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Install w98 on Large Drives (Above the 137Gb Barrier)


Fredledingue

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19 hours ago, rloew said:

In addition to all of the "improvements" you wanted, you asked an awful lot of questions about extreme cases. That is a lot of support questions from an apparent non-customer who wasn't even planning to buy anything.

Let's start by where this originated.  You sent me a message regarding my comment to message you back.

There is no indication I said I was purchasing anything nor had any intent of any such Ramdrive.  You wanted to discuss further regarding my comment when you left that response.  Asking questions doesn't imply intent to purchase regardless if that is what was in your original thought process.  I could have considered purchasing something if it were improved or some features of the Ramdrive you stated made it unique.  Your answers helped make an informed decision.  Had I heard you state you were going to add such features I may have bought it even though I wasn't going to fully utilize the program yet.

Let's say I purchased the original state Ramdrive you had on the site.  Then if I were to ask if you could add the modifications you could say no since I already bought it or the same responses you had already given as to why you wouldn't.  I would then be left with a product that had no additional features because it would cost 700 McRibs for you to even consider doing it according to you.

700 McRibs go for around $3.50 a piece or roughly $2500 before tax.  To me that seems a little absurd that any author would charge that much to even add something simple as an uninstall feature if that was the easiest method to code given all the other issues you brought up of why the other suggestions wouldn't be worth the effort.

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You didn't ask me to do the Z170 test. You asked me for a limited RAMDisk to do the test. I sent you a test program instead.
I asked for the test results because you did not report any results from either of the Test Programs I sent you.

I asked if there was some Limited functionality or demo program that was handicapped or had some timer before being disabled to perform a functionality test to not break any rules or give you worries.  If you had an actual demo program to perform verification of functionality just like your memory patch has a demo program that shows functionality before purchasing that would be suitable.

Your utilities didn't verify anything as far my side of confirming the Ramdrive was functional on a Z170.  Showing a bunch of misaligned garbage characters would not satisfy any customer's proof that the program does work on their machine.  You may have coded the test program to verify for yourself but from a user's stand point this does not confirm anything nor does it give any incentive that the program will function according to their needs.

If you went to a car dealership and the employee just showed you the hazard lights worked and the car horn tooted would you buy the car or would you require a test drive on a highway just to make sure it was at least functional?

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If you possess a Copyrighted Program you have a legal obligation to prove it if your ownership is questioned. Many businesses have been fined for failing to do so.
I would also have a case against the person I sold that copy to for illegally distributing Copyrighted Software.
If it wasn't so obvious that I had found the right Customer, I would have challenged him to explain how you got it.
If a friend bought it for you, he is supposed to inform me to properly register the Software. Multiple copies would not be relevant here.

I would like to see the writing for Microsoft, Apple, or Samsung that says anything close to this that any of their software they could do such things.  You may have a better chance against a business distributing copies of your program if you had found proof of some link of your program I agree but also if there were any kind of lawsuit that could be achieved on the other end it would be a countersuit if a customer or business wanted their privacy respected and out of some law suit they were to show proof in court then their countersuit would be worth more than the 700 McRibs you wanted and probably the entire profits of the program since day one.  Then in this hypothetical you'd end with confirmed proof of ownership but also possibly at the loss of all your profits and legal fees.  I kind of doubt someone would risk all of that over $20 someone paid for a program out of curiosity of ownership.

And I never said that I had someone else purchase it for me.  I was giving you hypotheticals for hypotheticals you were listing that anything is possible.  Anyone can pay in any manner.  Maybe even check or money order or whatever forms were accepted.  Just like you were stating any person could illegally obtain your software through multiple means.
 

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I didn't need your Instructions to test my Z87. I have been using the Z87 with Windows 98SE for years.

That's not what I was trying to confirm.  I was trying to confirm if himem.sys worked on the Z87 as it would give indications of whether DOS compatibility was broken.

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Any past Customer could distribute my Patch so piracy is far from impossible. I can only put a stop to it when I find a copy. Anyone who links a pirate site here is immediately banned and the posts sanitzed or erased.

I never said it was impossible as one chance of it couldn't occur.  I was saying that you wouldn't have allowed it so it would be impossible from that perspective.

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It would be hard to verify your "positive" references if they were posted under different names.
Your remarks about the RAMDisk do not sound like "positive" references.

I never said I made "positive" references to your Ramdisk nor did I make any "negative" references to your Ramdisk either.  I have consistently stated the only unique advantage that I can find so far is your 64-bit Non-XMS Ramdisk can allocate memory above 4GB for use with a Ramdrive and you even stated this yourself no other Ramdisk does this in DOS.  Any suggested "negative" references on you part is insinuating that because the features I'm looking for that would add to your Ramdisk are not present impacts your Ramdisk's favorability among other people.  What I did say was I had made "positive" recommendations about the Patch program in the past on other sites that were appropriate to the discussion relating to 98 and the memory limit issue.  I even recall having said that even way before I bought the Patch because your Demo program at the time was available to test functionality.  So how's that for a recommendation?

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Since you need a separate License for each Computer, who is going to buy multiple copies of an All-In-One RAMDisk when they can just buy one for the Z170 and use two free ones for the 386 and 486?
One copy of my RAM Limitation Patch can only be used in one Computer also. In this case that is enough because a 386 or 486 wouldn't need it.

Again these are theoreticals for theoreticals sake.  But if you did make the ultimate DOS Ramdisk and I felt it was necessary to use on multiple machines including ones dating back to 386 or 486 I would purchase it in that fashion if I were to consistently use it for that purpose.  But I would call that extreme on your part as far as licensing per computer instead of per individual.  This is probably why people choose freeware to avoid such limitations.

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From the comments I have seen, people fall into two groups. Ones that don't have a problem with the current price and ones that wouldn't pay a penny for anything.

Well I've seen other comments aside from those two you speculated.  It's they would pay the price you listed, they would pay less than that price, or they won't not buy your product at all.  Like I said it was only a suggestion to help boost your sales and without the historical sales price and copies sold over time I couldn't give you an appropriate answer to increase your sales if you are saying sales have been constantly increasing each year since you've released your program.  I never said I had a problem with the current price.  I was speculating that Z170 beginning in 2017 you will begin seeing a noticeable drop in sales over time starting from 2018.  A way to counteract a drop in sales might be to reduce the cost of the product.  Also the hardware limitations caused by Z170 also make it less likely people would consider getting your program which is what I believe is the only reason to use your patch (for 9X/ME) gaming.  Unless you have some solid proof otherwise I am incorrect and a majority of your customers' purpose for using this patch is for some unique non gaming 9X/ME software that cannot run in XP or later I'd like to hear it.

