[ct-user] W9XT card

[Mark Bailey]

Hi Geo:

It is not hard to create a bootable FreeDOS or MSDOS CD -
you can even customize what is on the CD.  The easiest
(and most compatible) way is to boot a floppy disk image
using something called "ISOLINUX."

There's a detailed explanation of how to create a bootable
CD with FreeDOS or MSDOS from a Windows computer at
http://www.k1ea.com/hints/Creating_a_Bootable_DOS_CD_V%201.5.pdf

The challenge to running CT this way is where to store the "bin"
file.  It is not hard to create a FAT32 partition on the
hard drive of a WindowsXP computer.  This can be shared between
WindowsXP and DOS - which is cool.  Some computers can use
a USB stick from DOS:  this is BIOS dependent, though, and
the USB sticks can be too slow.

Once you've created the partition, though, it really is
easy at that point to install DOS on that partition, install
a boot loader, and just "dual boot" the machine so it runs
either WindowsXP or DOS without the CD.

See http://odin.fdos.org/dual/fdinst091.pdf for slightly
outdated instructions on dual booting.  If you are interested,
let me know and I'll send you an updated version.  The key
is a free program called GParted which can slightly shrink
the WindowsXP partition on the disk, freeing up say 500 MBytes,
and allows you to create a FAT32 partition in the free space.

73,

Mark, KD4D


k2onp at aol.com wrote:
>  Hi Craig,
[...]
>  
> I fully agree with you about Windows logging programs, and I much 
prefer DOS for ease of use and reliability.  BTW, the FreeDos group has
come out with their Version 1 (not beta) which can be loaded via a CD
on ANY 32 bit pentium machine. CT DOS runs very well using this OS.
I have several pentium machines at home which won't load MS-DOS from
floppies, and this may prove to be a better solution for you than
running CT using Windows.

[...]

>  
> 73's,
> Geo K2ONP
>  
>