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Running DOS On A Windows Machine
JeepMonkey:
I have an old industrial controller that is programmed in DOS.
It seems like we need a machine that will boot to DOS mode, but out PII 233 NT machine and two year old XP machine will not boot to DOS mode. If I recall, these machines to not run actual full DOS, more of a partial or emulated DOS?
Is there a software program, preferably downloadable, that will either allow one of these machines to boot to DOS or run actual full blown DOS?
CCM:
Maybe DOSBox? :dunno
http://www.dosbox.com/
Cenobyte:
A DOS box will not work, since that is only an emulation of the true DOS environment. A lot of things don't work, especially dirty programmed, low level stuff that Windows will prevent from running.
If you want to run true DOS on a Windows XP machine, you can. You can install a boot selector with a second partition that contains MS-DOS (or Free-DOS) and SRM. When you switch on your computer, you can select Windows or DOS to boot. Read here on how to install a boot selector with Free-DOS on your Windows machine.
JeepMonkey:
Would any software running DOS on XP give me any more "functionality" than the DOS that comes loaded on XP? Maybe Microsoft Virtual PC?
Cenobyte:
--- Quote from: JeepMonkey on August 04, 2011, 08:26:42 am ---Would any software running DOS on XP give me any more "functionality" than the DOS that comes loaded on XP? Maybe Microsoft Virtual PC?
--- End quote ---
The DOS box in Windows XP is just an emulation of true MS-DOS. I once wrote a piece of software that times slot cars and because these cars are so darn small and fast, they passed the sensors before my software could detect them. I added a routine that sped up the internal PC clock, which included a bit of low level tinkering. As a result, my software does not run in a Dos box in Windows, because Windows will prevent tinkering with the internal clock. There are a lot of low level tricks in MS-DOS that can give you an advantage, but they will not work in Windows XP's Dos box. Older versions of DOS Mame also profited from such tricks.