DOS ain't dead

May Need "V8.0" MS-DOS! Or NOT ! (Users)

posted by Ninho , 25.05.2010, 12:27

Said by Laaca :

>> Well, in the past I tried MS-DOS 7.1 but I had problem that it didn't
>> properly handle deep directories - in MS-DOS 7.1 I wasn't able f.e. to
>> delete directory structure of Windows 98 or the source tree of
>> freepascal.

MS-DOS can't handle path+filename longer than ~126 characters IIRC. It can still access them if you "navigate" down the structure. If you use only DOS there is little reason for creating deeply nested dirs (MS programs and Windows itself love to create long paths...)


>> I had to switch into FreeDOS and delete the directories from it.

But you could probably have done it from the MS DOS 7 command line too - possibly inconveniently

>> Now I am considering EDR-DOS, FreeDOS kernel 2038 and DatalightDOS.

(no meaningful advice here, skipping)

Now, Jack had this to say :

> Also, I am told that sometime about-or-after Win98, "Gates & Co." updated
> to what is known as "V8.0 MS-DOS", with additional features I cannot tell
> you about since I do not use [and DETEST!] any "DOS form" of Windows. I
> expect that "might" be why an older V7.1 MS-DOS system cannot handle your
> "deep" directories -- only "V8.0 MS-DOS" may be able to do this!

MS-DOS 8 (from WinME) is a crippled version, having features removed and no corrections that I know of. There is IMHO no functional reason whatsoever to use it rather than DOS 7.1 if given a choice; save for the smaller size of its IO.SYS, being compressed, which might be an advantage for cramming more files onto a DOS boot floppy (but DOS 7's IO.SYS can be compressed in a similar fashion if needed, cf. the Russian "LZDOS" which was mentionned on these forums several times. Or just removing the Windows start bitmap from DOS 7's IO.SYS even without compression does shrink it nicely...)

---
Ninho

Complete thread:

• What can cause FAT damage - kernel 2039 or UIDE? - Laaca, 24.05.2010, 08:50 (Users)
  • BUG #2901916 | can cause FAT damage - kernel 2039 or UIDE? - DOS386, 24.05.2010, 09:20
  • What can cause FAT damage - kernel 2039 or UIDE? - Khusraw, 24.05.2010, 13:26
    • Buggy FreeDOS - DOS386, 06.06.2010, 15:59
      • Buggy FreeDOS - Laaca, 06.06.2010, 17:19
      • Buggy FreeDOS - Khusraw, 06.06.2010, 17:49
  • "Be Advised ..." About Using UIDE! - Jack, 24.05.2010, 16:18
    • "Be Advised ..." About Using UIDE! - Khusraw, 24.05.2010, 16:57
      • "Be Advised ..." About Using UIDE! - Jack, 24.05.2010, 17:21
        • "Be Advised ..." About Using UIDE! - Laaca, 24.05.2010, 18:15
          • "Be Advised ..." About Using UIDE! - Khusraw, 24.05.2010, 18:59
            • For the dummies - Khusraw, 24.05.2010, 19:28
              • For the dummies - Laaca, 24.05.2010, 21:07
                • For the dummies - Khusraw, 24.05.2010, 22:18
              • .. - DOS386, 03.05.2011, 09:43
          • You May Need "V8.0" MS-DOS! - Jack, 24.05.2010, 19:09
            • May Need "V8.0" MS-DOS! Or NOT ! - Ninho, 25.05.2010, 12:27
              • Deep directories in DOS - jassenna, 27.05.2010, 06:45
                • Deep directories in DOS - Ninho, 30.05.2010, 12:38