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Even on a 24/7 system, you still haven't explained why you would need to reallocate a RAMDisk with any Frequency in normal use. If you have to reboot even once a day, a couple of minutes doesn't matter much.

Perhaps you are happy with the way the program currently functions.  If you don't feel any improvements aren't required that is your choice.  If another Ramdisk added this feature I would say that is considered a Pro.  I doubt you are a true DOS user so this would not be an issue or priority.

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If it took a year to implement your changes, I would have added two more zeroes to the estimated price. Sorry Jaclaz, 00007 isn't as funny.
I don't work for minimum wage and I don't live in India.

That's assuming it would even take a year.  At most I would think it would be a few days or maybe a few hours at the least (my original assumption of your skill).  As for Jaclaz he's just making a joke on the James Bond 007 and I don't think he's insinuating you don't deserve being paid for your time.  Also how can you know if the reason someone is buying the program is not because of the added features which could have boosted sales?  I'm not sure what that had to do with India but I'm sure Indians want better wages too.  Ask Dibya the cost between Windows XP vs Window 7.  He chose XP because it was more affordable.  I doubt he would have picked XP had Windows 7 been cheaper to purchase.  We would then not seen the fruits of his labor in getting XP to support more memory or browsers or Window 7 applications.

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Of course emulating a Video Card under DOS is pointless. My point was that is all you can do with an extracted Video Card BIOS. You kept insisting that extracting the ROM was important to an Emulator.

A Windows Driver or Emulator is a far bigger project and the ROM provides very little information.

I understood your point but if you extracted the ROM I would think it would help with making the Emulator more compatible in functionality.  If you're saying that it's a complete waste to even extract any ROMs at all to improve compatibility in what you are emulating then I'd like to know why.  If they could extract what was inside the GPU and recreate it in code it should act like the GPU but probably take a considerable amount of processing power.  But given today's Pascal GPUs I think it should be capable of emulating an older GPU of the 9X/ME era.  When they made DOSBOX any DOS software that ran on a 386 12MHz perhaps would require at least a Pentium 4 1.2 GHz to match the performance.  A 98BOX video and sound card emulator project would be better suited with a large team of people and made to run in XP and W7 avoiding the DOS/9X/ME limitations.  Trying to do this in 9X/ME would be a complete waste of resources even for you and seeing how even a small change of the Ramdrive needs you to expend a year to accomplish would indicate this as well.

Edited by 98SE
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Try rereading what I said. It was getting apparent that you did NOT intend to purchase the RAMDisk. There is not much point to provide such a high level of support to someone who is not even a potential Customer.
Only then did you claim to be a Customer. Only then did I ask you to prove it.

Of course I would have refused to add your "improvements". A market of one is not worth it unless they pay full development costs.
How often would you need to reallocate a RAMDisk and why?
What about a more common user?

The "additional features" are Windows 9x compatibility with >512MB RAMDisks and 64-Bit support. Neither is available elsewhere.
This is my Market for the Product.

$2500 only covers a few days of work. I would like to see you write one faster.

Not all products are easily Demoed. Demo Patches in particular can be reverse-engineered and pirated. I cut back on Demos when some of my early Products were hacked.
What kind of Demo did you expect. One that only allocates a few Megabytes maximum?
You wanted to know if my RAMDisk was compatible. The Test Program proves it. The Test Program was not for general public use, just you and people like you on the forum.
Most Programs don't have Demos unlike cars. Since the test passed, I feel comfortable in telling Customers that the RAMDisk is compatible with the Z170.

No countersuit for privacy invasion would stand as no previously unknown information is revealed or improperly distributed. The penalty for Copyright infringement is much higher than 700McRibs.
The Music industry often SETTLES for over 800 McRibs.

You don't know much about Windows 98SE. It will not run if HIMEM.SYS or an equivalent does not work. I don't have to test it separately.

I don't "allow" piracy, but I have to find out first and not all perpetrators are reachable. Why do you think I bothered to track down your copy?

Licensing per Computer is very common, ask Microsoft.

I seriously doubt that you would buy more Licenses for 386 or 486 machines when they do not have enough RAM to be a problem with Free RAMDisks.

The ones I have seen suggesting a lower price were hypotheticals. I doubt they would have actually bought.

Z170 buyers are not going to install Windows 9x, so selling my Patches at a discount is not going to increase sales.
As I already said, a smaller market generally supports higher prices than a larger market.
In fact, I could charge even higher prices if I developed fixes to make the Z170 usable with Windows 9x.

I use DOS a lot. I still do not see a need to reallocate RAMDisks. Reformatting is more than enough.

I already explained that the Video BIOS ROM only contains Code related to the DOS accessible VESA Modes and the PnP Function. It has nothing in it to support Windows. At best it might get you to the VBEMP level.

You mentioned a year. I never said it would take a year to add your "improvements".

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4 hours ago, rloew said:

Try rereading what I said. It was getting apparent that you did NOT intend to purchase the RAMDisk. There is not much point to provide such a high level of support to someone who is not even a potential Customer.
Only then did you claim to be a Customer. Only then did I ask you to prove it.

Of course I would have refused to add your "improvements". A market of one is not worth it unless they pay full development costs.
How often would you need to reallocate a RAMDisk and why?
What about a more common user?

The "additional features" are Windows 9x compatibility with >512MB RAMDisks and 64-Bit support. Neither is available elsewhere.
This is my Market for the Product.

$2500 only covers a few days of work. I would like to see you write one faster.

First what you seem to call support when I'm asking questions that you originally directed me to contact you.  If I was using a purchased Ramdrive and trying to do something with it then I would call that true support.  Asking questions only the author knows about their product that they originally openly invited themselves into is a discussion.  And even when certain questions were not answered I did not reask them assuming your reasons were because you felt you were not getting a purchase but then you wanted to know the results of the test programs which came out of my own time to confirm for you.

