Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

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FoobyZeeky
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Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by FoobyZeeky »

Hi everyone,

I installed Windows 3.1 on a virtual machine in VBox using a virtual MS-DOS 6.22 floppy boot disk (.img floppy image file). Everything works fine, but the only way I can start up Windows is to boot the virtual floppy and type the full path of win.exe (C:\windows\win), and the image contains unnecessary drivers and third-party modifications which take a while to load upon booting.

I understand that Windows 3.1 originally used a startup floppy, which your system would boot with. You would be greeted by COMMAND.COM relatively quickly, and you could simply type 'win' to get to Windows, instead of the full path name. I have tried multiple times to create a startup floppy in Windows 3.1 using a physical floppy drive and floppy, but every attempt has resulted in failure. So, if somebody could provide a Windows 3.1 startup floppy image in .img format, I would be grateful. A long Google search has provided me with nothing.

As far as I know, the Windows 3.1 startup disk contains only autoexec.bat, config.sys and command.com, but they all must be the correct version. I tried manually copying these three files to a physical floppy in the Windows 3.1 VM, but I was met by errors. What's more, virtual floppy disks are write-protected.

Thanks!
sup

neonsonicboy
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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by neonsonicboy »

1. The floppy disk needs to be bootable
2. Windows was usually installed on a hard disk side by side with DOS.

DeFacto

Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by DeFacto »

Let me see if i get this right: you boot windows 3.1 from a floppy??? :OD

dude, that's how some releases of win 1.x used to boot, but 3.X already included HDD support, so i see no reason why not to INSTALL it...

FoobyZeeky
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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by FoobyZeeky »

DeFacto wrote:Let me see if i get this right: you boot windows 3.1 from a floppy??? :OD

dude, that's how some releases of win 1.x used to boot, but 3.X already included HDD support, so i see no reason why not to INSTALL it...
No no. I installed Windows 3.1 to the VHD, but you needed a bootable startup floppy to actually boot Windows.
sup

DeFacto

Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by DeFacto »

Man, you've got some sort of weird copy installed right there... :o

Normally, you install MS-DOS 6.X, install Windows 3.X and then you simply type WIN into the DOS prompt to start windows, OR, you edit the autoexec.bat (or was it command.com? forgot which one... 8-)) by adding win.com at the end of the file and voila! you get everything automated. got any clues which build is this? never heard of floppy boot Win 3.X before...

Spider-Vice
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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by Spider-Vice »

DeFacto wrote:Man, you've got some sort of weird copy installed right there... :o

Normally, you install MS-DOS 6.X, install Windows 3.X and then you simply type WIN into the DOS prompt to start windows, OR, you edit the autoexec.bat (or was it command.com? forgot which one... 8-)) by adding win.com at the end of the file and voila! you get everything automated. got any clues which build is this? never heard of floppy boot Win 3.X before...
No no, it's not a weird copy, you can do it that way too. Some versions didn't need DOS already installed.

DeFacto

Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by DeFacto »

well at least i learned something new: you can boot win 3.x from da floppy! :P

FoobyZeeky
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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by FoobyZeeky »

Spider-Vice wrote:
DeFacto wrote:Man, you've got some sort of weird copy installed right there... :o

Normally, you install MS-DOS 6.X, install Windows 3.X and then you simply type WIN into the DOS prompt to start windows, OR, you edit the autoexec.bat (or was it command.com? forgot which one... 8-)) by adding win.com at the end of the file and voila! you get everything automated. got any clues which build is this? never heard of floppy boot Win 3.X before...
No no, it's not a weird copy, you can do it that way too. Some versions didn't need DOS already installed.
Yeah. It's exactly the same as booting DOS on the hard disk and then typing WIN, but instead you're booting DOS off a floppy and typing WIN.

Anyway; does anybody have (or know a place where I can get) an original Win3.1 startup disk?
sup

DeFacto

Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by DeFacto »

Well you see, here's my point: windows 3.x releases probably (again, PROBABLY) didn't had offocial boot disks because they we're suppose to boot from DOS... but since 9X no longer require DOS pre-installed, they include boot disks to prepare the HDDs for installation...

so at least i think win 3.x boot disk will be hard to find... You really should do the STANDARD thing, which first DOS (6.22) then CD driver (if you have CD copy of Win 3.X) and then install Win 3.x. no need for any boot disks at all! :wink:

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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by FoobyZeeky »

DeFacto wrote:Well you see, here's my point: windows 3.x releases probably (again, PROBABLY) didn't had offocial boot disks because they we're suppose to boot from DOS... but since 9X no longer require DOS pre-installed, they include boot disks to prepare the HDDs for installation...

