# Getting 20yo disk to work in modern computer



## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

I have a dilema where a client wants a 20 year old disk with a dos program to work in a modern computer,

They have an old accounts package that works with dos on a 300 mb disk. They have decided to keep the dos program going on a new system with sata drive. There are no installation disks.

What I have done is cloned the old FAT drive with Acronis and restored it to a sata drive, but it won't boot like it did in the old computer - just a blinking curser.

Is there something in the bios I need to change ?


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

Try VirtualPC or VirtualBox.


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## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

DoubleHelix said:


> Try VirtualPC or VirtualBox.


Thanks - how does it work - I have a new barebones pc with SATA drive and without an os

Just want the dos program to run when you switch on the computer, like it did on the old system which was about 15-20 years old.

Does Virtualbox need a windows OS to be on there first ?

Just want to keep it simple !


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## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

Just seen on the old computer, that if you type W on the dos screen of the dos accounts program - Wins 3.11 comes up 

Dont know if this info is of any use ?!


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

I don't see any way to get the computer to boot to DOS on a new system with a SATA drive, so I'd give up on that. 

You need to install an operating system first and then install a virtualization program. Then you install DOS or Windows 3.11 as a virtual guest system.


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## PedroHin (Aug 13, 2010)

The way I have done this in the past is to get a snapshot of the entire drive using Ghost or Acronis -- either one you use, you want to have the Physical CD or an ISO of that application's rescue CD.

Build your virtual PC, add a hard drive.

Boot the Virutal PC environment from the rescue CD (shared CD or ISO), and perform a restore. The Windows 3.xx will have trouble running in the virtual PC unless you want to play with video drivers and such, but the MS-Dos stuff will live forever.

The nice part of this is that the backups will be drop-dead easy as all you have to do is copy the virtual HDD file. In your case, I don't see that being over a 200-300MB file


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## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

I did use Acronis to produce an image of the old disk - then transfered this image to a sata drive and put this in the new computer - it didn't boot (like it did in the 20 yo computer) - just a flashing curser.

Not sure what you mean about a virtual pc....


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## PedroHin (Aug 13, 2010)

Virtual PC, is a program that runs an entire other computer under the operating system you already have running.

As a brief overview. Imagine being in Windows, and clicking on an icon on your desktop and watching another PC start up in it's own program window. 

There are a few free 'Virtual PC' type applications which allow you to run an entire PC environment under another PC environment. Microsoft has one free for download and use on WIndows XP and WIndows Vista -- it's called 'MS Virtual PC 2007' . Oracle has one called 'Virutalbox'. If you are running WIndows 7 Pro or Ultimate, you can download and get XP mode running, underwhich you can run any environment you want.

On various PCs, I am running MS-Dos, WIndows 3.11, Windows 98, Linux. -- -All under Windows XP and WIndows 7 Ultimate. I also have it set up for a few customers who have MS-Dos applications that they are not prepared to abandon.

If you're not familiar with the concept, ...and I am not familiar with your skill level, it might be a steep hill to climb, but once it's set up, and known where things are, it's easy to maintain.


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## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

Seems like good advice !

There may be one snag - the dos program uses a parellel printer - the new pc doesnt have a parellel output....

Even if I bought a pci to parellel (or is it serial????) card, I am still not sure if it would work

Any ideas


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## PedroHin (Aug 13, 2010)

If you put a PCI parallel printer port card in the new PC, virtual PCs have the option of sharing the physical port with the 'guest' operating system. 

Is the customer still able to use the application on the old PC? I ask because some times it takes some time/money and how much are people willing to spend to get it working.


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## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

Yes, the application still runs on the old pc

I also have a USB to Parellel adapter, but I bet it won't work because the old application won't recognise USB ?!


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## PedroHin (Aug 13, 2010)

As long as the host operating system sees the USB to Parallel adapter as the the device named LPT1, then any calls to LPT1 from the guest operating system should be forwarded to there.

Notice I said 'should' and not 'will'. I tend to use non-absolute terms when I am working with something like this until completion. 

Is there any way you can work this out on your own computer to make sure it works before rolling it out on the customer's PC?


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## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

The customer wanted a new PC to increase the longevity of this particular accounts application

So I bought a brand new one which is being experimented on with the help of this board.

If it doesn't work, I am left worse off ! Oh, and I will send you a bill for the opened packet of the new USB to Parellel cable adapter if you are wrong !


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## PedroHin (Aug 13, 2010)

You should try to set the whole thing going on a spare PC you have. You can then copy the VHD (Microsoft's file extension for Virtual Hard Drive) and Virutal PC config file to the production computer.

If you need to then update files on the VHD, there is a nice freebie called Gizmo drive which will mount the VHD and let you copy whatever files you want to it while the Virtual PC is not running.

If you do PC-based tech support a lot, migrating legacy stuff to a virtual PC is a marketable skill worth having. 

