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ms dos installation

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by neilmay2

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reply to dos installation
i'm new to this.
have got hold of old comp. running win 98, with 3Gb h/drive.
No. system restore disks/ boot disks.
I have got copy of win 98 for my other comp.
& copies of disks for MS DOS 6.22 (need to expand certain functions)????
Need basic help.??? step by step!!! please (idiots terms)
Have been told i can't install MS DOS on a win 98 sys??
What can i do?
I need to install MS DOS & win 95 as part of a HNC course in computing (open learning).
I can get hold of win 95 from friend.
If i format drive wot happens when i'm requested to insert boot disk for system??
Did try on current computer and managed to wipe bloody thing clean, several times??
What am i doing wrong? where am i going wrong? where can i go to from here?????
Help appreciated.
Many thanx

7 replies

by thechas

To make this easier on your self, I recommend that you find a few used hard drives and use either a hot-swap bay, or a switch to go between drives.

For installation training, you only need 100MB for DOS, and 500MB for Windows 95.

DOS and most versions of W95 use only FAT16 file system.
It is likely that your W98 system was setup as a FAT32 file system, which is why you are having problems with DOS.

DOS:
boot from disk 1, and run fdisk
partition the drive as desired.
(FAT16 supportsa primary DOS partition, and logical drives not larger than 2GB)
re-boot, and run setup.
the installation should be straight-forward from there on.

Windows 95:
Windows 95 requires a partitioned and formatted drive to install onto.
From the startup disk (not just a boot disk) run fdisk, and partition the drive.
(unless you have version 2.5 "C" of W95, it supports FAT16 only)
re-boot and format at least the C: drive.
run setup with the CD in the CD drive.
Have driver files on hand, as W95 will need specific drivers for some devices.

If you need startup disks, check out the links at www.bootdisk.com

For more information on fdisk, check out www.fdisk.com/fdisk

Chas

by neilmay2

thanx for reply
but wots a hot swap bay??
like i said, i'm novice to all of this..

Question?

I have comp. system running win 98.
(no setup / boot / system disks. No disks whatsoever).

Can u give me step by step instructions to install MS-DOS 6.22 ???????????
Do i need to make a boot disk?, system disk?, n e other type of disk?
Do i need to save n e thing?
If i have a copy of win98 CD for my other computer, can i use it to install onto my other other computer for which i want to install MS DOS 6.22?
Do i have to install separetly??
I have been told u can't install MS DOS 6.22 with win 98, as win98 comes already installed with MS DOS???
I am confused??
Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Neil
Cheers.

by thechas

A hot swap bay is a box that fits in a 5 1/4" drive bay and connects to the IDE controller.

You use removeable trays to mount drives into.
That way, you can 'experiment' with different operating systems without loosing your primary operating system.

I got mine from www.compgeeks.com for under $10

As to installing MS-DOS:
DO NOT DO THIS ON YOUR WINDOWS 98 HARD DRIVE!
You will loose your Windows installation, and ALL FILES on the drive!

Disk 1 of the MS-DOS set is a bootable floppy.
Set the BIOS to boot from the floppy drive.
Insert Disk 1
Follow the prompts to install DOS

I do not remember if you need to partition the drive first, or if the DOS installer will do that for you.
If you need to partition the drive first,I believe the DOS installer will tell you so.

You partition a hard drive using the fdisk utility.
For information on fdisk, check out www.fdisk.com/fdisk

Chas

by thechas

I would either setup a seperate PC for DOS, or use some method of hard drive swapping to run both DOS 6.22 and Windows 98.

You can run multiple operating systems on one PC.
However, the techniques to do so in software are advanced.
And, you still are best off having a seperate hard drive (or logical drive) for each operating system.

The 'normal' installation of Windows 98 WILL replace MS-DOS 6.22 with Windows DOS.
Windows DOS is a limited function version of MS-DOS.

MS-DOS will NOT install onto your existing W98 hard drive.
Your hard drive is likely a FAT 32 formated drive.
MS-DOS use FAT16 only.
So, at a minimum, you would need to re-partition your hard drive, and format at least one partition / logical drive as FAT16 for DOS.
Formatting or partitioning WILL delete all files on the hard drive.

Chas

by ezeze5000a

There are several ways to do what you want to do.
You can use a dual boot, or Manually change hard drives each time you want to use a different operating system, or you could use a "Trios switch".
I prefer the "trios switch"
You can mount up to 3 seperate hard drives in your PC, each with a different operating system.

Install DOS 6.22 on one of the hard disks, after you do that boot with it and type "help" at the dos prompt.
It will explain the DOS functions.

Go to www.bootdisk.com to get some good info on setting up PCs.

I hope this helps.

Give me a yell if you need more help ok?

by omie

In windows 95 you have a choice use dos prompt.Actually win95 is built on DOS. When you click shut down from win95 if you want to boot on dos mode.

If you want a fresh start delete all partition in the drive and format it into fat 16. You could do that using fdisk command from disk1 of your dos installation disk.

If you are interested in installing just DOS you need the 3 disk to install it. Make sure your partition to be fat16. After you installed dos you could install win95 by using a boot disk. That boot disk should include the driver for cd-rom if you are installing from cd so that you could access the program.In rare case if you have the win95 installation program you could start installing in DOS mode.. again that is like stack of floppies.

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