Suggestion
 | | Links to free versions of MSDOS compatible OS are located on this page along with links to commercial and shareware versions of DOS. IBM's commercial PCDOS 2000 continues to execute on all Intel platforms while some of the newer MSDOS clones do not. FREEDOS continues development, although rather slowly IMO. DRDOS seems to be the only free and fully functional MSDOS clone available. DOS software will often require MSDOS v3.3 as a minimum and often MSDOS v5.0 (note potential problems with v5) for newer applications. Keep in mind that some day this minimum may be an even higher numbered version. You may want to get the newest version of DOS possible. At this writing I am unable to boot W98 MSDOS v4.10.2222 on my 80286. Two versions of DOS, W98 DOS (i386 and newer) and PTSDOS (i286 and newer), no longer boot on legacy PC's or XT's. If overall compatibility is important to you this needs to be checked into further? IF you will be downloading any of this software you really should get a copy of F-Protect first and check for virus (it's free for home use and better than McAfee's). DOS systems aren't under attack in recent years but there may be some virus infected archives left over from the past decade?
| | - Freeware download
- DRDOS - beta v7.03 multitasking Lineo/Caldera DOS (was OpenDOS). There are two versions of DrDOS v7.03 - one is the lite version the other is the full version. The full version includes personal netware and a web browser for DOS. The included web browser is an older version of Arachne. The newest v1.70 rel3 of Arachne is much faster. There are links to beta FAT32 drivers at the download page. Remember they are beta! There are also links to OpenDOS, and DrDOS v7.01 and v7.02 at the download page. There are links to documentation but the most complete documentation seems to be online only. I will continue to look for something better.
- FREEDOS - v8.x beta GNU opensource work in progress by volunteer programmers. Used by the author of the Arachne DOS GUI browser to develop and test Arachne.
- Miscellaneous DOS clones - Datalight ROM DOS (trial version), RxDOS (source available at this site), and source for OpenDOS at this site, etc.
- CPM v2.2 - A CPM emulator as a freeware download from Lineo. CPM support website, and CPM WordStar support site.
- Commercial ©
- MSDOS © - Microsoft v7.x released 1999 with W98SE - displays "Windows 98 [version 4.10.2222]" and W95 startup disks display as "[version 4.10.1111]" but both are referred to as v7.x DOS? I cannot get these newer DOS to boot on anything older than my `386? (stable MSDOS releases: 2.11, 3.3, 5.0*, 6.22, 7.x) There are no free versions of MSDOS, all versions are ©Microsoft. Refer to DRDOS, PTSDOS, FREEDOS, or the miscellaneous links below if you are in need of a full DOS install.
- NOTE: There are potential problems using the CHKDSK or UNDELETE of MSDOS v5.0? Details of how these utilities can malfunction and under what circumstances are included within the archive. Get this Microsoft Update file just in case.
- PCDOS ©; - IBM v2000 (stable releases 3.31, 7.x) No demo versions I am aware of? PC DOS 2000 also retains PC DOS 7.0's features, including Stacker 4.0, Central Point Backup, and IBM AntiVirus, and it can run on just about any computer, from an 8088 to the latest Pentium III's and Athalons.
- NOTE PC DOS 7.0 Users: A free Year 2000-compatibility FixPak for PC DOS 7 is still available. Please visit here to download it.
- PTSDOS - 2000 © - Multitasking Russian trial download fully compatible with MS-DOS 6.x Couldn't get this version to drop the menu and go to the command line prompt. Not sure it has a command line prompt in this version although several legacy PC users have assured me there is, in fact, a command line interface (F10?). I didn't have time to fight with it myself, your mileage may vary.
- MSDOS Upate files direct from Microsoft -- I have selected those that have a general interest for all DOS and W31 users. The complete listing of all update files from Microsoft is stored in INDEX.TXT, a 206k listing of available files.
NOTE: Microsoft update files for Windows v3.x are on this page.
- PD0805.EXE SMARTDRIVE version 4.2 (a `smarter' smartdrv)
- MSCDX223.EXE Update to v2.23 MSCDEX CD-ROM extensions.
Installation instructions.
- EMM622.EXE EMM386.EXE and MSD.EXE for MSDOS v6.0 and v6.2 (I use EMM386.EXE, HIMEM.SYS, and SMARTDRV.EXE from a W98SE setup with Installation instructions.
- STEPUP.EXE (2.46 MB) MSDOS `STEPUP KIT' US version - This upgrades older version 6.0, 6.1, and 6.2 MSDOS to version 6.22 (recommended by me since the older versions weren't too good)
- OLDDOS.EXE (836.15 kB) MSDOS utilities that were not included with the original distribution of W95.
Installation instructions.
- NOTE: All of these seem to function under MSDOS v6.22 and some are identical to v6.22 utilities in size but do not have the same date.
Filename.Ext Kbyt Filename.Ext Kbyt
------------ ---- ------------ ----
APPEND .EXE 11 HELP .HLP 295
CHKSTATE.SYS 41 INTERLNK.EXE 17
EXPAND .EXE 16 INTERSVR.EXE 37
GRAPHICS.COM 20 LICENSE .TXT 4
GRAPHICS.PRO 21 LOADFIX .COM 2
HELP .COM 1 MEMMAKER.EXE 117
Filename.Ext Kbyt Filename.Ext Kbyt
------------ ---- ------------ ----
MEMMAKER.HLP 17 README .TXT 2
MEMMAKER.INF 3 REPLACE .EXE 20
MONOUMB .386 9 RESTORE .EXE 38
PRINT .EXE 16 SIZER .EXE 8
QBASIC .EXE 190 TREE .COM 7
QBASIC .HLP 128 UNDELETE.EXE 26
- SUP622.EXE (762.81 kB) MSDOS v6.22 supplemental Disk adds Access DOS for impaired persons and updates various network software.Installation instructions.
- SUP621.EXE MSDOS v6.21 supplemental Disk
- DOS62SP.EXE MSDOS v6.2 supplemental Disk
- DOS6SUPP.EXE MSDOS v6.0 supplemental Disk
- PD0646.EXE MSDOS v5.0 updates for CHKDSK and UNDELETE upate (Revision Date: 12/92) files in this archive are dated: 11-11-91 5:00a. If you are using MSDOS v5.0 and if your FAT occupies 256 sectors, using the CHKDSK.EXE file dated 04/09/91 with the /f parameter ("chkdsk /f" [without the quotation marks]) can result in data loss. Using the UNDELETE.EXE file dated 04/09/91 can lead to unpredictable results. More detailed information is in this archive along with updated versions of CHKDSK and UNDELETE.
- PD0747.TXT MSDOS v6.0 Configuration Q&A
- PD0746.TXT MSDOS v6.0 MemMaker Q&A
- PD0321.EXE Removing non-dos partitions with DEBUG
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