DOS 6.22

Hi

We have an old PC which is only used to run DOS. It is in a very hostile environment (engineering factory).

Firstly we would like to backup the Hard Drive but there are no USB, Firewire ports on the machine.

Secondly we would like to upgrade the PC and install the backed up data. I am not sure what version of Windows runs DOS and will need to choose a PC that can run it.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Cheers Brad

You can back up the data a number of ways... Easiest if you are not good with hardware is to Laplink it to another system in which you copy the drive entireties to another systems larger drive. There was a FX program a while back as well as Filevan that did this from Rainy City Software, but they are all not free. You can send data via LPT (Parallel) or Serial port from one system to the next to back it up and migrate data to new systems.

Or you can install a second hard drive in the case as a slave drive and XCOPY the root and all data to the other drive.

As far as Windows and DOS, Windows 3.x, 95, and 98SE are DOS friendly. I would avoid Windows Me. You can also run a newer OS if the hardware supports it such as if your system is at least a 200Mhz Pentium 1 CPU with 64MB Ram and a 2.5GB HD you can install Windows 2000 Pro. And if your system is at least a Pentium II 233Mhz with 128MB Ram and 8.4GB Hard Drive you can install Windows XP Pro SP2. Windows 98 SE and all prior Windows OS will run fine on less than 200Mhz CPUs and less than 64MB Ram.

If a 286, 386, or 486 or better CPU, and 1MB+ Ram, you can run Windows 3.11

If a 386 or 486 or better CPU, and 8MB+ Ram you can run Windows 95

If a 486 or Pentium CPU, and 16MB+ Ram you can run Windows 98 SE

If it is so old that it is an 8088XT CPU, you could try to find Windows 2.0 and run that, but you will need 512k Ram. Pointless unless you had an old app that had to run in a Windows OS that was supported by Win 2.0.

Also to note, your DOS version will change from 6.22 to 7.xx if you install Win 95 or 98 or newer, Windows 3.11 will stay with 6.22 and you can use the memmaker etc to get EMS etc set teh way you want and keep your base 640k as close to 640k as possible to keep the performance up, and avoid problems with too low of base memory that some apps will puke about if you are running in the 500-560k base memory range or less due to hogged base memory resources of a ugly config.sys and autoexec.bat setup.

DOS 6.22 comes with interlnk / intersvr -- essentially the same thing as laplink, it makes the local drive available through the parallel / serial port to other pcs (if they are running DOS 6.22 too)

Graham

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the comprehensive help.

Cheers Brad

We have an old PC which is only used to run DOS. It is in a very hostile environment (engineering factory).

Firstly we would like to backup the Hard Drive ...

Secondly we would like to upgrade the PC and install the backed up data. I am not sure what version of Windows runs DOS and will need to choose a PC that can run it.

Whaletx, If you are still monitoring this post, I suggest that the easiest and probably safest way to backup the drive is to remove it and temporarily attach it to another PC. Then copy the entire drive to a folder on the other HD.

Then, do you have access to another small HD that the PC in use will recognise?
If so, great. Then you can experiment on the 2ND HD, without worrying about screwing the original up.

What is the PC used for, and what software is it running. DaveLembke gave you a list of OP system requirements. Win98SE will very likely do the job for you either in real DOS mode, or possibly out of a Windows command prompt. We can help you get it going if you need more help.

This is just a stab in the dark, but are you using the PC to communicate through the com port to an industrial machine?

Thanks everyone.

I followed your advice and now we have a newer PC with the data and a way to back up in the future. Yes you are right limeyer1000 the PC sends data  to 2 very old CNC machines.

Thanks again everyone, I am a Filemaker developer so if you have any questions on that front I may be able to help.

Cheers Brad

Yes you are right limeyer1000 the PC sends data  to 2 very old CNC machines.

When you said "very hostile environment (engineering factory) ", I knew it! 
You're post brings back memories. We have a 1984 Mark Century 2000 that had a NON-DOS computer with 2 - 5 1/4 floppy drives, and no HD. I don't even know what the OP system was but management where I work told us that it would "never communicate with a DOS computer." Several years back I got it communicating with an old 286 & DOS 6.22. (The CNC machine didn't know or care what the OP system was. It was simply looking at serial data transfer through the com port.) The operator moved all of his programs directly from the old NON-DOS computer to the "NEW" 286 computer one at a time over the com cable. Since then, we have progressed to a P4 with Windows XP.

We used to have proprietary software for every different CNC we had.(Five different controllers & 5 different softwares) Now we use DostekDNC from: http://www.dostek.com/ on 13 different CNC machines. Doug Struthers at DostekDNC was great working with us to get us set up. (It is Windows software, despite the DOS sounding name.) We couldn't get any software from anywhere to work (well) on our Fadals, except the old DOS software that came with them. Doug & I emailed back & forth repeatedly to work out the bugs on the Fadals. He actually altered the software to make it work on the Fadals, which had some weird stuff in the handshake that wreaks havoc on most other software.

If you are looking to get to a user friendly Windows environment, look into the above software. It can be set to work with almost every CNC out there. The guys here complained at first, but now love it because the software is easy and all the machines are the same now.

I forgot to mention this. Really glad to hear that you got the files backed up & the upgrade computer going. 

I am a Filemaker developer so if you have any questions on that front I may be able to help.

I have three questions in that area.   
What does a Filemaker developer do?
What kinds of files do you work on?
What software do you use to assist in the filemaking?