Reply 140 of 228, by Banjo
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Zalog wrote on 2021-03-18, 10:00:Banjo wrote on 2021-03-18, 08:07:Nobody I know has the proper installation media for AMstart (which presumably came on the same disks as Win 3.x when shipped by Amstrad, as I know they did this with Win 2.x that I *do* have floppy images of; see my blog above) but somebody did share their backup floppies here which contains the simple AMstart "addon" that works with Windows 3.11 but (like the above archive of ADT) lacks a proper installer; they're just a backup. I am actually making one this week (a custom floppy image) though for use on a real machine and plan to post it to my blog when done.
Many for info and the links to your Blog that is really helpful source of info. Also really big thankyou for making a custom floppy image for the AMstart - I have been looking for it for a while so will await the upload to your Blog with much anticiplation ! 😀
I wish everyone dumped the BIOS's when they got an old Amstrad, especially the later machines for which so little information exists - I'll be dumping my 9486's when I get chance in the next few weeks, although it's largely a standard AMI 486 ISA/VLB bios with a "Amstrad PC9486" text string inserted into the BIOS - but still worth archiving ! I've been gathering info on the later (6000, 7000, 8000 and 9000 series) machines and have just found a few more details on the uber rare 6486 (a 16MHz 486 in a case very similar to the 3086) - the whole late machine story looks very interesting although I'm still lacking a few things about the "professional" range of amstrads that were made at that time - once I have that info (he says hopefully !!) I'll have to find somewhere suitable to post it all.
I'll do the custom installers sooner rather than later, in that case! I procrastinate far too much, so please remind me if I forget and it takes too long! 😀
At the very least, I will do a "patch" floppy that you can use on top of a regular Win 3.x install that will also install and setup AMStart. In case the PC7xxxx Windows disks never show up, I am also currently looking at recreating the full installer from the PC4386SX but for the Series 7 AMSTART and STARTCFG programs instead of the custom GUI stuff included with Series 4. I already have done one for ADT but need to test it before I post it! I can only test it virtually (PCEm and DOSBox) thought right now.
Totally agree about old Amstrads needing to be preserved! At the risk of sounding like a whiner, too many collectors seem to not want others to have access to what they have to increase its value. I believe in sharing to the point that I'd send everyone a free copy of the old PCs I have if that were somehow possible! BIOS dumps and software are the next best thing, I guess.
I would be very VERY interested in ANY info you gather on Amstrads, especially later models. When buying the PC7486 I tried to do research and could find practically NOTHING on it, nor any model past Series 5 and the Mega-PC. In fact, I wasn't sure there even WERE Amstrad PCs made after the Mega-PC! Here in Australia, the early models were in every store as "state of the art". After the Series 5 ones, they pretty much vanished from shelves. I only knew about the Mega-PC as a kid (I *so* wanted one!) from UK computer magazines of the era.
I actually noticed some of the software demands a PC9xxx to run, so maybe you can test it on your new machine (I'm jealous! hopefully the bios dump will mean it migth be emulate-able someday too).
PS OMG! That Amstrad Windows branding is AWESOME! Instant download! Would you mind if I reposted it to my blog at some point (with whatever credit you'd like, of course!). Where did you get it from, can I ask? Was it installed on the system's HDD already (and in which case... would a HDD image be remotely possible - even privately - if there are any other differences from the regular Win95 version?)