Entertainment under DOS. What does the MS-DOS operating system consist of?


DOS... Pure DOS filled the screen with a black veil.

The mouse... The mouse suddenly became square and lost its shape.

I broke a window... Windows... Hateful, damned window.

I installed DOS and then I saw - this is happiness, here it is!

Modern operating systems require more and more resources: random access memory, disk space, CPU speed... Old computers simply have to be thrown away, and even units with Pentium or Pentium II processors with 14-15” monitors are practically worthless today. It is especially a pity to part with laptops with i386 and i486 processors, which are no worse than modern PDAs, but it is unlikely that you will be able to add memory to them in order to run a more or less modern operating system of the Windows family.

Is all these stunning computing power an ordinary user who, in fact, only wants to access the Internet, send email, edit texts, listen to music and play simple computer games from time to time? And is it worth switching to new technologies, where the speed and reliability of a computer largely depend on the power of the power supply and the efficiency of the cooling system, and the difference between old and new versions of programs is often clear only to specialists?

Disk Operating System (DOS)

Question: How many Microsoft employees does it take to change a burnt out lamp?

Answer: None, since Microsoft standardizes darkness in such cases!

Joke

Quite recently, as it sometimes seems, that is, literally some 10-15 years ago, most users had an operating system on their personal computers MS-DOS system. This system was quite simple and quite suitable for many purposes, and for some applications it was even optimal! By the way, many specialized programs did not gain anything fundamentally from the transition to new operating systems and increased power, but, on the contrary, lost in the convenience of the interface (which had to be standardized) and ease of development.

The main advantage of DOS (as well as the main disadvantage) is its close interaction with the hardware. Operating systems of the Windows family, as well as various variations of UNIX-like systems, are still fenced off from the hardware with a number of standardized high-level interfaces and, rising above the hardware, often complicate working with it, which is inconvenient, in particular, for developers of any non-standard equipment. DOS encourages you to interact with the hardware directly. For example, easy access to hardware allows you to work with disks at the physical level, which means you can organize copying of partitions regardless of the types of their logical formatting. However, there are also various pitfalls that lead to collisions when working in this operating system with careless programming. In general, the DOS system required programmers to be careful, and in this case the programs worked with maximum efficiency. Hundreds of thousands of programs were written for DOS, and some of them have no analogues in other operating systems and, perhaps, never will. In addition, the hardware requirements for running DOS were minimal.

However, in the mid-90s, Bill Gates said: “DOS is dead.” Indeed, after the release of MS Windows 95 and the first versions of Linux, it became obvious that the days of DOS as a mass operating system were numbered. And although theoretically DOS will still find use in cheap solutions for creating electronic devices for a long time, microprocessor systems(some variants of DR-DOS and PTS-DOS have ROM versions, and there are also special ROM versions of systems such as Datalight ROM-DOS and General Software DOS-ROM for technical applications), these areas of application are very narrow and are unlikely to support the existence of similar operating systems in the future.

Keys for editing commands in DOS

With the beginning of the 21st century, the last commercial versions of DOS ceased to exist. The last version of IBM PC-DOS was dated 2000 (it sold for $60), and the last one was released at the same time full version PTS-DOS (this is a domestic development by Phystech-Soft). In the version of PTS-DOS, released in 2002, support for FAT32 and work with large volumes memory, but some useful utilities that were not adapted to the mentioned support have disappeared. The latest version of DR-DOS 8.0 (with support for FAT32 and long filenames) dates back to 2004 (it sold for $40). By the way, now this system is called Caldera OpenDOS, it is distributed free of charge as part of the Open Source project (that is, the source texts of this system are available), and you can download it at: http://www.opendos.de/download/.

Finally, the free version of FreeDOS continues to exist, also with open source, but this is rather a public project of enthusiasts scattered around the world. The latest version of this OS appeared in 2003, but since various parts of FreeDOS are developed independently, it is still more reminiscent of Linux than DOS in its classic form (in particular, the complete installation of this system is an equally difficult operation). However, none of the alternative systems is 100% compatible with MS-DOS, and FreeDOS has the most problems with compatibility. It turns out that the best DOS is still the “dead” MS-DOS. Officially, the last version of MS-DOS was version 6.22 from 1994, but MS-DOS versions 7.x existed alongside Windows 95/98/Me - they could be separated from Windows shell and use separately.

However, every year the problem of driver support for new hardware becomes more acute - we're talking about primarily about USB devices, DVD-R/RW drives, etc. A similar problem exists for network protocols and new data formats.

Liberated DOS

Grunted HDD, and the iron rustled quietly under the table.

Loaded immediately. Hey, let's see what it's worth!

Get out of DOS and use your head better!

Look for yourself: DOS is not a fairy tale, it’s true, he’s with you!

IN last years Some excellent programs for DOS developers have also become freely distributed, including the Watcom C, C++ and Fortran compilers (known for the high quality of the generated codes); Borland Turbo C; Free Pascal(fully compatible with Borland Pascal and partially compatible with Delphi); the excellent, fast-growing macro assembler FASM (the code it generates is of higher quality than some of the currently known commercial assemblers), as well as Internet browsers such as Arachne and Bobcat. And thanks to the DJ Delorie system, almost all basic Linux tools (gcc, g++, gdb, bash, grep, etc.) are available for DOS.

Working with USB under DOS

Tears on the glasses... Strange glasses, or maybe they are tears on the face?

DOS cleared everything! Everything that was superfluous was on my “C” drive.

I pressed “F8”, and the cheerful “Norton” deleted everything for me:

Forty megabytes, maybe more... maybe even sixty...

Using a USB disk (flash drive) as a boot disk (see the article “The Many Faces of USB Flash Drives”) provides an interesting opportunity: if you distribute some program on such a disk along with DOS, then it can be used on any computer, regardless of the installed operating system system on the hard drive (for this, however, it is necessary that Motherboard BIOS boards supported booting from USB devices).

However, not all motherboards support booting from USB drives (and if they do, then on computers with a processor no lower than Pentium III), and in the days of DOS support USB Flash There was no Drive at all. Therefore, even if you just want to read from a flash drive under DOS (for example, by booting from an emergency floppy), you will need special drivers for this, which were written much later than the period of active use of DOS.

There are several similar drivers for supporting USB devices, written by various companies for their own purposes, since there are no basic means of supporting USB devices in any alternative DOS system, even in FreeDOS. The most popular drivers are from the Japanese company Panasonic (Matsushita), and although the company wrote them for its devices, the drivers turned out to be universal and work with most USB drives that meet UHCI specifications (old USB devices 1.x), or OHCI- (next generation USB 1.x devices, where work is carried out not through I/O ports, as before, but through memory areas, which is faster), or, finally, the EHCI standard (USB 2.0 ). Panasonic drivers are 16-bit and work with any version of DOS.

