Guide:Installing Windows 1.0x
Back to the Microsoft Windows in DOSBox-X
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Windows 1.01
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Initial US release version
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Windows 1.02
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International release
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Support for international keyboards
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Support for regional settings like time and date format
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Support for A4 paper
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Windows 1.03
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Additional drivers
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Adds support for Tandy graphics
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Windows 1.04
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Adds support for the IBM PS/2 (but no support for PS/2 mouse or VGA)
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Windows 1.0x was available for both Retail and via OEM. A runtime version was also included with some applications.
The retail release of Windows 1.04 adds support for the IBM PS/2, but DID NOT add support for the IBM PS/2 Mouse, or the newer VGA, MCGA or 8514/A video adapters. IBM distributed a special OEM version of Windows 1.04 as part of the "IBM PS/2 Collegiate Kit", which DOES have support for these features.
According to Microsoft, Windows 1.0 required a minimum of 256 kilobyte, two double-sided disk drives and a graphics adapter. A hard disk and 512KB memory are recommended for running multiple programs or when using DOS 3.0 or higher.
In reality, it also needs at least DOS 2.0, and the two disk drives are not mandatory if there is a harddisk. It only supports up to 640KB base memory (no support for EMS/XMS/UMB memory).
Apart from the special IBM OEM version of Windows 1.04, there is no support for the default PS/2 mouse that DOSBox-X emulates. Therefore it is necessary if you want mouse support to enable serial mouse support.
In addition, Windows 1.0x has problems starting if the DOS version is 4.0 or higher. Therefore it is necessary to set the reported DOS version to something like 3.30.
It is recommended that you create a custom DOSBox-X config file for running Windows 1.0x
[sdl] autolock=true [dosbox] title=Windows 1.0x [dos] ver=3.3 [serial] # Comment out the line below if you have the special OEM Windows 1.04 # release from the IBM PS/2 Collegiate Kit, which supports PS/2 mouse. serial1=serialmouse [parallel] parallel1=printer [printer] multipage=true timeout=5000 [render] scaler=none [autoexec]
Copy the above config and save it as win1x.conf
The installation will be into a mounted folder, and Windows 1.0x will run from the integrated DOS that DOSBox-X provides. You can optionally install real DOS into DOSBox-X and install Windows 1.0x in that, but there is no known advantage to doing so.
Start by creating a directory on your system that your going to use (mount) as your Windows 1.0x C: drive. Valid examples:
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For Windows hosts
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C:\winroot
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C:\users\myuser\win1x
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For Linux hosts
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/home/myuser/winroot
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/home/myuser/windows/win1x
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Note: For Windows users, do NOT mount the root of your C: drive as the DOSBox-X C: drive! (e.g. MOUNT C C:\ should NOT be done)
Windows 1.0x versions were shipped on diskettes, requiring anywhere between 3 and 7 disks, depending on media-type and windows version. And while it is definitely possible to install Windows 1.0x from diskette images in DOSBox-X, the disk-swap process for this is rather tedious for large number of disks. As such it is highly recommended to make a directory such as "INSTALL" and copy the contents of ALL the diskettes into this directory. This way there is no need to swap disks during the installation process.
There are various ways to extract the contents of disk images, such as 7zip on Windows or "Disk Image Mounter" on Linux. In this example, DOSBox-X itself is used to mount a disk image, copy its contents into a folder, unmount the disk image and do the next.
MOUNT C /home/myuser/winroot C: MD INSTALL IMGMOUNT A DISK01.IMG -U XCOPY A:\. C:\INSTALL /S /Y IMGMOUNT A DISK02.IMG -U XCOPY A:\. C:\INSTALL /S /Y IMGMOUNT A DISK03.IMG -U XCOPY A:\. C:\INSTALL /S /Y IMGMOUNT A DISK04.IMG -U XCOPY A:\. C:\INSTALL /S /Y IMGMOUNT A DISK05.IMG -U XCOPY A:\. C:\INSTALL /S /Y IMGMOUNT A -U
Your new INSTALL directory now contains the contents of all 5 disks.
