Look what I found on Reddit

[hypr]

http://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresti ... _original/

http://i.imgur.com/5nTaRtx.jpg

This reddit user has found a sealed copy of MS-Dos 4.01 at his work, I am unsure how much it would be worth to a collector here, but I am thinking a fair bit.

[James]

Irony. I found that earlier today and commented on it.

[voidp]

I am unsure how much it would be worth to a collector here, but I am thinking a fair bit.

$49.97 — http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-MS-DO ... 1575660801

$39.00 — http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-DOS-V ... 0797245321

[madcrow]

4.01 is common. The version of 4.0 released by a few European OEMs that had multitasking is the rare version.

[Overdoze]

4.01 is common. The version of 4.0 released by a few European OEMs that had multitasking is the rare version.

Even more so the original 4.00 (non-multitasking), which is yet to surface, AFAIK.

[jagotu]

4.01 is common. The version of 4.0 released by a few European OEMs that had multitasking is the rare version.

Even more so the original 4.00 (non-multitasking), which is yet to surface, AFAIK.

Last time I looked we had a Microsoft MS-DOS 4.00 (1988-10-06) [English] [Sampo OEM] (5.25'') [Incomplete] on BA FTP I know it says incomplete, but the only thing that's missing is the shell disk and the DOS works perfectly even without it.

[voidp]

http://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22837

Here's also some info that popped up on the net:

https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=44222

"There never was MS-DOS 4.00, only 4.01. IBM released version 4.00 (called IBM DOS, not Personal Computer DOS like the previous versions) in 1988 and then quietly refreshed the release without any announcements or version number changes. The original release was from June 17, the refresh from August 3, 1988. I'm not sure when the earliest non-OEM MS-DOS 4.01 release was from, and I'm not sure if IBM ever released something that reported itself as DOS 4.01."

Makes quite a lot of sense. This also means that no 4.00 got out to OEMs, which means the screenshots above are from 4.01.

I hope this clears up a lot of confusion.

[QBiN]

It just so happens that I have the same set of Packard Bell OEM DOS 4.0 disks as DLCC. I have them from an old 286. The 286 is long gone, but the disks are still here.

http://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewto ... 59&t=22837

I didn't even realize I had them. I was browsing around for a copy of QModemPro 1.0 for Win3.x and ran into the thread above. When I saw the picture of the disk, I thought, "That looks familiar." So I looked and viola! Same disk with the same Packard Bell part# to boot.

They probably are just another set of 4.01 OEM's... but we'll know proof positive now.

I'll take a photo and upload a picture tomorrow. I'll also have to rig up an older 5.25" with some appropriate OS+software to get the images recorded. Any recommendations?

[QBiN]

Took a couple of pictures of the disks. I don't trust running these through an old retro rig. So I bit the bullet and ordered a KryoFlux (wanted one for some time, just didn't have an excuse).



I'll update the DOS to Win3.x forum section once I have the images and load them into a VM.

[Battler]

- Overdoze and voidp: We have MS-DOS 4.00 on the BA FTP, albeit incomplete, so it definitely exists. It identifies as 4.00, whereas 4.01 identifies as 4.01.

Edit: And voidp, the post you quoted was from 2011. That was 2 or 3 years before we got the incomplete 4.00, and it itself quotes a post from another forum.

Edit #2: As I just said in http://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewto ... 58#p390458 , the file date/time DLCC provided matches the dates/times of JaGoTu's MS-DOS 4.00. Therefore, he has 4.00. And if QBiN's copy is really the exact same as DLCC's, then QBiN also has 4.00.

[voidp]

I dumped a Packard Bell disk with the *same* label as DLCC's but it contains a command.com from 1988-12-19. I diff'd the files against BA's Sampro copy and learned mine has the string "...4.01..."

Code: Select all

 <! Microsoft(R) MS-DOS(R) Version 4.00
 !> Microsoft(R) MS-DOS(R) Version 4.01

Thus, like IBM (see quote above), Packard Bell must have distributed 4.00 and 4.01 using the same part number.

[SoftPCMuseum]

I dumped a Packard Bell disk with the *same* label as DLCC's but it contains a command.com from 1988-12-19. I diff'd the files against BA's Sampro copy and learned mine has the string "...4.01..."

Code: Select all

 <! Microsoft(R) MS-DOS(R) Version 4.00
 !> Microsoft(R) MS-DOS(R) Version 4.01

Thus, like IBM (see quote above), Packard Bell must have distributed 4.00 and 4.01 using the same part number.

I have a 5.25 inch disk set of Packard Bell MS-DOS 4.0 with the exact same labels and design, but it was also MS-DOS 4.01 if I remember correctly. Still have to look back to be sure, since I'm planning on uploading quite a large amount of old software, including that same version of MS-DOS (with proper disk scans and dumps of course).

Please be patient, though, since I'm currently in the process of setting up my disk imaging "station" (as I like to call it; just an old PC with both, a 5.25 inch drive and a 3.5 inch drive so that I can easily image both types of disk and still upload each proper dump once I'm finished). I still hope to have the disks ready within a couple of days, so I'll try my best to finish at least this one disk set as soon as possible, so that I can test it out and also so that everyone here can look at it and examine it for themselves (and hopefully preserve it for the future).

[QBiN]

I just uploaded the full disk set of Packard Bell OEM "MS-DOS 4.0". After taking the disk images (traditional MFM sector images) using Kryoflux, I noticed the command.com date was 1988-12-19. I also noticed some original files on the diagnostic disk were dated in 1990. So I'm losing faith that are the elusive 4.00 OEM. Nonetheless, they are uploaded and just waiting approval for inspection by anyone interested.