As for what potential benefits the Ramdisk has then you should promote such information constantly as being unique to your product.

Why would $2500 be the cost of a few days work?  If that's the case then your only reason for writing your programs is about profit and not about supporting the 9X/ME community at large.  Why even make those products to begin with if you aren't making the projected amount you felt you deserved in the first place?  If a few days of work say 3 days = $800 or so per day.  And you haven't even stated how long it took to make the Patch or the Ramdrive but let's say it took 1 year or $292,000 worth of coding time.  You would have to sell about 14,600 copies of your product to even break even according to your worth.  I kind of doubt you've sold that many copies.

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Not all products are easily Demoed. Demo Patches in particular can be reverse-engineered and pirated. I cut back on Demos when some of my early Products were hacked.
What kind of Demo did you expect. One that only allocates a few Megabytes maximum?
You wanted to know if my RAMDisk was compatible. The Test Program proves it. The Test Program was not for general public use, just you and people like you on the forum.
Most Programs don't have Demos unlike cars. Since the test passed, I feel comfortable in telling Customers that the RAMDisk is compatible with the Z170.

I'm aware of your reasons.  That's why I gave you every opportunity to limit the program.  And even a few MBs as would at least show the copying content ability without breaching or entering the full functionality of the program.

As for actually passing I haven't tested a full 98SE install on it and I have suspicions of whether a newbie could do it since the break in formatting bootable 98SE disks is present and perhaps even a manufacturer CD install will not work.

If any indications your test could prove is the functionality of just the HIMEMX for you.

And it's very doubtful anyone would buy the HIMEMX strictly for DOS because the only thing as you stated that sets it apart is the Win9X compatibility others lacked and the 64-bit memory.  All other DOS functionality should be the same.  But on Z170 the break in DOS compatibility on both hardware and software makes it less likely it a suitable system for using DOS or 9X/ME games.  What PCIe sound card are you going to be using for 98/ME drivers or that supports EAX Advanced HD?

Then for 9X/ME the break in PCI slots and possibly the drop of USB 2.0 eHCI will prove its death.

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No countersuit for privacy invasion would stand as no previously unknown information is revealed or improperly distributed. The penalty for Copyright infringement is much higher than 700McRibs.
The Music industry often SETTLES for over 800 McRibs.

I would like to see that happen.  Even big companies will have their downfall.  I'm sure there's always a first and the 700 McRibs was just an estimate of what one could ask.  These days countersuits could be 700,000 McRibs or 7,000,000 McRibs.  Remember that guy who got dragged off an airplane and was paid an undisclosed amount?  I wonder how much that guy got for a fully paid airplane seat?  Any invasion of privacy beyond the scope of the original release of private information is unwarranted.  When someone buys something using a credit card I doubt they want their information tracked or reused to contact them.  It's only a form of payment and not meant beyond that.  If you're so open about your information then release your Driver's License, your Phone Number, and other social media accounts.  We are discussing $20 vs legal fees with potential for countersuit to establish your own curiosity.  Nothing is a sure thing these days and I would think you know anything is possible.  Did you predict the Trump Presidency?

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You don't know much about Windows 98SE. It will not run if HIMEM.SYS or an equivalent does not work. I don't have to test it separately.

And yet you thought that DOS couldn't copy a 4GB file.  The only way to be certain is to test it.  We predicted a 10th planet or the newly reassigned 9th Planet of our Solar System.  We don't have physical proof it is there but until we do we can't really state for certain the 9th Planet.  So even doing a simple test that probably wouldn't have taken a fraction of the time I did my tests for you would have been easily done.  At first you mentioned you didn't have a USB floppy drive then later you did.

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I don't "allow" piracy, but I have to find out first and not all perpetrators are reachable. Why do you think I bothered to track down your copy?

Licensing per Computer is very common, ask Microsoft.

I seriously doubt that you would buy more Licenses for 386 or 486 machines when they do not have enough RAM to be a problem with Free RAMDisks.

The ones I have seen suggesting a lower price were hypotheticals. I doubt they would have actually bought.

I think you have a vendetta for past experiences you've encountered by legitimate people who did that to you that have nothing to do with me.  But in this case you're barking up the wrong tree and wasting your time.  As for licensing I think many of these so called 9X/ME users of your patch are buying 2nd hand copies of the 9X/ME OS CDs off eBay so in essence they are "NOT" the original licensee and thus people buying these CDs and then using your patch are in fact breaking such licenses you hold dear.

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I use DOS a lot. I still do not see a need to reallocate RAMDisks. Reformatting is more than enough.

I already explained that the Video BIOS ROM only contains Code related to the DOS accessible VESA Modes and the PnP Function. It has nothing in it to support Windows. At best it might get you to the VBEMP level.

You mentioned a year. I never said it would take a year to add your "improvements".

I had asked how long it would take you even add what I think would enhance your Ramdisk and you only threw out a McRib amount of additional zeroes for doing it which didn't actually state your supposed "coding time".  I think my estimate of a few hours minimum was generous and respectful of your skillset but if you'd like to disagree with my assessment then go right ahead and give me a proper figure.  And we were only finally towards the end discussing "an improvement" because all the others I had previously suggested you felt wouldn't be worth it due to the amount of time to accomplish.  I gave you the simplest improvement to uninstall the Ramdrive(s) (drive letters persisting since you couldn't prevent this) so this would allow you to recreate the Ramdrives without needing to reboot.  Sure it may save 3 minutes in some cases of rebooting but that's good code.  Also if you are running Windows and exit back to DOS to rearrange a Ramdrive size or change them this would be convenient and then running Win.Com again.  If say the conventional memory available was severely impacted by adding this code then I would agree not do it but I don't think this is the case.  I had assumptions of your skill level so if my assumptions were overestimates of what you could accomplish with little effort then that is my fault for thinking so highly of you.

Edited by 98SE
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"Discussion" is a form of pre-sales Support. Your questions went way beyond the normal range of questions and seemed mostly hypothetical. Practical questions are worth answering in a forum as they inform other potential Customers.
But answering hypothetical questions are not. Who wants to bother answering questions from someone who is not a potential Customer and is not informative for other Customers.

You reported possible issues with the Z170. I sent you tests so eveyone on the forum could find how if they are real problems or not.

