A PIF file is sort of an old "Program Information File" from Windows 3.11 days as I recall.
XP uses "Shortcuts" with properties that tell it how to run DOS programs.
Use the SEARCH feature in Windows (Start/Search) to find the EXE program you're trying to run. When you find it, Right Click on the file, a menu comes up, Left click on "COPY"
Now go to your desktop, find a blank spot, and RIGHT click, and then Left Click "Create Shortcut"
You can now Right click on the shortcut you created, and look at the settings.
To set the SIZE of the window that the program will run in, change the FONT setting to something fairly large, you'll see a small "picture" of the resulting window as it will fit your screen.
You can also toggle back and forth from "Windowed" to "Full Screen" using Alt-Enter.
When you run the program and it generates output, you'll probably find the output easiest as follows:
Right click on the shortcut created above.
Find Target
You'll be in the directory containing the DOS program, and hopefully the output will be there too.
If you cannot see file extensions like TXT or PRN or EXE, it's because these are "Known" file extensions.
To view all file extensions, you may have to do this:
Select TOOLS, then FOLDER OPTIONS, then VIEW tab and uncheck the box "Hide File Extensions of Known File Types"
Hope this helps.
Jeff
