>Hi Herman
>
>>Are you saying, you ran a 16 bit EXE under W2K console DOS
>
>Yes.
>
>>Can you explain a little more ? Also what is the EXE suppose to do exactly ?
>
>The exe is supposed to read the HDD serial number. I can ignore the message and it does work properly.


I see. Honestly, I almost forgot how to access HD in old DOS days :-).
One important thing is, there are huge differences the way we access a physical device between "Real DOS" and Windows "Console DOS".
Real DOS run in "unprotected mode" which means that in Real DOS we can access any physical device anyway we want. Windows Console DOS is run in "protected mode", that is there are some strict rules (even more strict under W2K & later) to follow if we want to access physical device.

In your case, the OS has telling you that there is some code (in the exe) that violates the rules. So even if there is a way to avoid this messages, I suggest you to NOT do that. It's better if you make a new one that follows the rules of OS. It eliminates the violation once and for all, also for the future sake.

BTW, is it a software SN or SMART SN? Sorry if I'm wrong, but since I know you as VFP'er, why not just do that from VFP?