To support USB drives, you first need an ASPI driver, which retains its name from Advanced SCSI Programming Interface. The main driver is the USBASPI.SYS file (Panasonic v2.06 ASPI Manager for USB mass storage), which you should copy to the system floppy and call when loading DOS from config.sys next line:

DEVICE=USBAPSI.SYS /v /w /e /noprt /norst

In this case, the /v (Verbose) parameter means using the detailed device information display mode, and the /w (Wait) parameter will stop booting until the device is connected to the USB connector and the Enter key is pressed.

In addition to these parameters, USBASPI.SYS has others. General string the call will look like this:

DEVICE=USBASPI.SYS ] /r]

However, all other parameters, except for the aforementioned /v and /w, are of little interest and their default values ​​can be used. If you have any problems recognizing a USB device, you can try using other parameters. So, sometimes the /noprt switch helps. Note that the /l[=n] parameter explicitly specifies the logical unit number (LUN), so setting it can speed up boot time (n = 0 by default). In addition, sometimes it is useful to explicitly specify the USB specification (/e is EHCI; /o is OHCI; /u is UHCI).

Thus, if the USBASPI.SYS driver recognizes your USB device, it will provide it with an ASPI interface. However, in order to access a USB device from DOS, you will also need the DI1000DD.SYS (ASPI mass storage driver) disk driver from Novac, which will assign the corresponding letter to this USB device among other drives (for some reason This driver is called Motto Hairu USB Driver by the manufacturer). In the config.sys file you should write it as a separate line:

Panasonic's USB package also includes the RAMFD.SYS file, which creates a RAM disk and copies the entire boot floppy disk onto it to speed up work under DOS.

In addition, the package contains special drivers USBCD.SYS, which allow you to connect external CD drives with a USB interface.

The corresponding lines in the config.sys file of your boot floppy should look something like this:

DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS

DEVICEHIGH=DI1000DD.SYS

DEVICEHIGH =USBCD.SYS /d:USBCD001

If you have a CD drive with a USB interface, then you need to add the following lines to the autoexec.bat command file:

REM Mounting USB CD-ROM

LH MSCDEX /d:USBCD001

Now, even if you don’t want to work under DOS, but are simply going to boot from an emergency floppy disk, make a backup copy of hard disk to a USB stick using Paragon programs Drive Backup, copy system disk using the Powerquest Drive Image program or using Norton Ghost, you can do this by loading the appropriate drivers for USB Flash Drive support under DOS.

Difficulties in using Panasonic drivers may arise when using EMM386.EXE (memory manager under DOS). If you are experiencing a mapped memory error, you will need to disable EMM386.EXE loading or use USB drivers from other companies. In addition, it may happen that your flash drive may not be recognized correctly by the USBASPI.SYS driver or that the DI1000DD.SYS driver will report incorrect data in boot sector USB drive - in these cases, you can try to prepare a flash drive directly in DOS: run, for example, the fdisk.exe program, create a primary DOS partition on the flash drive and format it in FAT. However, some flash drives cannot be formatted, as after this they may not work correctly or will no longer be recognized at all. Therefore, before such a procedure, be sure to ask the manufacturer about the possibility of formatting a USB drive and look for a special proprietary utility for this operation. In any case, it is better to first try all possible drivers and their settings for connecting a USB device in DOS and only then, if none of the methods work, resort to more risky experiments.

In addition to the Panasonic drivers, there are USB drivers from Cypress that work with EMM386.EXE without conflicts, so you definitely don’t need to disable the memory manager (if you need it) in this case. In addition, Cypress DUSE only has the disk driver DUSE.EXE (ASPI mass storage driver), which assigns the corresponding letter to the USB device, so you will still need an ASPI manager: you can take the same USBASPI.SYS described above and replace only the DI1000DD driver .SYS to DUSE.EXE. The DUSE.EXE driver can be registered in the config.sys file as a device driver (DEVICE), for example:

DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS

DEVICEHIGH= EMM386.EXE

DEVICEHIGH=USBASPI.SYS /v /w /e /noprt /norst

REM Assigning a letter to the device

DEVICEHIGH= DUSE.EXE

Or you can simply call DUSE.EXE in the command file autoexec.bat as a program using the special loader DUSELDR.EXE:

DUSELDR.EXE A:\ DUSE.EXE

To access the Internet, you can use not only a regular telephone, but also an ADSL modem (naturally, it is better to use an Ethernet modem in router mode), as well as connect via a local network. Let us remind you that DOS does not support networking at the operating system level, so you will need to install the so-called package driver for your network card, which can be taken from the Ethernet card manufacturer’s website.

If a text browser is not enough, then you can install the powerful graphical Web browser Arachne (“spider”), which is launched from the command line DOS lines(http://www.cisnet.com/glennmcc/arachne/). It is not much more difficult to use than Internet Explorer. To configure the connection, Arachne has a special wizard (PPP Wizard) - almost the same as in Windows programs. “Dialer” Arachne supports the PPP protocol for communication with the provider’s modem and performs automatic authorization (entering login and password).

To connect to the Internet using this wizard, you need to set the following parameters:

  • indicate the COM port on which the modem is located and set its interrupt number (if you don’t know this, the wizard can determine where the modem is connected);
  • indicate maximum speed connections (Baud Rate);
  • set the dialing method for your telephone line (tone or pulse). If you have a tone dial, then select ATDT, if you have a pulse dial, as usual, then ATDP;
  • dial a number to reach your Internet provider;
  • set a name (login) and password for accessing the Internet;
  • explicitly indicate the DNS servers used.

If you correctly answer all these questions to the connection wizard, then accessing the Internet will not be difficult for you, and the page loading speed on a Pentium processor will be no lower than under Windows XP on a Pentium 4. The only inconvenience of this program is that it single-window, that is, you can only visit one site at a time. However, the entire history of your visits is saved, and returning to the previous page is very fast. By the way, to speed up work in Arachne, you should create a RAM disk and define a temporary folder on it (if, of course, you have enough RAM for this):

Graphics pages are displayed quite correctly (VESA resolutions up to 1024S768 in full color mode are supported), graphics load, tables are supported, etc. Moreover, Arachne supports scrolling pages with the mouse wheel: for this you need to use the CTMOUSE mouse driver that comes with Arachne (\SYSTEM\DEVDRVRS directory).

The Arachne program is universal, like Bobcat/Lynx - it includes a PPP dialer, a graphical browser, an email program, and much more. And all this in packaged form takes one megabyte and fits on one floppy disk. To Russify the interface, you need to download a special module (Plug-in) from the site http://386.by.ru - FULLRUS.APM, and to support Russian fonts (encodings) you need the files CP1251.APM and KOI8-R.APM. The PPP wizard, the setup menus, and useful tips etc. Additional modules are installed from a special Arachne installer in the utilities section of the program.

At its core, Arachne is a powerful graphical shell for DOS and has many additional modules and an easily customizable interface. In short, despite the "death" of DOS, the Arachne program continues to improve!

Arachne's low system requirements are also pleasing: it requires an i386 processor, 4 MB of memory, a CGA/EGA/VGA/SVGA video system and only 5 MB of disk space. In addition, for non-commercial use the program is distributed free of charge (freeware).

