FreeDOS
Encyclopedia
FreeDOS is an operating system
for IBM PC compatible
computers. FreeDOS is made up of many different, separate programs that act as "packages" to the overall FreeDOS Project. As a member of the DOS
family, it provides mainly disk access through its kernel, and partial memory management
, but no default GUI
(although OpenGEM
is listed on the official FreeDOS website). FreeDOS itself was at version 1.0, released on September 3, 2006; many of the packages making up FreeDos are updated or added to frequently.
FreeDOS supports vintage hardware IBM PC as well as modern ones, in addition to embedded computers. Unlike MS-DOS
, it is composed of free and open source software
, licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
(GPL). It does not require license fees or royalties and creation of custom distributions is permitted. However, in its "util" section, it includes non-GPL software such as 4DOS
.
FreeDOS has a sparsely-populated IRC channel, #freedos, on irc.i7c.org.
began June 29, 1994, after Microsoft
announced it would no longer sell or support MS-DOS
. Jim Hall
then posted a manifesto proposing the development of an open-source replacement. Within a few weeks, other programmers including Pat Villani
(1954–2011) and Tim Norman joined the project. A kernel, the COMMAND.COM
command line interpreter and core utilities were created by pooling code they had written or found available. There have been several official pre-release distributions of FreeDOS before the final FreeDOS 1.0 distribution. GNU/DOS, a distribution of FreeDOS, was discontinued after version 1.0 was released.
images: a base disc that only contains the kernel and basic applications, and a full disc that contains many more applications (games, networking, development, etc.), not available but with a newer version announced "soon". Versions of these two discs with source code, which can boot as LiveCDs, are also available.
, standard DOS executable
s and Borland
's 16-bit DPMI
executables. It is also possible to run 32-bit
DPMI executables using DOS extender
s. The operating system has several improvements relative to MS-DOS, mostly involving support of newer standards and technologies that did not exist when Microsoft ended support for MS-DOS, such as internationalization
, Advanced Power Management
TSR
s, and integrated ASPI
. Furthermore, with use of HX DOS Extender
, many Win32 console
applications function properly in FreeDOS, as do some GUI
programs, like QEMU
and Bochs
.
1.0 and 2.0 releases. Windows 3.x
releases, which had support for i386
processors, can be run in 386 Enhanced Mode since FreeDOS kernel build 2037.
, 98
and Me
use a stripped down version of MS-DOS as a bootloader. FreeDOS cannot be used as a replacement bootloader; however, it can be installed and used beside these systems using a boot manager program, such as the "METAKERN" included with FreeDOS. Problems running Windows result from Microsoft's efforts to prevent
their products running on non-Microsoft DOS implementations.
-based operating systems, including Windows 2000
, XP
, 2003, Vista
, 2008, 7 and 2008 R2 do not make use of MS-DOS
as a core component of the system. These systems can make use of the FAT
file systems, which are used by MS-DOS and earlier versions of Windows
; however, they typically use the NTFS
(NT
File System) by default. FreeDOS can coexist on these systems on a separate partition on NTFS systems, or on the same partition on FAT systems. The FreeDOS kernel can be booted by adding it to the Windows NT Boot Loader
configuration file, boot.ini, or freeldr.ini for ReactOS
.
FAT32 is fully supported and can be booted from. Depending on the BIOS
used, up to four LBA
hard disks up to 128 GB, or 2 TB, in size are supported. There has been little testing with large disks, and some BIOSes support LBA but produce errors on disks larger than 32 GB; a driver such as OnTrack
or EZ-Drive resolves this problem. FreeDOS can also be used with a driver called DOSLFN, which supports long file names (see VFAT
), but most old programs do not support long file names even if the driver is loaded. There is no planned support for NTFS
or ext2
, but there are several external third-party drivers available for that purpose. To access ext2fs, LTOOLS
(counterpart to MTOOLS
) can be used to copy data to and from ext2fs drives. NTFS support is provided by software such as NTFSDOS
and NTFS4DOS.
driver support inside the FreeDOS project, but many modern motherboards contain BIOS settings for "Legacy USB" support which allow USB devices to be used in operating systems that lack support for them (such as FreeDOS). This applies to keyboards and mice; some BIOSes support storage devices. Some external DOS USB drivers (such as DUSE, USBASPI and USBMASS) for storage devices work with some effort. There is also DOSUSB which offers an API and supports storage devices, printers and serial adapters. An alternative to running DOS programs with USB devices is to use virtualisation software, such as DOSBox
, which recognizes USB devices from the host operating system to act as if they were "legacy port" devices (e.g. joystick
s with game port
s, printers with parallel port
s, and USB flash drive
s would act as if they were a hard drive for DOS), but this requires an OS with a GUI.
