# Booting from a Floppy?

Category: Geeks r Us

## Post 1 by Eleni21 (I have proven to myself and the world that I need mental help) on Wednesday, 20-Jan-2010 18:37:27

Is there a way that I can boot directly off a floppy, thereby preventing autoexec.bat from starting up, go into the C drive and start my screen reader from there? If so, can I make an autoexec.bat file on the floppy to start a given screen reader from the hard disk? I know that there are three main files that I'll need to use in order to boot up this way but what are they? I know command.com and config.sys are two of them but I forgot the third. Would it be possible for me to install those files on the same disk as a screen reader so that I can put the disk in a machine that doesn't have one, start the reader from the disk and then install it to the hard disk of the new machine? This would really come in handy if there was no sighted assistance available or if I somehow messed up a computer that already had a reader on it. It would also enable me to play with Enhanced DR-DOS without having to worry about problems that might arise from installing it in a virtual environment. Those files are different, but it says them right on the page, so that shouldn't be a problem. Btw, is there a built-in command for me to check the actual size of a directory without me having to use dir/b? Thanks a bunch.

## Post 2 by Eleni21 (I have proven to myself and the world that I need mental help) on Wednesday, 20-Jan-2010 21:42:56

Hmm, very interesting.
http://www.computerhope.com/boot.htm
This guide instructs me to copy many more files than I thought, and doesn't even include one of the three I remember. I'm assuming that my way is the bare bones of the os while this will boot the entire system. I've never used the asterisk except when copying the files from a directory into another ex. copy c:*.* a:example or a simple del *.*. and so on But of course, I know it's a wild card and can be used to indicate all files of a given type. What surprises me is that there isn't an actual command for making a boot disk. Ah well, guess I know how to do it, though I still don't have the other questions about screen readers and the C drive answered. Also, what is the /s switch used for when formatting a disk and does it work on cds and cf cards or is it only for floppies? I'll probably find that one on my own. lol

## Post 3 by silly widdle dwagonish thingy (i'm stuck !) on Friday, 22-Jan-2010 23:48:16

hello,
I just replied in a pm which lol, u know already but i don't know why people don't take this serious. i mean yeah its dos but ok, i tought myself from 3.3 and i'm interested in dos too and i like to help whenever/whereever i can

## Post 4 by Eleni21 (I have proven to myself and the world that I need mental help) on Saturday, 23-Jan-2010 22:54:26

Oh man! This version of DOS in the KeyNote Gold is so stripped down that I can't even do format a:/s on it. It says "bad command or file name" and I know that I followed it exactly as instructed... I'm not that dumb. Have to add this to tree, defrag and edit now. Humanware, you're great but aaaaa! Can I do it with a simple format a: and then copy over the files? I might have to make a bootdisk from my XP machine from it's version of DOS. Hmm, that, or take the hints from Enhanced DR-DOS, copy those files over and actually try playing with it on my laptop. Now that I think of it, that's probably a better idea. Only will I be able to access the stuff on the C drive that way?

## Post 5 by sledge071 (Shadow Rider, Bourne of Light) on Sunday, 24-Jan-2010 6:24:41

As long as the C drive uses a file system recognized by DOS, then you won't have a problem accessing it when booting from the floppy. If the drive is formatted using NTFS or FAT32 then you're out of luck.

## Post 6 by silly widdle dwagonish thingy (i'm stuck !) on Sunday, 24-Jan-2010 18:55:44

ok, i'm confused; usually the disk that comes with a synth to my knowledge, only has the synth related files on it, no dos. Did i read this post wrong or something?
what version of dos in the keynote?

## Post 7 by Eleni21 (I have proven to myself and the world that I need mental help) on Sunday, 24-Jan-2010 20:15:17

Disk with the synth? No, I don't have a synth disk. I want to install the driver for the VoiceCard onto the disk with DOS. It's 6.21, but missing alot of stuff.

## Post 8 by b3n (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Sunday, 24-Jan-2010 20:33:36

I thought it was
format a: /y
then
sys a:

## Post 9 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Monday, 25-Jan-2010 16:05:09

Hello,
Yes all this is possible. I worked a lot as a tech weenie in the 90s where DOS access was critical since there was no voice in Windows directly, until I had put one on, usually run from a ZIP drive / Guest but that's another issue.
So first format your floppy, and you can use /s switch on format command to install the system files:
format a: /s
You need to make a autoexec.bat and possibly a config.sys file to load from the floppy.
I don't know what you're actually trying to do, obviously not address somebody's technical issues on a completely unknown machine; but I'll assume make a emergency disk?
Install your screen reader to that floppy drive, see your screen reader's documentation for how to do this.
Install any device drivers necessary to the floppy drive for your synth, consult your synthesizer's manual for how to do this. I did not have that step because I used Doubletalk which had no drivers.
Your biggest downfall is going to be knowing what port, if your synth requires a port, to use on the new system. There are commands in DOS for issuing port strings the simplest being the echo command. Type help echo at your command prompt for info.
I did not load the screenreader directly from an auto exec bat file, but the double talk spoke the port number, based on the string echoed to the port then I ran the screen reader myself with the relevant switch for the port. See your reader's documentation for how to do this.
Of course depending on your situation and space, you will probably want some other files for access. Disk access not the politician's word 'access'.
I'm not gonna lie to you: it's not fun and you run into problems / the reason we did it that way was because we had to. I say 'we' because I assume other blind computer professionals either must have, or had a better way than this.

## Post 10 by Eleni21 (I have proven to myself and the world that I need mental help) on Tuesday, 26-Jan-2010 20:12:24

Thanks. I'll definitely return to this post when I start the process. My KeyNote won't let me use the /s switch. Yet another limitation of their version of the os. But I'm sure I can fix it with another machine. I'm doing this for a few reasons. First, I want to check out a few different screenreaders and second, if I use Enhanced DR-DOS, I'll get to check it out and see how it works. But, as you said, it'll also be a good emergency disk.