"ms" wrote in message
...
I recently had a machine where bootup stopped at a C prompt because of
this.

The msdos.sys file is hidden, the attribute is read-only. Yet a sound card
install apparently changed the default BootGUI setting from 1 to 0.

Changing it back restored the system.

How can any program write to a read only hidden file?

ms

If I, as a developer, wanted to change a file,
I would write the code and then test it.

If, during the course of my testing, I discovered a showstopper
such as a previously unknown file attribute, I would amend
my code to resolve the issue.

Specifically, I would strip the attribute,
amend the file, and restore the attribute.

Simple, bordering upon trivial.....