MS-DOS EXE

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File Format
Name MS-DOS EXE
Ontology
Extension(s) .exe
PRONOM x-fmt/409

MZ (also called by its extension EXE and by other names) is an executable file format used mainly by MS-DOS; the format is a successor of COM.

Many other executable formats are extensions of MZ, including New Executable (used by 16-bit Windows), Portable Executable (newer Windows versions) and Linear Executable (OS/2). Files in these formats usually begin with a short MZ program (called a DOS stub) which, when executed by DOS, prints a message like "This program cannot be run in DOS mode" or "This program requires Microsoft Windows" and immediately exits. Some programs contain a more functional DOS stub, e.g. the Windows 9x registry editor.

Identification

An MZ file begins with an ASCII signature of 'M' 'Z' (or, rarely, 'Z' 'M'), followed by a series of 16-bit fields. The field at offset 24 (the relocation table offset) is usually (but apparently not always) less than 64, and at least 28.

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