What Do I Need to boot Win3.1
Kirk Is
b+w) that I foolishly put Win95 on (thinking it would make it easier for
my mom, but the load times for every task were prohibitive) I recently
bought Win3.1 on Ebay. It installs ok, but I realize now I need an
underlying OS to boot with. I tried making an XP "DOS style" boot disk,
but Win3.1 complains that it's not a proper version of DOS (it might even
say it's too old, or something.) Also, the unreformatted C: drive is
still trying to load Win95, so I need that old...what was it, SYS command
or something....
Anyone know any other options? I remember hearing something about faking
the version DOS reports, though I still need something to put the system
files on the disk. Is there some free alternative?
ObCoworkerHack:
Annoyed by a badly placed flourescent light he couldn't shut off at work,
a coworker made up a decent screen out of a series of manilla folders
attached to the ceiling.
--
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"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around,
and don't let anybody tell you any different." --Kurt Vonnegut
Ant
> In an effort to gain some utility out of a somewhat ancient laptop (486,
> b+w) that I foolishly put Win95 on (thinking it would make it easier for
> my mom, but the load times for every task were prohibitive) I recently
> bought Win3.1 on Ebay. It installs ok, but I realize now I need an
> underlying OS to boot with. I tried making an XP "DOS style" boot disk,
> but Win3.1 complains that it's not a proper version of DOS (it might even
> say it's too old, or something.) Also, the unreformatted C: drive is
> still trying to load Win95, so I need that old...what was it, SYS command
> or something....
>
> Anyone know any other options? I remember hearing something about faking
> the version DOS reports, though I still need something to put the system
> files on the disk. Is there some free alternative?
Easiest way might be to visit http://www.bootdisk.com/
In particular the link to:
http://www.oldstuff.myagora.net/powerload/bootdisk.htm
for all versions of MSDOS bootdisks (try ver 5 or 6) with the basic
commands, including SYS. "sys c:" installs the hidden files io.sys
and msdos.sys, and I think also command.com (in later dos versions).
These are the minimum files you need to boot dos. I'm not sure if
you would also need to load himem.sys (from the config.sys file) for
Win 3.1 to use extended memory. This file may not be supplied.
ObHack:
Talking of Win 3.1, the flying windows screen saver used a
character in the Wingdings set for the MS logo. I can't
remember the offset now, but by changing one byte in the
.scr file you could use any other char. I changed mine to a
skull & crossbones.
Big Bad Bob
news:IbJdb.183$X2.1...@news.tufts.edu...
> In an effort to gain some utility out of a somewhat ancient laptop (486,
> b+w) that I foolishly put Win95 on (thinking it would make it easier for
> my mom, but the load times for every task were prohibitive) I recently
> bought Win3.1 on Ebay. It installs ok, but I realize now I need an
> underlying OS to boot with. I tried making an XP "DOS style" boot disk,
> but Win3.1 complains that it's not a proper version of DOS (it might even
> say it's too old, or something.) Also, the unreformatted C: drive is
> still trying to load Win95, so I need that old...what was it, SYS command
> or something....
The easiest way to do this would be to use the 'win 95 DOS' that comes with
win '95. First, create a 'win.bat' file in the root directory of your 'C'
drive, and put anything you want into it. Win '95 boot will run 'win.bat'
instead of 'win.com' and you'll have a DOS prompt. THEN, from this DOS
prompt, install Win 3.1 to a DIFFERENT directory than Win '95. Then you can
construct 'win.bat' so that it will boot either Win '95 or Win 3.1 (your
choice), a 'dual boot batch file' in effect. I used to do this long ago
when I needed to keep both Win 3.11 and Win '95 on the same machine,
primarily during the beta test period for Win '95.
Also, if you put more than 16Mb of RAM on the laptop Win '95 will run a lot
better. It runs poorly in anything under 16Mb.
ObHack (other than above)
used cooking oil (like from a deep fryer) can be used to heat your house in
a typical fireplace or wood stove. If you pour it out into the fireplace
(when there's no fire in it), even into the ashes under the logs, it will
evaporate during 'normal burn' and you can get a bit of extra heat out of
something that would have ended up in the trash or in the sink. Not much of
a 'hack' but maybe something people didn't think of before. Same goes with
'junk mail' but you should probably shred it first to make it burn better.
Rad, Darius
On Sun, Sep 28, 2003 at 10:23:36PM +0000, Kirk Is wrote:
> I remember hearing something about faking the version DOS reports,
That was the SETVER command, I believe. It was mainly for the
shortsighted programs that couldn't run on DOS < 3.3, so instead of
checking for version >= 3.3 they just checked for == 3.3.
> Is there some free alternative?
Perhaps FreeDOS [1] or OpenDOS [2]. I have FreeDOS installed on an
old 286 I use occasionally, for a EEPROM programmer that only has
DOS software. The freeness of OpenDOS seems to be questionable, and not
as free as FreeDOS anyway.
> ObCoworkerHack:
> Annoyed by a badly placed flourescent light he couldn't shut off at
> work,
> a coworker made up a decent screen out of a series of manilla folders
> attached to the ceiling.
ObVentHack:
In a similar vein to your manila folder light screen, I closed off an
air conditioning vent in my office with packing tape and a newsletter.
My office was uncomfortably cold, and the cold air blew right on my
hands. With the vent sealed off, it was then too warm, so I cut a small
opening and make a duct to deflect the air away from my desk. This is
probably one of the few hacks that would have been less hacky had I used
duct tape.
// darius
[1] http://www.freedos.org/
[2] http://www.deltasoft.com/opendos.htm
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