The uniqueness of my RAMDisk is described on my Website. How do you think I explained my "non-XMS" designation.

My consulting rate is higher than that. Writing code for one bothersome Customer is all about profit. You are definitely not a charity case.

A year was your idea, not mine.

Testing copying ability with a Demo was not necessary. As long as the Memory block transfer routines worked, as tested by the test I sent you, all my prior testing is valid. I don't need any further proof.

I don't know what you are talking about as far as a "break" in formatting Bootable 98SE Disks is. I make my own with my Patches built in.

I don't charge for HIMEMEX. You got one free. It is a component for the RAMDisks and MEMORY64 API.
The 64-Bit Support is still usable in DOS as it can provide much larger RAMDisks. If that is not enough for Z170 users, then they won't buy it. Your "improvements" won't change that since I don't think anyone else would care.
AHCI and USB3 can be circumvented by using PCI-E Cards but I am not expecting a lot of Z170 Customers for my Windows 9x products. Maybe I will sell more of my XP and XP Compatible Products to them.

Some Licenses specifically provide for on-demand audits.
Your name and E-Mail address are basically proofs of purchase, or do you have a written receipt from me?
If I accused you of stealing a Jacket, you would have to provide a receipt to prove your innocence and you would not be able to countersue for invasion of privacy.
You would only have a possible case, if I posted the information on the forum.
If you buy something with a Credit Card, you are already tracked and marketed to.

A Copyright suit is not limited to the cost of an item, nor the development cost.

You don't know much about Windows 98SE. It will not run if HIMEM.SYS or an equivalent does not work. I don't have to test it separately.

I knew that DOS had a lot of problems with >2GiB Files. I hadn't run that specific test from DOS. I ran it in my RAMDisk and was quite surprised how fast it ran. A test you can't do with any other RAMDisk.

I never said I didn't have a USB Floppy Drive. You misread what I must have said.

You still didn't say that you would actually buy a separate copy of my RAMDisk for a 386 System when free alternatives exist.

Legal Second hand CDs come with a valid key and are not breaking any License. Microsoft doesn't have a transfer registration requirement.
I don't enforce Microsoft's Copyrights in any case.

Apparently you are not a Programmer and have no idea how long it takes to write Code and Debug it. If you think it is so easy and fast, do it yourself.
Last time I checked I was human. Sorry if that disappoints you.

Good code does what it needs to do. It is not full of unneccesary bloat that implements features that would rarely be used.

If you can't explain why you need to reallocate RAMDisks on a regular basis, or anyone for that matter, don't mention it again.

Edited by rloew
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3 hours ago, rloew said:

"Discussion" is a form of pre-sales Support. Your questions went way beyond the normal range of questions and seemed mostly hypothetical. Practical questions are worth answering in a forum as they inform other potential Customers.
But answering hypothetical questions are not. Who wants to bother answering questions from someone who is not a potential Customer and is not informative for other Customers.

I don't agree.  If this was on your website in its own forum then I would agree with your statement somewhat but no amount of discussion/interaction with a sales agent such as when a telemarketer calls you up or when you walk into a cell phone store approached by an employee can force you to buy something.  At any point the customer still has the potential to buy something but it isn't forced.  Having your own site with its own forum would also help you figure out who your direct customers are without questioning their validity on other sites.  Although "Discussion" doesn't preclude interest pre or post in your products.  I never said I would never buy your Ramdrive nor does it mean I wouldn't refer to others to purchase it if that was something they needed.  I was evaluating what you had to say about your Ramdrive since you initiated comment on my comment.  I could have ignored your comment but that would be rude.  Since there was no "demo" version of your product most of these "limits" or "questions" I had that you answered could have been taken care of on my own limiting the amount of excess discussion.  Any other questions about your product that could only be directly answered by the author since the author would have the total knowledge of their product and would be the only ones I would need to ask.

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Testing copying ability with a Demo was not necessary. As long as the Memory block transfer routines worked, as tested by the test I sent you, all my prior testing is valid. I don't need any further proof.

You don't need further proof.  But the user who doesn't see the proof will.

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I don't know what you are talking about as far as a "break" in formatting Bootable 98SE Disks is. I make my own with my Patches built in.

I already explained to you before that you could not SYS or FORMAT with SYS a boot partition.  This is what I meant by DOS support was broken.  Himem.Sys was the other.  There could be more but I stopped testing as I had other projects of more importance.

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I don't charge for HIMEMEX. You got one free. It is a component for the RAMDisks and MEMORY64 API.
The 64-Bit Support is still usable in DOS as it can provide much larger RAMDisks. If that is not enough for Z170 users, then they won't buy it. Your "improvements" won't change that since I don't think anyone else would care.
AHCI and USB3 can be circumvented by using PCI-E Cards but I am not expecting a lot of Z170 Customers for my Windows 9x products. Maybe I will sell more of my XP and XP Compatible Products to them.

Well I'm not sure what you wanted to do with the HIMEMEX as I don't use it nor had your Ramdrives so I couldn't do any real testing for you.  I only did that test for you if it helped you or other potential customers confirm something I didn't do it to gain anything on my part.  I think you were more interested in confirming if your Ramdisk might work.  My initial thoughts were it may not.  I might attempt to test the XMSDSK to see if functions or not on Z170 later on.  If that program works most likely your Ramdisk should work.

But in my opinion the Z170 is the deathbed for the 98/ME and possibly pure DOS gaming.  The lack of PCI ports is a huge blow and the USB 2.0 eHCI removal is needed for the USB mouse and USB keyboard for starters as even a lot of the Z170s have removed all PS/2 ports.  The PCI also affects the PCI sound cards needed for 98 driver support.  Another issue that might have resolved it is HDMI support in 98SE.  I'm unaware of any HDMI graphics cards that support 98SE.  This is the only reason I'm suggesting you consider making a 9X/ME video and audio card emulator for XP and W7.  Given the complexity I'm not sure it's something you would consider doing and selling later or some other group similar to DOSBOX ends up beating you to it.

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AHCI and USB3 can be circumvented by using PCI-E Cards

I still have doubts about using such cards in 9X/ME.  Are you using these as 9X/ME only cards?  The SATA PCIe card would not be bootable.  Any USB card may or may not work but none I'm aware of exist in PCIe slot form for 9X/ME driver support that have been tested to work.  It would still be a lot of work for anyone to even do compared to earlier chipsets just to make 9X/ME work on a Z170.  A P4 would be a much easier and possibly cheaper solution given all the extra software patching and hardware they would have to buy.