, USB flash drive
or floppy disk
. It can also be run using virtualization software like Virtual PC
and VirtualBox
or emulation
software like Bochs
and QEMU
. To use the Windows Boot Menu the following line can be added to
C:\FDOSBOOT.BIN="FreeDOS"
To boot using GRUB something similar to the following can be added to menu.lst:
title FreeDOS # Anything you want
root hd(x,y) # x = device and y = partition on which FreeDOS resides
chainloader /kernel.sys # Boots FreeDOS's bootloader
, can move portions of itself into extended memory
freeing up large portions of conventional memory
, up to 620 kB. This is useful for DOS programs which only use conventional memory. The HIMEM
and EMM386
memory management programs included with FreeDOS provide extended memory
(XMS) and expanded memory
(EMS) for old real mode software, EMM386 also supports VCPI
, which allows DPMI
kernels and DOS extenders to coexist with it. FreeDOS also contains an UDMA
driver for faster disk access, which is also compatible with other DOS versions. The LBAcache disk cache stores recently accessed disk data in XMS for faster access and less direct disk access.
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
for IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
computers. FreeDOS is made up of many different, separate programs that act as "packages" to the overall FreeDOS Project. As a member of the DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
family, it provides mainly disk access through its kernel, and partial memory management
Memory management
Memory management is the act of managing computer memory. The essential requirement of memory management is to provide ways to dynamically allocate portions of memory to programs at their request, and freeing it for reuse when no longer needed. This is critical to the computer system.Several...
, but no default GUI
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
(although OpenGEM
OpenGEM
OpenGEM is a distribution combining components of the original Digital Research's GEM and the later FreeGEM version of a graphical user interface for DOS...
is listed on the official FreeDOS website). FreeDOS itself was at version 1.0, released on September 3, 2006; many of the packages making up FreeDos are updated or added to frequently.
FreeDOS supports vintage hardware IBM PC as well as modern ones, in addition to embedded computers. Unlike MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
, it is composed of free and open source software
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
, licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
(GPL). It does not require license fees or royalties and creation of custom distributions is permitted. However, in its "util" section, it includes non-GPL software such as 4DOS
4DOS
4DOS is a command line interpreter by JP Software, designed to replace the default command interpreter COMMAND.COM in DOS and Windows 95/98/Me. The 4DOS family of programs are meant to replace the default command processor. 4OS2 and 4NT replace CMD.EXE in OS/2 and Windows NT respectively...
.
FreeDOS has a sparsely-populated IRC channel, #freedos, on irc.i7c.org.
History
The FreeDOS projectProject
A project in business and science is typically defined as a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim. Projects can be further defined as temporary rather than permanent social systems that are constituted by teams...
began June 29, 1994, after Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
announced it would no longer sell or support MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
. Jim Hall
Jim Hall (programmer)
Jim Hall is a computer programmer and advocate of free software, best known for his work on FreeDOS. Hall began writing the free replacement for the MS-DOS operating system in 1994 when he was still a physics student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls...
then posted a manifesto proposing the development of an open-source replacement. Within a few weeks, other programmers including Pat Villani
Pat Villani
Pasquale "Pat" J. Villani was an American computer programmer, author, and advocate of free software, best known for his creation of DOS-C, a DOS emulator written in the C language and subsequently adapted as the kernel of the FreeDOS operating system and a number of other projects including...
