16-bit ShellExecute Fails if Application Exists in Long Path

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition

SYMPTOMS

You may get a get an error code 2 (ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND) from ShellExecute if the associated executable file exists in a directory path containing a long file name.

CAUSE

The 16-bit WinExec is unable to handle unquoted long file names properly. It will incorrectly detect spaces as argument separators. For example, if you run ShellExecute on readme.txt, from 16-bit Visual Basic, it will try to locate the associated notepad.exe. If it exists in a directory with spaces or the file with which you run ShellExecute has spaces, ShellExecute will fail with the Error 2.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.

Keywords : kberrmsg NT4SP4Fix kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00.sp4 NTSrvWkst
Version : WinNT:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug