I use a disk image, boot that from Grub and simply run/save stuff on a
local Fat32 partition. I also boot Windows (rarely) which, ironically,
wants to "fix" the fat partition that Linux and FreeDos are just fine
with. (Which fix breaks things terribly)
On Sun, Apr 28, 2024 at 3:58 AM Norby Droid via Freedos-user <
freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote:
>
>
> On Sat, Apr 27, 2024 at 18:51 Davi Ramos via Freedos-user <
> freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote:
>
>> Hi!
>>
>> “I will be installing FreeDOS 1.3 on my laptop, a Compaq Presario 42. It
>> has an Intel Pentium N3700, 4GB RAM, SSD 240GB, and 14" screen. I have a
>> few questions.”
>>
>
> I use FreeDOS on real hardware here an MSI motherboard Intel Core 2 Quad
> 2.66ghz with 4gb ram. 80gb sata mechanical hard drive.
>
>>
>> “First, what is the ideal filesystem for FreeDOS? As a Linux user for
>> many years, I have the habit of preparing the partitions beforehand using
>> GParted. I wish to do the same here. Even more because, given the fact that
>> the machine as 240GB of SSD storage, it probably doesn't make sense to
>> reserve it all to FreeDOS. And, while I won't be installing any other OS on
>> the machine right now, it is probably a good idea to keep my options open.
>> So, to summarize, how big show the FreeDOS, and what should be its
>> filesystem format (FAT, FAT32, exfat, NTFS)?”
>>
>
> You can use goarted to format the drive, but I recomemd that you use
> fdisk in freedos to do the partitioning as dos/freedos can be picky with
> partitions.
>
> For partiton size, it all depends on what you will be usin your freedos
> for. I think anything over 20 gb will be a bit much and that will give
> plenty of room left for another OS, if ya choose to do that later. My
> system is dedicated only to freedos and my setup has 4 partitions with 20gb
> each. I do that to have each one a specific purpose, but one partition for
> most people is recomended with freedos.
>
> FreeDOS uses either fat16 or fat32. Freedos cannot, as far as I know
> boot to any other filesystem.
>
>>
>> “Also, will the FreeDOS installer take care of installing the bootloader?
>> Is there anything more specific I should be concerned with?”
>>
>
> Yes when ya install freedos, it will handle the bootloader for you.
>
>>
>> “I should mention that a fast boot time is a priority for this project.
>> I'm already impressed with FreeDOS on VirtualBox, which got very fast once
>> I commented out the parts about CD-ROMS from "fdauto.bat". In my
>> estimation, FreeDOS boots in 2 to 3 seconds on Virtualbox. Is there
>> anything I should watch out for in terms of making boot instantaneous?”
>>
>
> Freedos is quite fast boot. You don’t need to do anything.
>
> Since you used freedos on virtualbox, ya know how freedos boots up.
> Difference is on real hardware, networking and cdrom may not be detected
> and work as it does on virtualbox. For my system, I have cdrom, but no
> networking.
>
>>
>> “Two more questions. First, can I swap caps with escape? As a Vim user,
>> that is kinda essential. Second, will I be able to use USB to transfer
>> files to and from it? That would make my life much easier.”
>>
>
> I don’t know on the first question.
>
> Second question is yes, however some things to know.
>
> On my system, if I have a usb fat32 plugged it it automatically sees it
> and I can access it so I don’t need any drivers, however on systems that
> don’t do that ya will need to get usb dos drivers and set freedos up to use
> them. This will have an effect of a longer boot time as it will need to
> scan for usb ports and any devices on the port during bootup.
>
>>
>> “Thanks!”
>>
>
> You’re welcome. Enjoy.
>
>>
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