(1954–2011) and Tim Norman joined the project. A kernel, the COMMAND.COM
COMMAND.COM
COMMAND.COM is the filename of the default operating system shell for DOS operating systems and the default command line interpreter on Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me...
command line interpreter and core utilities were created by pooling code they had written or found available. There have been several official pre-release distributions of FreeDOS before the final FreeDOS 1.0 distribution. GNU/DOS, a distribution of FreeDOS, was discontinued after version 1.0 was released.
Distribution
FreeDOS 1.0 is available for download as CD-ROMCD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
images: a base disc that only contains the kernel and basic applications, and a full disc that contains many more applications (games, networking, development, etc.), not available but with a newer version announced "soon". Versions of these two discs with source code, which can boot as LiveCDs, are also available.
Commercial uses
FreeDOS is used by several companies:- DellDellDell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...
includes FreeDOS with their n-seriesDell n SeriesThe n Series is a Dell product line that does not ship with a pre-installed version of Microsoft Windows. Apparently prohibited from shipping computers without an operating system by an existing licensing agreement with Microsoft, Dell instead ships these systems with either the open-source FreeDOS...
desktopDesktop computerA desktop computer is a personal computer in a form intended for regular use at a single location, as opposed to a mobile laptop or portable computer. Early desktop computers are designed to lay flat on the desk, while modern towers stand upright...
s. The firm has been criticized for making these machines no cheaper, and harder to buy than identical systems with Windows. In addition, Dell often only offers FreeDOS systems with features such as dual-core processors, which FreeDOS cannot use (although theoretically a DOS extenderDOS extenderA DOS extender is a computer software program which enables software to run under a protected mode environment even though the host operating system is only capable of operating in real mode....
could). - HP provides FreeDOS as an option in its dc5750 desktops, Mini 5101 netbookNetbookNetbooks are a category of small, lightweight, legacy-free, and inexpensive laptop computers.At their inception in late 2007 as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost — netbooks omitted certain features , featured smaller screens and keyboards, and offered reduced computing...
s and Probook laptopLaptopA laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
s. FreeDOS is also used to create bootable media for updating the BIOSBIOSIn IBM PC compatible computers, the basic input/output system , also known as the System BIOS or ROM BIOS , is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface....
firmwareFirmwareIn electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...
. - ASUSASUSASUSTeK Computer Incorporated is a multinational computer technology and consumer electronics product manufacturer headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Its product range includes motherboards, desktops, laptops, monitors, tablet PCs, servers and mobile phones...
uses FreeDOS to let users boot their motherboard driver CDs to create the SATASerial ATASerial ATA is a computer bus interface for connecting host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives...
device driver disk (needed for Windows versions before XP SP2). - GRC's SpinRiteSpinRiteSpinRite is a computer software program for scanning magnetic data storage devices such as hard disks, recovering data from them and refreshing their surfaces. It is proprietary and commercial software written by Steve Gibson of Gibson Research Corporation. The first version was released in 1988....
6, a hard drive maintenance and recovery program, includes FreeDOS. - SeagateSeagate TechnologySeagate Technology is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard disk drives. Incorporated in 1978 as Shugart Technology, Seagate is currently incorporated in Dublin, Ireland and has its principal executive offices in Scotts Valley, California, United States.-1970s:On November 1, 1979...
's SeaTools for DOS loads the FreeDOS kernel. - IntelIntel CorporationIntel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, United States and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most...
's Solid-State Drive Firmware Update Tool loads the FreeDOS kernel.
Non-commercial uses
FreeDOS is also used in multiple independent projects:- FUZOMA is a FreeDOS-based distribution that can boot from a floppy diskFloppy diskA floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
and converts older computers into educational tools for children. - FED-UP is the Floppy Enhanced DivX Universal Player.
- DoscoreDoscoreOriginally the project Doscore was known as Phoenix OS but because there was a Linux distribution carrying the same name, the project was scrapped and reborn as Doscore. The original Phoenix OS plans were far too ambitious and were also scrapped....
is a FreeDOS-based distribution that can boot from a CD and has integrated Internet and file-sharing abilities that also features a Graphical User interface internally developed by the team of Finntech and Doscore .
