Windows 7: .exe files

Hello all-

i'm a newbie on this forum. Does anyone know why when i try to open .exe files they either don't open at all or just flash for a sec? Just so we're on the same page i'm talking about the command prompt window application. It's not always been like this? is this common? it doesn't ask for an administrative pw either?

GoldiLX

I think we need more information to address your particular problem. In general, the following may be of help.

.exe are typically executable files. This includes installed programs (such as winword.exe), self-extracted archive with programs to be installed (something you might download), as well as small maintenance apps and small programs that you may have written yourself (for example if I need to make a small calculation, I would write a small C program, compile it and get e.g. a.exe executable).

Double-clicking on a .exe file usually executes the program. The behavior that you observe on your screen will entirely depend on the program you're running. A typical Windows program (like Word) will open its window and then will wait for you to use it. Something I might write for a small calculation might produce nothing at all on the screen - a small program like this will not contain any sort of GUI and will only write the results to a file, so the only thing you might notice after such program runs is the file with results in whatever target directory. Very often there are maintenance apps from various software vendors that are designed to clean up un-installations, remove temporary files, etc. These will typically not result in anything visible, except that a command window will briefly flash with nothing appearing in it.

If you run a .exe file from the command line (as opposed to clicking on it in explorer), then typically you will not see the cursor until the program finishes. Whether or not anything new will appear completely depends on the program.

Sometimes the programs won't run at all. This might be caused by your anti-virus or anti-malware blocking them (or firewall if the program needs to access the TCP/IP stack). The program might need some libraries that are missing - either in the form of Windows .dll files or something else depending on which language the program was written in the first place. Finally, the program might be incompatible with Windows 7 - for example, 16-bit executables won't run at all on the 64-bit OS (not sure about the 32-bit Windows 7 since I only have the 64-bit one).

I hope that helps. Maybe someone else will come up with a better answer, but I think that it would be helpful if you tell us which programs exactly you are trying to run.

The .exe is also used to extract files.
Sometimes the files are extracted to the C Program Files folder.
From there, you may see another file that you have to run.

I think the OP may be trying to open something like ipconfig.exe in the command line.
If you put ipconfig or similar into the Start search box then click on the exe file at the top of the list then it will just flash and go off
What you need do is type "cmd" in the search box (Without the quotes) then click the cmd.exe at the top of the list or just press Enter then at the curser point in the command window type your exe file name like ipconfig (no need to type .exe). That should work OK

Let me give you an example. You know the SysInternal Suite that Microsoft puts out? Well anyway, if not, Sysinternals Suite and i downloaded the PsTools Suite. Well they are all or mostly all .exe's and they just don't run for me. This is just one example. i've even tried running them as an administrator?

I REALLY really appreciate all of your help on this.

GoldiLX

Mitchell65 already gave you the answer
Sure, those are EXE files but they don't have a GUI (Graphical User Interface), so they meant to be started from the Command line (START/CMD.EXE)
Some of them you would have to run as Administrator (by right clicking the CMD...start as Admin)

-DG

When you double click those .exe files (which don't display anything), open up the task manager and see if that app is running under the applications tab. However, sometimes, it may not show under this tab, in that case, you'll have to manually look for its process under the processes tab, usually having the same name as that of the software.
This should confirm whether its a application issue or compatibility issue.

I tried to do what mitchell65 said and it didn't work. Unifex gave me the same information but he took the time out to write extra information that will help in the future. They both were great!

The Sysinternals suite contains a lot of programs. Some of them have a GUI and some are command-line utilities (that is, you have to run them from a command line as opposed to clicking on them in explorer, just as mitchell65 said). Moreover, some of the programs included with the suite simply do not work in Windows 7.

Basically, you have to read the description on the sysinternals site - or the included README file. I will give you some examples.

The three probably most used programs in the suite are "autoruns.exe", "procexp.exe", and "tcpview.exe". These three have a GUI, so to run them, you just have to double-click on the files in explorer. Note, that sysinternals suite does not need to be "installed", you just unpack it to whatever folder you want and run from there.

As a counter-example, there is "rootkitrevealer.exe". This one does not run on Windows 7 x64 at all (not sure about the 32-bit version though, I don't have it).

An example of the command-line program is "whois.exe". Clicking on the file will result in brief flash of the command-line window only. This means you have to type "cmd" in the Start -> Search window, or go through your start menu, find All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt.

Then, you have to navigate to the folder where your program is actually located. This means, if you simply start the command prompt and type whois.exe, you'll see nothing or rather the error message "whois.exe is not recognized ...". This is because the sysinternals suite is not installed and so the folder where it's located is not added to the "path" (i.e. the list of folders which the OS searches for executables when you type the name of an exe file in the command prompt). If you need to learn how to navigate to various folders within the command prompt window, ask for help, or read one of the tutorials here, or simply search in Google for the list of commands.

However, if everything is OK with your system and you have downloaded the most recent version of the suite, then when you run each individual program fro the first time it should exhibit a license window before everything else (where it tells you which utility you're running and asks you to agree to the licensing terms). If you run a command-line utility for the first time by clicking on the file what you will see is the licensing window and then the command line window. Of course, as soon as you agree to the licensing terms both will disappear - the program should be run from the command-line window.

Sorry this is WAY late but that is good information -- thank you! i didn't know you couldn't just put autoruns.exe in the command prompt and not get anything ... well i did because that is what happened but i didn't know why. you have cleared alot of stuff out for me re: exe files.

Good information!