[jimmsta]

I've managed to find the creation tools used by the guys who created the unofficial DOS 7.1 distribution that was on the net for free for a while...

I'll release it here if it's deemed OK. As far as I can tell, it just creates the boot disks from the contents of the Win98SE cd. It can also create DOS 8.0 diskettes, but according to the Readme, it's somewhat buggy in this mode (WinME CD used). All the archive consists of is a batch file, and diskette creation utilities.

I've also relocated the DOS 7.1 ISO, which was floating around the net for a while, but has been removed almost entirely.

Again, I'll only post these if it's deemed OK to post. I don't want to encounter any legality problems.

[LLXX]

If it requires the 98SE CD, then I'm assuming it does not contain any M$ files.

Also, I don't think Micro$oft is going to care about people giving away copies of MS-DOS. They don't even sell 98SE anymore, and they just discontinued support a short while ago. In short: They're not going to bother trying to stop "piracy" of software that they don't even make a profit from anymore.

[XP-is-a-CRAP]

Quote

They don't even sell 98SE anymore, and they just discontinued support a short while ago. In short: They're not going to bother trying to stop "piracy" of software that they don't even make a profit from anymore.

To "piracy" or not to "piracy": Make sure to check newest Enhanced DR-DOS and FreeDOS releases before
using Windows 98 as source of "DOS". BTW, multiboot of W98 and FreeDOS works like a charm,
even on same partition.

[Eck]

I used that fella's MS-DOS 7.1 for a while, and still have the installation cd. I'm wondering whether his website disappeared more for non-interest than any legal issues. Not sure.

His installation cd does not require any version of MS-DOS or Windows installed, nor any Windows cd's. It is fully stand alone.

He also provided a Windows 98 GUI executable which would install a full Windows 98 GUI to use in conjunction with his MS-DOS 7.1, and also had one for a Windows 95 GUI. I never installed these, as I was multi=booting with his MS-DOS, Windows 98SE, and Windows XP and didn't need ANOTHER Windows.

Actually, it seems to me upon typing that stuff out that ALL of that would probably be considered pirating by Microsoft. I guess they wouldn't bother going after the individual user at this point but they still might make a legal fuss over those files being posted on a popular website for all to download.

A shame, because his cd has optional installs of some nice tools that, although all available separately (if you could still find them today), are nicely all setup by his installer with very little user fussing with configurating them.

It really was a nice piece of software. Probably not legal though.

One could, if the additional software was gathered, set up essentially the same thing with Windows 98SE. You'd just need to set up MSDOS.SYS to load MS-DOS at startup instead of Windows. He does set memory up optimized for MS-DOS, but I suppose we could do that ourselves too. It was just a nice way of having it all configured for you. I would load my SBLive dosdrv folder and play my dos games in there.

[LLXX]

By any chance are you talking about Wengier Wu of the China DOS Union?

[Eck]

I don't remember and haven't gone through my cd's to look for the stuff. Maybe jimmsta knows since he has the files handy. Maybe there's some info among the readme's.

[jimmsta]

LLXX, on Aug 23 2006, 05:32 AM, said:

By any chance are you talking about Wengier Wu of the China DOS Union?

Exactly. I took an afternoon navigating the site and trying to find these files. I have no idea what the strings of text on my screen said, except for DOS and 7.1 ... I got lucky, I guess...

Here's the creator:
http://rapidshare.de...866/DOS71DL.zip

I also have the DOS7.1 ISO file, but it might be deemed illegal by the board.

If a mod or admin wishes to remove the file from this post, please do so. I don't want to be violating any rules.

[LLXX]

They have more files in their forum BTW.

[XP-is-a-CRAP]

Quote

Here's the creator:
http://rapidshare.de...ed*******DL.zip

I had a look and was NOT amused.

Quote

If it requires the 98SE CD, then I'm assuming it does not contain any M$ files.

WRONG. It DOES contain M$-files. It seems quite "complete". No idea why it
requires the CD nevertheless.

It contains a huge number of files from different sources:

Windows 98, M$-DOS 6.xx, FreeDOS, Win 3.xx, ..., ..., ...

having different licenses (proprietary, shareware, freeware, GNU GPL, ...)

The mess is completed by a truncated (!!!) GNU GPL text and some non-European
(Chinese ?) texts.

Quote

I also have the DOS7.1 ISO file, but it might be deemed illegal by the board.

