Tech Support > Microsoft Windows > Setup & Deployment > How can i install and boot to MS-DOS
How can i install and boot to MS-DOS
Posted by olicaca on March 19th, 2008


Hello
I have a Pc,WinXP was setup on the first partition,formated NTFS.I have some
program run in MS-DOS and i have already install MS-DOS at the second
partition,formated FAT32.But i dont know how to config my windows so that
when the PC boot,there 2 choices for me,boot to Win and boot to DOS.Former
time,when i have already bought the PC,they do that for me but i dont know
how they do.Pleasy help me.Thanks so much!
--------
jinajinajinana

Posted by Carey Frisch [MVP] on March 19th, 2008


How to create a multiple-boot system in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306559/en-us

Install the operating systems in the following order:

1. MS-DOS
2. Windows XP

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------

"olicaca" wrote:

Hello
I have a Pc,WinXP was setup on the first partition,formated NTFS.I have some
program run in MS-DOS and i have already install MS-DOS at the second
partition,formated FAT32.But i dont know how to config my windows so that
when the PC boot,there 2 choices for me,boot to Win and boot to DOS.Former
time,when i have already bought the PC,they do that for me but i dont know
how they do.Pleasy help me.Thanks so much!
--------
jinajinajinana

Posted by John John on March 20th, 2008


After you installed MS-DOS on the second partition were you able to boot
to it? To do so the second partition (where MS-DOS is installed) would
have to be marked as active, you can check or do that with FDISK.

Which partition are you you booting with now, which operating system
starts when the computer boots?

John

olicaca wrote:

Posted by Ed Covney on March 20th, 2008


Just curious as to why you need to boot to DOS and/or
a FAT32 partition. What do you need there that couldn't
be achieved in a DOS shell? (Which I personally find way
better than MS- or IBM- DOS ever was.)

Also, I think IBM DOS v7 supports NTFS partitions.

Ed




Posted by Olicaca on March 26th, 2008


***Sorry every body because the late.I forgot my account and so
diffecult to search my thread again..***
John,after i install MS-DOS,i can boot to it if i set its partition
active.
The operation system i boot now is Windows,sure.The operating system
start when my computer boot up is Windows.I just want add the MS-DOS
into boot choices,if you can help me boot to MS-DOS then please help
me setup NTFSDOS 5.0 sothat i can access ntfs partition from DOS.Thank
John!






------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 20 ThĂ¡ng Ba, 07:43, John John <audetw...@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

Posted by Olicaca on March 26th, 2008


Hi Carey,i try it before but with that way i get problem.In this
case,my Windows partition lettered H "WINXP(H)".I use partition magic
resize my disk and maybe the master boot have problem.
---------------------------------------------
On 20 Tháng Ba, 05:56, "Carey Frisch [MVP]"
<cnfri...@nospamgamil.com> wrote:

Posted by Olicaca on March 26th, 2008


I need use DOS for delete some files when i cant access it from
Windows.I dont really understand your recommen aswell,sorry my English
not well.Anyway thanks for the care.
------------------------------------------------------------
On 21 Tháng Ba, 01:35, "Ed Covney" <ed(dot)covney(at)gmail(dot)com>
wrote:

Posted by Ed Covney on March 26th, 2008


You do not need DOS, you need to boot to anything but
the windows drive you are targetting.

If you can afford a 2nd hard drive, install Windows on it
as well. Now you'll have 2 copies of windows on two
drives on one system. (Hint un-cable drive #1, while
installing windows on drive #2)

Change the BIOS to boot from drive #1 or drive #2.
While booted to drive #2, you can make any changes
you want to any file or directory or drive #1 (and visa-
versa).

There are many other benefits to being able to boot to
either drive 1 or 2.

By the way, your English is fine

Ed



Posted by smlunatick on March 26th, 2008


On Mar 25, 8:04*pm, Olicaca <jolib...@gmail.com> wrote:
Please not that in Xp, it can only create 32GB FAT32 partitions and
each file must not be greater than 4GB. Any hard driver bigger that
32Gb will more than likely be set to NTFS, which can not be accessed
directly with most versions of DOS.

All is not lost, there exists several "boot" CDs which will let you
access all XP NTFS partitions so that you can manage the XP.

Posted by John John on March 26th, 2008


Ok, this should be easy to fix.

