1. Forum
  2. USENET
  3. comp.os.ms-windows.misc

  • Creating a DOS/Win9x partition.

    From guhaarju@guhaarju@grinnell.edu (ArjunG) to comp.os.ms-windows.misc,comp.os.msdos.misc on Tuesday, August 05, 2003 05:20:35
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.ms-windows.misc

    Hi!

    I have Linux and Windows XP running on my laptop, and I'd like to
    create a DOS 6.22 / 7.x (i.e. Windows 9x command-line only) partition.

    I DO NOT have a floppy drive or a CD writer. I've downloaded boot
    floppy disk images (from bootdisk.com), but I need to skip this step
    and directly make my FAT16 partition bootable. I have bochs on Linux
    and Windows, and I know the boot disk images work.

    By the way, does a DOS boot sector have to be within the first 2GB?
    In which case I'm screwed.

    Thanks.

    -Arjun
    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From philo@philo@plazaearth.com to comp.os.ms-windows.misc,comp.os.msdos.misc on Tuesday, August 05, 2003 13:47:46
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.ms-windows.misc


    "ArjunG" <guhaarju@grinnell.edu> wrote in message news:980d770c.0308050420.55f9f184@posting.google.com...
    Hi!

    I have Linux and Windows XP running on my laptop, and I'd like to
    create a DOS 6.22 / 7.x (i.e. Windows 9x command-line only) partition.

    I DO NOT have a floppy drive or a CD writer. I've downloaded boot
    floppy disk images (from bootdisk.com), but I need to skip this step
    and directly make my FAT16 partition bootable. I have bochs on Linux
    and Windows, and I know the boot disk images work.

    By the way, does a DOS boot sector have to be within the first 2GB?
    In which case I'm screwed.

    Thanks.

    -Arjun


    first off...your dos boot sector (surprisingly) must be...on your harddrives bootsector.
    if you cannot write the bootcode from io.sys to the boot sector
    (and since you have no floppy drive) you may be able to get by that
    by creating a bootable cd.

    next , io.sys msdos.sys and command.com
    would normally be on your primary partition
    ...however you may be able to get by that with a bootable cd...
    now as to where the rest of the os goes,
    it does not have to be within the first 2 gigs...
    but i believe it may have to be below the 1024th cyl

    on re-reading you post i see you have no cd writer either...
    so i think the best solution (or for sure the least expensive)
    would be to simply adda floppy drive...


    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From Jim Van Nuland@jvn@svpal.org to comp.os.ms-windows.misc,comp.os.msdos.misc on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 07:28:27
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.ms-windows.misc

    In comp.os.msdos.misc ArjunG <guhaarju@grinnell.edu> wrote:
    Hi!

    I have Linux and Windows XP running on my laptop, and I'd like to
    create a DOS 6.22 / 7.x (i.e. Windows 9x command-line only) partition.

    [snip]

    By the way, does a DOS boot sector have to be within the first 2GB?
    In which case I'm screwed.

    Yes, the top of the DOS partition must be below 2GB. I learned that the hard way. I had to shrink my W98 partition on my laptop.

    You can put multiple primary partitions on a hard disk using (for
    instance) Partition Magic. Then boot the particular one you want by using Boot Magic (part of the aformentioned).

    But -- how you will load software with no CD or floppy is another
    matter.

    The DOS FORMAT command will write the partition boot record, and
    you can manually put IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM on the disk simply by
    copying them to the partition in that order, but be certain that there is
    no label! The files do not need to be hidden, but DO need to be the first ones in the root directory. In some versions they must also be the first files on the disk. Next, add COMMAND.COM but that one's placement is unrestricted.


    --
    Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association
    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113