WordStar 3.3 and Windows 9x

The following is common problem when running WS 3.3 under Windows 95:

     I have tried opening WS 3.3 from a W95 DOS window and it does not work -
     it looks like it works but then cannot save altered files and ends up
     corrupting them.

Mark P. Fishman posted the following ansto the WordStar List on August 16, 1999:

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We have, in fact, covered this on the list in the past. WS3.3x uses File Control Blocks (FCBs) to manipulate files (open, close, rename, delete, etc.), which is why it can't deal with files that aren't in the current working directory on each drive letter.

Under MS-Win9x, FCBs are not fully supported in a DOS-emulation window -- some of the calls return "success" when they have actually done nothing at all. This is why creation of a brand-new document file works, and the first subsequent edit/backup works, but successive ones fail. Deleting an existing .BAK file doesn't actually occur.

On FAT32-formatted drives, FCBs aren't supported even as well as that when running in real mode or "reboot-to-DOS" mode. WS3.3x will fail to find any files (including its own overlays) if it is looking on a FAT32 drive.

To run WS3.3x under MS-Win9x, then, you should boot into real mode or  reboot  to DOS mode, and stay on a partition that uses FAT16 format. Any  partition under 512MB should meet this latter requirement.

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Another option is to run the program from floppy disk.