Boot to your Windows XP installation and from the command prompt run the
Debug command to create a boot sector file for the DOS installation on
the second partition. You can run these commands at the debug screen,
but an even easier way is to just copy them to a file and have debug run
them automatically. Copy the stuff *between* the === lines and save it
in a notepad file as READ.SCR, save the file in an easy to find and
navigate to directory, the root folder of the XP installation drive
(C:\) is as good a place as any other:

READ.SCR

============================================
L 100 3 0 1
N C:\BOOTSECT.DOS
R BX
0
R CX
200
W
Q
============================================

Now, start a command prompt session and navigate to the folder where the
READ.SCR file is located and issue the following command:

debug <read.scr

This will create a C:\BOOTSECT.DOS file from the boot sector of the DOS
installation on partition 2. For this file to work Windows XP must be
installed on the first partition and DOS must be installed on the second
(D:\) partition of the same disk. Verify in the root folder (C:\) of
the XP NTFS drive to make sure that the newly created bootsect.dos file
is present, it will be in the root folder along with the hidden system
files ntldr, boot.ini and NTDETECT.COM.

Now edit the boot.ini file and under the [operating systems] section add
an extra line for the DOS installation:

c:\="DOS"

The boot.ini file will now look something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
c:\="DOS"

You should now be able to boot the DOS installation on the second
partition. If it doesn't work post again and we can try another
slightly different method of arriving at the same goal.

John


Olicaca wrote:

Posted by Olicaca on March 27th, 2008


On 26 Tháng Ba, 12:32, "Ed Covney" <ed(dot)covney(at)gmail(dot)com>
wrote:
the windows drive you are targetting.
as well. Now you'll have 2 copies of windows on two
drives on one system. *(Hint un-cable drive #1, while
installing windows on drive #2)
Ermm,you'r right,but i have many things that can't waste the space of
disk in that way,my hardisk just 75 GB and do not wan't install one
windows more.And really i need DOS for many things rather then the
access files.Maybe i'm a man of the ancient.Sill not yet helpful...

Posted by Olicaca on March 27th, 2008


I have a hiren't CD but it scratched all,cannot use and very tiresome
that eachtime i need DOS will have to insert CD,not including that i
live in the country, the way to the software shops far alittle .Anyway
i want DOS on my harddisk aswell,must be have DOS,not discussion any
reason.. :-C
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On 26 ThĂ¡ng Ba, 21:05, smlunatick <yves...@gmail.com> wrote:
access all XP NTFS partitions so that you can manage the XP.- Ẩn nĂ´̀£i
dung trĂ*ch dẫn -

Posted by Olicaca on March 27th, 2008


On 26 Tháng Ba, 12:32, "Ed Covney" <ed(dot)covney(at)gmail(dot)com>
wrote:



You do not need DOS, you need to boot to anything but
the windows drive you are targetting.



If you can afford a 2nd hard drive, install Windows on it
as well. Now you'll have 2 copies of windows on two
drives on one system. (Hint un-cable drive #1, while
installing windows on drive #2)




Ermm,you'r right,but i have many things that can't waste the space of
disk in that way,my hardisk just 75 GB and do not wan't install one
windows more.And really i need DOS for many things rather then the
access files.Maybe i'm a man of the ancient.Still not yet helpful...

Posted by Olicaca on March 27th, 2008


John,it is error with me coz it is partition H: not partition D: i
install DOS.Really i install MS-DOS on the second partition of the
hardisk(follow partition magic) but when i settup windows on the first
partition,the DOS installed partition then letter H( i format C then
new install from the begin).So what do i do now?Please help me fix
this soon ya.Thanks!Wait ur reply now.
The picture:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 27 Tháng Ba, 06:37, John John <audetw...@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:
Ok, this should be easy to fix.

Boot to your Windows XP installation and from the command prompt run
the
Debug command to create a boot sector file for the DOS installation
on
the second partition. *You can run these commands at the debug
screen,
but an even easier way is to just copy them to a file and have debug
run
them automatically. *Copy the stuff *between* the === lines and save
it
in a notepad file as READ.SCR, save the file in an easy to find and
navigate to directory, the root folder of the XP installation drive
(C:\) is as good a place as any other:

READ.SCR

============================================
L 100 3 0 1
N C:\BOOTSECT.DOS
R BX
0
R CX
200
W
Q
============================================

Now, start a command prompt session and navigate to the folder where
the
READ.SCR file is located and issue the following command:

debug <read.scr

This will create a C:\BOOTSECT.DOS file from the boot sector of the
DOS
installation on partition 2. *For this file to work Windows XP must
be
installed on the first partition and DOS must be installed on the
second
(D:\) *partition of the same disk. *Verify in the root folder (C:\)
of
the XP NTFS drive to make sure that the newly created bootsect.dos
file
is present, it will be in the root folder along with the hidden
system
files ntldr, boot.ini and NTDETECT.COM.

