Is it possible to open DOS on PC without windows?


I used the 'search' facility to search the Win98SE OEM bootdisk which I downloaded from the bootdisk website for autoexec.bat and config.sys but it does not appear to have them.

So using the pc I'm posting with I launched IE (I also have Firefox) and went to Tools, there is an option there called 'Internet Options' I looked here but can't see a 'View' option.

On the top bar to the left of 'Tools' there are options 'Favorites', and to the left 'View'. Maybe this is the 'view' I should open? I looked in there but can't see 'Hide protected operating system files'.

Am I doing something wrong...?
 
Yeah, that's wrong. I don't mean you should open any internet explorer window, but a windows explorer window. For example, you could open 'My Computer'. That's a windows explorer window. Then at the top of this you will see 'Tools' and so on.

Edit the files on the WIN98 SE floppy startup disk like i said, and you should be ok!
 
Sn@kebite said:
Yeah, that's wrong. I don't mean you should open any internet explorer window, but a windows explorer window. For example, you could open 'My Computer'. That's a windows explorer window. Then at the top of this you will see 'Tools' and so on.
Click to expand...
Ok – I know what you mean, I found the 'Hide protected operating system files' box and unticked it, then clicked ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’

So I think what I have to do now is find autoexec.bat file and the config.sys file on the WIN98 SE boot disk which I downloaded from bootdisk.com

I used the search facility (by clicking on start, then search) to search for both autoexec and config on the diskette but it didn't locate them.

Maybe I have to switch the pc off and on again for the unchecked the 'Hide protected operating system files' to take effect…

What have I done wrong now…?
 
If the files aren't there, create them. (And you don't have to restart the pc for the protected files to take effect.)

Create a new config.sys file, and a new autoexec.bat file, and paste the text i gave in an earlier post into these respective files and save them. They should be there though - maybe you see the files as 'config' and 'autoexec', if file extensions aren't enabled? Just above the protected files checkbox you should see 'hidden files and folders' - make sure you select 'show hidden files and folders' and also make sure 'Hide extensions for known file types' is unchecked! Something I forgot - it's easy to overlook. Hope it finally works for you this time!
 
As well as finding the 'Hide protected operating system files' box and unticking it, I also selected 'show hidden files and folders' and made sure 'Hide extensions for known file types' was unchecked.

I used the search facility on the boot disk by just clicking on ‘Search’ so that it brought up everything on the boot diskette.

This is what it brought up…

SETRAMD.BAT
ASPI2DOS.SYS
ASPI4DOS.SYS
ASPI8DOS.SYS
ASPI8U2.SYS
ASPICD.SYS
BTCDROM.SYS
BTCDROM.SYS
BTDOSM.SYS
DRVSPACE.BIN
EBD.CAB
EXTRACT.EXE
FDISK.EXE
FINDRAMD.EXE
FLASHPT.SYS
HIMEM.SYS
OAKCDROM.SYS
RAMDRIVE.SYS
README.TXT


So the autoexec.bat and the config.sys files do not appear to be there.

How do I create them?
 
Just use notepad! But make sure that when you create the files they have the proper extension, you don't want them to be called autoexec.bat.txt and so on.

Btw, you should first try booting from just the cdrom - I read somewhere someone said it's not bootable but I think it might be if you downloaded it recently. Anyway I don't see why it wouldn't boot...
 
I was using the "search" facility and wasn't able to locate the autoexec.bat and config.sys files.

I just went to "file" in firefox then "open file" and located both of them on the boot disk. So they were there after all...!

I installed those two new files on the boot diskette and tried to boot from the boot disk, by copying them from notepad and pasting them into the old file locations on the boot diskette.

When I try to boot from the boot-disk the screen now states...

The following file is missing or corrupted
EMM386.EXE

There is an error in your CONFIG.SYS file on line 9

The following file is missing or corrupted
GCDROM.SYS

There is an error in your CONFIG.SYS file on line 9

I then deleted the DRVSPACE.BIN from the boot diskette which you mentioned previously and tried again but it still states the above.

I also tried booting from the CD but it just gives the Windows Setup requires 'largest executable program size' to be at least 442368 bytes to run message.
 
At this stage you might as well just dump your win98 cdrom in the bin. Dunno why we are both wasting our time with this! If I were you I'd try installing WinXP lite (or TinyXP) which is a version of xp with all selected components ripped out that make it run faster. You can get it around the forum at . That must be a pretty old computer you are trying to install win98 onto!

If you must have win98, then try downloading other versions of the floppy startup disk, like the win98 OEM setup disk from bootdisk.com and so on. I obviously don't know that much about how to setup dos to have enough memory to start windows setup! You could also try using fdisk (which is on any of the startup floppies) to partition your hard drive like before, instead of using BootitNG. Anything I ever wanted to do with my pc I've always had to figure out using trial and error, because nothing that anyone else suggested ever worked straight away - so keep trying! It was also a great learning process for me, as I started to depend on myself more to figure things out.

If worse comes to the worst, I'm still around if you have any questions!

Good luck!
 
Do you think there might be something wrong with the windows 98 CD?

Windows 98 does everything I need which is why I wanted to use it as I have the licence for this cd as I purchased it about 5 years ago. That's about how old the pc is, but does everthing I need. Will save me having to purchase the more recent windows.

I tried that website but the TinyXP appears to be no longer available.



I'll maybe try fdisk to partition the HD.
 
Becca said:
I'll maybe try fdisk to partition the HD.
Click to expand...

Do that, but don't forget to also download and try the other win98 startup floppy images from bootdisk.com. One of them just might work!

Also, check your PM for a special link I've given you and more details.
 
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