why do this? (was re: DOS emulation under Windows XP)

[KRFinch at dstsystems.com]

Dual boot.  An excellent idea.

I think that XP might give you fits, however.  I don't think it likes it
when you do that, so you would have to keep XP from knowing that it wasn't
the only bootable OS on the system.  This could get hairy.

I think if you used partition magic to shrink the current WinXP partition,
loaded your DOS on a new partition in the empty space, and then used LiLo
to choose between the Win and DOS partitions, it might just work.  It might
also corrupt your WinXP install, so make sure you have a backup. :)

**********

Another thought: make a bootable DOS CD-ROM with all the necessary programs
loaded on it, and then boot the machine with the CD whenever you need to do
your analysis.  You might need to make a space on the hard drive for
working files, but I think it would probably be the least intrusive method.

For that matter, if the program is small enough, you could also do the same
thing with a couple of floppies and a DOS ramdisk.  That's what I've seen
several dos-based tools do that come from Compaq and even from Microsoft.
The utilities seldom can fit on a floppy anymore, so the boot floppy
creates a ramdisk and then the subsequent disks copy their bits of the
program to the ramdisk and it is all run from there.  It's a bit of a
kluge, but it is still an option.  You can decide on its viability, I
suppose.

**********

Another thought that may render much of this discussion moot: Brand new
hardware may not even boot or may not run properly with an older version of
DOS.  Driver issues could be nightmarish if they rear their ugly heads, and
things may crash unpredictably.  Maybe it IS best just to try running it in
a window under WinXP.

:)

Kevin Finch
Network Administrator
DST Systems, Inc.
816/435-6039
krfinch at dstsystems.com

                                                                                                    
                
                    JD Runyan                                                                       
                
                    <Jason.Runyan at NITCKC.U        To:     kclug at kclug.org                           
                
                    SDA.Gov>                      cc:                                               
                
                    Sent by:                      Subject:     Re: Fwd: Re: why do this? (was re: 
DOS emulation     
                    owner-kclug at marauder.i        under Windows XP)                                 
                
                    lliana.net                                                                      
                
                                                                                                    
                
                                                                                                    
                
                    01/10/2002 09:44 AM                                                             
                
                                                                                                    
                
                                                                                                    
                

On Wed, Jan ,  at 08:22:43PM -0800, josh Herr wrote:
> I agree Hell if you want I have about 3 486 machines
> you could talk me out of any one of them for about a
> mcdonalds big mac and a pack of camels.  Win Xp is too
> bulky for just running a dos program.
I would assume that this machine would be used for more than just this
one application, so windows XP may serve them better than a dedicated
DOS machine would.  I would suggest a bootloader that would allow you
to run DOS, and XP if this application isn't used all of the time.
There are some good commercial bootloaders, or you could probably get
lilo or grub to work for you as well.
--
JD Runyan
                     "You can't milk a point."
                               David M. Kuehn, Ph.D.