When this feature is used under Windows, and is used with the hard disk letter that contains Windows itself (typically drive C:), WPDOS freezes, and any changes that you made since the last save in any open document are lost. The lockup sometimes occurs the first time you try to access the directory tree on the drive, sometimes the second time you access the tree.
This problem seems to occur because the DOS used in Windows 95 and later versions allows for a deeper directory structure (more levels of subdirectories) than earlier DOS versions, and WPDOS gets confused by a directory structure that it never expected to find. There is no workaround, and the only solution seems to be this:
Use a disk partitioning program (for example, Acronis Disk Director Suite or Partition Magic) to divide your disk into more than one drive letter (C: and D:) and move all your WordPerfect documents to directories on your new drive letter D:. In WPDOS, use Shift-F1/Location of Files/Documents to set the WPDOS default directory to one of the directories on your new drive letter D:. You will need to remember not to use the Directory Tree feature on Drive C: or on any other drive that has an especially deep directory structure that may have been created by one of your applications.
Advice on using WPDOS on Windows networks may be found on this site's networking page.