Installing ACCPAC Plus on Windows 2000

Answer NO when installing to a Windows 2000 workstation or server. After installation, manually enter the FILES=250 command in the CONFIG.NT file (the CONFIG.NT files resides in the \WINNT\SYSTEM32 subdirectory).

The Files=250 command is needed in all Windows environments. This command should be placed in the CONFIG.SYS for Windows 3.1X and Windows 95/98, in the CONFIG.NT for Windows NT and Windows 2000.

For Windows Millennium operating systems, the Files command is completely different – please refer to the Microsoft Article Q269030 – the Files command is NOT put in the CONFIG.SYS.

If your Windows NT Server is a dedicated server the Files=250 statement is NOT needed on the server. However, if the server is also being used as a workstation (or will be), then the Files=250 statement must be added to the CONFIG.NT file.

When starting ACCPAC Plus, the background may appear red. To change the background color, start Plus in CGA color monitor mode by typing Plus /V3 at the DOS command prompt. We recommend setting up an Icon or Shortcut to start ACCPAC Plus. In the Program tab of the Icon properties set the CMD line to show as x:\plus.exe /v3 where x is the letter of the drive where Plus is installed.

In some cases you may find that once the ACCPAC Plus installation is completed, when starting the application at the workstation level you are unable to open the Plus window to a full screen format. Should this occur and to rectify the situation, try the following:

1. Start Plus in your normal manner; we recommend a desktop shortcut for ease of use.
2. In the upper left corner you will see a C:\ prompt icon or a small MS DOS icon similar to the illustration below. Right click on that icon & choose Properties.
3. When the Properties box opens select the Layout tab. You will see the following screen (see next page); edit the settings to show the same values as those shown for the Screen Buffer and Window sizes. We have left the Window Position box at the default and allowed the system to position the window.
4. Choose the Options tab to select the Display Options for how your Plus window will open; select either Window or Full Screen. We recommend that you choose Window here; you will still be able to toggle between a full screen and a window simply by hitting the ALT + ENTER keys simultaneously on your keyboard while in ACCPAC Plus.

You may need to create a virtual drive if you are running a Windows 2000 Peer Network; the virtual drive needs to be created on the computer that will function as the server (this computer that will have the sole installation of the ACCPAC Plus program files on it). To do this, first create a new folder on the C: drive and give it a name such as ACCPAC, and then flag it as a shared folder with full access.

You then have to create a batch file (use Notepad or Wordpad) and the contents will be exactly as follows below: (we are using the drive letter X: in this example and the folder named ACCPAC):

Save this batch file and give it a name of APLUS.BAT (in this example). Copy this file to the root of your drive C: on this computer. After you setup a normal icon for ACCPAC Plus on your desktop, right click on the icon and go to the Properties tab. On the Command ("CMD line") line, enter the following C:\APLUS.BAT. Do not put anything on the "Working " line. Save these changes for your icon properties.

Now when you launch ACCPAC Plus this batch file will create this virtual drive letter X: The other workstations can now be mapped to this ACCPAC folder as drive X: as well.

This information (from Microsoft’s web site) describes how to print to a network printer from an MS-DOS - based program in Windows NT or 2000. By default, most MS-DOS-based programs print directly to either LPT1 or LPT2. However, the output is not automatically routed across a redirector to a print share unless you use the following method.

Establish a persistent connection using NET.EXE. To do so, use the following syntax at a command prompt:

(you may need to be at the following prompt: C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32> for this command to work).

The LPT2 port is used here as an example; you could use LPT1 or LPT3 instead.

Where lpt2 is the printer port you want to use, servername is the exact name of the server on your network (the UNC name) and printername is the exact name of the printer. The command persistent:yes makes this change persistent.

When this command is entered correctly, you should receive the following message:

"Command Completed Successfully"

To disconnect this persistent lpt2 connection, use the following syntax:

For additional information, please see article Q109928 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.