Thus, Arachne can be configured on a USB flash drive and get mobile exit to the Internet, which can be used directly from DOS. In addition, other Internet features are available from DOC, such as IRC, ICQ, etc.

Keyboard commands for controlling operations in DOS

A simple IRC client for DOS is Trumpet (http://www.trumpet.com.au) - it is both a newsreader, an IRC client, and an independent “dialer”. There are also ICQ clients for DOS, and one of these programs is implemented by LADsoft as a special module for Arachne - Lsicq (http://members.tripod.com/~ladsoft/lsicq/), which allows you to work with the console chat room simultaneously with browsing web pages. Of course, the browser and ICQ windows are called up in turn, but in one program and with simple switching between them.

Entertainment under DOS

Listening to any music under DOS is not difficult - there are plenty of players written for this operating system. And among them stands out MPxPlay (http://www.geocities.com/mpxplay/) - a unique player for almost any sound files, which continues to be improved to this day (the latest version is dated May 16 of this year). The player provides a standard set of functions, including control using a mouse and keyboard (as well as a joystick or device connected to the serial port), work with playlists, and even has a built-in spectrum analyzer.

Particularly worth noting is the ability of MPxPlay to connect an LCD indicator to a parallel port, which allows you to work even without a video adapter and monitor. MPxPlay allows you to play MP3, MP2 (MPG), OGG, CDW, WAV, MPC and AC3 files. A bootable CD can act as a file storage medium, which eliminates the need for a hard drive and reduces the size and power consumption of a device equipped with MPxPlay. In addition, the program takes up very little disk space and consumes negligible CPU time. The program supports long names files (LFN), performs sound correction and converts files into various formats. MpxPlay is also a CD grabber, which means it allows you to rip tracks from audio CDs and save them in WAV format. IN new version Support for playing MPEGPlus (MPC) files has been provided and support for the OGG format has been improved.

And what is absolutely surprising is full support for playing video discs under DOS (including watching DVD movies). In this area, the most popular player is Quick View Pro (www.multimediaware.com), which impresses with its system requirements and the number of supported graphic and multimedia formats and codecs. The program runs on a computer with an i386 processor, any VGA-compatible video card (preferably VESA-compatible) and the operating system DOS 3.0 or higher. In this case, it is advisable to have a SoundBlaster-compatible sound card.

This program quite successfully plays full-screen movies in MPEG-4 format even on i486 processors, although, of course, to watch movies it is better to use Pentium processors, and on i486 you need to watch movies in black and white or in half resolution. In addition to movies, Quick View allows you to watch almost everything graphic formats and play music (including MP3).

You can learn how to properly configure this program depending on the configuration of your computer from the very detailed documentation, and there are much more launch keys there than visual settings. In addition, the Quick View interface is very simple and intuitive.

Basic DOS Commands

This company also has an even simpler DOS MPEG and VideoCD player - MPEGone (http://www.multimediaware.com/mpeg/), which works without a graphical interface, launching full-screen playback directly from command line, and it takes up a little more than 100 KB on disk.

DOS program archives

Hundreds of thousands of programs have been written under DOS, and enthusiasts still support them and develop new ones. So, on the website of the above-mentioned Bobcat/Lynx developers (http://www.fdisk.com/doslynx/) there is a large archive useful programs and utilities, where everything that may be useful for efficient work in the Internet. A comprehensive collection of USB drivers and various utilities can be found on the website http://nostalgy.org.ru/.

And if you want to play under DOC, then an archive of old popular computer games is at your service

MS-DOS versions 1.x, 2.x, 3.x, 4.x have not become widespread and are practically not used at present. It should be noted that the initial MS-DOS versions depended on specific computer hardware. Operating systems were customized by programmers for specific computers. We are building our downgrade machine based on the Pentium III, so these versions are not very interesting to us.

Let's dive into DOS...

Let's go through all the versions in more detail.

Versions 1.x - 1981

The operating system is very similar to OS CP/M (considered the standard at that time). Only single-sided floppy disk format with a memory capacity of 160 KB (8 sectors, 40 tracks, sector size 512 bytes) was supported. Starting with version 1.25 (PC DOS 1.0), which appeared in May 1982, a double-sided floppy disk format with a memory capacity of 320 KB was introduced.

Versions 2.x - March 1983

Additional features:

  • working with hard drives (HDD);
  • hierarchical file system structure;
  • I/O redirection tools (borrowed from UNIX);
  • the concept of installable peripheral device drivers (using the CONFIG.SYS file), which made it possible to quickly adapt the OS to various hardware configurations;
  • volume labels (data storage media);
  • file attributes;
  • printer spooler (a special program that allows you to output information to the printer in the background) - PRINT.com;
  • 360 KB floppy disk format (9 sectors, 40 tracks, sector size 512 bytes).

Versions 3.x - August 1984

Additional features:

  • 1.2 MB floppy disk format;
  • 3.5″ floppy disks (720 KB format) (starting from version 3.2);
  • splitting the HDD into logical disks (up to 32 MB in size), which made it possible to use HDDs larger than 32 MB in size;
  • improved support for national character sets;
  • support for computer networks (weak, starting from version 3.1);
  • commands (programs): LABEL,ATTRIB;
  • commands (programs): XCOPY,REPLACE (starting from version 3.3).

MS-DOS 3.3 is the most widely used on the IBM PC XT and the IBM PC AT-286 with a memory capacity of no more than 640 KB.

Versions 4.x - November 1988

Additional features:

  • support for EGA, VGA graphic video adapters;
  • volume logical drives— more than 32 MB;
  • support for the LIM/EMS standard (EMM386.sys driver, access to additional RAM memory on the IBM PC AT-386 and higher), which allowed certain parts of MS-DOS to be loaded into additional memory;
  • Dos-Shell shell program.

Despite all the advantages, MS-DOS versions 4.x are not widely used.

MS-DOS versions from 5.x to 6.x.

The most common and frequently used stand-alone MS-DOS versions.

Operating system MS-DOS 6.22.

Version 5.0 - July 1991

Additional features:

  • the ability to load the MS-DOS kernel into HMA memory (High Memory Area) on the IBM PC AT-286 and higher;
  • up to 620 KB of address space (0-640 KB) of RAM is allocated for application programs;
  • HDD support up to 2 GB;
  • 2.88 MB format for 3.5″ floppy disks.

Version 6.0 - March 1993

Additional features:

  • efficient use of RAM;
  • additional service programs;
  • software for optimizing file systems on logical disks (DEFRAG);
  • commands (programs) that are no longer relevant have been removed;
  • special program MEMMAKER - optimization of the location of resident programs in RAM;
  • multi-configuration files CONFIG.SYS (the ability to select a configuration option from the menu);
  • virus protection system (weak);
  • increasing available disk space (DoubleSpace);
  • PC power consumption control tools (LapTop, NoteBook).

