I downloaded MS-DOS but have not yet installed it. Would it change or replace anything on my computer?

Question

I'm running on Windows XP, I need to use DOS but I still want to keep XP.

I got it from Microsoft.com. I just need to know whether or not it would change anything.

Answer 1

I don't understand why you would download DOS.

If you want a DOS box on XP, click on run and type in cmd. Voila instant DOS.

Answer 2

DOS probably uses a FAT12 OR FAT16 file system. XP uses FAT32 or NTFS, so DOS might not even recognize the hard drive that's there, but perhaps you can boot DOS from floppy or CD when you want to use it.

There's partitioning software out there that might let you make a partition for DOS on your hard drive, but it may require that you reinstall XP while you're at it.

Some computers will let you choose the boot device when the computer is started, so if you had a second hard drive with DOS, perhaps you could boot from that drive when you wanted to. I think DOS sees no more than 2 gigs of a partition, though.

Good luck.

Answer 3

There is no DOS in Windows XP. What is called the "command prompt" is not really DOS ... it can be thought of as more of a simulation of DOS. Windows XP (and Windows 2000), unlike Windows 95, 98, and ME, are NOT built on an MSDOS foundation.

This site purports to get DOS games to run on XP, if that's what you're looking for: