for some not very strange reason (i think i caused it, but don't know how), when i'm trying to open any dos app in win98 i get the error message that "due to restrictions on my computer this program cannot be run, see your system administer" (no one but myself of cours). what's going on guys?

Well...the system administrator refers usually to a person who is in charge of a network. In networking systems, the system administrator gives "permissions" to do or not do something, like have access to a folder or directory, or to execute something. In this case, it sounds like either 1). You are on a network computer and have been denied permission to execute programs in DOS or 2). You need to go into your system and make sure that you are defined as the authorized individual. Its just a wild guess, but maybe you need to go into Start->Settings-->Control Panel--->Network Icon. Under the configuration tab, make sure Windows is the Primary Network Logon. Under Identification Tab, make sure your name is in the Computer Name, Workgroup and Computer Description. Under the Access Control Tab, make sure you have User-level access control checked or enabled. For a single stand alone computer, such as a home user, networking should be dis-abled as you are not on a network. Windows should know that! 3). You can't run some DOS games from the DOS prompt while Windows is resident in the background. I suggest you try executing the program from the DOS prompt before getting into Windows. There are shareware and regular software solutions out there for booting into a menu which gives you a choice of what you want to do. A quick and dirty way is to make a System Disk (see Windows Help on How-To) and then boot from a floppy and then change to the C drive or wherever you have the program residing. Then execute it from the DOS prompt...a real hassle...but it may work. See if these suggestions don't do something for you