Version 6.2 - October 1993

Additional features:

  • a number of improvements in increasing the reliability of working with data at the file system level;
  • increased efficiency existing teams(programs);
  • CD-ROM caching (SMARTDRV program);
  • refusal of DoubleSpace without loss of information (allows you to return the logical disk to its original state);
  • identification and bypass of physical defects of HDD and FDD (SCANDISK);
  • identifying and eliminating defects in the file system (SCANDISK), including compressed DoubleSpace;
  • step-by-step execution of any *.bat file, including autoexec.bat.

Version 6.22 - October 1993

Additional features:

  • added new DoubleSpace compressor;
  • Code page 866 has been added to the non-localized version (using the EGA3.CPI and KEYBRD2.SYS files), which supports working with Cyrillic characters, including in file names, as well as date and time representations focused on Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

There is also a formally existing version 6.21, but it is mentioned only in the documentation; DOS reports itself as 6.20. In fact, version 6.21 is the result of Microsoft's lost legal battle with Stec Electronics over the DoubleSpace compressor code patented by Stac Electronics. The result was that DoubleSpace was removed from the system. In version 6.22 it was replaced by DoubleSpace.

MS-DOS versions from 7.x to 8.x.

Not independent MS-DOS versions, included as a necessary part in the Windows 95/98 - Windows ME operating systems. It should be noted that this ensures full compatibility of almost all MS-DOS programs with Windows 95/98.

Operating system MS-DOS 7.1 (7.10).

Version 7.0 - August 1995

Additional features:

  • operating system - part of Windows 95;
  • added support for LFN - long file names;
  • all code from MSDOS.SYS has been moved to IO.SYS;
  • MSDOS.SYS is now text file settings;
  • new commands in CONFIG.SYS: ACCDATE, BUFFERSHIGH, FCBSHIGH, FILESHIGH, LASTDRIVEHIGH, STACKSHIGH;
  • The delivery includes a CD-ROM driver: OAKCDROM.SYS.

Version 7.1 (7.10) - August 1996

Additional features:

  • operating system - as part of Windows 95 OSR2 and Windows 98 and SE;
  • added FAT32 and support for hard drives up to 127 GB.

Version 8.0 - September 2000

Additional features:

  • operating system - as part of Windows ME;
  • the functionality of the kernel has been degraded; a non-disabled upper memory driver is tightly integrated;
  • the ability to download to real mode With hard drive, most utilities have been removed;
  • also located on the boot diskette, created by Windows XP and older.

Compatibility of MS DOS versions.

Compatibility - the ability to work together technical means or software. If OS version M is compatible with OS version N, this means that all programs running in OS version N will also work in OS version M. Based on a practical analysis of the launch of the applications used, the following table of correspondence can be derived (MS-DOS 3.x and 4.x did not start on our machine, possible reasons are indicated in the note).

Note:
Typically, DOS system software is tailored to a specific machine. At the same time, it is designed so that it can be suitable for any machine compatible with this one. The only area where the provisioning of different operating systems is highly differentiated is the IO.SYS file. It is directly related to the physical structure of electronic equipment and is organized independently by each manufacturer. However, electronic equipment different systems similar in structure, and this ensures compatibility of IO.SYS in basic parameters. Thanks to this compatibility, the user can easily change the operating system on his computer.
However, not everything is so simple. Some operating systems have programs with automatic procedures that set strictly specific size every system file. Then if the sizes of the system files of both systems do not match, then the procedures of this operating system do not work and it crashes. There are other compatibility pitfalls.

Is there an alternative to MS-DOS?

Among MS-DOS-compatible systems, FreeDOS should be noted as being quite actively supported by enthusiasts. Despite this, there is no need to talk about full compatibility. Neither system is 100% compatible with MS-DOS. The table below confirms this (data as of 2005). The table provides data for MS-DOS 7.1 for Windows 98/95.

MS-DOS DR-DOS PTS-DOS FreeDOS
FAT32 + — + +
Driver EMS, UMB ++ ++ — +
Driver DPMI, DPMS — + — —
Disk cache + + — —
Disk defragmenter + + — +
Disk compression driver + + — —
Network Drivers — + — —
Debugger for... i8086 Pentium i80286 Pentium
System Information + — — —
Configuration file name config.sys dconfig.sys config.pts fdconfig.sys
Configuration menu +++ + ++ +
Default startup file name autoexec.bat autodos7.bat autopts.bat fdauto.bat
System files io.sys
msdos.sys		 ibmbio.sys
ibmdos.sys
security.bin		 ptsdos.sys kernel.sys

Despite Microsoft's refusal to further develop the operating system, the story of MS-DOS is not over. Programs are written, utilities are used, games are installed. So, let's dive into DOS...

Introduction.

If we talk about the operating system, then formulating its task is quite simple. In order to communicate with the computer in a language that both it and you understand, and also to have access to all system resources: disks, sound cards, etc., you need an intermediary program that turns the ones and zeros of the computer into normal human language and vice versa.

One of the operating systems serves as this intermediary. Therefore, it necessarily and automatically loads when you turn on the computer.

The MS-DOS system is considered the most reliable, but it cannot be called either convenient or friendly. In order to simplify working with it and make it “transparent”, they use special programs. They are called "shells". The high reliability of MS-DOS is often used to perform special technical operations.

MS DOS was created in 1981 by Microsoft at the request of IBM for the IBM PC computers that were then being developed. The IBM PC computer for which MS DOS was written was little like modern computers - a slow Intel-8088 microprocessor, 256 KB of RAM, no hard drive, alphanumeric black white monitor, work only with single-sided 160 KB floppy disks, etc. However, these capabilities were significantly higher than those of competing personal computers.

The first version of MS DOS also had much more modest capabilities than modern operating systems. It provided work on the computer with only one user and one program (that is, it was single-user and single-tasking), supported work only with floppy disks, a keyboard and an alphanumeric display. But DOS was compact, made rather modest demands on hardware and performed the necessary minimum functions for users and programs.

In the fifteen years that have passed since the advent of the IBM PC, specifications computers have made a fantastic leap forward. Modern computers are superior in all respects (speed, amount of RAM and disk memory, monitor capabilities, etc.) computers of the early 80s hundreds and even thousands of times. Therefore, Microsoft has made many changes and additions to MS DOS in order to expand its capabilities and more efficiently use new, more powerful computers:

· Support for new devices (hard disk, new types of floppy disks, CDs, extended memory, etc.) was added to MS DOS, and it was also possible to support any other devices using software drivers;

· Support for hierarchical file structure on floppy disks and hard drives has been enabled;

· Support for national keyboards and alphabets was provided;

· Numerous new user features have been included (new DOS commands, useful utilities, memory optimizer, disk compression support, etc.).

When releasing new versions of MS DOS, Microsoft strictly followed two the most important principles:

· Maintaining Compatibility: any version of MS DOS could run programs written for any previous version of MS DOS;

· Works on any computer: any version of MS DOS can run on any IBM PC-compatible computer (even without a hard drive, with 512 or even less KB of RAM, with any monitor, etc.).