I have used this type of setup a few times. One is a locksmith who has a keycode program that would work on nothing later than Windows ME. Another was a cemetery who kept track of their ummm 'clients' on a MS-Dos 5 based database. Another is a company who still uses PeachTree for MS-DOS. Theirs is a bit more modern as we have windows 98 runing under Virtual PC, but they can still share printers and files as if the PCs were still the old metal boxes.


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## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

I am not familiar with MS Virtual PC, but I have installed XP on the new machine and downloaded Virtual PC and installed.

But I have no idea how to transfer the files from the old system to the Virtual PC so that the old system can run

I am missing a piece of the jigsaw



PedroHin said:


> Virtual PC, is a program that runs an entire other computer under the operating system you already have running.
> 
> As a brief overview. Imagine being in Windows, and clicking on an icon on your desktop and watching another PC start up in it's own program window.
> 
> ...


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## PedroHin (Aug 13, 2010)

There are a few pieces to do. First thing you want to do is create a new virtual PC.
1) Launch MSVPC (MS Virtual PC) and click new... , then next, select 'new virtual PC, click next
2) name the PC here -- I guess 'MS DOS' is a good name
3) on the opersating system dropdown I would select 'Windows 98' and click next,
4) keep the ram at 64MB and click next
5) select 'a new virtual hard disk' - go with the defaul name, but change the size to 800MB, click next, then finish.
6) back at the console, highlight the MS-Dos PC and click settings:
7) for LPT1, select physical parallel port, and choose LPT1 (or whatever port# is on your 'host') from the dropdown

Now you're just about ready to go. The make sure the disk snapshot is on a shared folder so that Acronis can find it when you boot the VPC. Make sure the Put the Acronis rescue CD in your physical drive, and start the MS-Dos VPC, on the window that opens, click on 'CD', and select 'use physical drive D:' (or whatever CD-Rom drive letter). Now go through the process of restoring the image as you would a regular PC. You will have to browse the network for the shared folder and Acronis TIB file. 

I don't know what version of Acronis you're using, so at least try to get that far.

If you successfully restore, click on the top of the VPC window,and select 'CD', 'Release CD', and reboot the MS-Dos VPC. You should be good to go.

Let me know if you hit any bumps.


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## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

Got a bump....

Restore seemed to be ok

Load VPC and I get a blinking curser in the black window.

It is FAT16 - not sure if that makes a difference. Is there any way to browse the files on the virtual disk - maybe change the autoexec file ??


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## PedroHin (Aug 13, 2010)

The f8 key worked even in the days of MS-Dos, try that. Besides that, you should at least get a _'Starting MS-Dos...' _before config.sys and autoexec.bat load. (I wonder it the MBR never made it to the initial backup) -- if that is the case, do you have a MS-Dos boot floppy or image of one that you can share with the VPC? (I know, I know -- who does anymore  ). But if you were to acquire a disk or a 1.44MB floppy image of the same DOS version, you could boot from that and do a _'sys c:'_ command get the MBR to hand off the boot sequence to IO.SYS

There is an application called Gizmo Drive (free version does what you need to do and more)

Once that is installed, you can browse to the VHD file (in XP -- My Documents\My Virtual Machines\_virtual_machine_name_\_disk_name._VHD and mount it read/write with Gizmo.


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## PedroHin (Aug 13, 2010)

Also, in a pinch, you can download a MSDos boot floppy image for your exact version, create a new VPC, boot from the floppy image, run FDISK, reboot, format c: /s to certainly get a bootable VPC. close the VPC session.

Then mount both the prior VHD and the new VHD and copy EVERYTHING BUT the IO.SYS to the new HDD. I know it will boot then.


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## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

Ah - I don't have a floppy drive on the new computer..... maybe you are meaning an iso image

Anyway, I opened Gizmo - and explored the files - clicked on a BAT file and the accounts program loaded

Tried to close it - then it said Not Responding

You mention the IO.sys - cannot I just delete it with gizmo ?


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## PedroHin (Aug 13, 2010)

IO.SYS is put in a specific sector when you do a _'SYS C:'_ command. Manually copying it or deleting it will move it from that spot.


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## leachim (Apr 21, 2004)

PedroHin said:


> Also, in a pinch, you can download a MSDos boot floppy image for your exact version, create a new VPC, boot from the floppy image, run FDISK, reboot, format c: /s to certainly get a bootable VPC. close the VPC session.
> 
> Then mount both the prior VHD and the new VHD and copy EVERYTHING BUT the IO.SYS to the new HDD. I know it will boot then.


Can't seem to copy folders from the old VHD to the most recent one

"Cannot create or replace /dir/. The parameter is incorrect"

?


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## PedroHin (Aug 13, 2010)

hmm :/ 
Which is the culprit? 
Copy from the source to your desktop, see if that works
Then copy from your desktop to the desired destination and see if that works. 
Something must have gotten munged with the drive geometry on one of the VHDs


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