Error installing c:\windows (or winnt)\system32\autoexec.nt cannot load MS-DOS or 16-bit Windows application or nothing happens when running setup from CD menu.

This is caused by a corruption of Microsoft Windows and its ability to setup a new application.  The missing or corrupted file is the autoexec.nt file which is a file used by Installshield setup programs to run certain batch routines during the application setup process.  To fix…

Do a search for the file autoexec.nt.  You should find a copy in c:\windows (winnt)\repair.  Copy this into the c:\windows (winnt)\system32 directory.

For additional information and procedures for getting the correct files, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article here.