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

Fri Oct 20 18:54:15 EDT 2006

Phil,

Disregarding the fact you love to tinker, you would be better off with a 450 
MHZ P2 machine. You will get everything you want, no fussing around, no this 
won't work with that etc. Since you can get a used machine for very little, 
probably less than the flash memory plus accessories, why not? I already 
know that you won't use the DOS for more than a few months, get bored and 
find some freeware program that works on your XP machine ... (grin)

If you could sweet talk your XYL into loaning you the 600 MHZ machine, you 
could try it without spending a cent. If all she does is e-mail, as I recall 
from our conversations over the past eight years, the laptop would suffice 
for the duration of your experimententing.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Philip" <Beaconeer at sbcglobal.net>
To: "Computers (or other) used for amateur radio, communications, or 
experimenting" <ham-computers at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: [Ham-Computers] RE: Flash drives, DOS, etc

> 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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