Compatibility
| FreeDOS Version History | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Version | Status | Codename | Date |
| 0.05 | ALPHA | None | January 12, 1998 |
| 0.1 | BETA | Orlando | March 25, 1998 |
| 0.2 | BETA | Marvin | October 28, 1998 |
| 0.3 | BETA | Ventura | April 21, 1999 |
| 0.4 | BETA | Lemur | April 9, 2000 |
| 0.5 | BETA | Lara | August 10, 2000 |
| 0.6 | BETA | Midnite | March 18, 2001 |
| 0.7 | BETA | Spears | September 7, 2001 |
| 0.8 | BETA | Nikita | April 7, 2002 |
| 0.9rc1 | BETA | Methusalem | July, 2003 |
| 0.9rc2 | BETA | None | August 23, 2003 |
| 0.9rc3 | BETA | None | September 27, 2003 |
| 0.9rc4 | BETA | None | February 5, 2004 |
| 0.9rc5 | BETA | None | March 20, 2004 |
| 0.9 | BETA | None | September 28, 2004 |
| 0.9sr1 | BETA | None | November 30, 2004 |
| 0.9sr2 | BETA | None | November 30, 2005 |
| 1.0 | FINAL | None | September 3, 2006 |
MS-DOS and Win32 console
FreeDOS is mostly compatible with MS-DOS. It supports .COM executablesCOM file
In many computer operating systems, a COM file is a type of executable file; the name is derived from the file name extension .COM. Originally, the term stood for "Command file", a text file containing commands to be issued to the operating system , on many of the Digital Equipment Corporation mini...
, standard DOS executable
DOS executable
The DOS MZ executable format is the executable file format used for .EXE files in DOS.The file can be identified by the ASCII string "MZ" or the hexadecimal 4D 5A at the beginning of the file . "MZ" are the initials of Mark Zbikowski, one of the developers of MS-DOS...
s and Borland
Borland
Borland Software Corporation is a software company first headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, Cupertino, California and finally Austin, Texas. It is now a Micro Focus subsidiary. It was founded in 1983 by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, Mogens Glad and Philippe Kahn.-The 1980s:...
's 16-bit DPMI
DOS Protected Mode Interface
In computing, the DOS Protected Mode Interface is a specification introduced in 1989 which allows a DOS program to run in protected mode, giving access to many features of the processor not available in real mode...
executables. It is also possible to run 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
DPMI executables using DOS extender
DOS extender
A DOS extender is a computer software program which enables software to run under a protected mode environment even though the host operating system is only capable of operating in real mode....
s. The operating system has several improvements relative to MS-DOS, mostly involving support of newer standards and technologies that did not exist when Microsoft ended support for MS-DOS, such as internationalization
Internationalization
In economics, internationalization has been viewed as a process of increasing involvement of enterprises in international markets, although there is no agreed definition of internationalization or international entrepreneurship...
, Advanced Power Management
Advanced Power Management
Advanced power management is an API developed by Intel and Microsoft and released in 1992 which enables an operating system running an IBM-compatible personal computer to work with the BIOS to achieve power management.Revision 1.2 was the last version of the APM specification, released in 1996....
TSR
Terminate and Stay Resident
Terminate and Stay Resident is a computer system call in DOS computer operating systems that returns control to the system as if the program has quit, but keeps the program in memory...
s, and integrated ASPI
ASPI
ASPI, the Advanced SCSI Programming Interface provides an API originated by Adaptec which standardizes communication on a computer bus between a SCSI host adapter on the one hand and SCSI peripherals on the other.- History :...
. Furthermore, with use of HX DOS Extender
HX DOS Extender
The HX DOS Extender is a free DOS extender with built-in Win32 PE file format support. Usually the purpose of a DOS extender is to make protected mode features, especially large memory and 32-bit addressing, available for DOS applications. HX fully supports this goal, but goes some steps further...
, many Win32 console
Win32 console
Win32 console is a text user interface implementation within the system of Windows API, which runs console applications. A Win32 console has a screen buffer and an input buffer, and is available both as a window or in text mode screen, with switching back and forth available via Alt-Enter...
applications function properly in FreeDOS, as do some GUI
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
programs, like QEMU
QEMU
QEMU is a processor emulator that relies on dynamic binary translation to achieve a reasonable speed while being easy to port on new host CPU architectures....
and Bochs
Bochs
Bochs is a portable x86 and x86-64 IBM PC compatible emulator and debugger mostly written in C++ and distributed as free software under GNU Lesser General Public License...
