MS-DOS Err Msg: Could Not Copy COMMAND.COM to Target...

Retired KB Content Disclaimer

View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q96061

Expand all | Collapse all

SYMPTOMS

When you use the SYS command (SYS.COM) to transfer the MS-DOS startup file to another disk and COMMAND.COM is not in the root directory of your startup drive, you receive the following error message:

Could not copy COMMAND.COM onto target disk

Back to the top

Even if the COMSPEC environment variable and the SHELL= statement in the CONFIG.SYS file point to COMMAND.COM in a different directory, SYS.COM still looks for COMMAND.COM in the root directory of the startup drive.

Back to the top

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, copy COMMAND.COM to the root directory of your startup drive (see your MS-DOS manual for information about copying files). Then, set the read-only attribute with the ATTRIB command. For example, type the following at the MS-DOS command prompt and press ENTER:

attrib +r command.com

Back to the top

APPLIES TO

Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft MS-DOS 6.2 Standard Edition
Microsoft MS-DOS 6.21 Standard Edition
Microsoft MS-DOS 6.22 Standard Edition

Back to the top

KB96061

Back to the top

Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

Back to the top