so at least i think win 3.x boot disk will be hard to find... You really should do the STANDARD thing, which first DOS (6.22) then CD driver (if you have CD copy of Win 3.X) and then install Win 3.x. no need for any boot disks at all! :wink:
That's not what I mean. Windows 3.1 does NOT start on its own. During setup it gives you the option to create a startup disk. This means, if you only have Windows 3.1 on your hard drive (no DOS), you can boot off the startup drive to run WIN.EXE on the hard drive. Effectively, the startup disk is your command line. I didn't mean bootdisk, although the startup disk is bootable (obviously).
sup

Max
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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by Max »

FoobyZeeky wrote:During setup it gives you the option to create a startup disk. This means, if you only have Windows 3.1 on your hard drive (no DOS), you can boot off the startup drive to run WIN.EXE on the hard drive.
I have installed Win3x many times and I newer saw an option like this...
And why would you want to use floppy as boot device, since it's way slower than HDD?

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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by FoobyZeeky »

Max wrote:
FoobyZeeky wrote:During setup it gives you the option to create a startup disk. This means, if you only have Windows 3.1 on your hard drive (no DOS), you can boot off the startup drive to run WIN.EXE on the hard drive.
I have installed Win3x many times and I newer saw an option like this...
And why would you want to use floppy as boot device, since it's way slower than HDD?
This is a virtual machine I'm talking about here. Virtual floppy images are just as fast as VHDs. And as I don't have MS-DOS on the Windows 3.1 VHD, a virtual floppy image of a Windows 3.1 startup disk is what I need. The only installable MS-DOS disk image I have is 7.10, and it's highly modified by third-parties. When you install it to a hard drive and then attempt to install Windows 3x or 9x, you are told that there is a compressed volume on the drive preventing the setup from continuing.
sup

DeFacto

Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by DeFacto »

FoobyZeeky wrote:...And as I don't have MS-DOS on the Windows 3.1 VHD...
but why not? that's what i've been trying to tell you! you really should install MS-DOS first. and i never saw that startup disk option, only in 4.X but not 3.X... Get genuine original MS-DOS 6.22 (!!!) and Windows 3.1 (!!!) installation media and i'm telling you, everything will workout.

look, no offense intended, but why are you complicating this so much? i forgot what your question was at the original post. could you say it again, but in a more... simple way.

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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by FoobyZeeky »

DeFacto wrote:
FoobyZeeky wrote:...And as I don't have MS-DOS on the Windows 3.1 VHD...
but why not? that's what i've been trying to tell you! you really should install MS-DOS first. and i never saw that startup disk option, only in 4.X but not 3.X... Get genuine original MS-DOS 6.22 (!!!) and Windows 3.1 (!!!) installation media and i'm telling you, everything will workout.

look, no offense intended, but why are you complicating this so much? i forgot what your question was at the original post. could you say it again, but in a more... simple way.
Forget that then and link me to original MS-DOS 6.22 installation media. I only have a 6.22 bootdisk currently. It's not installable. I don't have access to the FTP yet either...
sup

DeFacto

Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by DeFacto »

FoobyZeeky wrote:I don't have access to the FTP yet either...
request it and wait for few days, maybe a week...

otherwise use google! don't expect everyone to give you direct links...

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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by FoobyZeeky »

DeFacto wrote:
FoobyZeeky wrote:I don't have access to the FTP yet either...
request it and wait for few days, maybe a week...

otherwise use google! don't expect everyone to give you direct links...
I already requested a few days ago, still waiting. And alright, after a long google search which I actually started hours ago, I found installation media for MS-DOS 6.22 and installed it. Now it's time to see if Windows 3.1 will install properly alongside it.
sup

DeFacto

Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by DeFacto »

it will, trust me. windows 3.x will only fail on top ms-dos 7.10 (not sure for 7.0 though) for some unknown reason...

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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by FoobyZeeky »

DeFacto wrote:it will, trust me. windows 3.x will only fail on top ms-dos 7.10 (not sure for 7.0 though) for some unknown reason...
Yay, it worked! However, now I have no CD drivers on the system. I'll do a google search but I doubt I'll find a virtual floppy image for one :(
sup

Max
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Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by Max »

FoobyZeeky wrote:It's not installable.
I know it's solved now, but...

Code: Select all

sys a: c:
And the CD driver: http://www.wikiupload.com/CF4QYCBVLG1PI7Q
Works for every IDE drive i've used :)

DeFacto

Re: Windows 3.1 startup floppy disk (virtual image)

Post by DeFacto »

theres a floppy disk called cd extensions for ms-dos or something like that somewhere on the net. fixed my cd boot problem right away... or google mscdex that's what i remember it said on startup.

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