MS-DOS 7.1
I was looking to do some Assembly language programming using masm, the assembly language tool I learned on in College. So is looking to get an MS-DOS 6 system setup for running masm. Windows 95 and 98, being the spiritual successors of MS-DOS 6, are not unfamiliar to me. However to my absolute surprise I discovered a team of people have put together an unofficial MS-DOS 7 distribution. Back in the day, Windows 95 and 98 could make great floppy boot disks that would support CD-ROM drives and vfat filesystems, while still being DOS. Being curious of this MS-DOS 7.1 beast, I took it for a spin.
About MS-DOS 7.1
MS-DOS 7.1 (CDU) is a custom compilation, by the China DOS Union of MS-DOS 7.1 from Windows 95 OSR2.x and 98, combined with various utities.
MS-DOS 7.0 (Windows 95 RTM), MS-DOS 7.1 (Windows 95 OSR2.x and 98), and the crippled MS-DOS 8.0 (Windows ME) were never released by Microsoft as standalone products.
The MS-DOS 7.1 installation CD includes a number of DOS add-ons, such as: MS Backup, MS Anti-Virus, Norton Utilities 2002 for DOS, many ISA/PCI sound card drivers, QuickView Pro, MPXPLAY, and Volkov Commander.
Installing MS-DOS 7.1
DOS Long Filename (LFN) Support Enable/Disable
Disable DOS Long Filename Support
ECHO.
echo DISABLE DOS LFN Support
REM LH DOSLFN /Z:C:\DOS\CP437UNI.TBL
Enable DOS Long Filename Support
ECHO.
echo Enable DOS LFN Support
LH DOSLFN /Z:C:\DOS\CP437UNI.TBL
Installing Windows 3.1
Because if it’s proper DOS, it is gonna need Windows 3.1.
- Windows 3.x requires the XMS/HMA memory driver,
HIMEM.SYS
to be loaded inCONFIG.SYS
. - For some systems, the
EMS/UMB
memory driver,EMM386.EXE
, may also be required. - Windows 3.x will require the long filename support (LFN) to be disabled, otherwise Windows 3.x can crash.
The Installable Filesystem Helper
- If installing Windows for Workgroups,
IFSHLP.SYS
will need to be loaded. IFSHLP.SYS
was first introduced in Windows for Workgroups 3.11.- If using standard Windows 3.1, not Windows for Workgroups, then
IFSHLP.SYS
is not required. - There are two
IFSHLP.SYS
files. One works withWFW
, the other works withWindows 9x
.
Windows for Workgroups 3.11
- Without
IFSHLP.SYS
, the network APIs and 32-bit access of WFW3.x will not work properly, although unlike Win9x, WFW3.x can still start without theIFSHLP.SYS
driver.
Windows 9x
- Without
IFSHLP.SYS
, Win9x can not start at all and will halt the system with a blue screen about anVFAT error
. - All versions of Windows 9x (95/95A/95B/98/98SE) use the same
IFSHLP.SYS
.
Install Windows 98se
- Installing Windows 98 works in the same way that it works when installing Windows over any DOS-only installation.
Add a config menu to support multiple Windows
- MS-DOS 7.10 supports the installation of multiple versions of Windows.
- With a config menu, it is possible to install Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, Windows 98, and use them all on the same DOS installation!
- As stated aboe, there are two
IFSHLP.SYS
files. One works withWFW
, the other works withWindows 9x
. The config menu indicates whichIFSHLP.sys
to load to support the chosen system.
In config.sys
[MENU]
MENUITEM=DOS,DOS with Windows 3.1
MENUITEM=WFW,Windows for Workgroups 3.11
MENUITEM=W98,Windows 98
[DOS]
[WFW]
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WFW\IFSHLP.SYS
[W98]
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WIN98\IFSHLP.SYS
[COMMON]
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
In autoexec.bat
GOTO %config%
:DOS
set PATH=C:\WIN:%PATH%
goto END
:WFW
set PATH=C:\WFW:%PATH%
goto END
:W98
set PATH=C:\WIN98:%PATH%
goto END
:END