Windows 8

[ZL1RS]

The new PC under Win8 will run my required windows programs (WSPR, Spectrum Lab, Skymoon, etc), but not 16 bit DOS programs.

Just tried a program called DOSBOX after seeing a screenshot of YO running under/in it on DK7ZB's website. A short (re)learning curve (dredging up DOS commands from the 1990's) but now I can run YO on my Win8 machine. Oh joy

73,

[VK5PJ]

Hi Bob

Just tried a program called DOSBOX after seeing a screenshot of YO running under/in it on DK7ZB's website. A short (re)learning curve (dredging up DOS commands from the 1990's) but now I can run YO on my Win8 machine. Oh joy
73,

DOSBox is one of those wonderful programs that seems to get ignored by most with a need to run a native DOS program, I have found even some of my crankiest old DOS programs eventually surrender and run in DOSBox, even those wanting to control a serial port can be tamed without the need for Sheldon Cooper PHd (big bang theory).

I was keeping a Pentium 4 machine with dual boot of DOS and XP to program Philips radios but just last month decided it was time to scrape the dust off it and send it to the recycler. This is the first time in my adult life since my mid 20's (now 54) I have not had a PC capable of running native DOS and am determined not to look back. Two hearty thumbs up for DOSBox from me

Peter, vk5pj

[VK5KK]

Hi Peter,

Post re using Philips (PRM?) software in DOSBox caught my eye .. gather you can run PRM on DOSBox ok and find com port ok?

I kept a Celeron 400 with Windows 98SE for years to do PRM's .. last time I cranked it up to do one set forgot I'd thrown out all the junk needed to run it like the DIN plug keyboard, Windoze 98 CDs, floppies, a few years before. Took 2 hours to cobble things to get it going (for a 30 second job) shortly there after HDD started grinding away, blue screen on boot ... now at Sims

Windows 8 has less than 4% take up and Steve Ballmer has suddenly resigned as chief of Microsoft after +10 years .. writing on the wall?

Cheers

David VK5KK

[VK3YCQ]

I must agree Windows 8 out of the box is a real stinker. If I had to cope with Microsoft 'apps' getting in the way and if I had to cope with the stupid GUI I would have reverted back to XP. However, once the so-called improvements are stripped away, the Windows 8 operating system is better in many respects than its predecessors. Without performing a scientifically valid comparison, in my experience it appears the Windows 8 operating system starts more quickly, shuts down more quickly and is less prone to crashing than Windows 3.1, Windows NT4, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98SE, XP, Vista or W7. This does not mean you should spend the money on it or the hardware to run it. I'm sure that there is quite a bit of life left in Windows 7 and Windows XP, particularly for most of the currently useful amateur radio programs.

Regarding DOSBOX, although I've never used it to talk to USB or RS232 ports, I'm a fan. It just works.

Ian
VK3YCQ

[VK5PJ]

Thread Hijack mode ON

Howdy David,
yes FPP runs fine in DOSBox, had to declare and map the COM port in the DOSBox config

just added this line to the config file for DOSBox

Code: Select all

serial1=directserial realport:com1

Now I must admit I have not tried to map it to a USB serial port but seeing that Windows takes care of that bit DOSBox should just map it through to the DOS application like a real one.

Hi Peter,
Post re using Philips (PRM?) software in DOSBox caught my eye .. gather you can run PRM on DOSBox ok and find com port ok?

Windows 8 has less than 4% take up and Steve Ballmer has suddenly resigned as chief of Microsoft after +10 years .. writing on the wall?
Cheers
David VK5KK

Peter.

Thread Hijack mode OFF

[VK3YCQ]

I have just installed the Windows 8.1 update, a 'free' download from Microsoft if you already have a licensed copy of Windows 8. Apart from the whopping 3.5GB download, there are a number of other issues. If you are a non-Metro user (in other words, if you don't like the brightly coloured blocky screen) I do not think the changes in 8.1 are worth bothering with, in fact I would go so far as warning people not to install 8.1. I discovered that some programs stopped working under 8.1 despite being uninstalled and re-installed. The user is also forced to establish an account on Skydrive. Also, there is now a seemingly permanent error message in the lower right hand part of my screen related to 'SecureBoot', no doubt related to my insistence on loading non-microsoft approved drivers. I will attempt to uninstall Windoze 8.1... stay tuned.

P.s I believe it is possible to dual-boot or multi-boot other operating systems using a program called EasyBCD. I've used it with Windows XP/Windows 7 and it worked flawlessly.

Ian
VK3YCQ

[VK2OMD]

Hi Peter,

Post re using Philips (PRM?) software in DOSBox caught my eye .. gather you can run PRM on DOSBox ok and find com port ok?

...

I use a stand alone DOS system on a bootable USB stick for that sort of work.

I just put the USB stick into a machine with a real com port (not many laptops do that now), and boot up from the stick without using the internal drives.

Printouts like channel tables can be captured to file on the USB stick, and printed off later from another machine (or same machine running its normal OS).

The best DOS I have found is DOS from Win98. Don't be sucked in by FREEDOS, it had lots of compatibility issues with some of these apps when I tried it, and is a right pain to setup.

Owen