It looks like there's a separate install batch file already set up for installing from floppy to hard drive - back then "XT" meant a PC XT or clone (i.e. hard drive system). perhaps try INSTALLXT.BAT (which calls I0XT.BAT). you may have to tweak the batch file to get it to work but perhaps not...
Forgot to mention that I did try this. It says "Invalid number of parameters" -- what the heck does that mean? On Mon, May 13, 2019, 8:45 PM Glenn Roberts <glenn.f.roberts@gmail.com> wrote:
It looks like there's a separate install batch file already set up for installing from floppy to hard drive - back then "XT" meant a PC XT or clone (i.e. hard drive system). perhaps try INSTALLXT.BAT (which calls I0XT.BAT). you may have to tweak the batch file to get it to work but perhaps not...
- Glenn
-----Original Message----- From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Monday, May 13, 2019 7:30 PM To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Cc: Evan Koblentz <evan@vcfed.org> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] Help with installing 1980s DOS program
Someone posted on my local Facebook town page in need of ordinary PC support. I replied because that stuff is usually quite easy to fix -- easy/quick cash on the side, or so I thought!!
Turns out it's an elderly attorney running a mid-1980s DOS version of Leading Edge Word Processor installed on Windows XP. Seriously?????
The problem was it keeps giving him an error message about unable to read drive a: (3.5") even when he's not trying to use that drive. The error pops up randomly and prevents him from continuing to use the program. I confirmed that the drive reads/writes fine.
Rather than trying to chase down an inconsistent bug, he asked me if he can dump Windows and just run the program under straight DOS. Okay, sure. I figured it would be fun to do this even if the guy wasn't paying me. After all, if I don't promote semi-vintage computing then who will? :)
I downloaded DOS 6.22 at home and put the image files onto disks via a USB floppy drive. Went to install that on an old PC that I happened to have, and it gave errors about lack of memory space when I ran setup, which is bizarre but whatever .... I downloaded version 5.0 instead and that installed without any trouble (not counting one damaged disk; I used another disk and it worked that time).
So now I've got a bare-metal DOS 5.0 installation on an older PC for this guy. His son pointed me to the word processor program at an abandonware site (I put a copy of the files at http://snarc.net/lewp/ if anybody wants to play along at home). I copied the files onto a disk via DOSbox (thanks to Dean for the tip to use emulation there!). The files read/write fine on the DOS computer.
Currently I'm stumped at how to install this program on the computer. I copied them all into the same directory structure on the DOS computer. The install.bat file requires a second floppy drive, which I don't have but I am getting one tomorrow. (Local FB marketplace seller has another external USB floppy drive for eight bucks.)
I have two questions:
1. Is there a way around needing a second drive?
2. If the second drive is required, is it even the correct procedure to just run the install.bat or must I do something else to install the program?