However, many improvements to MS DOS proved impossible to add while maintaining full compatibility with all existing DOS programs:

· MS DOS has remained a single-tasking OS. Various software tools that allow you to run several DOS programs and switch between them (DesqView, DosShell, etc.) have remained half-hearted solutions that are not widely used;

· It turned out to be impossible to build into MS DOS reliable means for protecting data from unauthorized access and organizing collective work with data;

· DOS programs can only be executed within the first MB of memory, and the rest of the memory can only be used for data storage.

Versions MS DOS . Now the latest separately distributed version of MS DOS is version 6.22, it was released in May 1994. This version of MS DOS finally included support for entering Russian letters from the keyboard and displaying them on the monitor screen (previously, it was necessary to use special localization programs for this ). It is hardly advisable to use earlier versions of MS DOS now, unless MS DOS 3.3 can be used on IBM PC XT computers with 640 or 512 KB of RAM.

MS DOS version 7.0 is only available in part of Windows 95 (which was released in August 1995). This version of MS DOS, apparently, is more correctly considered not as a separate OS, but as a subsystem of Windows 95, which serves to ensure compatibility with previous versions MS DOS.

Main components DOS .

Disk files IO . SYS And MSDOS . SYS . Disk files IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS, otherwise called main system files MS DOS, contain MS DOS programs that are permanently located in the computer's RAM. The IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS files must be located in root directory disk from which MS DOS is loaded.

Command processor DOS . The DOS command processor processes commands entered by the user, such as Type, Dir, or Copy, the command processor itself executes. Such commands are called internal. To complete the rest ( external) user commands, the command processor searches the disks for a program with the corresponding name and, if it finds it, loads it into memory and transfers control to it. At the end of the program, the command processor deletes the program from memory and displays a message indicating that it is ready to execute commands.

External commands DOS . External DOS commands are programs supplied with the operating system in the form separate files. These programs perform maintenance tasks, such as formatting floppy disks, checking disks, etc. External DOS commands are written to a separate directory when DOS is installed.

Drivers. Device drivers are special programs that complement MS DOS, for example, providing support for new or non-standard use of existing devices. Drivers are loaded into the computer's memory when the operating system boots, and their names are specified in a special CONFIG.SYS file. This design makes it easy to add new devices and allows you to do so without affecting DOS system files.

Basic input/output system. Basic input/output system (BIOS), located in permanent memory(read-only memory, ROM) of a computer, is not formally part of MS DOS, but is closely related to it. The BIOS contains programs to check the computer's hardware, initiate OS booting, and programs to perform basic (low-level) input/output operations on the monitor, keyboard, disks, and printer.

Loader DOS . Another program that can be considered part of DOS is the DOS loader. It is located in the first sector of each floppy disk and in the first sector of the logical disk from which DOS is loaded, there is drive C:. The purpose of this very short program is to load the DOS system file IO.SYS into memory when the computer boots up.

When it is executed. The OS boots up automatically in the following cases:

· When you turn on the computer's power supply;

· When you press the “Reset” key on the computer case.

When working in DOS, DOS restarts also occur when pressing keys simultaneously Ctrl , Alt , Del on keyboard.

Conditions for its implementation. To perform the initial boot of the OS, it is necessary that there is a system floppy disk in drive A: or that the OS is recorded on logical drive C:. During initial boot, after performing a hardware check, the OS loader program is called, which reads the beginning of one of the OS system files into memory and transfers control to it. The further progress of the download depends on the type of OS, its settings, etc.

MS DOS in outline. When loading MS DOS, the message Starting MS DOS... is displayed on the screen, the main DOS files (IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS) are read into the computer's memory, after which the configuration commands contained in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files are executed. The DOS prompt is then displayed on the screen, indicating that DOS is ready to accept commands.

User dialogue with DOS .

The user's dialogue with DOS is carried out in the form teams– strings of characters entered by the user in response to invitation DOS . Each user command means that DOS must perform one or another action, for example, print a file or display a directory table of contents.

A DOS command consists of the name of the command or program being called and optionally parameters, separated by spaces. Each command entry ends with a key press Enter .

The name of a command or program can be typed in either uppercase or lowercase Latin letters (it doesn’t matter). Parameters can usually also be written in both capital and lowercase letters, otherwise this is specifically stated when describing the command or program.

Invitation DOS .

When DOS is ready to interact with the user, it displays invitation, for example A> or C:\>. This means that DOS is ready to receive commands. When the user interacts with a program other than DOS, there is no DOS prompt (however, the program may have its own prompt for entering commands for that program). However, most programs communicate with the user not using commands, but through menus, requests, pressing certain key combinations, etc.

) is a commercial operating system from Microsoft for IBM PC-compatible personal computers. MS-DOS is the most famous operating system from the DOS family, previously installed on most IBM PC-compatible computers. Over time, it was supplanted by the Windows 9x and Windows NT family of operating systems.

Configuration files:

To set the OS configuration, configuration files of a special format are used:

  • CONFIG.SYS - system configuration and loading device drivers at the MSDOS.SYS initialization stage
  • AUTOEXEC.BAT - startup batch file. Executed when the command processor is launched during system boot.

The distribution also includes the following drivers and programs:

  • ANSI.SYS - advanced console (screen and keyboard) driver.
  • HIMEM.SYS is a driver for additional (extended memory) and HMA memory.
  • EMM386.EXE - expanded memory driver.
  • RAMDRIVE.SYS - ram disk driver.
  • KEYB.COM - driver for switching keyboard language layouts.
  • KEYBOARD.SYS - a file with descriptions of language keyboard layouts, designed as a driver.
  • COUNTRY.SYS - file with localization tables and sorting alphabets.
  • DISPLAY.SYS - display driver; in particular, it loads localized fonts.
  • *.CPI - downloadable screen and keyboard code page fonts.
  • MODE.COM - a program for setting a number of screen parameters and system I/O ports: serial, parallel
  • DOS Shell (DOSSHELL) - starting from MS-DOS 5.0, included in the distribution. The shell uses a “two-panel” principle with a pseudo-graphical interface. In MS-DOS 6.22 it was removed in additional package MS-DOS Resource Kit.

Third party add-ons and extensions

Multitasking Network clients and servers
  • Lantastic
  • Personal Netware
Computer-to-Computer Connections
  • Laplink
  • Norton Link
Memory expansion

In connection with the development of the IBM PC / architecture, extended and then AT additional memory appeared, which was possible to use in OS components and programs using the mechanisms EMS, XMS, HMA, UMA / UMB, which are provided by the extended memory BIOS and DOS drivers - memory managers from Microsoft (HIMEM and EMM386) or third-party managers (for example, QEMM).

Shells

For MS-DOS, which provides the user with only a command line interface, a number of so-called shells were created, that is, programs that make working with files more visual and convenient. The most famous of them:

  • Norton Commander is the most popular commercial file manager in Russia. All operations with files are performed on two panels using hot keys and, later, the mouse and menu. The latest versions include many plugins that significantly expand functionality. In the image of Norton Commander, many interfaces for file managers and other programs were later created for various operating systems.
  • Volkov Commander is a clone of Norton Commander. Unlike Norton Commander, it supports long file names (for version 4.99 alpha). Very compact. The basic kit includes only the file manager itself with a minimal but sufficient set of functions, and takes up about 64 KB of disk space. The functionality is expanded by connecting other applications.
  • DOS Navigator is a further development of the Norton Commander idea. Greater functionality. More panels. Supports SVGA text modes (132x25 - 132x60). Windowed interface with multitasking for plugins. Expansion through easy and convenient connection of plugins and third-party applications.

