[Ham-Computers] RE: Flash drives, DOS, etc

[Philip]

Thank you Aaron,

It looks like I'll have to get a flash drive and try this out as soon as I'm 
able.  It looks like a very interesting alternative to running two 
computers.

73 de Phil  KO6BB

>>> KO6BB wrote:

I DO still have my old DOS 6 disk set.  I wonder if it's possible to use a 
flash drive as a virtual machine UNDER Win-XP and set it up with DOS 6, 
while still running other apps in WinXP. To be honest, this doesn't sound 
do-able to me as it seems like you'd be running two OS's at the same time, 
but then I'm no expert either.  If not then I'll just set the program up on 
the Win95 machine and forget it (though it'd mean running two computers 
simultaneously on an already cluttered listening bench).

>>> My reply:

Sure it's possible...that' what virtual machines (VM's) are!  VM's allow you 
to run a a "virtual computer" inside of a "host" operating system.  With 
Microsoft's Virtual PC 2004, Windows 2K/XP is your "host" and the VM run 
whatever other Microsoft OS (the "guest) you wish to run.  In fact, you can 
run several guest VM's at once (if your system has enough RAM and 
horsepower).  VMWare works the same way, but there are flavors that allow 
the host to be a Windows based OS or Linux based (the highest end VMWare 
"ESX" server is Linux based).  For flexibility, VMWare is much better, but 
Virtual PC is easier to use.

So, Phil, what you would do to get that old app running is to create a VM 
"guest (let's stick with VPC for now), assign it 64 or 128MB RAM, create a 
dynamic virtual drive, and then "boot" from your DOS 6 floppy (you'll 
"capture" the floppy drive so the VM can use it).  All of this is done while 
you're in WinXP.  Once DOS 6 finishes booting, you'll be at the DOS prompt 
in the VM session.  BTW, the VM session runs as a window, so you can still 
work on other things while the VM is running.  In the DOS 6 VM, do an FDISK 
and FORMAT of the virtual HD and you're all set.  You can now remove the 
floppy, "reset" the VM, and it will boot to DOS 6.

Basically, you're doing everything the same way you would have done on a 
different computer.  The only difference is that you're doing it in a VM 
session - a window while in WinXP.  If you want, you can <Right-ALT><Enter> 
and the VM session will now be full-screen (repeat to go back to a window). 
With Virtual PC, once you're done installing the "guest" OS, you run the "VM 
Additions" to add specific Virtual PC support to the VM session (such as 
drag-n-drop to the "host" OS, VM specific video drivers, network share 
support, etc).  A similar option is available in VMWare.

And, since Microsoft's Virtual PC 2004 is free, you've really got nothing to 
lose by trying.  Everything in a VM session is self contained - it's near 
impossible to "blow up" anything in your "host" OS unless you decide to use 
a physical HD as the virtual HD (not recommended).  BTW, the virtual HD is a 
file created on your "host" system.  It just shows up as a file.  By 
default, VPC uses dynamically sizing virtual HD's, so the filesize will 
change, but it will never be larger than the "max" size you specified when 
you created the virtual HD.

There's no guarantee that the app will work, but many of the "pesky" DOS 
apps I have that refuse to run in Win2K/XP work fine in a virtual DOS 
session under VPC.  This includes a graphics viewer (SEA) that uses VESA 
graphics modes.  I've yet to try some old games, but I'm pretty sure they'll 
work too.

If you have any questions about setting up the VM, post a message or e-mail 
me.  Someone in the group will have answers.


73,

  - Aaron Hsu, NN6O (ex-KD6DAE)
    {nn6o}@arrl.net
    {aaron.hsu}@nbcuni.com
    No-QRO Int'l #1,000,006
    . -..- - .-. .-   ".... . .- ...- -.--"

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