Working with DOS software on a windows partition

mfisher1967 · Jan 23, 2002, 10:53 AM

I am about to help my father to convert his old Lotus 1-2-3 rev. 2.3 from 5.25" floppys to 3.5" floppys. He wants to run this software on his computer, which currently only has Windows on C: drive. Do I need to create another partition for him to work and save his data in DOS mode? Or, can he simply run the Lotus software and save data on the present C: drive configuration with the Windows files? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Gator · Jan 23, 2002, 11:15 AM

so far as i know, the command interpreter for your OS should automatically tell the DOS program where the files are... in short it shouldn't matter if it's fat32, fat16, or NTFS. The important thing to remember is DOS programs cant read long file names, keep anything lotus related to 8.3 format. But if the program needs REAL dos mode, then your only options are fat16 or fat32... but I suspect the old Lotus will work just fine under Windows

_Kosh_ · Jan 23, 2002, 11:29 AM

I'm not sure what the problem is.

If you are afraid that the Lotus software will not run then that shouldn't be a problem. It should run at least if you start the computer in DOS mode and will also probably work in full screen mode under windows. You might need to configure the display driver to use standard VGA or EGA unless the video card in the computer is old enough to have Lotus DOS drivers available. Check the software documentation to see if any environment variables need to be defined in autoexec.bat for the software to work.

If you are afraid the files cannot be stored on the hard drive don't worry. I have no idea why you couldn't copy the files from the floppies to any folder on the current HD drive partition.

If the goal is to simply convert the files why not just copy them to the hard drive in a new folder. If you don't get any error message then obviously it means that it worked. To convert the files all you need then is a modern software application such as Microsoft Excel and the proper conversion filters installed. Open each file and "save as..." as an Excel Workbook. As soon as the files are converted I would simply burn a CD-R containing all the original (unconverted) files as well as the converted files. You might as well burn copies of the original software diskettes (provided they have no special copy protection mechanism) instead of wasting the remaining free space on this same CD-R.

I fail to see the need to run the old Lotus software for the purpose of converting the files. Hope this helps.

Regards, ../K

Jan 23, 2002, 10:53 AM	#1	Advertisement (Guests Only) Login or Register to remove this ad
mfisher1967 Radeon R300 Join Date: Nov 2000 Posts: 129	Working with DOS software on a windows partition I am about to help my father to convert his old Lotus 1-2-3 rev. 2.3 from 5.25" floppys to 3.5" floppys. He wants to run this software on his computer, which currently only has Windows on C: drive. Do I need to create another partition for him to work and save his data in DOS mode? Or, can he simply run the Lotus software and save data on the present C: drive configuration with the Windows files? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

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Jan 23, 2002, 11:15 AM	#2
Gator Unreal Android Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11,894	so far as i know, the command interpreter for your OS should automatically tell the DOS program where the files are... in short it shouldn't matter if it's fat32, fat16, or NTFS. The important thing to remember is DOS programs cant read long file names, keep anything lotus related to 8.3 format. But if the program needs REAL dos mode, then your only options are fat16 or fat32... but I suspect the old Lotus will work just fine under Windows

Jan 23, 2002, 11:29 AM	#3
_Kosh_ All Alone in the Night Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: I have always been here. My actual post count is 65535 plus the number below: Posts: 2,496	I'm not sure what the problem is. If you are afraid that the Lotus software will not run then that shouldn't be a problem. It should run at least if you start the computer in DOS mode and will also probably work in full screen mode under windows. You might need to configure the display driver to use standard VGA or EGA unless the video card in the computer is old enough to have Lotus DOS drivers available. Check the software documentation to see if any environment variables need to be defined in autoexec.bat for the software to work. If you are afraid the files cannot be stored on the hard drive don't worry. I have no idea why you couldn't copy the files from the floppies to any folder on the current HD drive partition. If the goal is to simply convert the files why not just copy them to the hard drive in a new folder. If you don't get any error message then obviously it means that it worked. To convert the files all you need then is a modern software application such as Microsoft Excel and the proper conversion filters installed. Open each file and "save as..." as an Excel Workbook. As soon as the files are converted I would simply burn a CD-R containing all the original (unconverted) files as well as the converted files. You might as well burn copies of the original software diskettes (provided they have no special copy protection mechanism) instead of wasting the remaining free space on this same CD-R. I fail to see the need to run the old Lotus software for the purpose of converting the files. Hope this helps. Regards, ../K

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