Problems running MS-DOS applications under MS Windows

MS-DOS application developers often used undocumented features and functions, as well as direct access to hardware, bypassing the operating system. This is the reason that in Windows 9x and newer operating systems it is not always possible to run an application written for MS-DOS.

Another problem that users encounter when working with MS-DOS applications on modern computers is the significant difference in performance. In recent years, the speed of computers has increased significantly. Therefore, many games for MS-DOS on modern computer work too quickly, so the user does not have time to see what is happening on the screen and analyze the game situation. The reason for this is the use of loops to generate delays. Modern processors they perform them too quickly, and often ignore them altogether (the work of an intelligent optimizer). For the same reason, some applications stop working, displaying a division by zero error.

To solve the above and a number of other problems of working with MS-DOS applications running Windows NT and Unix-like operating systems, special emulators are used. At the moment, the most famous of them is DOSBox, which allows you to configure individual launch parameters for each MS-DOS application: the performance of the emulated computer, the emulated sound and video card, etc.

see also

Notes

Links

  • The history of the emergence and development of the MS-DOS operating system, changes in various versions are described
  • MS-DOS celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of Compulent, July 27, 2011
Aspects of operating systems (history list)
Core
Control
processes
Control
memory
Other
Kernel type Monolithic core Interface Command line License Proprietary; for versions 1.25 and 2.0 - MIT State Historical (end of support December 31, 2001) Source code repository github.com/microsoft/ms-… Previous 86-DOS Next Microsoft Windows Web site MS-DOS at Wikimedia Commons

MS-DOS is an unofficial hybrid of the CP/M and Unix operating systems, taking the simplicity and lightness of the first and most of the functionality from the second. This is a flexible operating system that is not demanding on PC resources.

Description

Story

MS-DOS is a renamed version of 86-DOS, written by Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products. 86-DOS took only six weeks to develop and was a clone of Digital Research's CP/M, ported for use on the 8086 processor and containing only two differences from the original: improved disk sector buffering logic and a new file system FAT12. The first version of 86-DOS was released in August 1980. According to the agreement signed in November 1980 with IBM, Microsoft was required to provide an operating system for the new IBM PC computer, based on the Intel 8086. To this end, Microsoft hired Tim Paterson in May 1981 to complete the adaptation of 86-DOS to the IBM PC prototype, and then in July of the same year fully purchased the rights to 86-DOS 1.10 for $75 thousand. Microsoft kept the version numbering, but renamed the OS to MS-DOS. In August 1981, IBM-licensed MS-DOS 1.10/1.14, under the name PC DOS 1.0, began shipping with new IBM PC personal computers.

In version 2.0, timed to coincide with the release of the IBM PC XT with a hard disk, MS-DOS radically expanded the functionality of the OS, partly adapting what was missing from Unix (for example, subdirectories, working with files through descriptors, I/O redirection, accessing devices by name, and the like). Scale changes made It also emphasizes the fact that most of the later programs, including those for the latest versions of MS-DOS, have the line “DOS 2.0 or higher” in the requirements.

MS-DOS was originally designed as an operating system that could run on any computer with an 8086 processor. Microsoft followed the CP/M distribution model, with a different version of MS-DOS running for each computer with different hardware. To achieve this, the OS had a modular structure with a minimal set of drivers for disk drives and the console integrated into the kernel, and installable drivers for other devices loaded and available at boot time. OEMs used the development kit provided by Microsoft to create their own version of MS-DOS with a standard kernel but with I/O device drivers specific to their hardware. Manufacturers usually supplied this version on floppy disks along with computers. Thus, there were many versions of MS-DOS for different hardware platforms, and a distinction must be made between IBM PC-compatible and MS-DOS-compatible computers. Some computers, such as the Tandy 2000, could run software written only for MS-DOS, but not anything that took advantage of the features of the IBM PC architecture.

The design of the operating system assumes good compatibility if programs use only standard MS-DOS calls to operate. A similar philosophy was later implemented in Windows NT (see Hardware Abstraction Layer). However, in MS-DOS, greater program speed is achieved only through direct access to the hardware, which was especially typical for games of that time that required significant computer resources. The dominance of the IBM PC-compatible architecture led to the proliferation of numerous clones and the need for separate hardware-dependent versions of the operating system disappeared.

Subsequently, the dependence on the IBM architecture caused a number of serious problems in the industry when changing the original IBM PC design. So initially it was not intended to use more than 640 KB of RAM (640 KB barrier), since the areas of RAM above were reserved for peripheral devices and ROM. Manufacturers had to invent various schemes bypassing this obstacle (EMS, XMS, etc.) to access additional memory. If the original idea of ​​hardware independence were continued, then similar problem could have been avoided. Thus, MS-DOS is an operating system that runs in the real mode of a processor with x86 architecture, in which it is capable of addressing no more than 1 MB of RAM.

For computers manufactured by IBM, a version called PC DOS was installed. For third-party manufacturers, Microsoft offered DOS version already under the name MS-DOS. Thanks to the collaboration of IBM and Microsoft, up until version 5.0, PC DOS and MS-DOS were practically the same. The first boxed version of MS-DOS was 5.0 in the Upgrade version; before that, all releases were distributed only as an OEM product by personal computer manufacturing companies [ ] .

