As they are all long abandoned, it will always be very difficult to get original disks with registration codes, and even harder to get them in sealed packaging.

I got all my DOS and Windows disc quite cheap on eBay, as I was never in a hurry to get them. Most older versions are pirated though, due to them being rare and abandoned.

Have you considered using FreeDOS if you are concerned about the legality of unlicensed software? Not sure whether it is 100% compatible for all functions, but I'm pretty sure it is. Someone else will probably be able to chip in if it's not.

Hrm, about free Dos I don't know more than it's existence abd assumed it's not super compatible.

FreeDOS is very compatible and is still being developed so if you encounter a game that doesn't work but does on MS-DOS then if the bug is reported to the FreeDOS devs then it can be fixed.

DosFreak wrote on 2020-07-14, 01:01:

FreeDOS is very compatible and is still being developed so if you encounter a game that doesn't work but does on MS-DOS then if the bug is reported to the FreeDOS devs then it can be fixed.

FreeDOS is great, but there are still bugs/corner case issues . If everything works for you, then great, but if something does not, you will be left wondering whether it is related to
FreeDOS or not .

Here are 2 issues that ended up being FreeDOS related in some way .

Corruption issue when using rloew's TRIM.EXE (TRIM utility for DOS) with FreeDOS FDISK 1.2.1/1.3.1 partitioned DISK

[SOLVED] Trying to get Pro Audio Studio to work, failing to do so...help? Also, how does one load MVSOUND.sys?

EDIT: DosFreak, in your opinion and if you have time, do you think the issue I experienced with FreeDOS FDISK in the first linked thread is worth reporting, or is only tangentially relevant to FreeDOS or possibly even a bug in RLOEWE's TRIM utility ?

You can use DOS Navigator as a free alternative to Norton Commander:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS_Navigator

In case of DOS 6.2x, WfW an Win9x, I would make sure the COA is included.
That's the certificate / license, so to say.
The key number itself is secondary (though on OEM releases, the sticker on the back of a PC with serial number is basically the COA).

Edit: In addition to FreeDOS, there's also PC-MOS/386 v5. It's Open Source, too.

I'm not worried about official licences but only using it for my personal use, can understand you wanting to play it safe though if your youtube channel generates revenue.

That said if I come across licencing for cheap I'll get it. I have the advantage working for outsourced IT companies for 10+ years, server room clear outs are gold mines 😀
Typical software that comes on CD are common but was really happy the day I found the complete set of Office 4.3 Pro disks! (last version with 3.x support)

I picked up boxed copy of D0s 6.22 off freecycle few years ago so check places like that.
The likes of Dell, HP, etc still needed the ability to boot to Dos from time to time for their support CD's they went over to freedos so thats what the "big boys" do.

It also depends on how by the book you want to be. As Jo22 said it's the COA that's important not the Disk/CD's.
I can't remember the company but at least one company buy's and sells volume licences which MS wasn't happy about but can't do anything about as was protected under EU law.
Prices were cheaper then currant versions of software but still not home user cheap.

Kordanor wrote on 2020-07-13, 23:45:

I am actually collecting Big Boxes for a bit now, and I didn't expect software to be that hard to come by.

Hi Michael,
they actually do (still) exist.
as ebay prices skyrockeded a few years ago, I guess "ebay-kleinanzeigen.de" would also be a good start for you, since you are youtubeing in German... 😁

Example of German editions:

DOS6.22 upgrade was available for free from the MS ftp back in the day.

So if you want official, you really only need DOS 6.0 if you want to install 6.22 as an upgrade.

Here is the workaround to install 6.22 by itself:

1Boot off of the 6.22 upgrade disk #1.
2Then on the first screen press F3.
3Then answer the prompts to exit the setup.
4It will dump you to an A:> prompt (oh the memories).
5Use fdisk to create a primary partition on the first drive.
6Format it using format c:. Now use sys c: to make it bootable.
7Reboot. 
8Install 6.22 as you normally would. 

The upgrade only looks to see if the drive is bootable.

