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| Filename extension | |
|---|---|
| Internet media type | application/x-dosexec, application/x-msdos-program, application/x-ms-dos-executable |
| Magic number | MZ |
| Type of format | Binary, executable |
| Extended to | New Executable Linear Executable Portable Executable |
The DOS MZ executable format is the executable file format used for .EXE files in DOS.
The file can be identified by the ASCII string "MZ" (hexadecimal: 4D 5A) at the beginning of the file (the "magic number"). "MZ" are the initials of Mark Zbikowski, one of the leading developers of MS-DOS.[1]
The MZ DOS executable file is newer than the COM executable format and differs from it. The DOS executable header contains relocation information, which allows multiple segments to be loaded at arbitrary memory addresses, and it supports executables larger than 64k; however, the format still requires relatively low memory limits. These limits were later bypassed using DOS extenders.
- ^ Inside Windows: An In-Depth Look into the Win32 Portable Executable File Format - MSDN Magazine, February 2002 Archived 2018-07-11 at the Wayback Machine. "Every PE file begins with a small MS-DOS executable. ... The first bytes of a PE file begin with the traditional MS-DOS header, called an IMAGE_DOS_HEADER. The only two values of any importance are e_magic and e_lfanew. ... The e_magic field (a WORD) needs to be set to the value 0x5A4D. ... In ASCII representation, 0x5A4D is MZ, the initials of Mark Zbikowski, one of the original architects of MS-DOS."