Installing MS-DOS

Question

I am interested to do a clean install of MS-DOS 6.2 on my old PC with Pentium III (32-bit) processor. Just for fun.

I obtained a copy of MS-DOS from Microsoft download Site.

Is that the correct installer that i should use? Please give me a step-by-step guide on installing MS-DOS.

Answer 1

You may have a much easier time installing FreeDOS.

In terms of commands, it is compatible. However, some of the graphics were not 100% when I tested it out in 2003. For instance an old version of MS Flight Simulator had a little trouble with graphics. But most things work very well in FreeDOS with a lot less hassle.

Answer 2

The link you provided goes to a download page for 'step up' files (from MSDOS 6.2 to MSDOS 6.22) not the full MSDOS itself.

In fact MSDOS is a system requirement, so it must be installed first.

Answer 3

Does it have to 6.2(2)? If you are only playing around (and even if you are not), then you may as well install MS-DOS 7.1.

A few years ago, a new copy of DOS 7.1 (the version that came with Windows 98) started making the rounds. It is not an official release from Microsoft, but rather a compilation made by DOS enthusiasts of the official MS-DOS 6.22 (the last official release) + the components from MS-DOS 7.1 (from Windows 98—I think ME had "7.11") + several third-party tools.

It has lots of great features:

• long-filenames
• better disk-checking for large drives
• support for sound-cards
• multiple languages

Best of all, it supported Windows XP in that the installer was able to detect and work-around it so that you could actually (successfully) install MS-DOS 7.1 after having already installed XP, and successfully dual-boot both! It even came on a bootable CD that you could install it from.

The legalities of it are not really known. Technically I suppose it should not be allowed if it uses actual Microsoft files though it says it is free (GPL), but you can find many people arguing and pointing out loop holes and supporting documentation and such that it is okay. Either way it is pretty easy to find a copy. There are plenty of videos showing how to install it.

Splash screen:

Initial setup screen:

Answer 4

I have seen it on Technet and MSDN but had no idea it was free to anyone - I think this is just a upgrade from 6.1 and not full a free download.

For a simple install, you need any Windows machine with a floppy drive and three blank floppys.

Run the file "Setup.bat" and it should guide you through the setup and create the installation disks.

Put the first disk in your Pentium three machine and run setup from the A drive, and it should install.

Answer 5

On the original MS-DOS 6.22 distribution a SETUP.EXE was provided that would go through an installation or upgrade procedure (IIRC, it's been awhile). But, you don't really need it as long as you have an MS-DOS boot floppy that has these utilites on it:

• FDISK
• FORMAT
• SYS
• COMMAND.COM, IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS

The procedure would be as follows:

• Boot the MS-DOS floppy
• Use FDISK to wipe out all partitions on the "first fixed disk" and create a single bootable partition for MS-DOS.
• Reboot and boot off the floppy again.
• Format the newly created C: volume with FORMAT
• Install the bootsector with SYS C:
• I believe you do have to copy over MSDOS.SYS and IO.SYS to C:\ (not sure if SYS did that for you), and definitely COMMAND.COM.
• Now you need to create a basic C:\CONFIG.SYS with the following (Hopefully your boot disk has EDIT on it, if not, you can always use COPY CON: {filename}):

DOS=HIGH,UMB

SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P

LASTDRIVE=Z

• and a basic C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT with the following:

BREAK OFF

VERIFY OFF

PROMPT $P$G

PATH C:\;C:\DOS

And that's pretty much how you set up a barebones system. Reboot and you should be in the C:\> prompt. (If your hard drive has more space you can FDISK the remaining partitions at this point.) From here you then make a C:\DOS directory and copy all the DOS utilities there from an official disk or other source. The official disk had most of them compressed and you need to use the EXPAND command to extract them IIRC. Then you need to work on getting a CD-ROM driver installed (need to add DEVICEHIGH=line in CONFIG.SYS to load driver and then run MSCDEX in AUTOEXEC.BAT) and HIMEM.SYS so you can use RAM above 1MB.