How to boot straight to DOS

[JohnJohn20]

Hi there. I would like my computer to boot straight to DOS when it starts uo.

I don't have a floppy disk but I do have a win98 dDOS boot on a usb drive (which I have used on ther computers) but this old laptop does not offer usb as a boot option.

So....
Will it work if I get a small hard drive, FAT32 format it and then copy the contents of my usb dos boot flash drive to it and then put this drive into the laptop and tell it to boot off the hard drive?

Not too sure if the same files will work from the different boot sources.

Thanks.

 

[alexan_e]

I haven't experimented that much with dos so my suggestion would be to use a virtual machine like virtual box or vmplayer and try to boot into dos.

What exactly do you want to do, do you really need dos?

 

[JohnJohn20]

Thanks.

I want to use the laptop as an alarm panel controlled by a qbasic program watching the sensors, controlling the communicator and sirens via the parallel port (and the solar panel pump and display).

In the situation where the laptop loses power I want it set up so that it boots straight into dos and the autoexec opens the qbasic control program and life goes on...

I guess I will have to just try it.

 

[alexan_e]

The last time I used dos was in the windows 98 era so it is way back and then we were using floppies.
I'm sure you can use a hard drive to boot dos but I can't help you how to do it,
Maybe google it.

 

[BradtheRad]

I believe everything you describe is possible.

It's easiest if you install DOS onto the hard drive from the install disks.

Your post implies you cannot do this since all you have is an existing DOS installation on another disk. Then you must start with a totally empty hard drive (the one that will go in your laptop). Install IO.SYS onto the empty hd, and then MSDOS.SYS. Maybe the order is reversed, but the needed file has to be the first one installed so it's the first one the computer sees on the disk. Otherwise it will not boot. Expect to need to reformat the hd a couple times, until you get it right, and it boots into DOS.

You can configure AUTOEXEC.BAT to start QBASIC (after initiating extended/expanded memory, disk letters, etc.). It should be possible to configure it to load your alarm program and start running it.

You should be able to configure the BIOS so the computer will re-start when power resumes after a blackout.

Is it possible to fit the entire works onto a single 1.4 MB floppy. DOS and your alarm program? If so then maybe you don't need a hard disk. Come to think of it, floppies have a limited life, so a hard drive is probably the better way to go.

 

[JohnJohn20]

Hi Brad.

Yes, it boots ok thanks. I will play withe the autoexec tomorrow.

Hard drive is better as I want to store photos from cameras and a text file of events.

Not too sure how to set up the bios so it boots automatically when power is applied. Where should I look and what should i look for?

Thanks.

 

[BradtheRad]

Not too sure how to set up the bios so it boots automatically when power is applied. Where should I look and what should i look for?

Thanks.

Press the key that brings up the BIOS window during startup. You may need to page around to find the right menu.

Example:



A version of Windows may have this option in the Power Management control panel.

 

[Maxn]

well just use XP CD to format all

 

[JohnJohn20]

Maxn. Yex well that would probably be easiest but no cd drive

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks Brad.

My BIOS options don't offer a Power Management options page.

Do you mean "A version of Windows may have..." or "A version of your BIOS may have..."? I ask because this computer doesn't even have Windows on it.

 

[BradtheRad]

My BIOS options don't offer a Power Management options page.

It may be a single line in a long list of settings. It depends on the level of sophistication of your computer.

Do you mean "A version of Windows may have..." or "A version of your BIOS may have..."? I ask because this computer doesn't even have Windows on it.

It was on the chance that you might have a way to use a different startup disk with Windows on it, as an alternate way to change the bios setting.

The idea is to get it to start up by itself without Windows of course.

 

[JohnJohn20]

Brad. Is the only way to view the bios setting through that initial BIOS set up page or is there some other way it can viewed? Like a text file.

Cheers.

 

[BradtheRad]

Is the only way to view the bios setting through that initial BIOS set up page or is there some other way it can viewed?

I see I cannot find a way to do it on my own laptop. I have tried different ways.

1.

I tried calling up the bios settings as I started my laptop (manufactured 2003). I found nothing having to do with being able to choose to start up automatically after a blackout.

2.

I tried several emergency boot cd's. Each has many (free) utilities for computer management. (Many are DOS programs.) A few of them report that my laptop has APM (advanced power management). None allows me to set it to start up automatically after a blackout.

3.

I started my laptop normally in Windows XP. Opened System Properties control panel.
Clicked tab Advanced.
Found heading 'Startup and Recovery'. Clicked 'Settings'.
Found heading 'System failure'. Has option 'automatically restart'. Next to it is a checkbox. A checkmark in the box means the computer will restart automatically after a BSOD (blue screen of death). However it did not start up when I plugged in the power cord, after having removed it 30 seconds previous.

4.

The Windows XP 'Power options' control panel did not have a setting to start up after a blackout.

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

It could be a question as to which era your computer is from. The older ones apparently were easier to command to start-up after a blackout.

Then there could have been a point where only network server computers made it an open and easy process. They have to administer a network immediately when power resumes.

 

[knavekid]

The simplest way to create a DOS system disk is to boot into DOS using the floppy or USB drive and then format the hard drive using the "/S" option to copy the system files to the disk. Based on how old DOS is, this may or may not support gigabyte class hard drives. Or a large drive may appear as a much smaller drive to DOS.