An error message would indeed be better, but this result lies in the base of (MS-)DOS in Windows.

DOS (like almost any other OS) had a few virtual files in the system. These are indeed (a.o.) the ones HODO lists. These can be written to / read from by applications transparantly (as if it were real files) or users by using the command line.

I don't really know if these devices/files are still directly accessed this way (by using these logical file names), but since
- some applications (a.o. from the DOS time but problably some Windows applications too) use it
- a lot of command line users are used to it
- it's in the base of the operating system
it's still there

See also: http://www.aspheute.com/english/20020131.asp

Kind regards,

David van Leerdam