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**blah789** · 08-29-2008, 04:54 PM

Since you want to re-learn DOS, may I suggest using a Virtual Machine? (unless you have an old PC that still works; rather trouble-some to maintain IMHO)

I didn't try it with DOS, but VirtualBox from Sun MicroSystems specifically supports DOS, so you can try that.
I was able to install DOS on Microsoft Virtual PC using some DOS floppies, but had some trouble using Windows 3.1. If you're only going to use the DOS command-line that should work though.
Finally the mother of all virtual machines: VMWare. Can't recall if it's pay or not, but that's another option.

You can also try some DOS alternatives. FreeDOS and FreeDOS32. They have limited support for newer hardware, but are better suited than MS-DOS since they're newer.

One more I'd like toss in there: DOSBox is very popular with vintage gamers. You can even install Windows 3.1 on it. However I don't think it supports the whole set of DOS commands - it's mostly geared towards getting old DOS games to run. There's a similar, program for Linux called DOSEMU (DOSBox also works on Linux), a tad faster than DOSBox, because it uses certain optimizations (compatibility layer? hardware virtualization? i got lost in the mumbo-jumbo).

Have fun!

08-29-2008, 04:54 PM	#3 (permalink)
blah789 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,291 OS: Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP3	Re: Getting DOS to recognise SATA HDDs Since you want to re-learn DOS, may I suggest using a Virtual Machine? (unless you have an old PC that still works; rather trouble-some to maintain IMHO) I didn't try it with DOS, but VirtualBox from Sun MicroSystems specifically supports DOS, so you can try that. I was able to install DOS on Microsoft Virtual PC using some DOS floppies, but had some trouble using Windows 3.1. If you're only going to use the DOS command-line that should work though. Finally the mother of all virtual machines: VMWare. Can't recall if it's pay or not, but that's another option. You can also try some DOS alternatives. FreeDOS and FreeDOS32. They have limited support for newer hardware, but are better suited than MS-DOS since they're newer. One more I'd like toss in there: DOSBox is very popular with vintage gamers. You can even install Windows 3.1 on it. However I don't think it supports the whole set of DOS commands - it's mostly geared towards getting old DOS games to run. There's a similar, program for Linux called DOSEMU (DOSBox also works on Linux), a tad faster than DOSBox, because it uses certain optimizations (compatibility layer? hardware virtualization? i got lost in the mumbo-jumbo). Have fun!