This is how I managed to put DOS 6.22 on a Windows 95 laptop without
a "Previous DOS version" option in the boot menu:
- Create a C:\DOS directory.
- Copy MS-DOS 6.22 files into that directory.
- Get the MS-DOS 6.22 versions of COMMAND.COM, IO.SYS, and MSDOS.SYS,
and rename them to: IO.DOS and MSDOS.DOS and COMMAND.DOS.
- Put IO.DOS, MSDOS.DOS, and COMMAND.DOS in C:\ , unless you boot from
another drive. Make sure they still have the System attribute.
- Place a copy of these same files, not renamed, in C:\DOS for backup.
- Reboot and pray whatever divine entity\ies you believe in.
Basicly, there is no risk of loosing data or the system with this trick.
In the worse case, it will just not work.
With most versions of Windows 95 and 98, once Windows detect a DOS
directory on the root of C: (or whatever bootable drive you have),
it will add a "Previous DOS version" option in the Windows 95 boot menu.
(accessible by pressing F8 during the message: "Loading MS-Windows 95"
during the boot.)
Once the "Previous DOS version" is selected, Windows will attempt to
find IO.DOS, MSDOS.DOS, and COMMAND.DOS. Once it find them, it will:
1)Rename the MS-Windows 95 IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM into:
IO.W40, MSDOS.W40, and COMMAND.W40. (Yet another proof that Windows 95
is actually Windows 4.0)
2)It will rename MSDOS 6.22 IO.DOS, MSDOS.DOS, and COMMAND.DOS into:
IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM. It will then load these files
instead of the Windows ones.
The next time you boot Windows will automaticly reverse these files
back to how you put them. (.W40 will return to .SYS and .COM, and
.SYS and .COM will return to .DOS.)
Few notes:
1)DONT do this in a FAT32 drive!!! MS-DOS 6.22 might load, but it will
most probebly crash when it will attempt to access C: with FAT32.
2)This option is supposdly removed in MS-Windows ME. However, there
is a "patch" that basicly crack the boot menu and allow you to boot
the same way I described. I never tried it, though, so I cant give
any promise that it will work.
In the worse case.. just get an MS-DOS 6.22 bootdisk and get over
with it. :)
Good luck!