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Maybe I will sell more of my XP and XP Compatible Products to them.

I suggest you start with the 98BOX emulator I described above.  That will be your "piggy bank".  I'm not sure what other XP or XP Compatible Products you were thinking about that hasn't been done yet.

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If I accused you of stealing a Jacket, you would have to provide a receipt to prove your innocence and you would not be able to countersue for invasion of privacy.
You would only have a possible case, if I posted the information on the forum.
If you buy something with a Credit Card, you are already tracked and marketed to.

Let's use your example of a jacket purchase.  First I would have to be in the store I bought the same jacket from for even the store owner to make an accusation like that assuming this specific jacket was still for sale in the store.  Some simple ways of proving I was the owner of that jacket might be the security cameras seeing me enter the store with it on.  If they wanted more proof maybe they could inspect my jacket for signs it was worn or looked used and not brand new.  Unless I had been wearing this jacket only a few times would this be an issue.  If someone were held by security because they were suspected of stealing a jacket that they paid for prior beyond a reasonable length of time and had already proven through surveillance, wear and tear, or looking up the purchase in the system assuming the owner recalled when they originally purchased it or kept the original receipt in the wallet they might have a case.  If it was a recent purchase there could be a possibility of a law suit in this case if they were still prevented from leaving and harassed and accused of stealing afterwards.  The only tracking a credit card does is by the credit card company and even those schmucks will sell your information to 3rd parties.  Hence cash only if you want to eliminate a digital trail.

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A Copyright suit is not limited to the cost of an item, nor the development cost.

I never implied any such amount.  Anyone can open their mouth.  But from what I've seen the bigger the amount guarantees a fraction of that amount.

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You don't know much about Windows 98SE. It will not run if HIMEM.SYS or an equivalent does not work. I don't have to test it separately.

Again you already assumed that the Ramdrive will work from your tests.  Since I confirmed that the Himem.Sys did not load it may or may not indicate 9X/ME will run.  If your Z87 shows the same behavior or you've already tested 98 on it and included it in your Config.Sys then you could see whether or not it loaded by removing the Boot Gui so it goes to DOS.  Then you could use Win.Com to relaunch back into 98SE.

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You still didn't say that you would actually buy a separate copy of my RAMDisk for a 386 System when free alternatives exist.

I actually said that if you made one that worked for going back to the 8088 up to the Z170 that this would be an all in one solution.  However you mentioned that your license is per computer and not per user so now it depends on your pricing because if someone owns 100 computers and let's assume you are a real watchdog and I were to use a computer other than the one I bought the license for I would have a real headache on my hands.  Obviously I would only know that I used it on the wrong computer but I'm just saying as an example of what could happen given your license restrictions.  I still think if your Ramdisk wanted to be crowned the Ultimate DOS Ramdisk then most of the features I mentioned were included you would definitely get the crown.  And I don't think any "Freeware" ones would be able to compete.

Some post thought after thinking about the DOS Ramdisk ideas despite your own resistance that overall I'd rather you focus on a video and sound card 9X/ME emulator for XP and 7 if you want that piggy bank unless someone beats you to it.  The whole DOSBOX actually can be stored on a Ramdrive so any huge amount of Ramdrive above 4GB really no longer has any significance and the whole CD ISO idea can still be done in DOSBOX so all those ideas you no longer need to worry about.  If it could have been done easily I still think it would be an enhancement.  The performance of the XP Ramdrive probably beats any DOS or 9X/ME Ramdrive in performance.

After considering all of this the "unique" feature of your Non-XMS Ramdisk is its ability to work with 9X/ME without stealing from the system arena memory region for people with over 1GB of memory is probably where it is most useful.  I believe only your 32-bit Ramdisk is the one will only be useful for the system arena memory avoidance.  The 64-bit Ramdisk just touches 4GB and above so it wouldn't be of any significant use in 9X/ME or help occupy the extra memory around the system arena.

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Legal Second hand CDs come with a valid key and are not breaking any License. Microsoft doesn't have a transfer registration requirement.
I don't enforce Microsoft's Copyrights in any case.

Yes but shouldn't this go against your moral fiber?  If Microsoft says it's okay but for you it is not?  Why would you be okay someone else doing it to another program?  I don't think Microsoft said the license is for the CD key.  I think they are selling to the original end user only when they came up with the licensing.  Not that I personally care one way or the another about 98 licensing enforcement since it's a dead OS and MS probably doesn't care either at least they haven't done any crack downs on eBay.

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Apparently you are not a Programmer and have no idea how long it takes to write Code and Debug it. If you think it is so easy and fast, do it yourself.
Last time I checked I was human. Sorry if that disappoints you.

Programming these languages would be a killer since Assembly and C++ would require a lot of time to come up with the Code and Debug it.  I leave that to you and if I overestimated what you could do it's only because you already have most of the working code and know it well so any adjustments would not take as long as starting from scratch and I assumed you were the best at it even for a super human.  I'd help if I could but like I said before there maybe but a few dozen of your types still around and most of this stuff have long since been forgotten.  I tend more to the hardware these days where it's more hands on and more enjoyable.  Occasionally I will try and modify something to see what happens in software only if the need arises and yes it is extremely time consuming.  But if I get the result I wanted I document it so I can repeat it later again in a fraction of the time and then move on.

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You may not be obligated to buy anything, but a vendor is going to stop answering questions if it appears that he is not getting anywhere. An author does not have an unlimited obligation to provide answers.
Most vendors provide far less information before purchase and only a few have demos.

Do you ask for proof that a Computer or Program works before you buy it?
In fact most Software comes with a disclaimer that they are not responsible if it doesn't fit your purpose.
People buy my Software based on my reputation. If I sold Products that didn't work, my reputation would decline. If I sell my RAMDisk to a Z170 user, I am staking my reputation on that proof.

I'm not sure why you cannot SYS or FORMAT on your Z170. I have no idea why the Z170 architecture would affect DOS in that way unless those programs use XMS like SCANDISK does.
There is probably a fix for HIMEM.SYS. Try changing the A20 Handler selection method.

