Using DOS, XP

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

I recently installed DOS onto a boot disk to use only occasionally, my
primary OS is XP. (Caldera/DR-DOS works fine off the boot disk although it
complains about not recognizing the C: drive) But now when I try to use MS
dos it does not boot at all and all I get is a never-ending flashing cursor.
What files got changed so that I can now no longer boot off the MS dos boot
disk?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

I forgot to mention that I also installed the NTFSDOS patch as well.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Did you install that NTFS DOS patch to the Windows system on
the hard drive or just copy it to the DOS boot disk?


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


"soundsgood2me" <soundsgood2me@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote in message
news:3578764A-7146-4E7C-BA7B-9FA85DAB376D@microsoft.com...
|I forgot to mention that I also installed the NTFSDOS patch
as well.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Well, I THOUGHT I installed onto the hard drive, until I checked just now
and I don't see the folder in either one. So, it looks like it didn't get
installed at all.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
simply put, I was using MS-dos (off a bootable floppy) just fine until one
day I installed a different version of DOS and now the MS DOS no longer works.

I'd settle for uninstalling it and continuing to use just MS dos, but I do
not know how to uninstall it (since it evidently installed on MORE than just
the floppy as I had intended).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"soundsgood2me" <soundsgood2me@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6A80295A-4606-4F86-8D30-2BE4F7885299@microsoft.com...
> I recently installed DOS onto a boot disk to use only occasionally, my
> primary OS is XP. (Caldera/DR-DOS works fine off the boot disk although
it
> complains about not recognizing the C: drive) But now when I try to use
MS
> dos it does not boot at all and all I get is a never-ending flashing
cursor.
> What files got changed so that I can now no longer boot off the MS dos
boot
> disk?

Your post is a little unclear. When you say "boot disk",
do you mean a floppy disk? Or do you refer to your
hard disk? In a multi-booting environment? And what
exactly do you mean when you say "when I try to use
MS DOS"? Are trying to boot from an MS-DOS floppy
boot disk?

Lastly you ask "What files got changed?" What exactly
did you do between when it worked and when it failed?
How did you make the MS-DOS boot disk (diskette?)?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Yes, when I talk about any kind of disks, I mean floppy disks. ((I am trying
to get into a DOS environment, but both MS and others have their
limitations.)) I right-clicked on floppy and chose format, with "create an
MS-DOS startup disk" checkmarked.

I did not do anything other than install the program onto floppies and run
dos mode off of them. Since the boot disk DOES work on a different computer,
I know that either my MFT or a ".sys"-type file must have been altered
somehow.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

No, I am not using a mutiboot environment, and yes I am trying to boot off
the MS DOS floppy disk. The MS DOS floppy boot disk works on other
computers, just not mine...and it only stopped working AFTER I installed the
Caldera/DR-DOS onto the floppy disks.

So, it appears to me that the Caldera/DrDos installation must have somehow
altered one of those "secret" files inside Windows XP, such as Config.sys,
Boot.ini...something like that. I am hoping that there is someone here who
is knowledgeable enough with the normal booting sequence to be able to
isolate the problem. But I highly suspect one of those normally-hidden files
inside my Windows XP installation as being the culprit.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"soundsgood2me" <soundsgood2me@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BC50565D-607D-4E16-9F27-37219211F9DE@microsoft.com...
> No, I am not using a mutiboot environment, and yes I am trying to boot off
> the MS DOS floppy disk. The MS DOS floppy boot disk works on other
> computers, just not mine...and it only stopped working AFTER I installed
the
> Caldera/DR-DOS onto the floppy disks.
>
> So, it appears to me that the Caldera/DrDos installation must have somehow
> altered one of those "secret" files inside Windows XP, such as Config.sys,
> Boot.ini...something like that. I am hoping that there is someone here
who
> is knowledgeable enough with the normal booting sequence to be able to
> isolate the problem. But I highly suspect one of those normally-hidden
files
> inside my Windows XP installation as being the culprit.

Things are becoming a little clearer, but not completely. If I read your
reply above correctly then you have two problems:

a) Your MS DOS floppy boot disk will not boot on your machine.
b) Your WinXP installation will no longer boot. The machine just sits there
with a flashing cursor in the top left hand corner.

I this correct?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

a.) is correct. MS DOS will not boot off a floppy.
b.) is not correct. Windows works just fine.


> Things are becoming a little clearer, but not completely. If I read your
> reply above correctly then you have two problems:
>
> a) Your MS DOS floppy boot disk will not boot on your machine.
> b) Your WinXP installation will no longer boot. The machine just sits there
> with a flashing cursor in the top left hand corner.
>
> I this correct?
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"soundsgood2me" <soundsgood2me@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BC50565D-607D-4E16-9F27-37219211F9DE@microsoft.com...
> No, I am not using a mutiboot environment, and yes I am trying to boot off
> the MS DOS floppy disk. The MS DOS floppy boot disk works on other
> computers, just not mine...and it only stopped working AFTER I installed
the
> Caldera/DR-DOS onto the floppy disks.
>
> So, it appears to me that the Caldera/DrDos installation must have somehow
> altered one of those "secret" files inside Windows XP, such as Config.sys,
> Boot.ini...something like that. I am hoping that there is someone here
who
> is knowledgeable enough with the normal booting sequence to be able to
> isolate the problem. But I highly suspect one of those normally-hidden
files
> inside my Windows XP installation as being the culprit.

In your subsequent reply you said that WinXP works fine. If so
then your second paragraph above is quite misleading:
Caldera/DR-DOS did NOT damage your "secret" files in WinXP,
therefore we can drop this whole paragraph and concentrate on
your floppy boot problem.

Let's do this systematically:

1. Get a floppy disk that you have not used in your previous tests.
2. Format it under WinXP.
3. Turn it into a Win98 boot disk by downloading an image from
www.bootdisk.com.
4. Boot the machine with this diskette.

What do you get?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Same thing; never-ending flashing cursor

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"soundsgood2me" <soundsgood2me@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8D3B3B3B-67E8-419B-9C3D-2E8994924B5A@microsoft.com...

In your subsequent reply you said that WinXP works fine. If so
then your second paragraph above is quite misleading:
Caldera/DR-DOS did NOT damage your "secret" files in WinXP,
therefore we can drop this whole paragraph and concentrate on
your floppy boot problem.

Let's do this systematically:

1. Get a floppy disk that you have not used in your previous tests.
2. Format it under WinXP.
3. Turn it into a Win98 boot disk by downloading an image from
www.bootdisk.com.
4. Boot the machine with this diskette.

What do you get?

> Same thing; never-ending flashing cursor

When replying to previous posts, please quote the text you're
replying to so that it is crystal clear what you refer to.

You do not say if your floppy disk spins at all when booting
from it, and neither do you report if you see any messages
at all on the screen. Without knowing this, I can only guess
what's wrong:
- Defective floppy disk drive
- Disk drive cable not connected properly
- BIOS thinks it's a different floppy disk drive than what you
really have.
- You're only thinking that you're booting off the floppy disk
drive but you're booting off something else.
- Your BIOS has lost the ability to boot off the floppy disk
drive (yes, this can happen, I've seen it before!)

You can walk around the problem and burn a bootable
CD off your DR-DOS diskette, then boot off that CD.