"Bad or Missing Command Interpreter" Error Message

General Troubleshooting steps. Always do this first!

Due to vibrations during shipping, the connections of the cables and cards can loosen. If a cable comes even partly off, or a card pops even slightly out of its slot, you will have problems with your computer.

Some of the steps in this document may require that the cover from the system be removed, so please keep in mind that you need to take precautions against static electricity when working inside the computer.

If you just received your machine, follow these preliminary steps:

1. Take the cover off the computer. (Note the static electricity precautions mentioned below.)
2. Carefully push on all expansion cards to make sure they are properly seated in their slots.
3. Carefully push on the cable connectors to make sure they are firmly in place.

Refer to Chapter 1 of your Gateway 2000 System Users Guide for details.

Keep a log

• If you have a recurring problem, keep a log of what happened, when it happened, and what you were doing when it happened.

Fixing a bad or missing command interpreter

• Any of several things could cause this error message. Try these suggestions in order until you find the one that solves the problem.

Non-bootable diskette in drive A:

Check your floppy drives to make sure you do not have a diskette installed in drive A. If there is, remove the diskette and reboot.

To correct a problem in the CMOS setup program:

Enter your computer's CMOS SETUP program:

• If your machine has Phoenix BIOS, press Ctrl+Alt+Esc. If nothing happens follow these steps:
  1. Use your key to lock the keyboard.
  2. Press the Reset button on the front of the computer. The a message appears asking you to unlock the keyboard
  3. Unlock the keyboard and press F2 to run the CMOS setup.
• If you have a mini desktop computer, press Ctrl+Alt+S. This brings up the CMOS setup of the machine.
• If you have an EISA machine, press the Reset button on the front of the computer, then press Ctrl+Alt+Esc immediately when the memory count begins,
• If your computer has an AMI BIOS, press the Reset button on the front of the computer. Watch the screen. After the memory count is complete, press Delete when prompted. After a few moments a menu appears on the screen. Move the highlight bar to RUN CMOS SETUP and press Enter. If you are prompted to choose Standard or Extended setup, choose Standard.

When you see the setup screen, look at the Hard Drive type. Make sure the Head, Cylinder, and Sector information matches the information for your hard drive.

If you have an IDE hard drive, follow the hard drive parameter table. This shows cylinders, head, and sector information for Gateway 2000 IDE hard drives. The fields in the setup program may not be in the same order as in this table.

If you have a SCSI hard drive, make sure the hard drive type states NOT INSTALLED.

• Use the arrow keys to change the values in the hard drive fields until they match the drive installed in your system. If your system has the option "Autoconfig," choose that option. Brief directions are along the bottom of the screen; detailed directions are in the chapter about hard disk drives in your User's Guide. If you find a choice labeled "Autoconfig," choose that.
• Exit the setup program by pressing Esc or following the menu directions.

To correct a problem with COMMAND.COM:

• Insert disk #1 of your MS-DOS diskettes into drive A.
• Press the Reset button on the front of your computer. The computer boots from the floppy, and the MS-DOS setup program loads.
• Exit Setup:
  • If you are using MS-DOS 5.0, press F3 at the Welcome to Setup screen. Press Y when asked if you want to exit to DOS.
  • If you are using MS-DOS 4.0 or 4.01, press Esc when prompted to insert the select diskette.
  • If you are using MS-DOS 3.3 or earlier, there is no setup program; the computer boots to the A> prompt.
• Change to drive C. Type:
  c:
  and press Enter.
• At the C:\> prompt type:
  dir command.com
  and press Enter.
• If the message FILE NOT FOUND appears, copy COMMAND.COM onto drive C. Type:
  copy a:\command.com
  and press Enter.
• Remove the diskette from the drive and reboot.

To correct a problem in the CONFIG.SYS file:

If you have a shell command in you CONFIG.SYS file that inaccurately identifies the location of COMMAND.COM, you can get the bad or missing command interpreter error message.

1. Insert disk #1 of your MS-DOS diskettes into drive A.
2. Press the Reset button on the front of your computer. The computer boots from the floppy, and the MS-DOS setup program loads.
3. Exit Setup:
   • If you are using MS-DOS 5.0, press F3 at the Welcome to Setup screen. Press Y when asked if you want to exit to DOS.
   • If you are using MS-DOS 4.0 or 4.01, press Esc when prompted to insert the select diskette.
   • If you are using MS-DOS 3.3 or earlier, there is no setup program; the computer boots to the A:\> prompt.
4. Change to drive C. Type:
   c:
   and press Enter.
5. View the CONFIG.SYS file by typing:
   type config.sys
   and press Enter. (If the CONFIG.SYS file does not exist, skip ahead to step12.) The CONFIG.SYS file appears on the screen.
6. See if you have a line that begins with "shell." The line looks like this:
   SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /P /E:256
   
7. If the shell line exists, note which directory it is looking for COMMAND.COM in. In the example above, COMMAND.COM is in the DOS directory.
8. Change to the directory the shell is pointing to. For example, type:
   cd\dos
   and press Enter.
9. Type:
   dir command.com
   and press Enter.
10. IF you get a FILE NOT FOUND error, type:
    copy a:\command.com
    and press Enter.
11. Remove the floppy from the drive and reboot.
12. (Follow this step ONLY if you were sent here by step 5 because CONFIG.SYS is not on your hard disk.)
    Type:
    copy a:\config.sys
    and press Enter. (You can find more information about missing files in document 1093.) Now go back to step 6.

To correct a problem in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

An inaccurate comspec line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file can cause the bad or missing command interpreter message.

1. Insert disk #1 of your MS-DOS diskettes into drive A.
2. Press the Reset button on the front of your computer. The computer boots from the floppy, and the MS-DOS setup program loads.
3. Exit Setup:
   • If you are using MS-DOS 5.0, press F3 at the Welcome to Setup screen. Press Y when asked if you want to exit to DOS.
   • If you are using MS-DOS 4.0 or 4.01, press Esc when prompted to insert the select diskette.
   • If you are using MS-DOS 3.3 or earlier, there is no setup program; the computer boots to the A:\> prompt.
4. Change to drive C. Type:
   c:
   and press Enter.
5. View the AUTOEXEC.BAT file by typing:
   type autoexec.bat
   and press Enter.
6. See if there is a SET COMSPEC line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This is what the SET COMSPEC line normally looks like:
   SET COMSPEC=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM
   If the comspec line exists, note which directory it is looking for COMMAND.COM in. In the example above, COMMAND.COM is in the DOS directory.
7. Change to the directory the set comspec line is pointing to. For example, type:
   cd\dos
   and press Enter.
8. Type:
   dir command.com
   and press Enter.
9. IF you get a FILE NOT FOUND error, type
   copy a:\command.com
   and press Enter.
10. Remove the floppy from the drive and reboot.

To correct corrupt invisible system files:

1. If neither the SHELL line nor SET COMSPEC line is present, Change back to drive A.
2. At the A:\> prompt type
   c:\dos\sys\ c:
   and press Enter. This command instructs the computer to transfer the invisible files IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS files to the hard drive.
3. When the computer responds with SYSTEM TRANSFERRED, remove the disk from the drive.
4. Reboot the computer.

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