.
Windows 1.0 to 3.xx
FreeDOS is able to run Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
1.0 and 2.0 releases. Windows 3.x
Windows 3.0
Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front...
releases, which had support for i386
Intel 80386
The Intel 80386, also known as the i386, or just 386, was a 32-bit microprocessor introduced by Intel in 1985. The first versions had 275,000 transistors and were used as the central processing unit of many workstations and high-end personal computers of the time...
processors, can be run in 386 Enhanced Mode since FreeDOS kernel build 2037.
Windows 9x and Windows Millennium Edition
Windows 95Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
, 98
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
and Me
Windows Me
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
use a stripped down version of MS-DOS as a bootloader. FreeDOS cannot be used as a replacement bootloader; however, it can be installed and used beside these systems using a boot manager program, such as the "METAKERN" included with FreeDOS. Problems running Windows result from Microsoft's efforts to prevent
AARD code
The AARD code was a segment of obfuscated machine code that is included in several executables, including the installer and WIN.COM, in a beta release of Microsoft Windows 3.1. It was a block of code which was XOR encrypted, self-modifying, and deliberately obfuscated, using various undocumented...
their products running on non-Microsoft DOS implementations.
Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/2008 R2 and ReactOS
Windows NTWindows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
-based operating systems, including Windows 2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
, XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, 2003, Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
, 2008, 7 and 2008 R2 do not make use of MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
as a core component of the system. These systems can make use of the FAT
File Allocation Table
File Allocation Table is a computer file system architecture now widely used on many computer systems and most memory cards, such as those used with digital cameras. FAT file systems are commonly found on floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital cameras, and many other portable devices because of...
file systems, which are used by MS-DOS and earlier versions of Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
; however, they typically use the NTFS
NTFS
NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7....
(NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
File System) by default. FreeDOS can coexist on these systems on a separate partition on NTFS systems, or on the same partition on FAT systems. The FreeDOS kernel can be booted by adding it to the Windows NT Boot Loader
NTLDR
NTLDR is the boot loader for all releases of Windows NT operating system up to and including Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. NTLDR is typically run from the primary hard disk drive, but it can also run from portable storage devices such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, or floppy disk...
configuration file, boot.ini, or freeldr.ini for ReactOS
ReactOS
ReactOS is an open source computer operating system intended to be binary compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows NT versions 5.x and up...
.
File systems
BIOS
In IBM PC compatible computers, the basic input/output system , also known as the System BIOS or ROM BIOS , is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface....
used, up to four LBA
Logical block addressing
Logical block addressing is a common scheme used for specifying the location of blocks of data stored on computer storage devices, generally secondary storage systems such as hard disks....
hard disks up to 128 GB, or 2 TB, in size are supported. There has been little testing with large disks, and some BIOSes support LBA but produce errors on disks larger than 32 GB; a driver such as OnTrack
OnTrack
OnTrack was a regional rail line that operated in Syracuse, New York from 1994 to 2007. During its operation, Syracuse was the smallest city in the United States to have regional train service. The line ran from Colvin Street on the city's south side via Syracuse University and Armory Square to the...
or EZ-Drive resolves this problem. FreeDOS can also be used with a driver called DOSLFN, which supports long file names (see VFAT
File Allocation Table
File Allocation Table is a computer file system architecture now widely used on many computer systems and most memory cards, such as those used with digital cameras. FAT file systems are commonly found on floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital cameras, and many other portable devices because of...
), but most old programs do not support long file names even if the driver is loaded. There is no planned support for NTFS
NTFS
NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7....
or ext2
Ext2
The ext2 or second extended filesystem is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system ....
, but there are several external third-party drivers available for that purpose. To access ext2fs, LTOOLS
LTOOLS
LTOOLS is an application used to access Linux files from a Windows computer. It includes both a graphical user interface and a command line interface . It was created by Werner Zimmermann.-External links:*...
