If the card is already formatted and read/writable under your DOS PC, you should be good to go. The format should be some type of FAT which Windows can still read/write. All this is assuming you have a card reader that works well in Windows 10. 😉

I have indeed a card reader but it refuse to read the card. The message is drive x has to be formatted. Maybe my card reader isn't good. Thx for the reply

Yes, putting the cards on the modern PC is a very popular and common way of transferring files to the old PC. Unless you have DDO software installed on the card it just works, you don't need to do anything more. You'll be able to see/access only the first partition though, as windows don't allow partitions on removable devices.

Yeah I'm wondering if there's something going on with the partition. @konc is right, Windows won't let you manage partitions on removable media. Can you run fdisk on your DOS machine against the card? What does it show?

Hi everyone,

I would like to inform you about a special case:

Unlike Windows, MS-DOS itself doesn't need partitions. It's possible to format a flash medium or a HDD as a "super floppy". Like a Zip disk, so to say.

Such a formatted medium does contain the same structure as a floppy. An MBR, boot code, FAT etc - but no PBR.

Such a medium won't be recognized by Windows, especially not Windows NT.

Edit: A few edits, sorry. My smartphone caused trouble while typing.

So could he backup his data in DOS, reformat on Windows, then move the files back to the card and use it on both systems?

nightbanshee wrote on 2021-10-14, 18:16:

Yeah I'm wondering if there's something going on with the partition. @konc is right, Windows won't let you manage partitions on removable media. Can you run fdisk on your DOS machine against the card? What does it show?

Its a 4 GB card, so I divide it in 2 partitions because of dos limits. When I connect the SD to IDE adapter trough an IDE to USB adapter, i can see both partitions. But then i have to open the case of the dos pc and dissamble the thing. That's not the easy way for a quick file transfer.

konc wrote on 2021-10-14, 18:08:

Yes, putting the cards on the modern PC is a very popular and common way of transferring files to the old PC. Unless you have DDO software installed on the card it just works, you don't need to do anything more. You'll be able to see/access only the first partition though, as windows don't allow partitions on removable devices.

I'm 99% sure this isn't true. I took an SD card recently, and used diskpart to create two primary partitions formatted fat32. Inside win10, I was able to view both partitions on the SD card, and I even loaded them both up with the files I needed to go forward with my installations. I installed Dos 7.1 on one, and Windows 95 OSR2 on the other, and use PLOP to choose which one I boot to. Both partitions boot great, and when I pull the card to put more files on it, I still see both partitions in Win10.

Could be the basic tool of right clicking on the drive in windows and choosing "Format" won't let you. But it's definitely possible and works great.

rendoh wrote on 2021-10-14, 19:48:

When I connect the SD to IDE adapter trough an IDE to USB adapter, i can see both partitions. But then i have to open the case of the dos pc and dissamble the thing.

So when you connect the SD to IDE and IDE to USB you see both partitions on your Windows 10 machine? Did I understand that right? If that's the case, doesn't that confirm it is an adapter issue?

As an experiment I took a blank CF and a CF to USB adapter. I used diskpart to repartition it into 2 primary partitions and formatted both to FAT and mounted both to my Windows 10 machine. I'm able to see both and move files to both. Unfortunately I don't have a SD card to try it on though.

Here's the adapter I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WHL1QG2/

Hope that helps.

nightbanshee wrote on 2021-10-14, 22:34:

So when you connect the SD to IDE and IDE to USB you see both partitions on your Windows 10 machine? Did I understand that right […]
Show full quote

rendoh wrote on 2021-10-14, 19:48:

When I connect the SD to IDE adapter trough an IDE to USB adapter, i can see both partitions. But then i have to open the case of the dos pc and dissamble the thing.

So when you connect the SD to IDE and IDE to USB you see both partitions on your Windows 10 machine? Did I understand that right? If that's the case, doesn't that confirm it is an adapter issue?

As an experiment I took a blank CF and a CF to USB adapter. I used diskpart to repartition it into 2 primary partitions and formatted both to FAT and mounted both to my Windows 10 machine. I'm able to see both and move files to both. Unfortunately I don't have a SD card to try it on though.

Here's the adapter I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WHL1QG2/

Hope that helps.

I will check this option thx!

out of curiosity...

What specifications does your dos pc have ? cpu bios mainboard vga fdd etc...

weedeewee wrote on 2021-10-15, 14:34:

out of curiosity...

What specifications does your dos pc have ? cpu bios mainboard vga fdd etc...

Motherbord :Biostar MB8433 UUD
Award Bios
486DX4 100 mhz
72 mb RAM
4Gb SD card HDD
AWE64 value soundcard
S3trio 32 1 mb vga card
Dos6.2 & Win3.11

Back in the days this was my main pc from 1995 until 1999 after that I used it daily for mainly Impulse Tracker with AWE 64 Gold soundcard until 2005. Then it moved to the attic...

Ordered a new SD card reader and it works fine now. I can see both partitions in windows 10. Solved.

That's great news! Glad it works.

Has anyone tried SD->FDD adapter like this one here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001147537970.html

Any pecularities with them? Card size limit\supported standards?

Shnur wrote on 2022-06-11, 23:04:

Has anyone tried SD->FDD adapter like this one here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001147537970.html

Any pecularities with them? Card size limit\supported standards?

Where do you see an FDD component to this ?

My bad, i confused it for floppy disk emulator... thought it would work as FDD drive for bios recovery...

Shnur wrote on 2022-06-11, 23:51:

My bad, i confused it for floppy disk emulator... thought it would work as FDD drive for bios recovery...

No worries. You probably want to look at a Gotek floppy emulator instead .

Yes, found those just now, although i'm surprised there is no elegant way to avoid large boxes nowadays..