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The DOS MZ executable format is the executable
Executable

In computing, an executable causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instruction ," as opposed to a file that only contains data ....
 file format
File format

A file format is a particular way to encode information for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa....
 used for .EXE
EXE

EXE is the common filename extension denoting an executable file in the DOS, OpenVMS, Microsoft Windows, ReactOS, and OS/2 operating systems.Besides the executable program itself, many EXE files contain other components called Resource , such as bitmaps and icons which the executable program may use for its graphical user interface....
 files in DOS
DOS

DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is a shorthand term for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me....
.

The file can be identified by the ASCII
ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange , is a coding standard that can be used for interchanging information, if the information is expressed mainly by the written form of English words....
 string "MZ" or the hexadecimal
Hexadecimal

In mathematics and computer science, hexadecimal is a numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16. It uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols 0–9 to represent values zero to nine, and A, B, C, D, E, F to represent values ten to fifteen....
 4D 5A at the beginning of the file (the "magic number
Magic number (programming)

In computer programming, the term magic number has multiple meanings. It could refer to one or more of the following:* a constant used to identify a file format or protocol;...
"). "MZ" are the initials of Mark Zbikowski
Mark Zbikowski

Mark Zbikowski is a former Microsoft Architect and an early computer Hacker . He started working at the company only a few years after its inception, leading efforts in MS-DOS, OS/2, Cairo and Windows NT....
, one of the developers of MS-DOS
MS-DOS

MS-DOS is an operating system commercialized by Microsoft. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems and was the main operating system for personal computers during the 1980s....
.

The MZ DOS executable file is newer than COM
COM file

In many computer operating systems, a COM file is a type of executable; the name is derived from the file name extension .COM. Originally, the term stood for "Command file", a text file containing commands to be issued to the operating system , on many of the Digital Equipment Corporation minicomputer and mainframe operating systems going...
 executable and differs from it. The DOS executable header contains relocation information, which allows multiple segments to be loaded at arbitrary memory addresses, and support executables larger than 64 KiB, but still suffering from low memory limits.






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The DOS MZ executable format is the executable
Executable

In computing, an executable causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instruction ," as opposed to a file that only contains data ....
 file format
File format

A file format is a particular way to encode information for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa....
 used for .EXE
EXE

EXE is the common filename extension denoting an executable file in the DOS, OpenVMS, Microsoft Windows, ReactOS, and OS/2 operating systems.Besides the executable program itself, many EXE files contain other components called Resource , such as bitmaps and icons which the executable program may use for its graphical user interface....
 files in DOS
DOS

DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is a shorthand term for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me....
.

The file can be identified by the ASCII
ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange , is a coding standard that can be used for interchanging information, if the information is expressed mainly by the written form of English words....
 string "MZ" or the hexadecimal
Hexadecimal

In mathematics and computer science, hexadecimal is a numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16. It uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols 0–9 to represent values zero to nine, and A, B, C, D, E, F to represent values ten to fifteen....
 4D 5A at the beginning of the file (the "magic number
Magic number (programming)

In computer programming, the term magic number has multiple meanings. It could refer to one or more of the following:* a constant used to identify a file format or protocol;...
"). "MZ" are the initials of Mark Zbikowski
Mark Zbikowski

Mark Zbikowski is a former Microsoft Architect and an early computer Hacker . He started working at the company only a few years after its inception, leading efforts in MS-DOS, OS/2, Cairo and Windows NT....
, one of the developers of MS-DOS
MS-DOS

MS-DOS is an operating system commercialized by Microsoft. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems and was the main operating system for personal computers during the 1980s....
.

The MZ DOS executable file is newer than COM
COM file

In many computer operating systems, a COM file is a type of executable; the name is derived from the file name extension .COM. Originally, the term stood for "Command file", a text file containing commands to be issued to the operating system , on many of the Digital Equipment Corporation minicomputer and mainframe operating systems going...
 executable and differs from it. The DOS executable header contains relocation information, which allows multiple segments to be loaded at arbitrary memory addresses, and support executables larger than 64 KiB, but still suffering from low memory limits. Later those limits were bypassed using DOS extender
DOS extender

Developed in the 1980s to cope with the memory limitations of MS-DOS and its derivatives, DOS extenders are programs which enable software to run under the protected mode environment initially introduced with the Intel 80286 processor and later expanded upon with the Intel 80386, even if the host operating system is only capable of operating...
s.

Compatibility

MZ DOS executables can be run from DOS and Windows 9x
Windows 9x

Windows 9x is the family of Microsoft Windows operating systems that comprises the hybrid 16/32-bit Windows versions: Windows 95, Windows 98, which were produced in the 1990s, and often also Windows Me, which was produced in 2000....
-based operating systems. 32-bit Windows NT
Windows NT

Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was originally designed to be a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix....
-based operating systems can execute them using their built-in Virtual DOS machine
Virtual DOS machine

Virtual DOS machine is Microsoft's technology that allows running legacy MS-DOS and Windows 3.1x programs on Intel 80386 or higher computers when there is already another operating system running and controlling the hardware....
 (although some graphics modes are unsupported). 64-bit versions of Windows cannot execute them. Alternative ways to run these executables include DOSBox
DOSBox

DOSBox is an emulator which emulates an IBM PC compatible computer running MS-DOS. It is intended especially for use with old Personal computer game....
 and DOSEMU
DOSEMU

DOSEMU, alternatively rendered dosemu, is a compatibility layer software package that enables MS-DOS systems, DOS clones such as FreeDOS, and DOS software to run under Linux on x86-based PCs ....
.

MZ DOS executables can be created by linkers, like Digital Mars
Digital Mars

Digital Mars is a small United States software company owned by Walter Bright that makes C and C++ compilers for Microsoft Windows and DOS. They also distribute the compilers for free on their web site....
 Optlink, MS linker, VALX or Open Watcom's WLINK, additionally FASM
FASM

FASM is a free and open source x86 assembly language Assembly language#Assembler supporting the IA-32 and x86-64 architectures. It is known for its high speed, size optimizations, OS portability, and Macro capabilities....
 can create them directly.

See also

  • DOS
    DOS

    DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is a shorthand term for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me....
  • DOS extender
    DOS extender

    Developed in the 1980s to cope with the memory limitations of MS-DOS and its derivatives, DOS extenders are programs which enable software to run under the protected mode environment initially introduced with the Intel 80286 processor and later expanded upon with the Intel 80386, even if the host operating system is only capable of operating...


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