Yes, they have taken MS-DOS out of Windows XP. Perhaps if you post on the Linux forum you will get a better answer, but the bottom line is you will have to create a bootable CD to boot to MS-DOS.
As stated previously, you can't boot to MS-DOS (it isn't part of XP). However, you can boot to a command prompt and run DOS commands from there. Here is a link to some useful info:
The typical way to boot to real DOS is with a DOS boot floppy. If your system does not have a floppy drive, however, booting from a bootable CD or a bootable flash drive are suitable alternatives.
To make a DOS boot floppy: You will need a 1.44MB floppy disk and a machine with a floppy drive. Visit www.bootdisk.com and download the file to make a Win98 SE bootdisk. Use the file to make your own boot floppy.
To make a bootable CD: You will need a machine with a CD/DVD burner and your burning software must be capable of creating a CD from an ISO image. Nero and Roxio EasyCD Creator include that capability. If you don't have either of those, a very simple freeware tool that can do this is ImgBurn, which can be downloaded from www.imgburn.com. Download ImgBurn and install it.
Note: a drawback to this method is that a CD is read-only, so if you boot from a CD you cannot save a dumpfile or backup your MBR to the CD. However, if your system does not have a floppy drive, you may need to forego saving these.
To make a bootable flash drive: Your computer's bios must support booting from a USB device. (I believe all Dell computers shipped since the advent of the PC-Restore system probably support booting from a USB device.) Flash drives have become quite inexpensive and ubiquitous. There are plenty of good instructions on the Internet about how to make a flash drive bootable. Do a google search for "usb bootable flash drive" and find a method you like.
Warning: the computer will treat your flash drive as the first "hard disk" in the computer. Your real hard disk will typically be shifted to second in order. Make sure you use the /81 switch to read the "second" disk! If you forget to include the command-line switch, the computer will read the MBR of the flash drive instead.
Please know that this knowledge is not mine, I just thought it could help you. All information was found here:
Krazyhead00
3 Posts
0
June 23rd, 2006 21:00
volcano11
2 Intern
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28K Posts
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June 23rd, 2006 21:00
Yes, they have taken MS-DOS out of Windows XP. Perhaps if you post on the Linux forum you will get a better answer, but the bottom line is you will have to create a bootable CD to boot to MS-DOS.
Steve
RoHe
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45.2K Posts
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June 23rd, 2006 22:00
Ron
chuket
1.4K Posts
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June 24th, 2006 03:00
As stated previously, you can't boot to MS-DOS (it isn't part of XP). However, you can boot to a command prompt and run DOS commands from there. Here is a link to some useful info:
http://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htm
At that site you can look up commands for a partial list.
Krestalter
4 Posts
0
June 24th, 2006 03:00
Krazy, try one of these methods to boot to DOS
How Do I Boot to DOS?
The typical way to boot to real DOS is with a DOS boot floppy. If your system does not have a floppy drive, however, booting from a bootable CD or a bootable flash drive are suitable alternatives.
To make a DOS boot floppy: You will need a 1.44MB floppy disk and a machine with a floppy drive. Visit www.bootdisk.com and download the file to make a Win98 SE bootdisk. Use the file to make your own boot floppy.
To make a bootable CD: You will need a machine with a CD/DVD burner and your burning software must be capable of creating a CD from an ISO image. Nero and Roxio EasyCD Creator include that capability. If you don't have either of those, a very simple freeware tool that can do this is ImgBurn, which can be downloaded from www.imgburn.com. Download ImgBurn and install it.
Note: a drawback to this method is that a CD is read-only, so if you boot from a CD you cannot save a dumpfile or backup your MBR to the CD. However, if your system does not have a floppy drive, you may need to forego saving these.
To make a bootable flash drive: Your computer's bios must support booting from a USB device. (I believe all Dell computers shipped since the advent of the PC-Restore system probably support booting from a USB device.) Flash drives have become quite inexpensive and ubiquitous. There are plenty of good instructions on the Internet about how to make a flash drive bootable. Do a google search for "usb bootable flash drive" and find a method you like.
Warning: the computer will treat your flash drive as the first "hard disk" in the computer. Your real hard disk will typically be shifted to second in order. Make sure you use the /81 switch to read the "second" disk! If you forget to include the command-line switch, the computer will read the MBR of the flash drive instead.
Please know that this knowledge is not mine, I just thought it could help you. All information was found here:
http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm#nofloppy