VOGONS

File managers and my Sharp PC-7200, what aren't I getting

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First post, by Hiddenevil

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Hi all

So I had a little issue earlier today, I upgraded from MS Word 5 to 6. Deciding how much nicer it was, I decided to delete the old Word5 install. Only could I delete it? nope, it turned out there was a hidden protected file in the folder, msdos.sys i think. But that isn't why I'm posting, it's the utter pain in the butt it became to delete said file.

I'm a little rusty with DOS, but all my efforts to get remove/delete the folder failed, Win3 file manager wasn't much help either. So I thought, wait wasn't there a really good file manager back in the 90s for DOS?? Norton Commander? why not give that a shot and while I'm down the rabbit hole, why not try Xtree Pro.

The Sharps 7200, is a 286 with CGA graphics, if you can even call it that, the screen do the machine any favors 🤣

So Xtree was like nothing i'd ever used before and while it DID solve my issues. The more i messed with it, the more i realised I hadn't a clue what the heck i was doing. I couldn't even change the volume from C: to A: (if anyone knows, please do tell me)

I then decided to move on and try Norton Commander 3, it loaded and then froze the system, I then tried version 2.0 and then 1.0 and they all both froze up. I don't know if me running DOS 5.0 has any bearing on this, but I thought it worth mentioning.

So I'm a little confused what is going on and thought, why not post my woes here and see if anyone has had similar experience.

There's an old android saying which I believe is peculiarly appropriate here. In binary language it goes something like this: 001100111011000111100, which roughly translated means: "Don't stand around jabbering when you're in mortal danger!"

Reply 1 of 7, by Harry Potter

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Try switching to the old MS-Word directory and type "attrib -s -r -h *.*". That should unmark the System, Read-only and Hidden attributes on all the files in that directory. If there are any subdirectories in there, you may need to do it there as well. Then, the directory should be deletable.

Joseph Rose, a.k.a. Harry Potter
Working magic in the computer community

Reply 2 of 7, by Hiddenevil

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Harry Potter wrote on 2026-09-12, 14:40:

Try switching to the old MS-Word directory and type "attrib -s -r -h *.*". That should unmark the System, Read-only and Hidden attributes on all the files in that directory. If there are any subdirectories in there, you may need to do it there as well. Then, the directory should be deletable.

I have to confess, i did resort to using duckduckgo ai for some pointers and it did suggest that and it didn't work (most likely due to the idiot at the keyboard.) Xtree pro however did find the file and delete it. Which is what led me to thinking, I really need a decent file manager. Spent much of the day trying to get one working and having very little luck, Norton commander crashes and Xtree Pro, well i can't seem to figure out how you swap between drives on that one.

There's an old android saying which I believe is peculiarly appropriate here. In binary language it goes something like this: 001100111011000111100, which roughly translated means: "Don't stand around jabbering when you're in mortal danger!"

Reply 3 of 7, by Harry Potter

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Well...I'm glad you tried my suggestion, and I'm sorry I can't help you out with a file manger: I have a Win98SE tower at my mother's house and have a couple DOS-based file managers on it, but she's homeless right now, and I prefer using Windows Explorer on it.

Joseph Rose, a.k.a. Harry Potter
Working magic in the computer community

Reply 4 of 7, by Zup

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AFAIR, the problem with that Word 5 file was the extension. It contained a space (a REAL space, char 0x20, not a "fake" space like 0xFF), which causes most tools to not copy/delete it.

I guess that's part of the copy protection, so...

I have traveled across the universe and through the years to find Her.
Sometimes going all the way is just a start...

I'm selling some stuff!

Reply 5 of 7, by Hiddenevil

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The issue with Word5, was a hidden file in the DIR, i think it was names MSDOS.SYS or something like that. It wasn't visible via a normal DIR command and i couldn't see it in File manager in Win 3.0. Luckily Xtree DID show the file and allow me to delete it. After that, i was able to use the RMDIR command to remove the WORD5 directory.

But as i said, now i'm trying to find a decent file manager, that will allow me to manage what i have on the hard drive, zip & floppy disks.

There's an old android saying which I believe is peculiarly appropriate here. In binary language it goes something like this: 001100111011000111100, which roughly translated means: "Don't stand around jabbering when you're in mortal danger!"

Reply 6 of 7, by Hiddenevil

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For some bizarre reason Norton commander will not run properly, I’ll have to take a screen shot.

Someone suggested DOS navigator to me

There's an old android saying which I believe is peculiarly appropriate here. In binary language it goes something like this: 001100111011000111100, which roughly translated means: "Don't stand around jabbering when you're in mortal danger!"

Reply 7 of 7, by Cyberdyne

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Volkov Commander 4.05 or Sparrow Commander.

I am aroused about any X86 motherboard that has full functional ISA slot. I think i have problem. Not really into that original (Turbo) XT,286,386 and CGA/EGA stuff. So just a DOS nut.
PS. If I upload RAR, it is a 16-bit DOS RAR Version 2.50.

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