I'd seriously investigate it. In particular, I'd look at the free ESXi as a start. Grab a copy, look at the hardware compatibility list on the VMware site,
Your biggest challenge will be turning your DOS machine into a VM, as I don't believe that there is a free tool that will support a P2V of a DOS environment. (I could be wrong - perhaps someone can correct me) However, if you have the original DOS install disks, ESXi should support that, and then you can copy over your data and programs. On Sat, Mar 5, 2011 at 08:04, Evan Brastow <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi folks, > > > > I’ve never looked into virtualization before, as with a network as small as > mine, it hasn’t really been necessary, but I just watched an interesting > video on YouTube that showed someone upgrading from DOS through every > version of Windows over the years (except NT.) Not really relevant here, > except that it got me thinking – he used a VMware virtual machine to do it. > > > > My situation here is that our manufacturing company runs on homegrown > programs written in dBASE IV for DOS. When you’ve stopped laughing, I’ll > continue J > > > > This has worked reasonably well for us over the years… right up until now. > Windows 7 does not run 16 bit programs. Even the Windows XP mode within > Windows 7 doesn’t run DBASE IV (and don’t even TALK to me about printing.) > This is becoming more problematic these days, since the vast majority of > computers are 64 bit and run Windows 7. And since some of our departments > needs graphics programs like Adobe Creative Suite, it would be nice for them > to be able to run Windows 7 on a new 64 bit machine. > > > > So this video got me thinking… could VMware help me here? Never having used > it, I thought I might solicit a couple of opinions here. What I need an > emulated 16 bit virtual machine on a 64 bit computer that includes full > networking and printing. Is that possible? Am I barking up the right tree? J > > > > Thanks, > > > > Evan > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
