China DOS Union

The following is quoted from sdund-chs at 2003-5-9 19:58:43:
I see. To start win98, which folder do you have to enter?

Of course you enter the folder where Win98 is located. For example, if Win98 is in the C:\WIN98 folder, then first enter C:\WIN98 and then run WIN.

Can the system files of win2k be modified so that it can also start win2k?

The following is quoted from sdund-chs at 2003-5-11 5:08:26:
Can the system files of win2k be modified so that it can also start win2k?

How is that possible? Win2K is not a DOS-based GUI program like Win3.x/9x, it is an independent operating system!

I get it.
After entering the system folder, do I just type: win?
I tried it, but it always failed (the one I want to start is win98)?

How exactly did it fail? Several of us have tried it, and it works.

I tried it too, and starting WIN98 is completely possible.

But when starting WIN32, this appears:
ERROR: PageOver Commit Value in System.ini is too large
Decrease the value , or if not present, and a setting that is less
than 4 .
I checked the System.ini file, and didn't find anything that should be changed.
Please advise, webmaster.

The following is quoted from wglwx at 2003-5-14 6:50:34:
I tried it too, and starting WIN98 is completely possible.

But when starting WIN32, this appears:
ERROR: PageOver Commit Value in System.ini is too large 
Decrease the value , or if not present, and a setting that is less 
than 4 . 
I checked the System.ini  file, and didn't find anything that should be changed.
Please advise, webmaster.

Then on this computer, if you use the DOS on the hard disk to start Win3.2, will a similar error appear? I think most likely the configuration of the Win3.2 system files on this computer has some problem.

When using the DOS on the hard disk to start Win3.2, it won't start at all, because it is WIN98's IO.SYS.
Back when it was DOS6.22(FAT16), installing WIN32 went very smoothly.
But now under DOS7.1(FAT32), with the same installation, it can't be used. Replacing it with Wengier's IO.SYS gives a prompt saying it won't work.
Using Wengier's super boot disk to start it also doesn't work, and it gives the above prompt. (The two prompts are different.)
I don't want to restore drive C: back to FAT16 and DOS6.22 startup again. I wonder whether WIN32 can be run?
Also, what changes need to be made to the configuration of the Win3.2 system files?

The following is quoted from wglwx at 2003-5-14 7:38:12:
When using the DOS on the hard disk to start Win3.2, it won't start at all, because it is WIN98's IO.SYS.
Back when it was DOS6.22(FAT16), installing WIN32 went very smoothly.
But now under DOS7.1(FAT32), with the same installation, it can't be used. Replacing it with Wengier's IO.SYS gives a prompt saying it won't work.
Using Wengier's super boot disk to start it also doesn't work, and it gives the above prompt. (The two prompts are different.)
I don't want to restore drive C: back to FAT16 and DOS6.22 startup again. I wonder whether WIN32 can be run?
Also, what changes need to be made to the configuration of the Win3.2 system files?

The configuration of my hard disk is as follows:
C: FAT16 2GB
D: FAT32 23GB
E: FAT16 2GB

My Chinese edition of Windows 3.2 is installed on the FAT16 C: drive; Windows for WorkGroups 3.11 is installed on the FAT32 D: drive.

I often start the Chinese edition of Windows 3.2 on drive C:, and every time I use MS-DOS 7.10 to do so (naturally not that IO.SYS from Win98). Whether I boot from the hard disk into MS-DOS 7.10, or use my MS-DOS 7.10 boot disk, every time I use the WIN command to run Windows 3.2 on the FAT16 C: drive or Windows for WorkGroups 3.11 on the FAT32 D: drive, it goes very smoothly.

As for that prompt, you might as well add a line such as PageOverCommit=3 under the section of SYSTEM.INI and see whether there is still a problem.

As far as I know, the reason MS-DOS 6.22 can start Win3.2 is that DOS 6.22 does not support XMS memory above 64MB, while DOS 7.10 does support it and fully makes it available for XMS use. Win3.2 may run into this problem when XMS memory is greater than 256MB; that is because it itself is too old. Try making the above change in SYSTEM.INI.

To add one more thing, the default value of the PageOverCommit option in Windows 3.2 is 4. Windows 3.2 uses the product of this value and the current XMS memory size to determine the size of its virtual memory file (such as C:\WINDOWS\WIN386.SWP). For example: if the current XMS memory size is 256MB and the value of PageOverCommit is 2, then the default virtual memory file size will be 256MB*2=512MB. If this size exceeds the maximum value supported by Windows 3.2, that error will appear. Therefore, you can appropriately reduce the value of PageOverCommit in SYSTEM.INI.

Following the webmaster's guidance, I added a line PageOverCommit=2 under the section in SYSTEM.INI, and sure enough WIN32 could start normally. (Originally there was no such line.)
My memory is 384M. Looks like that was where the problem was.
Thank you, webmaster!

You're welcome!

Looks like MS-DOS 7.10 has the best compatibility with Windows.

The following is quoted from Wengier at 2003-5-13 19:52:07:
How exactly did it fail? Several of us have tried it, and it works.

My Win98 is the Chinese edition. There is no problem starting it with that. My boot disk is currently the April 24 edition, and there should not be any problem at all starting Win98.

Question for expert wengier, does this booted win98 have to be installed, or is just a windows directory enough? I don't understand it very well, so maybe this is a pretty newbie question.