Window disappears on CLI apps

[jamon]

Greetings! I've searched everywhere for an answer to this but no luck yet. My Start>Run works just fine in my WinXP Home Ed but I have several small CLI apps (.exe) that flash their own black screen and disappear leaving nothing! No sign of the process either. One of them (MBRWizard) seems to be a very popular app, I've downloaded several versions, always the same: the screen disappears as soon as I press the "any key" that it wants before it shows me more options. I find it hard to believe it's a problem with the app - people seem to be using it all over. If it's something I need to configure I'd sure like to know what it is. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[treefrog07]

You should read a little more on how to use MBRWizard - here. It has no GUI, you have to type the action you want it to perform.

 

[jamon]

Thanks for posting treefrog07. For some strange reason, I wasn't notified by email until this evening that there was an answer to my post.

Of course, you're right about MBRWizard and I didn't know how much I didn't know when I posted. I've since been elsewhere, being dragged (kicking and screaming) to a better understanding of basic command-line protocol.

The biggest reason (there were several) I wasn't getting these apps to respond the way I expected was due to their location "out of the path". The "flashing screen" that kept disappearing contained the switches necessary for the app to actually perform it's task. I've had the time to experiment with all the steps and believe I have enough understanding now to use these apps without too great a problem. Thanks again.

 

[treefrog07]

You're welcome. It's probably still worth your time to look at the instructions. I used MBRWizard to make a USB stick bootbale to install Win7RC1.

 

[jamon]

Wow! That means there's a lot more possible in those switches than I'm up to yet. Because of the different routines I was trying, to get past the roadblocks I'd initially experienced, I seem to have misplaced the mbrwiz "readme" (I'll download it if I need it) so I went through the switches in the CL interface and I'm going to guess that you are using a switch that concerns "mounting"? But before this, even, is the question of whether my BIOS even supports boot from USB. You're not saying that this could be a way around that limitation, are you? (That is, if that limitation exists for me - I have a Phoenix Award ver6.00PG) I don't believe I've seen the USB-boot option in the boot order menu. I just assumed I don't.

 

[jamon]

Okay, now I see where you are.. I dropped by the MBRWiz website and see there's a beta version that will assist you in creating a Win7/WinPE bootable USB drive. Very slick. I'd have to look further into my options re my BIOS. I have an array of rescue media (all on CD) which serves me pretty well, relative to my meager expertise, at least.

 

[treefrog07]

I also have the same Phoenix Award ver6.00PG BIOS on my DFI boards. When I insert a USB stick (or USB DVDRW drive) into a slot, and then power-on, enter BIOS, go to the USB settings - it shows the USB stick (or DVDRW) as a Mass Storage Device, and it is also on the screen where you set the boot order. On my boards, I can press either ESC or F1 (can't remember which) during POST, and a screen pops up after POST letting me choose any of the attached/installed devices for boot.

 

[jamon]

Nice. I'll try that out. Thanks for the clear instructions. Go have a coffee - I'll be awhile.