The ISO file is probably almost identical with the "creator".

No, thanks, I prefer legal DOSes.

This post has been edited by XP-is-a-CRAP: 23 August 2006 - 10:13 PM

[jimmsta]

as far as I can tell, the majority of the files are only stubbs, and still require the diskettes for win 3.1 support, and the CD for creation of bootable disks with all utilities. Keep in mind that Win98 boot disks are available freely, and contain nearly the same binaries found in this archive.

I'll keep this up until a mod removes it, or asks me to.

[LLXX]

XP-is-a-CRAP, on Aug 23 2006, 11:10 PM, said:

No, thanks, I prefer legal DOSes.

Micro$oft doesn't even sell 6.22 and older DOSes, not to mention support for Win98se was completely discontinued a short while ago.

I doubt anybody is losing any profits from the distribution of this either.

BTW a lot of this site is supposedly illegal anyway - the M$ license prohibits you from modifying their files. nLite is a good example. In this forum, Enable48bitLBA and Copy2Gb are as well.

This post has been edited by LLXX: 24 August 2006 - 03:02 AM

[Acheron]

LLXX, on Aug 24 2006, 11:01 AM, said:

XP-is-a-CRAP, on Aug 23 2006, 11:10 PM, said:

No, thanks, I prefer legal DOSes.

Micro$oft doesn't even sell 6.22 and older DOSes, not to mention support for Win98se was completely discontinued a short while ago.

I doubt anybody is losing any profits from the distribution of this either.

BTW a lot of this site is supposedly illegal anyway - the M$ license prohibits you from modifying their files. nLite is a good example. In this forum, Enable48bitLBA and Copy2Gb are as well.

Microsoft license != Public law. It depends on where you live how legal one and other is.

In my country for example the only concerns are:

1. Don't rent or sell copies of the original software without permission.
2. Its not legal to modify software with the purpose of creating (commercial) software that the original software imitates.
3. Make sure you acquired a legal copy of the software.

Thats it

This post has been edited by hp38guser: 24 August 2006 - 05:00 AM

[Eck]

Hmmm, maybe it's because I had the premade cd version but I didn't need my Windows 98 cd's to use his MS-DOS 7.1. The cd version he used to have was complete in itself.

I have no idea about the Windows 98 GUI or Windows 95GUI he also offered as I never used them.

Anyway, I didn't buy several retail boxes of Windows 9x versions so I could use someone's hacked version. Anytime they upgraded Windows I went like a good puppydog to my local store and bought it. And since I wanted to cover myself I have 3 of 98SE. Weird, eh?

Only now do I find out about kits with keygen's and the like. Sheesh. Could have saved hundreds of dollars. I've bought 2 XP Home retail's and 1 XP Pro retail as well. Along with 3 Plus! Super Packs.

I thought the MS-DOS 7.1 thing was cool though. Since I have so few dos programs I didn't use it for long. Mostly games, and I've always been able to play them on any official 9x/DOS/XP.

It just was fun to check out. Can't see the point for most folks today, except to mess around with it for a little while.

[pcalvert]

Fortunately, it is totally unnecessary to use that guy's legally-questionable software to set up a MS-DOS 7.1 system using a Windows 98 SE installation CD, or an already installed Windows 98 SE. It has been thoroughly discussed before:

Stripped down 98 DOS?

Just thought I'd let people know that there are alternate solutions available...

Phil

[LLXX]

Same kernel files whether you get them from your own install or from Wengier's DOS 7.1 creator.

[os2fan2]

I downloaded this MS-DOS 7,1 creater some while back.

While the DOS it creates does look like Wengier's DOS, there are no win9x files in the package. It is a kind of Wengier for Win98/SE/ME package, it will produce a MS-DOS 8,0 if applied to Windows ME.

It does contain the memmaker, dosshell, and msbackup, all of which have been free downloads from microsoft. It also contains some patched files for WinME, but these have been distributed elsewhere.

It does contain some files from PC-DOS, from Datalight RomDOS and a few other sources, but these are a very small portion of the package.

The vast bulk of the package is either assorted freeware that can be downloaded elsewhere, configuration files, and a few home-grown efforts.

The actual "MS-DOS 7.10" is inserted into existing binaries by the utility CHANGE.EXE, This is a string-edit program that changes these from the batch file. The cdrom etc are also built from under windows (mkbt.exe), so you get either real floppies or diskette images to process later.