How Do I Install MS-DOS 6.22 On a New PVM

[Treble57]

Moved from "Parallels Desktop for Mac"

I need (cause I'm an idiot) step by step instructions on how to install DOS on to a Parallels Virtual Machine. It seems I might have figured out how to make the actual "machine" however I have no clue what I need (CD version of install? If not, ???). After I've made the machine, I have a DOS directory (a game) that I will need to get into the machine. Again, I'm an idiot and can't for the life of me figure out how to do that.

Thanks in advance!

Bob

[John Purins]

I've documented how I installed IBM's PCDOS under Parallels which should be quite similar to installing the Microsoft version.

Here it is:

The reason for stopping the automatic IBM installation procedure is that all of the IBM diskettes, except for the first one, are in XDF format. Mac OS X does not recognize XDF as a valid format and so image files cannot be made of them. If the Microsoft diskettes are in a standard format then this may not be necessary and you can make images of all of the DOS diskettes and run the automatic installation procedure.

How to install IBM PC DOS 7 under Parallels

First connect a USB diskette drive to an available USB port and insert the PC DOS 7 Set-up Diskette (diskette number 1). Start Disk Utility and select the mounted diskette named 'DISK 1'. At the bottom of the Disk Utility screen, it should show a format of MS-DOS File System (FAT12). On the Disk Utility menu bar, click File, select New from the drop-down menu and click 'Disk Image from disk2 (DISK 1)...'. At this point, the Convert Image window opens. Type in 'PCDOS1' in the Save As name text box, select an Image Format of read/write, select none for Encryption and then click Save. This will create a PCDOS1.dmg diskette image file. Quit Disk Utility and eject the IBM diskette from the drive.

Make a copy of the PCDOS1.dmg file and on the copy, change the file extension from .dmg to .fdd.

Start Parallels Desktop. If you do not have an existing operating system installed under Parallels, the OS Installation Assistant starts automatically. If you have previously set up a virtual machine then click File > New on the Parallels menu bar to start the OS Installation Assistant.

Select Custom installation mode and click Next.
Set OS Type to MS-DOS and OS Version to Other DOS and click Next.
Specify 32MB of memory (RAM) and click Next.
Select 'Create a new hard disk image' and click Next.
Specify 32 MB as the size of the virtual hard disk, select 'Plain' as the format of the virtual hard disk and click Next.
Select 'Shared Networking' and click Next.
Create a name for the virtual machine, e.g. PC DOS and click Next.
At the following screen, expand the 'More Options', clear 'Start Other DOS installation' and click Finish.

On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, click Edit and select Virtual Machine from the drop down menu. The Configuration Editor window will open. Select Floppy from the Resource list on the left and on the right, under Floppy Options, check both Enabled and Connect at startup checkboxes. In the Emulation section, expand the Emulation Image File listbox, navigate to where the PCDOS1.fdd file is, select it and then click Open.

In the Configuration Editor, select Options from the Resource list on the left and then click on the Booting tab on the right side. Select a Boot Sequence of 'Floppy, Hard Disk, CD-ROM' and then click the OK button to close the Configuration Editor.

On the PC DOS Parallels Desktop, click the green triangle button on the right to start the virtual machine.

On the following screen, ignore the instructions to insert a CD into the CD/DVD-ROM reader and just click the Start button. DOS will boot from the floppy image file and a prompt will appear asking 'Do you want to install PC DOS 7.0[Y,N]?. Type N and press enter immediately to obtain a DOS A: prompt. You have less than 10 seconds to respond to this prompt or else the automatic DOS installation will begin.

In the DOS screen, type FDISK and press enter. Select option 1 (Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive) and press enter. Select option 1 (Create Primary DOS Partition) and press enter. At the next screen, type Y to use the maximum size available for a Primary DOS Partition and press enter.

At this point, on the PC DOS Parallels Desktop, click the red square button on the right to stop the virtual machine. Start the virtual machine up again by clicking the green triangle button on the right of the PC DOS Parallels desktop.

Again, you need to type N within 10 seconds at the 'Do you want to install PC DOS 7.0[Y,N]? prompt.

Type FORMAT C: /S /U /V:DOSHD and press enter. Type Y and press enter at the 'Proceed with Format (Y/N)? prompt.

Type CHKDSK C: and press enter. CHKDSK should show 2 hidden files, 1 user file and a volume name of DOSHD. At this point, the virtual hard disk is bootable. On the PC DOS Parallels Desktop, click the red square button on the right to stop the virtual machine.

From the Parallels menu bar, click Edit, click 'Virtual Machine' and the Configuration Editor will open.

Select the Options from the Resource list on the left and click the Booting tab on the right. Select the 'Hard Disk, CD-ROM, Floppy' boot sequence and click the OK button to close the Configuration Editor.