Version history

Version date FS /
Volume size		 Description
QDOS 0.10 July 1980 FAT12 First version released commercially by Seattle Computer Products.
86-DOS 0.3 December 1980 FAT12 The first version that Microsoft licensed from Seattle Computer Products.
86-DOS 1.0 April 1981 FAT12 First release of 86-DOS.
86-DOS 1.10 July 1981 FAT12 Purchased by Microsoft and renamed MS-DOS on July 27, 1981. Appeared in connection with the release of the IBM PC. Completely similar to PC DOS 1.0. Supports single-sided 5.25" 8-sector 160 KB HDDs only. COMMAND.COM implements the following internal commands: COPY, DIR, ERASE, PAUSE, REM, RENAME, TYPE. External commands: CHKDSK, DATE, DEBUG, DISKCOMP, DISKCOPY, EDLIN , FORMAT, LINK, MODE, SYS, TIME, BASIC Only the last modified date is recorded in the file attributes.
1.10-1.14 July - October 1981 FAT12 Offered as one of three possible variants for IBM PC DOS 1.0.
1.24 March 1982 FAT12 Added support for double-sided 5.25" 320 KB drives. FAT12. In addition to the date of the last recording, its time has been added to the file attributes. The COPY command now supports merging files. New internal commands: DATE, DEL, REN, TIME. New external command EXE2BIN. Basis for IBM PC DOS 1.1 MS-DOS will be the basis for IBM PC DOS up to and including version 6.22.
1.25 June 1982 FAT12 For use with computers not manufactured by IBM. Similar to PC DOS 1.1. IBM supplies GW-BASIC instead of BASICA.
2.0 March 1983 FAT12
15 MiB		 Appeared in connection with the release of the IBM PC XT. For the first time, support for hard drives appeared, maximum volume 15 MiB, one partition - one disk. Added support for 10 MiB hard drives from IBM. Support for 5.25" 9-sector single-sided 180 KB and double-sided 360 KB HDDs. Volume label support has been implemented. Directory support has been added - previously all files were located only in the root of the disk. File operations based on file descriptors have been introduced - previously work with files was carried out only using FCB (File Control Block). Console I/O redirection has been introduced. New commands have been added: FC (MS-DOS only), BACKUP, RESTORE, TREE, CD, MD, RD, PATH, etc. For Commands have been added to batch (*.bat) files: GOTO, IF, ECHO, etc. Support for connecting external device drivers has been implemented. Support for background printing using the PRINT command. Support for the CGA video subsystem has been enabled.
2.01 October 1983 FAT12
15 MiB		 Added COUNTRY command to display custom date and time format and currency icon.
2.10 November 1983 FAT12
15 MiB		 Version for IBM (PC DOS 2.10). Appeared in connection with the release of the IBM PCjr. Based on 2.0 with modifications for PCjr.
2.11 March 1984 FAT12
15 MiB		 Version for non-IBM computers. Based on 2.1 with modifications from 2.01. Translated into 10 different languages.
3.00 August 1984 FAT16
32 MiB		 Appeared in connection with the release of IBM PC/AT, which was equipped with a 20 MiB hard drive. Adding the ability to execute programs that are not in the current directory by specifying a route. Added support for 15-sector 5.25" 1.2 MB drives. Added new commands: ATTRIB, LABEL, SELECT, KEYB, SHARE, GRAFTABL, COUNTRY. Support virtual disk in RAM.
3.10 November 1984 FAT16
32 MiB		 Added support for working on Microsoft networks. Added JOIN and SUBST commands.
3.20 January 1986 FAT16
32 MiB		 Appeared in connection with the release of IBM PC Convertible. Added support for 3.5" 720 KB floppy drives. Added new REPLACE and XCOPY commands. The FORMAT command now prevents unintentional formatting of the hard drive. Added DRIVER.SYS to create dummy drives. Added RAMDRIVE.SYS driver to create a virtual disk in RAM.
3.30 August 1987 FAT16
32 MiB		 Appeared in connection with the release of IBM PS/2. Supports the concept of splitting hard drives of any size into logical drives up to 32 MB in size. One hard drive can only have 2 partitions - MS-DOS and EXT DOS, no more than two hard drives themselves. Inside EXT DOS there can be up to 23 subsections (from D to Z). Without external programs, the volume of a hard drive cannot be more than 32 MiB. With INT 13H, which was only added to the BIOS in 1994, the maximum HDD capacity was 24x32=768 MiB. Added support for 3.5" HD (High Density) 1.44 MB drives. Added support for code pages (national character sets and sorting tables). Has several identified errors (for example, FORMAT can reject a good disk). Added support for commands: APPEND, CALL, CHCP, FASTOPEN, NLSFUNC.
3.31 November 1987 FAT16B
512 MiB		 A modified version of MS-DOS 3.30 by Compaq, which introduced support for the 32-bit logical number sector for the first time.
4.0 prototype 1985 Experimental, did not go on mass sale. Featured real-mode preemptive multitasking for the 8086 processor family (later removed). Included relocatable and pageable memory segments for code and relocatable data segments (manager Windows memory was the manager's version DOS memory 4). Had the ability to dynamically switch screens.
4.0 July 1988 FAT16B
2 GiB		 Supports logical drives on hard drives larger than 32 MB. The maximum HDD capacity cannot be more than 528 MiB without third-party programs (528 MB barrier (504 MiB in old BIOS)). INT 13H made it possible to increase the HDD capacity to 7.844 GiB (a barrier associated with a bug in MS DOS, which existed before version 7.1). Uses mapped memory for OS buffers and FASTOPEN command data structures (EMS 4.0 required). Allows you to use the first 64 KB of extended memory (HMA memory) to accommodate resident programs. Provides expanded support for national languages. It has a significant number of errors. Added new MEM command. Full EGA and VGA support.
4.01 December 1988 FAT16B
2 GiB		 Major bugs in version 4.0 have been fixed. Includes graphical shell MS-DOS Shell. The first Russified version.
5.0 June 1991 FAT16B
2 GiB		 Support for up to eight physical hard drives has been introduced. Provides placement of its kernel, as well as drivers and resident programs, in both HMA and UMB. Added support for 3.5" EHD 2.88 MB drives. New memory manager. Added new commands: DELOLDOS, DOSKEY, EXPAND, LOADHIGH, MIRROR, SETVER, UNDELETE, UNFORMAT. Added full screen text editor Edit, full-screen QBASIC programming environment, online Help. Some of the new utilities (MIRROR, UNDELETE and UNFORMAT) are licensed from Central Point Software. MS-DOS 5.00 came on six 360 KB floppies or two 1.2 MB floppy disks. A Russian version was released with a translated interface, messages and reference materials. The latest version, completely identical to PC DOS 5.0, with the exception of file names and license agreements.
6.0 March 1993 FAT16B
2 GiB		 Added new commands: DELTREE and MOVE. Excluding commands: RECOVER, ASSIGN, GRAFTABL, JOIN, MIRROR, COMP, BACKUP, EXE2BIN, PRINTER.SYS driver. Improvements to the DIR, MEM, UNDELETE, FORMAT, SYS commands. The new CHOICE command provides branching in batch files. Providing the ability to cancel the execution of individual commands in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT entirely. Organization of branches in CONFIG.SYS. SMARTDRV provides write caching. Added CD-ROM support. New energy management utility POWER. Inclusion of additional software into the system: Microsoft MemMaker (optimizing the use of upper memory), Microsoft DoubleSpace (disk compressor), Microsoft Defragmenter (disk defragmentation, licensed from Symantec), Microsoft Backup (in versions for MS-DOS and Windows), Microsoft Anti- Virus (in versions for MS-DOS and Windows, licensed from Central Point Software), Microsoft Diagnostics information utility, Interlink communication system, Microsoft Undelete for Windows.
6.2 November 1993 FAT16B
2 GiB		 The commands have been improved: FORMAT (sectors in failed clusters are not tested by default), DISKCOPY (the ability to create an image on the HDD), COMMAND (the ability to process line by line has now been added) batch files). The FORMAT, CHKDSK, DIR, MEM commands display information with thousands separation. SMARTDRV now caches CD-ROMs. HIMEM.SYS is now able to test extended memory when connected. Modernization of Microsoft DoubleSpace. Added ScanDisk hard drive testing utility. Exclusion from MS-DOS Shell distribution.
6.21 February 1994 FAT16B
2 GiB		 Following a lawsuit by Stac Electronics alleging that Microsoft used Stac-patented code in DoubleSpace, DoubleSpace was removed from the system. All components that support data compression - ScanDisk and Microsoft Backup - have also undergone changes. Now ScanDisk could not start on compressed volumes and serve them, and Backup did not support both compression during archiving and recovery of such archives created in versions 6.0 and 6.2.
6.22 June 1994 FAT16B
2 GiB		 Added new DriveSpace compressor. It uses a storage format that is incompatible with DoubleSpace. If desired, the file can be converted to new format. Microsoft Backup uses new technology compression used in DriveSpace. The non-localized version adds code page 866 (using the EGA3.CPI and KEYBRD2.SYS files), which supports working with Cyrillic characters, including in file names, as well as date and time representations focused on Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
7.0 August 1995 FAT16B
2 GiB		 As part of Windows 95. Added support for LFN - long file names (available only on Windows). All code from MSDOS.SYS has been moved to IO.SYS. MSDOS.SYS is now a text settings file. New commands in CONFIG.SYS: ACCDATE, BUFFERSHIGH, FCBSHIGH, FILESHIGH, LASTDRIVEHIGH, STACKSHIGH. CD-ROM driver included: OAKCDROM.SYS
7.1 August 1996 FAT32
137 GiB		 As part of Windows 95 OSR2 and Windows 98 and SE. fdisk can create a volume size of no more than ~63.5 GiB, but if you use SeaTools this limitation can be overcome. The maximum disk capacity, as with all OSes from Windows 95 OSR2 to Windows Vista, is 2 TiB.
8.0 September 2000 FAT32
137 GiB		 As part of Windows ME. The functionality of the kernel has been degraded; a non-disabled upper memory driver has been tightly integrated. The ability to boot in real mode from the hard drive is blocked, most utilities have been removed. Also found on the boot floppy disk created by Windows XP and later.