You questioned for my RAMDisk would work on your Z170. Due to your unexplained HIMEM problem, I wanted to find out.
My 64-Bit RAMDisk is not dependent upon HIMEM. The 32-Bit has to coordinate with HIMEM so it might have an issue if you don't use the Reserved Memory Option.
XMS RAMDisk require HIMEM so they won't work unless you can resolve HIMEM or find an alternative.

I agree that the Z170 has a big problem with Windows 9x. I don't know of any HDMI Cards in particular. There are adapters available.
BIOS Emulation should take care of the USB Keyboard and Mouse, so they can be used in DOS or Windows 9x without Drivers. That is how I use an USB Keyboard with standard Windows 95.

I don't have any USB 2 or Sound PCI-E Cards, so I can't run tests.

I have several PCI-E SATA Cards that work just fine. They have their own BIOSes so you can Boot from them.

What do you mean by 98/ME only. They can be used by other OSes if you have the necessary Drivers.

Of course a P4 is easier to configure, but they are getting harder to find and are much slower. The Z170 has DDR4 memory so it should be faster than the earlier ones. It's a tradeoff.

I already have a secure VOIP app and a >4GiB File solution for FAT32 Partitions on XP. There are already many Emulators and VMs. I will decide what I want to market.

If you bought a Jacket and later the police were tipped off that you might have been involved in a robbery involving that same style, you could be in trouble if you don't have a receipt, even more if you acknowledge having a receipt and refuse to produce it.

You asked me if HIMEM.SYS worked on my Z87, not if my RAMDisk worked. If Windows 98SE runs, HIMEM MUST work.
I'm not sure if I even put a RAMDisk in the Z87.
In any case, I don't have to go through all of your MSDOS.SYS mods to find out. The RAMDisk has to load in DOS so if it is visible in Windows it must have loaded in DOS.
Also, I normally boot to DOS. Not by setting BOOTGUI=0 but by putting COMMAND.COM in my AUTOEXEC.BAT File. I go to Windows by typing EXIT.

A crown doesn't pay the bills. Being "Ultimate" doesn't mean anything if it doesn't sell. A pure Windows RAMDisk will run in Protected Mode, so it will run faster.
I doubt an XP one would be faster as XP has more overhead.

The free ones may not be able to compete on universality, but they don't have to. They only have to compete on a machine by machine basis.
Only people with more modern Computers would have a reason to use my RAMDisk, so it only has to support them.

Again you didn't say that you would actually buy a separate copy of my "Ultimate" RAMDisk for a 386 System when free alternatives exist, so I must assume the answer is no.
If you won't buy it, no one else will, so there is no point in developing it.

The non-XMS "Unique" feature is actually the main selling point. I sell a lot more of the 32-Bit RAMDisks than I do the 64-Bit RAMDisks despite the greater capacity of the 64-Bit RAMDisks.

Try rereading the Microsoft License. The License is transferable. In any case, it is not practical to verify the legality of Customers OSes. So there is no moral issue.

Unless you need to recover the RAM used, you can just reformat the RAMDisk to any smaller size, and later up to the original size. In the case of the 64-Bit RAMDisks, you have no use for any recovered 64-Bit RAM other than another RAMDisk unless you purchase my other 64-Bit RAM Products.

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I'm not sure why you cannot SYS or FORMAT on your Z170. I have no idea why the Z170 architecture would affect DOS in that way unless those programs use XMS like SCANDISK does.
There is probably a fix for HIMEM.SYS. Try changing the A20 Handler selection method.


I can't explain it either.  I can only report what is happening.  Now other Z170/Z270 may differ in DOS compatibility.  And just to be clear Formatting has no problem in DOS.  It's the SYS and creating a bootable boot device under DOS that has the issue using the FORMAT/S method.  These for some reason fail.  If you ever get a Z170/Z270 this might be replicated to see if the same result happens.

On Sunday, June 25, 2017 at 7:37 PM, rloew said:

Do you ask for proof that a Computer or Program works before you buy it?

Of course a P4 is easier to configure, but they are getting harder to find and are much slower. The Z170 has DDR4 memory so it should be faster than the earlier ones. It's a tradeoff.

There are already many Emulators and VMs.

If you bought a Jacket and later the police were tipped off that you might have been involved in a robbery involving that same style, you could be in trouble if you don't have a receipt, even more if you acknowledge having a receipt and refuse to produce it.

You asked me if HIMEM.SYS worked on my Z87, not if my RAMDisk worked. If Windows 98SE runs, HIMEM MUST work.
I'm not sure if I even put a RAMDisk in the Z87.
In any case, I don't have to go through all of your MSDOS.SYS mods to find out. The RAMDisk has to load in DOS so if it is visible in Windows it must have loaded in DOS.
Also, I normally boot to DOS. Not by setting BOOTGUI=0 but by putting COMMAND.COM in my AUTOEXEC.BAT File. I go to Windows by typing EXIT.

A crown doesn't pay the bills. Being "Ultimate" doesn't mean anything if it doesn't sell. A pure Windows RAMDisk will run in Protected Mode, so it will run faster.
I doubt an XP one would be faster as XP has more overhead.

The free ones may not be able to compete on universality, but they don't have to. They only have to compete on a machine by machine basis.
Only people with more modern Computers would have a reason to use my RAMDisk, so it only has to support them.

Again you didn't say that you would actually buy a separate copy of my "Ultimate" RAMDisk for a 386 System when free alternatives exist, so I must assume the answer is no.
If you won't buy it, no one else will, so there is no point in developing it.

The non-XMS "Unique" feature is actually the main selling point. I sell a lot more of the 32-Bit RAMDisks than I do the 64-Bit RAMDisks despite the greater capacity of the 64-Bit RAMDisks.

Try rereading the Microsoft License. The License is transferable. In any case, it is not practical to verify the legality of Customers OSes. So there is no moral issue.

Unless you need to recover the RAM used, you can just reformat the RAMDisk to any smaller size, and later up to the original size. In the case of the 64-Bit RAMDisks, you have no use for any recovered 64-Bit RAM other than another RAMDisk unless you purchase my other 64-Bit RAM Products.

Most proof is done either through demonstration on Youtube with videos or at least snapshots of the program they would be receiving.  If I remember correctly there are none that exist on your website.