Now edit the boot.ini file and under the [operating systems] section
add
an extra line for the DOS installation:

c:\="DOS"

The boot.ini file will now look something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
c:\="DOS"

You should now be able to boot the DOS installation on the second
partition. *If it doesn't work post again and we can try another
slightly different method of arriving at the same goal.

John



Posted by John John on March 27th, 2008


The link to your error message is invalid.

Try this one for the Read.scr file:

=========================================
L 100 7 0 1
N C:\BOOTSECT.DOS
R BX
0
R CX
200
W
Q
=========================================

John

Olicaca wrote:

Posted by smlunatick on March 27th, 2008


On Mar 26, 8:48Â*pm, Olicaca <jolib...@gmail.com> wrote:
XP does not have a full dos.

If you have an Internet connection and a CD/DVD burner, you can locate
a XP emergency boot CD image and create a CD.

Posted by Olicaca on March 28th, 2008


On 28 Tháng Ba, 02:19, John John <audetw...@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:
The link to your error message is invalid.

Try this one for the Read.scr file:

=========================================
L 100 7 0 1
N C:\BOOTSECT.DOS
R BX
0
R CX
200
W
Q
=========================================

John
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hmm,i still able to acess that link,maybe ur browser block popup hight
level.
I followed, but it say these:
---------------------------
16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem
---------------------------
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe - debug
An application has attempted to directly access the hard disk, which
cannot be supported. This may cause the application to function
incorrectly. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.
---------------------------
Close Ignore
---------------------------

I make ur file and put it in C: drive,then go to cmd type these:
----------------------------------
cd\
debug <read.scr
----------------------------------

Did i do rightly bro?I do that and it display a dialog that content.I
try use just "debug read.scr" but the the cursor just go down and
blink,nothing happen.Could u tell me what i was wrong?(Sorry,i try to
express clearly but my English so bad)

Posted by John John on March 28th, 2008


Olicaca wrote:

Ok, lets make the bootsect.dos file with the MS-DOS installation and see
if we can use it on the NTFS active partition.

Toggle the active partition and boot to your MS-DOS installation and run
these debug commands to create the Bootsect.dos file:

L 100 2 0 1
N C:\BOOTSECT.DOS
R BX
0
R CX
200
W
Q

The file should be created in the C:\ root of the DOS installation. Use
the debug command to verify that the file you just created is for the
MS-DOS installation:

At the DOS prompt enter the following debug command:

debug c:\bootsect.dos

Then at the debug prompt enter:

d 100 L 100

this will allow you to see the beginning of the bootsect.dos file. The
first bytes should read MSDOS...

Then at the debug prompt enter:

d 200 L 100

you will now see the second half of the file, the last bytes should read
IO SYSMSDOS SYS.


Now, toggle the active partition again and boot to the Windows XP
installation. Copy the bootsect.dos file that you created to the root
of the XP inatallation alongside the ntldr, NTDETECT.COM & boot.ini files.

Edit the Boot.ini file and under the [operating systems] section add a
line for the MS-DOS operating system:

c:\bootsect.dos="MS-DOS"

Now, with the Windows XP partition set as active try to boot to the DOS
installation.

If it doesn't work don't despair, we can transfer the XP boot files to
the DOS partiton and change the boot sector to boot the operating
systems from that partition instead of the XP partition.

John


Posted by Olicaca on April 9th, 2008


Brother,are you still there?
Sorry that these time i didn't online because the IE have
problem,cannot logon(seemed there's a risk in my PC and it shutdown my
IE usually,so save..)
Come back with my MS-DOS problem,i followed ur way,boot to MS-DOS
partition and use that command but cannot run.It say bad command
line.So,can i use MS-DOS beside Windows in these case?Is it able or
not able.....?
Hope you come back and help me soon,thank alot!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Mar 28, 7:49*pm, John John <audetw...@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

Posted by John John (MVP) on April 9th, 2008


While booted to DOS did you run this from the Debug Prompt?

At the command prompt you have to start Debug first then issue the
commands at the debug prompt.

If this doesn't work our option list is becoming shorter, a bootsect.dos
file must be generated for ntldr to use to boot the DOS installation.
But there are still other options available...

John

Olicaca wrote:



Similar Posts