Thanks for the Info about FreeDos. Maybe I'll use it as last option. Similar with DOS Navigator.

Also good to know about the DOS 6.22 Upgrade.

1541 wrote on 2020-07-14, 11:39:

Hi Michael,
they actually do (still) exist.
as ebay prices skyrockeded a few years ago, I guess "ebay-kleinanzeigen.de" would also be a good start for you, since you are youtubeing in German... 😁

Yeah, they exist, they are just too expensive. ^^
On Ebay-Kleinanzeigen on the other hand, are a lot of DOS 6.22 offers, but they are all without price. Experience with games showed me that in these cases it's not worth the effort to even ask for the price. So I'll keep an eye on it ofc, but atm there isn't a lot available.

I have official copies of various versions of Windows, so I am not concerned about the legality (for me) of downloading ISOs online which I do regularly because I have not bothered to image my disks yet.

MS-DOS is a different story. I have a copy of DOS 5, which I use directly for older machines. DOS 7 I have found online but it's the same as Windows 9x DOS with the version string and GUI integration stuff changed, so I guess it's fine. I don't generally use DOS 6.22 or any other version for that matter.

chinny22 wrote on 2020-07-14, 08:57:

It also depends on how by the book you want to be. As Jo22 said it's the COA that's important not the Disk/CD's.

I'm not sure about this one (note that I'm from Europe), i think that it may be true for Win 9x and other software which requres a serial number to work. But MS-DOS works without a serial key. So everything you need for it to work, is an original floppy disk. You bought it, so you are not stealing anything, you also dont use cracks or keygens, even if you don't have the certificate. Even if you are not doing something according to the license, I'm pretty sure that it is not a criminal activity (i.e. you won't go to jail), as long as you can install the software without "hacks".

adalbert wrote on 2020-07-19, 10:44:

chinny22 wrote on 2020-07-14, 08:57:

It also depends on how by the book you want to be. As Jo22 said it's the COA that's important not the Disk/CD's.

I'm not sure about this one (note that I'm from Europe), i think that it may be true for Win 9x and other software which requres a serial number to work. But MS-DOS works without a serial key. So everything you need for it to work, is an original floppy disk. You bought it, so you are not stealing anything, you also dont use cracks or keygens, even if you don't have the certificate. Even if you are not doing something according to the license, I'm pretty sure that it is not a criminal activity (i.e. you won't go to jail), as long as you can install the software without "hacks".

And that's the issue. 🙁
Sure, traditionally, all you need is the disk set (+ manual, maybe? Some had a sticker/serial nr inside) .
In some cases, even disk #1 will do (that's what MS asked you to send in
via mail in order to get a discount for a newer software release)
Thing is, software was immensely copied and traded in the 80s/90s.
How can someone really be sure that the disk is an original?
That was the reason why MS came up with the idea of a hologram-based COA circa DOS 6.x.
MS-DOS 5.0 and plain Windows 3.1 had no COA yet.
I've been the victim of a false copy myself in the 90s, when I bought a copy of MS-DOS from someone who sold it via a small ad, by the way.
It was obvious, because the label was fake.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_of_authenticity

Kordanor wrote on 2020-07-13, 23:45:

For youtube videos I am also checking with each publisher/developer before doing any videos (some do actually not allow it, making it illegal). That is - when it's still somewhat clear who is actually holding the rights these days.

And because I might also use the old PC in some commercial aspect at some point it would be even more important for me to be "clean" here.

It is vastly easier for anyone to respond with a "no" than to spend even a minute trying to establish whether or not they do in fact still have the rights. And it is vastly unlikely that anyone will ever care about the "cleanliness" of 30-year-old PC software. See for instance https://trixter.oldskool.org/2016/01/11/beyon … nomic-recovery/ .

Right now I am basically looking for 3 pieces of Software: Dos 6.22, Norton Commander 5.0 and Windows 98 SE.

As suggested above, there are multitudes of Norton Commander clones. See for instance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Orthod … x_file_managers . Also keep a lookout for Norton Desktop for DOS, which has a mode indistinguishable from Norton Commander.