Article ID: 96061 - Last Review: November 22, 1999 - Revision: 1.0

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

Retired KB ArticleRetired KB Content Disclaimer
View products that this article applies to.
System TipThis article applies to a different operating system than the one you are using. Article content that may not be relevant to you is disabled.
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

CAUSE

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
Keywords: 
KB96061
Back to the top
Retired KB ArticleRetired 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