(counterpart to MTOOLS
Mtools
Mtools is an open source collection of tools to allow a Unix operating system to manipulate files on an MS-DOS filesystem, typically a floppy disk or floppy disk image.The mtools are part of the GNU Project and are released under the GPL licence.-Usage:...
) can be used to copy data to and from ext2fs drives. NTFS support is provided by software such as NTFSDOS
NTFSDOS
The company Winternals used to provide three kinds of programs for DOS that could handle NTFS formatted drives.- NTFSDOS :...
and NTFS4DOS.
Universal Serial Bus
there was no USBUniversal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
driver support inside the FreeDOS project, but many modern motherboards contain BIOS settings for "Legacy USB" support which allow USB devices to be used in operating systems that lack support for them (such as FreeDOS). This applies to keyboards and mice; some BIOSes support storage devices. Some external DOS USB drivers (such as DUSE, USBASPI and USBMASS) for storage devices work with some effort. There is also DOSUSB which offers an API and supports storage devices, printers and serial adapters. An alternative to running DOS programs with USB devices is to use virtualisation software, such as DOSBox
DOSBox
DOSBox is emulator software that emulates an IBM PC compatible computer running MS-DOS. It is intended especially for use with old PC games. DOSBox is free software....
, which recognizes USB devices from the host operating system to act as if they were "legacy port" devices (e.g. joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
s with game port
Game port
The game port is a device port found on IBM PC compatible systems throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It was the traditional connector for joystick input devices until superseded by USB in the 21st century....
s, printers with parallel port
Parallel port
A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port...
s, and USB flash drive
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
s would act as if they were a hard drive for DOS), but this requires an OS with a GUI.
Features
- Easy multiboot with Windows 9x and NT
- FAT32 file system and large disk support (LBALogical block addressingLogical block addressing is a common scheme used for specifying the location of blocks of data stored on computer storage devices, generally secondary storage systems such as hard disks....
) - Long filenameLong filenameLong filenames , are Microsoft's way of implementing filenames longer than the 8.3 filename, or short-filename, naming scheme used in Microsoft DOS in their modern FAT and NTFS filesystems. Because these filenames can be longer than an 8.3 filename, they can be more descriptive...
support via DOSLFN driver - XDMA & XDVD — UDMA driver for hard discs and DVD playerDVD playerA DVD player is a device that plays discs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. These devices were invented in 1997 and continue to thrive...
s - LBACACHE — disk cache
- Memory Managers: JEMM386 (XMS, EMSExpanded memoryIn DOS memory management, expanded memory is a system of bank switching introduced April 24, 1985 that provided additional memory to DOS programs beyond the limit of conventional memory. Expanded memory uses parts of the address space normally dedicated to communication with peripherals for program...
, etc.)- Possibility of writing 32-bit protected mode drivers (JLMs=Jemm Loadable Module)
- SHSUCDX (MSCDEXMSCDEXMSCDEX or Microsoft MS-DOS CD-ROM Extensions is a software program produced by Microsoft and included with MS-DOS 6.x and certain versions of Microsoft Windows. Earlier versions of MSCDEX were installable add-ons beginning with MSDOS 3.1...
replacement) and CD-ROMCD-ROMA CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
driver (XCDROM) - CUTEMOUSE — Mouse driver with scroll wheel support
- FDAPM — APMAdvanced Power ManagementAdvanced power management is an API developed by Intel and Microsoft and released in 1992 which enables an operating system running an IBM-compatible personal computer to work with the BIOS to achieve power management.Revision 1.2 was the last version of the APM specification, released in 1996....
info/control/suspend/poweroff, ACPIAdvanced Configuration and Power InterfaceIn computing, the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface specification provides an open standard for device configuration and power management by the operating system....
throttle, HLTHLTIn the x86 computer architecture, HLT is an assembly language instruction which halts the CPU until the next external interrupt is fired. Such interrupts are used by devices in order to signal to the CPU that an event occurred which the CPU shall react on...
energy saving - MPXPLAYMpxplayMpxplay is a 32-bit console audio player for DOS and Windows operating systems.It supports AAC, AC3, ALAC, APE, FLAC, MP2/MP3, MPC, Vorbis, WMA, WV audio codecs, AIF and WAV/W64 files, and can play sound from videos using the AVI, ASF, MKV, MP4/MOV, MPG/VOB, OGG and TS containers. With plugins it...
