My son wants me to install the game Sim Ant onto our pc, but for some reason the same message keeps popping up and no game installs ..........

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT. The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications.

What does this mean? do I have to install or download something first before this game will play?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thankyou

c:\windows\system32\autoexec.NT Install Error

Mostly from: http://www.cyber-robotics.com/library/Zeus...autoexecNT2.htm

Your Windows system file 'AUTOEXEC.NT' is damaged or missing. You will need to fix this as many programs use this file..

There are 3 solutions:

Solution 1 - You may be able to fix the autoxexc.nt file with the xp system file checker.

a) Click 'Start', then click on 'Run'.
b.) In the Run box type: sfc /scannow
c) Click OK and let it run. It may ask you to put your xp cd in the cd rom drive.
d) After it runs, try to run and/or install it again.

Solution 2 - The easiest is

a) insert the Windows XP CD into your CD drive
b.) click Start > Run

Enter:

expand X:\i386\autoexec.nt_ c:\windows\system32\autoexec.nt

( Replace X:\ with your CD ROM drive letter. )

Solution 3 - If the above doesn't work you will need to contact Microsoft. Tell them the error message and say it is 'Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 324767'. The article is here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;324767

Causes

SpyWare:

You've already replaced the file with another one and this works until you reboot, then the file is lost again.

The error message can be misleading, because it is displayed even if the AUTOEXEC.NT file is actually missing.

To verify whether you have the file, type "%windir%/system32/" in the address bar of an Explorer window. If there is no AUTOEXEC.NT file proceed as follows:

Browse to "%windir%/repair/" (usually "C:\WINDOWS\repair")

Right-Click and Copy the AUTOEXEC.NT file

Browse to "%windir%/system32/" (usually "C:\WINDOWS\System32")

Right-Click inside the window and Paste the file

The error condition described here may also be the result of corruption of the AUTOEXEC.NT file, in which case the above procedure may be helpful to restore a valid file.

Viruses

Corruption of the AUTOEXEC.NT file has also been related to virus programs. You may want to virus-check your system with one of the following free tools:

Panda ActiveScan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/

this scans for spyware too, so all in one solution

i had this error before, its real annoying

I got my friend to send me this file from his computer, i placed it where it should be, and it fixed it

Hope you get it fixed soon Shady

TexMex provided some great solutions.
Hopefully, it is just registry entries/invalid path and not some sort of nasty like malware.

Another fix some have used is to do a search for autoexec.nt. You will probably find it in C:\WINDOWS\repair. Copy and paste it into C:\WINDOWS\system32.

or get the XPFix:
http://www.visualtour.com/downloads/xp_fix.exe

Latest WINXP does have built-in windows file protection so this quite rare. Usually, is result of running old AV or dated software using DOS/16 bit subsystem that corrupts AUTOEXEC file.

Hope you get it resolved.

That file should not be present in the new operating system (it is completely empty, and therefore useless), it was used on the old machines to run some software during start up. I dont understand how it could be causing any problems.

Tim

True, but ...

"After installation of Service Pack 2, Windows XP may display an error message relating to "AUTOEXEC.NT" when trying to run certain 16-bit applications.

The InstallShield software used for installation of most commercial programs and many Microsoft products, makes use of 16-bit Windows technology which requires a valid AUTOEXEC.NT file to be present in the system. This file, which is part of the Windows 16-bit subsystem as it ships with Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, normally resides in the "System32" subdirectory of the Windows installation directory.

Installation of Windows XP Service Pack 2 on an otherwise "healthy" Windows XP system may delete the AUTOEXEC.NT file. As a result, when trying to run certain applications which make use of 16-bit technology an error message like the following may be displayed: "16 bit Windows Subsystem - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT. The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application."

Try this one.
I´ve found this download site for old Sim Ant game:
Sim Ant download

I have the same question, Okay thanks