DOS and/or older windows?

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop for Mac' started by nicka, Apr 18, 2006.

  1. nicka

    nicka Member

    Messages:
    23
    Has anyone been successful in installing a version of DOS or and older DOS dependant version of windows, sucj as 95 or 98? I have been unsuccessful in multiple attempts at doing so. Whenever I try to format or partition the drive using fdisk to set the active DOS partition, when I reboot it freezes and simply says: partition signature !=55a

    Anyone have an idea of what 'm doing wrong based on the error code, or anyone the was successful and could give a decent step by step of getting a working DOS partition ready to install older versions of windows?

    I tried using an image of DOS 6.22, and full copy of FreeDOS. DOS 6.22 just didn't seem to do anything, FreeDOS did, but gave that partition signature !=55a notice.

    Thanks for any direction.
    Nick
     
  2. nicka

    nicka Member

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    23
    no one has had any experiences?
     
  3. Ynot

    Ynot Pro

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    387
    How much is the size of the partition ?
     
  4. nicka

    nicka Member

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    I tried with both a 4GB and then a 2GB.
     
  5. Ynot

    Ynot Pro

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    387
    Hmm.. May you tell me how to reproduce it step-by-step ? And also, may you tell me full configuration of your VM ?
     
  6. etherknot

    etherknot Bit poster

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    2
    Hi. I have got the same issue when trying to install Windows 3.11 (I am nuts for trying but what the heck).

    Basically my VM settings are set as Windows - Windows 3.11. No Shared folders, 128 MB of RAM (it's Windows 3.11 why add more?). Hard drive: plain 200 MB Parallels drive. Bridged ethernet, enabled; not connected at startup. Audio set to defaults. Boot order set to: floppy, hard drive, CD-ROM. VM Acceleration: High. VT-x enabled.

    I've got a 1.44 MB FreeDOS disk image (from the FreeDOS site) which I have connected for startup (there is no system on the plain 200 MB drive). Using this I can FDISK a new main partition using the maximum size. I set it active and reboot. That's when I get the error that the original poster gets.

    Also, if able to get into setup, it can't read the partition on C:\ and must exit.

    But I'm having a blast trying to make it work! :)
     
  7. etherknot

    etherknot Bit poster

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    2
    Ooooh. I think I got it. I grabbed a DOS 6.22 imge from www.bootdisk.com, booted from that, did format c: /s and it worked. Windows 3.11 is now busy installing!
     
  8. mlandel

    mlandel Member

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    27
    I've been running a number of DOS 6.22 items, including some embedded stuff.

    The worst that I've seen is some interesting loading and timing issues when the DOS program is in a processor-intesive loop and when waiting ofr interrupts from the hardware PIT timer and serial ports. Not too surprising given it's a VM.
     
  9. oe3vsfm4

    oe3vsfm4 Bit poster

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    2
    hello,

    did someone manage to get the mouse on win3.11 working? which mouse does parallels emulate?

    tom
     
  10. alantruly

    alantruly Bit poster

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    8
    running Windows98se well, but with a few issues

    I've been running Win98se since Beta 2 with minimal problems. Some of the features don't work, but the basics are working fine. I created an image of my Win98 CD and used that for the installation. I'm using an iMac with 1GB RAM.

    Things working:
    1. Up until Beta 6 Parallels tools worked without a hitch. It is working with Beta 6 as far as I can tell, but there is an error message about a missing driver on start up.
    2. 1024x768 24bit screen resolution works well.
    3. Mouse moves smoothly.
    4. Applications run fast.
    5. High speed internet works.
    6. OS X can see C: drive via SMB sharing.

    Things not working:
    1. Custom screen resolutions (allowing native full-screen size).
    2. Sound.
    3. Shared folders (but SMB sharing gives you the same ability).
    4. Automatic mouse switching to/from VM with movement of mouse over VM window.
    5. Printing (I haven't put much effort into this, so it might work with a little tweaking).

    Overall, I am thrilled with the functionality. It does 90% of everything I want. For beta software, I am impressed with the work.

    Older versions of Windows aren't getting much attention in the forums, but I understand that Parallels needs to focus on the majority of users with XP right now.
     
  11. alantruly

    alantruly Bit poster

    Messages:
    8
    sharing with Windows98

    Someone messaged me about sharing, since the Parallels Shared Folder feature isn't working with Windows98. In case anyone else is interested, here is how I set mine up:

    1. Set up file sharing in Windows 98/ME:

    http://www.wellesley.edu/Computing/FileSharing/Windows/win98me.html

    2. In OS X, look in Network and your shared drive or folder should show up. If it isn't there right away, wait a minute and see if it shows up. I've noticed it takes a little while sometimes.

    3. Click on the shared drive or folder. If you used a password when you chose a shared drive or folder, you will need to click the Authenticate button. Keep in mind that Windows 98 uses 8 character passwords, so if you tried to enter something longer, it would have cut off at 8 characters. This happened to me and it took me a while to realize what was going wrong.

    4. The Windows 98 shared drive or folder should be mounted as a drive in OS X. Copy files back and forth like you would with any Mac drive.
     

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