Off-topic: Enhanced DOS

[Patricia M Godfrey pmgodfrey@xxxxxxxx]

Jordan wrote: "the possibility that the FAT-32-understanding capability
you saw in your boot disk was written into that Win-9x version of
Command.Com (& / or the two System Files), instead of via a separate IFS
driver, like the ones I alluded to." But that's exactly what I'm saying:
MSDOS 98 (and 95 b and c) are FAT-32 capable, per se and ut sic. I tried
booting from the floppy I described yesterday, then running Xy from
another floppy (with Command.com on it, so I wouldn't get that silly
"replace disk with command.com" message), and Xy was able to see all my
drives, including 9-gig C: (though only 1.6 G are used). So whether Xy
was given a forward capability, or whether it gets DIR info from the
opsys and not directly from the hardware, it appears that it can see
FAT-32 drives.
	So I would say that MSDOS 95b and up (through ME, but you DON'T want
anything to do with Me) are FAT-32. And you don't "have to put up with
Win-9x to have it," though getting rid of the GUI sludge is complicated.
You do have to have a license for Windows (or a flexible conscience: I
have no qualms about "cheating" Gates&Co., but they make you say "I
accept" the terms of the EULA, and my word, even coerced, means a lot to
me).
	Here's what I suggest: try to find a copy of Win 95 b or C or 98 a or b
(unfortunately there were no shrink-wrapped versions of 95 b and c; they
were stricly OEM releases) on e-bay or from a liquidator. If you cannot
get a shrink-wrapped package, get a guarantee that the OEM version has
not been so tailored to the manufacturer's specs that it will choke on
other hardware. Most of the liquidators are pretty honest about not
offering crippled versions; I've bought three or four copies of 9x, OEM'd
for Dell, IBM, and--I forget what the other was for--for my own and other
machines, and never found any compatibility issues. But I'd steer clear
of Dell, because of late they have been using crippled versions. Use the
startup disk to create any DOS partitions you want, leaving the rest of
the disk free for your other opsys-partitions. Format, install Windows,
then boot to DOS, copy everything in \Windows\commmand to the root, and
DELTree everything else. MSDOS 9x, sans GUI. You'll need to add the
16-bit CD-ROM drivers and a config.sys and autoexec.bat that call them,
but I'm sure you're used to all that.
Patricia