You are now ready to start DOSBox-X from the command-line, using the newly created win1x.conf config file. This assumes that dosbox-x is in your path and win1x.conf is in your current directory.
dosbox-x -conf win1x.conf
You now need to mount your new folder as the C: drive in DOSBox-X, and the INSTALL directory on A: and start the installation.
MOUNT A /home/myuser/winroot/INSTALL MOUNT C /home/myuser/winroot A: SETUP
Adjust the path for mounting the A: and C: drive as needed.
Notes
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If your path contains spaces, you need to enclose it in quotes. e.g.
MOUNT C "C:\Users\John Doe\winroot"
The Windows installation will now take place. See the Windows 1.0x setup program section below.
The setup program will ask several question relating to mouse, display and printer. If you have v1.02 or newer it will also ask you about the keyboard layout.
Note: the below screenshots are from the retail Windows 1.01 release, other releases can vary. In particular OEM or Runtime versions may have a different number of disks and present other options.
Simply press Enter, or "C" to continue as prompted.
Installation directory
You can optionally specify a different directory to install Windows into.
Simply press Enter to continue as prompted.
This screen will vary depending on the release version, OEM and if it is a runtime version.
Simply press Enter, or "C" to continue as prompted.
Keyboard selection
If you have version 1.02 or later, setup will ask for the keyboard layout.
Mouse selection
If you have the special IBM OEM version of Windows 1.04, you can select option 8 "IBM Personal System/2 Mouse" for PS/2 mouse. In which case you need to disable the serialmouse option in your DOSBox-X config file.
Otherwise select option 2 "Microsoft Mouse (Bus/Serial)" and press Enter to continue as prompted.
Graphics Adapter selection
If you have the special IBM OEM version of Windows 1.04, you can select option 2 "IBM Personal System/2 Model 50, 60, 80" for VGA.
Otherwise select option 6 "EGA (more than 64K) with Enhanced Color Display" as shown below, and press Enter to continue as prompted.
Build disk
It now asks for the Build disk.
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If your following Method 1, you can simply press Enter
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If your using disk images to install Windows, you need to now swap the disk using the menu item "DOS" followed by "Swap floppy". And then press enter.
Utilities disk
It now asks for the Utilities disk.
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If your following Method 1, you can simply press Enter
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If your using disk images to install Windows, you need to now swap the disk using the menu item "DOS" followed by "Swap floppy". And then press enter.
Printer setup
It now asks if you want to setup a printer. You can press enter or Y to confirm.
Printer setup - select model
If you indicated wanting a printer, it now asks you which model.
For this guide we use option 2, the "Epson MX-80 Graftrax+", and press Enter.
Later releases may have other options, such as a "Generic / Text Only" printer which can also be used.
Printer setup - port select
If you indicated wanting a printer, it now asks you which port the printer is connected to.
Select the number for the "LPT1:" port and press Enter.
Note: In this version, it is option 1, but in other releases it is option 2.
Printer setup - another printer
SETUP now asks if you want to setup another printer.
Press Enter to continue without setting up another printer.
You can always change the installed printers afterwards by running CONTROL.EXE from within Windows.
Desktop Applications disk
It now asks for the Desktop Applications disk.
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If your following Method 1, you can simply press Enter
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If your using disk images to install Windows, you need to now swap the disk using the menu item "DOS" followed by "Swap floppy". And then press enter.
Microsoft Write Program disk
It now asks for the Microsoft Write Program disk.
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If your following Method 1, you can simply press Enter
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If your using disk images to install Windows, you need to now swap the disk using the menu item "DOS" followed by "Swap floppy". And then press enter.
SETUP finished
The setup program is now finished, and your ready to start Windows 1.0x.
But first type EXIT to close DOSBox-X.
And then edit your win1x.conf config file and add the following lines into the [autoexec] section at the end of the file:
MOUNT C /home/myuser/winroot C: SET PATH=%PATH%;C:\WINDOWS; C:\WINDOWS\WIN EXIT
Adjust the path for mounting the C: drive as needed. If you don’t want DOSBox-X to close when exiting Windows 1.0x, remove the EXIT command.
After the installation is finished, you can start Windows 1.0x from the command-prompt with the following command:
dosbox-x -conf win1x.conf