Which is why I'm focusing on the Z77 to do my 98 test.

None that have video card emulation of the 7900 GTX and none for an EAX Advanced HD audio card which should cover the necessary 9X/ME hardware emulation required.

I find that situation highly unlikely but assuming someone had a receipt but forgot they could still check the surveillance tapes to see if I was wearing it before I entered the store.

There are no mods.  The F8 key I suggested would the fastest to get to the command prompt and just add Himem.Sys to the Config.Sys.  As for the EXIT command I believe that is only triggered if you loading into 98SE and then did an exit to DOS.  The Exit at first DOS boot I don't believe it will load Windows.  I think the EXIT command only comes from exiting out of 98SE to DOS mode.  You can double check.  I am pretty sure EXIT should not call up WIN.COM out of the blue unless you had set up some strange batch file to call Win.Com.

I think the overhead as you put it probably won't matter.  The extra large cache and buffer in XP would probably beat what DOS copy could do.  If I tested your program I would time the same 4GB file copied from 64-bit Ramdrive Y: to Z: in 98SE DOS and replicated the same copy of the file for two Ramdrives Y: and Z: in XP.  I am quite certain because of the way the COPY buffer is so tiny in DOS it would take much longer than in XP.  XCOPY might beat the COPY transfer time.  There have been a few times when my XP partition ran out of space causing a reboot loop.  I had to go to DOS and move / copy a file on that partition to another to free up some space before I could boot into XP.  The COPY process takes some time.  XCOPY should be faster.  But there's no way that it would beat an XP Ramdrive 4GB COPY and PASTE from Y: TO Z: in a test.

I already cleared up that up in the last message.  It would depend on the licensing restrictions and how much.  If the license was the individual could only use the program on one computer being booted at a time it would make sense as it is rare that an individual would have several DOS computers up running your Ramdrive simultaneously.  If the person was limited by the machines they could install it to it would be a costly endeavor.  This is why it is simpler to license to an individual user so that user can do what they want as long as it is the user doing it only.  Also from all the hindsight discussion I mentioned my DOSBOX insight using the XP Ramdrive instead.  So that's why I think the 98BOX emulator is a better use of your resources if you consider doing one.

Are you referring to just the DOS Format command or some other Ramdisk command option to resize?  Did you put a full manual up of the Ramdisk program to better understand its features and command line options since there is no Demo program?

Edited by 98SE
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Videos and snapshots only prove it is working on a single Motherboard. Testing on every possible Motherboard is prohibitive and the Videos would full up the website.
What do snapshots prove anyway. I have one showing Windows 98SE with 4064MB of RAM. I have one with DOS running with 128TiB of Free Space.
The snapshots are real, but they are hardly usable.

Others have Z77 Motherboards so they can run tests if needed.

Wearing a jacket before entering the store is not even relevant. Maybe a better example is an iPad where the store has a serial number of an iPad missing from inventory and you are found with that serial number iPad.
No receipt you get arrested. With a receipt, the store has to figure out who didn't record the sale.

You said to remove BootGui. That is a Mod. I don't need to do anything to Boot to DOS on my Z87 System when I select 98SE.
You clearly didn't read what I said. I said I added COMMAND.COM to my AUTOEXEC.BAT File.
When startup reaches that line it puts me in that Command Shell. When I type EXIT, it returns to the startup shell that then runs Windows after exhausting AUTOEXEC.BAT.

You misread what I said. I said a XP RAMDisk might be slower than a Windows 98 based RAMDisk, not my DOS based RAMDisk.

Except for Virtual Machines, Licenses are for each Machine, not each Booted Machine. A per User license is a different type of License.
Not all of my Customers are individuals so a User License would be more complicated.

DOS Format has very limited options to set size. My RFORMAT Program can set any size.

The RAMDisks themselves have no resizing options. They only need to know how big their reserved space is. You can always put something smaller in it. The rest is unused.

The RAMDisks have very simple options that are in the instructions that come with it. They are in the "Unpackaged" Section of my Website so there are no Manuals to read there.

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1 hour ago, rloew said:

Videos and snapshots only prove it is working on a single Motherboard. Testing on every possible Motherboard is prohibitive and the Videos would full up the website.
What do snapshots prove anyway. I have one showing Windows 98SE with 4064MB of RAM. I have one with DOS running with 128TiB of Free Space.
The snapshots are real, but they are hardly usable.

Others have Z77 Motherboards so they can run tests if needed.

Wearing a jacket before entering the store is not even relevant. Maybe a better example is an iPad where the store has a serial number of an iPad missing from inventory and you are found with that serial number iPad.
No receipt you get arrested. With a receipt, the store has to figure out who didn't record the sale.

You said to remove BootGui. That is a Mod. I don't need to do anything to Boot to DOS on my Z87 System when I select 98SE.
You clearly didn't read what I said. I said I added COMMAND.COM to my AUTOEXEC.BAT File.
When startup reaches that line it puts me in that Command Shell. When I type EXIT, it returns to the startup shell that then runs Windows after exhausting AUTOEXEC.BAT.

You misread what I said. I said a XP RAMDisk might be slower than a Windows 98 based RAMDisk, not my DOS based RAMDisk.

Except for Virtual Machines, Licenses are for each Machine, not each Booted Machine. A per User license is a different type of License.
Not all of my Customers are individuals so a User License would be more complicated.

DOS Format has very limited options to set size. My RFORMAT Program can set any size.

The RAMDisks themselves have no resizing options. They only need to know how big their reserved space is. You can always put something smaller in it. The rest is unused.

The RAMDisks have very simple options that are in the instructions that come with it. They are in the "Unpackaged" Section of my Website so there are no Manuals to read there.

The video I was thinking of you could do is showing what happens in a typical 98SE with too much memory.  Then apply your patch in DOS showing it do its thing.  Then loading Windows without a problem and you could follow up with Right Click My Computer and show the Max Memory visible and also open up the Task Manager to show Memory statistics.

Pictures I guess the ones you mentioned could work.  Snapshots of ones that don't work could be added for the Before shots.