— media player for mp3, ogg, wmv, with built-in AC'97 and SB16Sound Blaster 16The Sound Blaster 16 is a series of sound cards by Creative Technology. They are add-on boards for PCs with an ISA or PCI slot.-Sound Blaster 16:Sound Blaster 16 , the successor to the Sound Blaster Pro, introduced 16-bit digital audio sampling to the Sound Blaster line...
drivers; has a user interface - 7ZIP, INFO-ZIP, zip, unzip — modern archivers
- EDIT / SETEDIT — multi window text editorText editorA text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....
s - HTMLHELP — help viewer, can read help directly from a zip file
- PG — powerful text viewer (similar to V. D. Buerg's LIST)
- Many text mode programs ported from Linux thanks to DJGPP
- FreeCOM — command line, supports file completionCommand line completionCommand line completion is a common feature of command line interpreters, in which the program automatically fills in partially typed commands....
- 4DOS4DOS4DOS is a command line interpreter by JP Software, designed to replace the default command interpreter COMMAND.COM in DOS and Windows 95/98/Me. The 4DOS family of programs are meant to replace the default command processor. 4OS2 and 4NT replace CMD.EXE in OS/2 and Windows NT respectively...
can be installed, which is an enhanced command line. - GRAPHICS — greyscale hardcopyPrint screenPrint screen is a key present on most PC keyboards. It is typically situated in the same section as the break key and scroll lock key...
on ESC/PESC/PESC/P is a command language developed by Epson to control computer printers. It was mainly used in dot matrix printers and some inkjet printers. During the era of dot matrix printers, it was also used by other manufacturers , sometimes in modified form...
, HP PCLPrinter Command LanguagePrinter Command Language, more commonly referred to as PCL, is a page description language developed by Hewlett-Packard as a printer protocol and has become a de facto industry standard. Originally developed for early inkjet printers in 1984, PCL has been released in varying levels for thermal,...
and PostScriptPostScriptPostScript is a dynamically typed concatenative programming language created by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in 1982. It is best known for its use as a page description language in the electronic and desktop publishing areas. Adobe PostScript 3 is also the worldwide printing and imaging...
printers - Arachne — graphical web browser and e-mail client
- Fdupdate — update installer
- BitTorrent client
- Anti-virus / Virus scanner
Booting
FreeDOS can be booted from a hard drive, live CDLive CD
A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
, USB flash drive
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
or floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
. It can also be run using virtualization software like Virtual PC
Microsoft Virtual PC
Windows Virtual PC is a virtualization program for Microsoft Windows. In July 2006 Microsoft released the Windows-hosted version as a free product...
and VirtualBox
VirtualBox
Oracle VM VirtualBox is an x86 virtualization software package, originally created by software company Innotek GmbH, purchased by Sun Microsystems, and now developed by Oracle Corporation as part of its family of virtualization products...
or emulation
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
software like Bochs
Bochs
Bochs is a portable x86 and x86-64 IBM PC compatible emulator and debugger mostly written in C++ and distributed as free software under GNU Lesser General Public License...
and QEMU
QEMU
QEMU is a processor emulator that relies on dynamic binary translation to achieve a reasonable speed while being easy to port on new host CPU architectures....
. To use the Windows Boot Menu the following line can be added to
C:\BOOT.INI:C:\FDOSBOOT.BIN="FreeDOS"
To boot using GRUB something similar to the following can be added to menu.lst:
title FreeDOS # Anything you want
root hd(x,y) # x = device and y = partition on which FreeDOS resides
chainloader /kernel.sys # Boots FreeDOS's bootloader
Memory management
The FreeCOM shell, FreeDOS's version of COMMAND.COMCOMMAND.COM
COMMAND.COM is the filename of the default operating system shell for DOS operating systems and the default command line interpreter on Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me...
, can move portions of itself into extended memory
Extended memory
In DOS memory management, extended memory refers to memory above the first megabyte of address space in an IBM PC or compatible with an 80286 or later processor. The term is mainly used under the DOS and Windows operating systems...
freeing up large portions of conventional memory
Conventional memory
In DOS memory management, conventional memory, also called base memory, is the first 640 kilobytes of the memory on IBM PC or compatible systems. It is the read-write memory usable by the operating system and application programs...
