MS-DOS 7.1

I was looking to do some Assembly language programming using masm, the assembly language tool I learned on in College. So is looking to get an MS-DOS 6 system setup for running masm. Windows 95 and 98, being the spiritual successors of MS-DOS 6, are not unfamiliar to me. However to my absolute surprise I discovered a team of people have put together an unofficial MS-DOS 7 distribution. Back in the day, Windows 95 and 98 could make great floppy boot disks that would support CD-ROM drives and vfat filesystems, while still being DOS. Being curious of this MS-DOS 7.1 beast, I took it for a spin.

About MS-DOS 7.1

MS-DOS 7.1 (CDU) is a custom compilation, by the China DOS Union of MS-DOS 7.1 from Windows 95 OSR2.x and 98, combined with various utities.

MS-DOS 7.0 (Windows 95 RTM), MS-DOS 7.1 (Windows 95 OSR2.x and 98), and the crippled MS-DOS 8.0 (Windows ME) were never released by Microsoft as standalone products.

The MS-DOS 7.1 installation CD includes a number of DOS add-ons, such as: MS Backup, MS Anti-Virus, Norton Utilities 2002 for DOS, many ISA/PCI sound card drivers, QuickView Pro, MPXPLAY, and Volkov Commander.

Installing MS-DOS 7.1

DOS Long Filename (LFN) Support Enable/Disable

Disable DOS Long Filename Support

ECHO.
echo DISABLE DOS LFN Support
REM LH DOSLFN /Z:C:\DOS\CP437UNI.TBL

Enable DOS Long Filename Support

ECHO.
echo Enable DOS LFN Support
LH DOSLFN /Z:C:\DOS\CP437UNI.TBL

Installing Windows 3.1

Because if it’s proper DOS, it is gonna need Windows 3.1.

Windows 3.x requires the XMS/HMA memory driver, HIMEM.SYS to be loaded in CONFIG.SYS.
For some systems, the EMS/UMB memory driver, EMM386.EXE, may also be required.
Windows 3.x will require the long filename support (LFN) to be disabled, otherwise Windows 3.x can crash.

The Installable Filesystem Helper

If installing Windows for Workgroups, IFSHLP.SYS will need to be loaded.
IFSHLP.SYS is the 32-bit Installable File System Helper which assists in trapping real-mode file system and network-related API calls of Windows, bypassing the 16-bit DOS API.
IFSHLP.SYS was first introduced in Windows for Workgroups 3.11.
If using standard Windows 3.1, not Windows for Workgroups, then IFSHLP.SYS is not required.
There are two IFSHLP.SYS files. One works with WFW, the other works with Windows 9x.

Windows for Workgroups 3.11

Without IFSHLP.SYS, the network APIs and 32-bit access of WFW3.x will not work properly, although unlike Win9x, WFW3.x can still start without the IFSHLP.SYS driver.

Windows 9x

Without IFSHLP.SYS, Win9x can not start at all and will halt the system with a blue screen about an VFAT error.
All versions of Windows 9x (95/95A/95B/98/98SE) use the same IFSHLP.SYS.

Install Windows 98se

Installing Windows 98 works in the same way that it works when installing Windows over any DOS-only installation.

MS-DOS 7.10 supports the installation of multiple versions of Windows.
With a config menu, it is possible to install Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, Windows 98, and use them all on the same DOS installation!
As stated aboe, there are two IFSHLP.SYS files. One works with WFW, the other works with Windows 9x. The config menu indicates which IFSHLP.sys to load to support the chosen system.

In `config.sys`

[MENU]
MENUITEM=DOS,DOS with Windows 3.1
MENUITEM=WFW,Windows for Workgroups 3.11
MENUITEM=W98,Windows 98

[DOS]

[WFW]
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WFW\IFSHLP.SYS

[W98]
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WIN98\IFSHLP.SYS

[COMMON]
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS

In `autoexec.bat`

GOTO %config%

:DOS
  set PATH=C:\WIN:%PATH%
  goto END

:WFW
  set PATH=C:\WFW:%PATH%
  goto END

:W98
  set PATH=C:\WIN98:%PATH%
  goto END

:END

categories: ms-dos | dos |