Well as much as that scenario would be funny to have happened.  I wouldn't be caught dead with an iPad.  Not saying I wouldn't take one for free.  But the whole idea of the iPad revolts me.  They purposely had no USB ports and decided to use a proprietary jack for the audio.  Anyhow it wouldn't be me holding one but if it did get stolen that's one less to deal with for the Apple store.  Overpriced junked imo.

Why are you putting the COMMAND.COM in your Autoexec.Bat?  This isn't necessary for 98SE DOS.  It automatically loads it regardless if you are booting straight to DOS or straight to 98SE.

And when you say "Command Shell" you mean the Command Prompt?

I think you need to use a USB Floppy with 98SE formatted bootable.  I think that 98SE CDROM just has too many issues and I don't have one setup for me examine step by step.  You can copy the 98SE Config.Sys and Autoexec.Bat to the Floppy after.

Just modify any C: to A: in the files but you will have to copy any files that are stored on the optical disc that are not present on the A: and make any appropriate directories to match.

I used to make 98SE CD boot disks into a Floppy form when I needed a way to access the optical drive without needing to use the 98SE CD.

Are you doing the W98 copy from Y: to Z: within 98SE Explorer or going to the Command Prompt within 98SE?

I still think the XP Ramdrive will be faster than the 98SE Ramdrive.

If I get a chance to finish the 98SE on Z77 maybe I can do some tests even using the XMSDSK for a smaller size.  I just find it unlikely the copy speed would be faster.

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1 hour ago, dencorso said:

Of course! What else? Remember the SHELL= directive in CONFIG.SYS? :unsure:

I don't use that in my 98SE Bootdisk.  Most of the time if it can't find the Command Interpreter it will prompt you to type it in.  I think the last time that command reared its ugly head was in DOS 4.0.  You remember DOS SHELL?

dos-4.0-shell-fs-300x225.png

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I suppose I could make some Videos, load them up with advertisements and make some extra money. Otherwise what is the point.
Videos can be faked so you are still taking me at my word. If you trust me, you don't need the Videos. They are not informative.
Same with Pictures.

Since you don't understand the iPad analogy, I won't bother any further with it.

I put COMMAND.COM in AUTOEXEC.BAT because I want to. It gives me access to DOS and lets me continue to Windows when I am done.

I meant what I said. COMMAND.COM is a "Command Shell". It displays a "Command Prompt".

I have no problem making Bootable Floppy Disks, USB Keys, or CDROMs without your help or instructions.

What W98 Copy are you talking about. You are the one running these tests, not me.

We shall see which is faster.

XMSDSK is a DOS Based RAMDisk as is mine. It is not going to be anywhere as fast. You need to get a Windows RAMDisk that is Installed from within Windows 98SE.

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Today I went to my local Microcenter to survey the currently available Motherboards.

I examined some Z170 and Z270 Motherboards from Intel and AMD.

All of them had at least a couple of USB 2 Ports, although I don't think any of them were brought out to the rear I/O Panel. You would have to run cables to the internal headers.

All had at least one PS/2 Port. An AMD Motherboard had two. The AMD Motherboards had at least one PCI slot.

I think the death of Windows 9x will be a little later than 98SE expected.

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On Sunday, June 25, 2017 at 9:19 PM, rloew said:

You said to remove BootGui. That is a Mod. I don't need to do anything to Boot to DOS on my Z87 System when I select 98SE.

You clearly didn't read what I said. I said I added COMMAND.COM to my AUTOEXEC.BAT File.
When startup reaches that line it puts me in that Command Shell. When I type EXIT, it returns to the startup shell that then runs Windows after exhausting AUTOEXEC.BAT.

The RAMDisks have very simple options that are in the instructions that come with it. They are in the "Unpackaged" Section of my Website so there are no Manuals to read there.

The BootGui=0 option in MsDos.Sys is another way to force to MS-DOS mode instead of launching directly into Windows 98 which can be done the same by typing WIN.  There is no need to remove the line or you can just use the ; to comment it out but by default BootGui=1 to load Windows.  You can try the F8 method before it loads into Windows to trigger the Boot Menu instead of changing MsDos.Sys.  But since you are using the 98SE CD you couldn't really edit the MsDos.Sys file on it since its read only so that's why I recommend a USB Floppy disk if you need to edit the MsDos.Sys.

I wouldn't call this a mod.  You are just editing the MsDos.Sys file after you Attrib it so it is unhidden.  Your memory patch would be a real mod that affects the actual code.  I wouldn't call editing the Config.Sys or Autoexec.Bat a mod either.  That seems a bit of a stretch.  Just like changing the System.Ini and Win.Ini can be done in Edit.

You don't need to add Command.Com to your Autoexec.Bat.  It is automatically loaded into memory upon boot.

If you do run a DOS program that consumes or requires a lot of conventional memory that needs to unload Command.Com.  Then after you exit that program it will ask where your Command Interpreter is if it doesn't find it on the default boot up location.

How DOS has always worked is it loads itself into conventional memory and then loads your Config.Sys then it loads your Autoexec.Bat.

If you renamed both of these files to Config and Autoexec without extensions you will see it boot straight to the Date Time Prompt.

I still don't see why you are manually adding Command.Com in your Autoexec.Bat as it doesn't do nothing but call up Command.Com which was already loaded when you booted up straight to the Date Time Prompt if you renamed those two files.

Maybe if you listed the entire contents of your Config.Sys and Autoexec.Bat I can decipher what your set up is doing.  If it's the 98SE CD then the F8 method is the best way to force DOS mode.

If you want to the system to remain in DOS during boots then when you are ready to run Windows it is easier to either type Win if your paths are set correctly or create a simple batch file called w.bat and direct it to the directory and run Win in one key stroke.

I double checked on a clean 98SE install.  Hitting F8 to Command Prompt Only at boot and then typing the EXIT command at the Command Prompt does not invoke loading Windows 98.  The EXIT command only invokes reloading Windows 98 after you had previously exited from inside Windows 98 to the pure MS-DOS prompt.  I had done this so many times years ago since I dropped in and out between DOS and 98SE all the time.

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I'm not sure what your point is. Nothing you said is new.

My way boots me into DOS. I can proceed to Windows by typing EXIT. I don't need to press F8 and navigate a Menu. I don't have to type WIN which alters the memory addresses slightly.

I take it a step further by adding the /Z Option to COMMAND.COM which displays the Return Codes for Commands I run when in DOS.

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