MS-DOS distribution

Minimum set of MS-DOS files:

  • kernel files:
    • MSDOS.SYS - interrupt handling;
  • command processor:
    • COMMAND.COM - command line interface support.

Strictly speaking, the COMMAND.COM file is not necessary to run MS-DOS. It can be replaced by another command processor capable of executing the desired commands. At one time, many command processors were released by third-party developers. The most common third-party command processor was NDOS.COM (licensed 4DOS) from Symantec's Norton Utilities package.

In addition to the specified files, the SYS.COM and FORMAT.COM command with the /S switch, starting from version 6.0, additionally transfers the file DBLSPACE.BIN (6.0-6.2) or DRVSPACE.BIN (6.22) to the system disk, which are responsible for working with compressed disks in Microsoft DoubleSpace or DriveSpace formats, respectively.

Configuration files

To set the OS configuration, configuration files of a special format are used:

  • CONFIG.SYS - system configuration and loading device drivers at the MSDOS.SYS initialization stage
  • AUTOEXEC.BAT - startup batch file. Executed when the command processor is launched during system boot.

The distribution also includes the following drivers and programs:

  • ANSI.SYS - advanced console (screen and keyboard) driver.
  • COUNTRY.SYS - file with localization tables and sorting alphabets.
  • DISPLAY.SYS - display driver; in particular, it loads localized fonts.
  • DBLSPACE.EXE - Microsoft DoubleSpace, disk compressor (6.0 - 6.2).
  • DEFRAG.EXE - Microsoft Defragmenter, disk defragmenter.
  • DOSSHELL.EXE - MS-DOS Shell, a shell using the “two-panel” principle with a pseudo-graphical interface. In MS-DOS 6.2 it was removed into the additional package MS-DOS Resource Kit.
  • DRVSPACE.EXE - Microsoft DriveSpace, disk compressor (6.22).
  • HIMEM.SYS is a driver for additional (extended memory) and HMA memory.
  • HELP.COM - interactive reference manual MS-DOS Help.
  • EMM386.EXE is a driver for emulating expanded memory and managing upper (UMB) memory.
  • INTERLNK.EXE, INTERSVR.EXE - Interlnk intercomputer communication subsystem.
  • KEYB.COM - driver for switching keyboard language layouts.
  • KEYBOARD.SYS - a file with descriptions of language keyboard layouts, designed as a driver.
  • *.CPI - downloadable screen and keyboard code page fonts.
  • MEMMAKER.EXE - Microsoft MemMaker, high memory optimizer.
  • MODE.COM is a program for setting a number of screen parameters and system I/O ports: serial, parallel.
  • MSAV.EXE - Microsoft Anti-Virus for MS-DOS, antivirus.
  • MSD.EXE - Microsoft Diagnostics, an information utility that displays the PC configuration.
  • MSBACKUP.EXE - Microsoft Backup for MS-DOS, backup and recovery of information.
  • MWAV.EXE - Microsoft Anti-Virus for Windows, antivirus.
  • MWBACKUP.EXE - Microsoft Backup for Windows, backup and recovery of information.
  • MWUNDEL.EXE - Microsoft Undelete for Windows, recovering deleted files.
  • POWER.EXE - driver for power management.
  • RAMDRIVE.SYS - ram disk driver.
  • SCANDISK.EXE - Microsoft Scandisk, disk scanner-corrector.
  • SMARTDRV.EXE - Microsoft SmartDrive, a disk caching program.
  • VSAFE.COM - VSafe, resident virus filter.
  • UNDELETE.EXE - Microsoft Undelete for MS-DOS, recovery of deleted files.

Third party add-ons and extensions

Multitasking Network clients and servers

  • Lantastic
  • Personal Netware
Computer-to-Computer Connections
  • Laplink
  • Norton Link
Memory expansion

In connection with the development of the IBM PC / architecture, extended and then additional memory appeared, which was possible to use in OS components and programs using the EMS, XMS, HMA, UMA / UMB mechanisms, which are provided by the extended memory BIOS and DOS-manager drivers memory from Microsoft (HIMEM and EMM386) or third-party managers (for example, QEMM).

Shells

For MS-DOS, which provides the user with only a command line interface, a number of so-called shells were created, that is, programs that make working with files more visual and convenient. The most famous of them:

  • Norton Commander is the most popular commercial file manager in Russia. All operations with files are performed on two panels using hot keys and, later, the mouse and menu. The latest versions include many plugins that significantly expand functionality. In the image of Norton Commander, many interfaces for file managers and other programs were later created for various operating systems.
  • Volkov Commander is a clone of Norton Commander. Unlike Norton Commander, it supports long file names (for version 4.99 alpha). Very compact. The basic kit includes only the file manager itself with a minimal but sufficient set of functions, and takes up about 64 KB of disk space. The functionality is expanded by connecting other applications.
  • DOS Navigator is a further development of the Norton Commander idea. Greater functionality. More panels. Supports SVGA text modes (132x25 - 132x60). Windowed interface with multitasking for plugins. Expansion through easy and convenient connection of plugins and third-party applications.


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