Installing qb45

[petersull]

I have have downloaded qb45 but need some instructions on how to get it to run. Whichever applicarion/executable file I click on, various error messages appear. What am I doing wrong? I am well versed in basic programming and used QB45 regularly several years ago under Windows 95/98. Now I have Vista Home basic.
Best regards, Peter Sullivan.

[DDastardly71]

QB45 is best used in a DOS Prompt. Avoid creating a shortcut link to the QB.EXE cause its just a headache. Besides if you use a shortcut link to run QB.EXE, when the program terminates it will have a tendency to return back to Windows.

If you decide to use it in a DOS Prompt, remember to set the path to the following folders...BIN, LIB, HLP and set it also inside the QB environment option.

[Valerie]

Petersull - Welcome to the QBCafe forums.

I start QBasic 4.5 using a shortcut to a batch file. Here's the .bat code:

Code: Select all

@echo off
cls

cd /d d:\my downloads\qbasic45
qb.exe /l qb.qlb
cd /d c:\
exit /b

Obviously you'd need to tailor the path to suit your setup. The shortcut option is selected to run in full screen rather than a window.

Hope this helps, works pretty good for me in XP.

Good luck.

V.

[BurgerBytes]

VISTA will not allow you to run Qbasic in Fullscreen modes. Only Screen 0 windows.

Try DOSBOX or change your video drivers to 32 bit. 64 bit drivers are causing the problem.

[I Daniel]

This is mainly for those who have the same problem. Microsoft warns that certain old programs wont run on NTFS. I have two hard drives. C: drive is formatted to FAT32 and D: drive NTFS. I installed qb4.5 on both drives. The NTFS drive says unable to run qb.
The FAT32 drive runs it without problems. I made a short cut to the Desktop. Changed the properties as follows:-

Cmd line. C:\Qb45\QB.EXE /L
Working: C:\QB45
Run: Maximized
clicked - Close on exit

To run any other basic program I had to move them all to the Qb4.5 folder.
But watch out for screensaver rather make it None and also make power saving -NEVER (Under screen options.) They tend to mess things up.
And remember ALWAYS use SCREEN x (x=the one you use) in your progs otherwise it reverts to the default which is text only.

Edited/added 25 July 2010.
A. Old programs that dont run: These were DOS utilities.
B. Problems on NTFS - I forgot to set the Paths.
When u have installed QB then the first thing to do when u run it is go to OPTIONS and do the following:
1: Display- here you can change the foreground, background etc to suit your taste. (I only changed the background to BrBlue)
2. SET PATH - Do as DDastardly 71 says. This is very necessary/critical.
3. Make sure there is a bullet next to Full Menus and Syntax Checking. If not then click on them.
If you install to VISTA then u will have to use the latest version of DOSBOX to run your programs. DOSBOX also supports WINDOWS 7. U can get it by doing a search ie DOXBOS which takes u to their home site from where u can download it. (See running QB larger)

My operating system is XP Pro SP2

[BurgerBytes]

Well, I have XP SP3 and Quickbasic 4.5 runs fine on NTFS. I've heard that the NTFS configuration file may be corrupted on some PC's. There should be another copy in the Windows\Repair folder. You can create a batch file or run this command in DOS:

COPY C:\Windows\Repair\AutoExec.nt C:\Windows\System32

Somehow my XP adopted the first instance of an installation in another folder. So if I click a BAS file anywhere on my PC, it uses that version, but cannot find the Help files.

If QB 4.5 came with a shortcut already made, delete it as it most likely goes to the wrong folder. Make a new shortcut and add space /L to the command line property to load the library.

You can also associate QB to Notepad or other programs you want to edit with. Also, if you know how, you can add "Open with..." options in the right click popup menu. OK try this:

Right click a BAS file. Go to the Open with menu and search for another program. Then search your drive for QB.EXE. You should know where it is. Then select it. It will not load the library however.

For VISTA I recommend DOS BOX. That OS is crap!

[I Daniel]

Thanks for the info Burgerbytes.
I compared the autoexec.nt under repair and system32 as well as the autoexec.n_ on the installation disk. They are all three exactly the same.

I had a typo my OS is XP pro SP3 (not 2).
Vista I've heard described as the worst of the worst. Worst than your description which is pudding to bacteria.

[I Daniel]

I checked BurgerBytes's demonstrator and got a black on blue screen.
Big booboo I ran it from my sub folder c:\qb45\Q-Basic. On checking with the DOS Shell I found the directory was QB45 and not QB45\Q-BASIC.
The correct way is to extract it to the QB45 folder and run it from there.

His program is nice and good.

I changed the Day$ to the ISO standard to which the USA, Japan, South Africa and other countries were co-signers in 1975. Since then the international date is 2010-06-24. I changed the save DATE$ to Day$ and changed the Day$ as aforementioned.
If you want to save changes to his program use "save to" and give it another name.
So our lesson is: Always run your *.bas program from the qb45 directory or else you'll get funny colours, Path not found, File not found and all sorts of messages and also have a red face like me.

[BurgerBytes]

Glad you figured the problem out.

I just changed my download link to Drop Box. Now the download comes up instantly. No 20 second wait! They must have changed the wait time from 10 seconds, but forget them!

[I Daniel]

I find that VISTA Home Basic is really a no no for Basic programs and Burgerbytes's (is this because he Bites Burgers - meaning hamburgers and not Citizens?) advice is the best. - USE DOSBOX - ! I tried a Screen 7 program and VISTA said - This system does not support Fullscreen. Phaw it does not support Screen 7 etc.

Some of the newer Nvidia cards wont run Screen 13 and Screen 7 remains a small Windows. I haven't found anything to fix this. ( I dont think I tried DOSBOX though).