ms-dos

kderby · 11-15-2008, 02:52 AM

program is installed in dos on and old ibm thinkpad, a horse racing program and this pc's 3v battery went bad and was replaced, it had a time and date error that I have since fixed but the program accepts data but does not display it. Now the program displays each race but no data.
Now my thinking is the battery went bad around the time i was downloading data from two different saturdays from saratoga race coarse, and those days contained races that had 16 horses per race and I think i over loaded the part where this data is stored on the particular place on drive, the 38 dollar Q's is how to fix or even where to start as the program seems to be there and I do have the original floppies for program just not sure where to start, or how to repair.

Karate_Kid · 12-07-2008, 09:10 PM

DOS - been a while since I used it, but I recall it's pretty simple. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle to remove and reinstall the horse race program. If it has an uninstall program included, run that first, then look to see if everything in the program directory is removed, and if not, delete it. There are no hidden registry items to find on those old machines - everything should be in files where you can see it just by browsing the directories, and I think each program normally kept all its files in a single directory.

Do you know how to browse around and see what files are there? Use the "cd" and "dir" commands. If you don't remember these, check out a DOS book from the library and I think that's one of the first things they cover, or you might try the built-in help. Type "help cd" or "help dir" I think, if I am remembering correctly. I was pretty good with DOS, but had to give it up when I needed hardware upgrades to get a dial-up PPP connection going to check my email.

Once it's all removed, then reinstall from the original disks. It probably requires you to type the name of the install program at the A:\ (or whatever your floppy drive letter is) prompt. Just browse the first program disk until you find whatever looks like the install program.

Actually, before doing this, I would make a backup of the original floppy on a new floppy disk. I've had a lot of problems with old floppies failing when trying to use them again several years later. Not only the floppies, but the drives too. Make sure your old floppy drive still works before doing anything else.

11-15-2008, 02:52 AM	#1 (permalink)
kderby Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 1 OS: xp pro svpk2	ms-dos program is installed in dos on and old ibm thinkpad, a horse racing program and this pc's 3v battery went bad and was replaced, it had a time and date error that I have since fixed but the program accepts data but does not display it. Now the program displays each race but no data. Now my thinking is the battery went bad around the time i was downloading data from two different saturdays from saratoga race coarse, and those days contained races that had 16 horses per race and I think i over loaded the part where this data is stored on the particular place on drive, the 38 dollar Q's is how to fix or even where to start as the program seems to be there and I do have the original floppies for program just not sure where to start, or how to repair.

12-07-2008, 09:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
Karate_Kid Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 6 OS: XP, Media Center Edition, SP3	Re: ms-dos DOS - been a while since I used it, but I recall it's pretty simple. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle to remove and reinstall the horse race program. If it has an uninstall program included, run that first, then look to see if everything in the program directory is removed, and if not, delete it. There are no hidden registry items to find on those old machines - everything should be in files where you can see it just by browsing the directories, and I think each program normally kept all its files in a single directory. Do you know how to browse around and see what files are there? Use the "cd" and "dir" commands. If you don't remember these, check out a DOS book from the library and I think that's one of the first things they cover, or you might try the built-in help. Type "help cd" or "help dir" I think, if I am remembering correctly. I was pretty good with DOS, but had to give it up when I needed hardware upgrades to get a dial-up PPP connection going to check my email. Once it's all removed, then reinstall from the original disks. It probably requires you to type the name of the install program at the A:\ (or whatever your floppy drive letter is) prompt. Just browse the first program disk until you find whatever looks like the install program. Actually, before doing this, I would make a backup of the original floppy on a new floppy disk. I've had a lot of problems with old floppies failing when trying to use them again several years later. Not only the floppies, but the drives too. Make sure your old floppy drive still works before doing anything else.