Set Up of Applications in Directories with Spaces May Not Work

• Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
• Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1

SYMPTOMS

If you use Windows NT Setup to set up existing applications, icons that are created from applications that are in directory names with spaces will not work correctly.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. On an NTFS partition, create a directory with a spaces in its name, such as "dir name."

2. Copy a Windows 3.0 or 3.1 or Windows NT application into the directory (such as WRITE.EXE).

3. From the Main program group, open the Windows NT Setup program.

4. Select Options from the menu and then select Set Up Applications.

5. Select the drive on which the application is installed and choose Search Now.

6. After the drive has been searched, select the file that you copied to the NTFS partition and click the Continue button.

   Windows NT Setup creates an icon in the Applications group for the program.

7. Double-click the icon to start the application. You will receive the following error message:

         Application Execution Error
   

         Cannot find File F:\dir (or one of its components); check to
         ensure the path and filename are correct and that all required
         libraries are available.
   

8. Choose the OK button to clear the error message.

RESOLUTION

If the application is on a FAT partition, the directory must be renamed to remove any illegal MS-DOS characters, such as spaces.

If the application is on an NTFS partition, select the icon in the Applications group and from the File menu, choose Properties. On the command line, place quotation marks around the entire line and choose OK. The icon should now be able to open the application.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.1 and Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.