On the PC DOS Parallels Desktop, click the green triangle button on the right to start the virtual machine from the virtual C: drive.

Make a copy of the PCDOS1.fdd file and rename it to WorkDisk.fdd. Attach it to the virtual floppy drive and use DOS to format it. This can then be renamed to WorkDisk.dmg and mounted on the Mac OS X desktop to transfer files to DOS.

[jbh001]

1. Go to http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm; scroll down to Non-Windows Based Image Files W/ImageApp and click on the DOS 6.22 link to download the 622c.zip file. This will probably download to your desktop unless you have changed your Mac's settings. When it is finished downloading, click on the 622c.zip to unzip the file. This should create a folder (on your desktop) named 622c.

1a. So bootdisk.com can continue to offer these resources, make a donation from their website to assure their continued existence.

2.1 Start Parallels.
2.2a Select New, or
2.2b From the menu bar select File | New...

3. Select Custom, then click Next.

4.1 Set OS Type to MS-DOS
4.2 Set OS Version to MS-DOS 6.22
4.3 Click Next

5. Set memory to 32MB, then click Next

6. Select Create a new hard disk image, then click Next

7.1 Set the virtual hard disk size to 512MB, or smaller.
7.2 Select Plain for the format of virtual hard disk, then click Next

8. Select Shared networking, then click Next

9. Use the default name for your virtual machine or create your own name, then click Next

10.1 At the Insert MS-DOS 6.22 installation CD...screen, click More Options
10.2 Uncheck the Start MS-DOS 6.22 installation checkbox.
10.3 Select Real CD/DVD, then click Finish

11.1 Click on Configuration to edit the VMs settings.
11.2 Select Floppy; on the Floppy Options side of the window, under Device Status select both Enabled and Connect at startup; under Image file: click the ... button; navigate to the location of your 622c folder, select 622C.IMG, and then click Open.
11.3 Select Options; click on the Booting tab; select , Floppy, Hard Disk, CD-ROM; then click OK.

12. Start the VM by clicking the green PLAY icon on the right-hand sight of the Parallels window.
12a. If you are using an iso image, you may be prompted to reselect the iso image. Simply confirm your settings on that screen and then click Start

13.0 If the VM freezes at any point, shift the keyboard/mouse focus back to OS X by pressing Ctrl+Alt, then stop the VM by pressing the red STOP icon above the blue PAUSE icon on the right side of the VM window. If a dialog box comes up asking for confirmation, confirm that you want to stop the VM, then restart the VM by clicking on the green PLAY icon. OR you can click on the yellow RESET icon below the green PLAY icon to accomplish the same thing.

13.1 The VM will boot, map your CD-ROM (if it can detect it) to drive letter R:, and drop you off at a DOS prompt (A:\). At the DOS prompt type FDISK and press ENTER.
13.2 On the first text screen, select 1. Create DOS partition or logical drive and press ENTER.
13.3 On the next text screen, select 1. Create primary DOS partition and press ENTER.
13.4 On the next text screen at Do you wish to use the maximum available size ..., select Y and press ENTER.
13.5 Click on the yellow RESET icon below the green PLAY icon to restart/reboot the VM (if necessary, click Yes at the pop-up window that asks "Are you sure?").
13.6 After the VM has rebooted, at the DOS prompt, type FORMAT C: /S and then press ENTER; at the Proceed with format prompt select Y and press ENTER; at the Volume Label prompt type in a volume label of your choosing or leave it blank, then press ENTER (This formats the C: drive in the VM and copies the system files necessary to make the C: drive bootable).

Optional
13.7 When formatting is complete, at the DOS prompt, type copy a:\*.* c:\*.* and then press ENTER; at the Overwrite C:\COMMAND.COM (Yes/No/All)? prompt select N and press ENTER.

14.1 When formatting (or copying) is complete, stop the VM by pressing the red STOP icon (if necessary, click Yes at the pop-up window that asks "Are you sure?").
14.2 Click on Configuration to edit the VMs settings.
14.3 Select Options; click on the Booting tab; select Hard Disk, CD-ROM, Floppy; click OK; then restart the VM.

15.0 Congratulations, you now have a minimally bootable DOS 6.22 hard drive. You will still need to make images of your DOS 6.22 install floppies, connect them to the VM's floppy device (as described in steps 11.1 & 11.2), and run SETUP to get a full installation of MS-DOS 6.22.

There is additional insightful information about completing the installation here:
http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?p=26411#post26411

After you have done that, there are a few additional utilities from Microsoft that are still available here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/117600

I hope this is helpful.

[Treble57]

I cannot thank the two of you enough! I am thrilled I was able to get this to work. Thank you so much!

Bob