13 replies to this topic

[ramon]

Question to you all,

I have a computer running windows XP, now I want to add a "real" DOS enviroment on the computer (not cmd or dosbox or something like that).
So I thought dualboot will do the trick, but the problem is, if I go on and install dos on my free harddisk, I will have a problem cause it f*cks up my boot process and windows xp will not start anymore. That I dont want!
Anyone got an idea on how i can install dos so I can multiboot between windows xp and dos without formatting my windows drive, install dos and then reinstall windows?

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

Ramon.

[falcoss]

um well im guessing you want Dos to just play around with etc, if you have the cash i would segest you get yourself a copy of virtual PC, great program and if you dont have too much running and a desent amout of ram it doenst take too much of a performance hit. that way its totally seperate and if you seriously screw something up in dos then at worst you ahve to delete the virtual machien..... i have had 2 copies of XP running because my main one was buged with its 16bit dos processes and although it took a while to install i didnt see to much of a problem. they say you need 256mb of ram for the amin and then 128mb for each virtual after that but i would segest 512 for the real and 256mb if you want to run anything fast... although dos isnt as bloatware infected as most other things... hope that helped and sory for the bump

[hulunes]

well,only what you want is the dos os,which can boot as well when some problem with your xp.actually windows xp offer dos environment and you needn't to install an additional dos os.you can easily to make a boot disk to boot your computer to dos environment,to your familar window:C:/.if you have used Recovery Console of your xp,you will know how to make an boot disk.

[ramon]

thanx for your answers, I will consider the vmware once again. I've had some compatibility problems with it. But maybe its fixable.

[xboxrulz]

people still use DOS? Anyways, it's impossible to dualboot DOS and WinXP, try FreeDOS though.

http://www.freedos.org/

xboxrulz

[zippy77]

xboxrulz, on Apr 17 2005, 10:06 PM, said:

people still use DOS? Anyways, it's impossible to dualboot DOS and WinXP, try FreeDOS though.

http://www.freedos.org/

xboxrulz

Impossible? HA! It is possible, but probably more trouble than it is worth.

Here is how I suggest you can do it.

Firstly you need 2 hard drives.
Secondly your motherboard must have a recent BIOS (about 1998 or newer)

First when you install winXP make sure only 1 of your 2 hard drives is actually connected phisically inside your computer. Then install winXP normally.

Second, disconnect your winXP hard drive inside your computer, then connect the hard drive you want DOS installed to. Install DOS normally.

After you have installed both DOS and winXP on seperate drives you can connect both hard drives again inside your computer. Once this is done you have a sort of "virtual" dual boot. To boot to each OS you have to enter your BIOS as your computer starts up. This is usually done by pressing DEL on your keyboard as your BIOS info is displayed on th screen.(some systems are different look at your documentation that came with your computer) After you enter the BIOS, look for a menu called BOOT ORDER. The default is usually like this:

FIRST DEVICE: Floppy
SECOND DEVICE: CDROM
THIRD DEVICE: C Drive

Now if your BIOS is new enough you can change the third device to: D Drive.
This will allow your computer to boot from the second hard drive in your computer.
To boot from your other drive again, just go back to your BIOS and change the third device back.

That is about it!

[Spectre]

Windows XP (as well as all other NT-based Windows operating systems) utilizes the NTFS file system, and uses it by default - whereas DOS (and Windows 9x/ME) operate on FAT16 (and in later cases, FAT32). So if you are using DOS, it won't be able to interact with the volume that Windows XP is installed on at all, assuming it is NTFS, unless you use third-party commercial software (such as NTFSDOS Pro).

As zippy77 has pointed out, it is really more trouble than it's worth. If you absolutely need to use DOS, it would probably be better to purchase a cheap second computer such as a 486 - which you usually can pick up for under $20 - to run DOS, whilst leaving the other with only XP.

[Styx]

why on earth would you want to dual-boot DOS?

[ramon]

Thanx again for all the answers, I've used the tip above to disconnect the hd containing the xp installation, then installed dos on the second, only I dont use the bios to switch but edited the boot.ini file to make a choice while booting. It works like a charm, thanx...
And why, just because its fun to see if it is possible, and i want to run a dos enviroment without using things like virtual machines and so on.

[iGuest]

Why don't you just install dos on a second partition or second hard disk and after that just go on Windows Recovery console and type FIXBOOT or FIXMBR. Then your done.


-reply by Manley

[iGuest]

Windows Xp And Dos Multiboot - how??
Windows Xp And Dos Multiboot

Run the XP CD and go in to recovery console and then type in fix boot this will do a new boot text and it will give you the option on booting in to xp or dos wen the pc boot keep hitting f8 then go to chose operating system and keep pressing the down key still xp is highlighted then you can boot in to xp and change the boot order and time you have to choose the OS you wont to boot in to. To do this you will need to right click on my computer and click on property's and you will get a dialog box showing you computer info click on the tab that says advance and then click on SETTINGS on set up and recovery

-feedback by Dean Gill

[kplow1986]

xboxrulz, on Apr 18 2005, 06:06 AM, said:

people still use DOS? Anyways, it's impossible to dualboot DOS and WinXP, try FreeDOS though.

http://www.freedos.org/

xboxrulz

hahahaha , its possible , u even can 5 or 6 boot ...
like computer linux , vista , xp and dos
i use 3 operating system now, that is vista,xp n dos

tell u why i use 3 OS

i install vista bcoz i wan to experience beautiful of vista and oso feature provided by vista such like
media center and game.

for xp , main job of xp is to play game. hehe, due to incompatibility of vista i still using xp .

DOS, most important , used to repair if any problems or crashes with windows
my DOS have many features, like backup and restore windows, kill viruses, and so on.
believe me, DOS very helpful. u know why i said like this ?

honestly, i m computer technician for 3 years, but i quit 2 years ago coz i hav to study at university.
i always repair computer using DOS.

once again, if can, use DOS.
can be floppy ,CD either harddisk.

[iGuest]

XP/DOS multiboot IS possibleWindows Xp And Dos Multiboot

You  have to install XP over Win98 or ME, which starts from DOS 7.  During that install, XP converts & saves the DOS 7 boot sector (MBR) to a binary file named BOOTSECT.DOS when it creates the new NT MBR, and if you hit F8 at bootup to get the menu, select a Win98 safe-mode boot to command-prompt only.  Instead of running NTLDR, boot loads & relinquishes to the BOOTSECT.DOS that looks for & runs MS-DOS 7’s IO.SYS & MSDOS.SYS, which reads CONFIG.SYS & starts COMMAND.COM, which reads AUTOEXEC.BAT, but doesn't run WIN.COM: You’re left at plain old MS-DOS 7.0.</p>

Then, you have to hack the XP boot.Ini file to have it start the Win9x|ME in commandline only safe mode by default, if that's what you want, using syntax like

default=C:BOOTSECT.DOS="Windows 98SE"

but I have no idea how you could automate a forcible not to run WIN.COM.  I’ve read it’s simple & possible though.  You might find instructions if you search-engine for it.  The crucial element is that you have to have the BOOTSECT.DOS file, which the XP install generates, and is unique for the configuration of that particular machine.

Bachware

[iGuest]

98 program stop working after last window security update?Windows Xp And Dos Multiboot

After the last security update from window 2 of my ols program stop lauding.

I got plenty of security, can I erase the those window security?

And will that solve the problem, I have relaod the programs, but no success.

 

-question by Paulzy67