, up to 620 kB. This is useful for DOS programs which only use conventional memory. The HIMEM
HIMEM
HIMEM.SYS is a DOS device driver which allows DOS programs to store data in extended memory via the Extended Memory Specification . This device driver is of particular importance because various versions of Microsoft Windows that ran on top of the DOS operating system required HIMEM.SYS to be...
and EMM386
EMM386
The name EMM386 was used for the expanded memory managers of both Microsoft's MS-DOS and Digital Research's DR-DOS, which created expanded memory using extended memory on Intel 80386 CPUs. There also is an EMM386.EXE available in FreeDOS....
memory management programs included with FreeDOS provide extended memory
Extended memory
In DOS memory management, extended memory refers to memory above the first megabyte of address space in an IBM PC or compatible with an 80286 or later processor. The term is mainly used under the DOS and Windows operating systems...
(XMS) and expanded memory
Expanded memory
In DOS memory management, expanded memory is a system of bank switching introduced April 24, 1985 that provided additional memory to DOS programs beyond the limit of conventional memory. Expanded memory uses parts of the address space normally dedicated to communication with peripherals for program...
(EMS) for old real mode software, EMM386 also supports VCPI
Virtual Control Program Interface
In computing, the Virtual Control Program Interface is a specification published in 1989 by Phar Lap Software that allows a DOS program to run in protected mode, granting access to many features of the processor not available in real mode...
, which allows DPMI
DOS Protected Mode Interface
In computing, the DOS Protected Mode Interface is a specification introduced in 1989 which allows a DOS program to run in protected mode, giving access to many features of the processor not available in real mode...
kernels and DOS extenders to coexist with it. FreeDOS also contains an UDMA
UDMA
For the main article about the controller, see Parallel ATAThe Ultra DMA interface was the fastest method used to transfer data between the computer and an ATA device until Serial ATA....
driver for faster disk access, which is also compatible with other DOS versions. The LBAcache disk cache stores recently accessed disk data in XMS for faster access and less direct disk access.
See also
- ArachneArachne (web browser)Arachne is a full-screen Internet suite containing a graphical web browser, email client, and dialer. It primarily runs on DOS based operating systems, but includes builds for Linux as well, but should not be used with X...
— A DOS-based browserWeb browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
included with FreeDOS - Command PromptCommand PromptCommand Prompt is the Microsoft-supplied command-line interpreter on OS/2, Windows CE and on Windows NT-based operating systems...
- DOSEMUDOSEMUDOSEMU, alternatively rendered dosemu, is a compatibility layer software package that enables MS-DOS systems, DOS clones such as FreeDOS, and DOS software to run under Linux on x86-based PCs ....
- DOSBoxDOSBoxDOSBox is emulator software that emulates an IBM PC compatible computer running MS-DOS. It is intended especially for use with old PC games. DOSBox is free software....
- FreeRTOSFreeRTOSFreeRTOS is a real-time operating system for embedded devices, being ported to several microcontrollers. It is distributed under the GPL with an optional exception...
- GRUB
- ReactOSReactOSReactOS is an open source computer operating system intended to be binary compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows NT versions 5.x and up...
- WinImageWinImageWinImage is a disk imaging application for Microsoft Windows created by Gilles Vollant Software. Its features include creating, reading and editing disk images and also opening VMware and Microsoft Virtual PC hard disk images...
External links
- FreeDOS Homepage (official)
- FreeDOS Homepage (SourceForge)
- FD-DOC FreeDOS Documentation Project
- Official Download - FreeDOS 1.0
- Summary of FreeDOS Commands
- FreeDOS help (commands and usage)
- Virtual Machine in Java with FreeDOS
- How to Create a BootableFreeDOS Floppy Disk
- FreeDOS bootdisk with several DOS utilities
- FreeDOS on a USB Flash Drive
- Install FreeDOS without any removable media.
- Virtual Machine for Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 with FreeDOS 1.0 O.S.