SYSEDIT Err Msg: Cannot Open This File

• Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11
• Microsoft Windows for Workgroups versions 3.1, 3.11

NOTE: SYSEDIT is an undocumented text editor that ships with Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Product Support Services does not support this tool.

SYMPTOMS

If you run SYSEDIT in Windows, you may encounter one of the following error messages:

• Cannot open this file (in Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups 3.1)

  -or-

• Can't open the file: <filename> (in Windows 3.0 and 3.0a)

CAUSE

This problem can be caused by the following:

• You are booting from a drive other than C.
• Your files were saved in format other than ASCII.
• One or more of your files is too large to be edited in SYSEDIT. For example, you may receive errors saying AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, or WIN.INI cannot be opened if your WIN.INI file is larger than 40 kilobytes.

RESOLUTION

If you boot your machine from a drive other than C, edit the appropriate AUTOEXEC.BAT and the CONFIG.SYS files using a text editor other than SYSEDIT (for example, Microsoft Windows Notepad).

If your boot files are on C:

• Ensure the files are saved in ASCII format.

  -and-

• Ensure the files are not too large to be edited in SYSEDIT.

MORE INFORMATION

SYSEDIT looks only in the root directory of drive C when trying to open the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. If you boot your machine from a floppy disk, or if the CONFIG.SYS file contains a drive letter swapping program (for example, SWAP.COM from STAC Electronics), SYSEDIT may generate one of the above error messages or display the incorrect AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files.