PRB: LINK versions 5.03 to 5.2 Require EXETYPE WINDOWS Stmt.

 Last reviewed: July 17, 1997
Article ID: Q49445
5.03 5.05 5.10 5.13 5.20 MS-DOS kbtool kberrmsg kbprb

The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft LINK for MS-DOS, versions 5.03, 5.05, 5.1, 5.13, and 5.2

SYMPTOMS

An attempt to run an application built with Microsoft LINK fails and the application generates the following message: 

   The application you are about to run was designed for a
   previous version of Windows.
In addition, an attempt to process the application with the Microsoft Windows Resource Compiler (RC) fails and RC generates the following message: 

   RW1030: The exetype of the program is not Windows

CAUSE

To develop an application for the Microsoft Windows operating system, LINK requires an EXETYPE WINDOWS statement in the application's module-definition (.DEF) file.

This behavior is different from previous and subsequent versions of the linker in which it was not necessary to specify the type of the executable file. Previously, a particular LINK version was used only to develop applications for the Windows operating system.

RESOLUTION

Modify the application's module definition file to include the following statement. Then rebuild the application and use the Resource Compiler to process the output file. 

   EXETYPE WINDOWS
However, in LINK version 5.2, the default version of Microsoft Windows is not version 3.0. To build an application compatible with Windows 3.0, specify the version number in the EXETYPE statement as follows: 

   EXETYPE WINDOWS 3.0
For LINK version 5.30 and later, the default version of Microsoft Windows is version 3.0. It is not necessary to include the EXETYPE statement, but it is recommended.

Additional reference words: LinkIss
KBCategory: kbtool kberrmsg kbprb
KBSubcategory: LinkIss
Keywords : kb16bitonly

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Last reviewed: July 17, 1997
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