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Keyboard: unicomp IBM type M PS2.

Mouse: Logitech ps2 optical wheel mouse.

My original plan was to use an ensoniq audiopci 1370, partition the drive and have a DOS 6.22 partition for DOS gaming. However Dos does not like to share a drive with with XP. It kept corrupting the XP boot sector. So I kept it as a pure XP system. Using rivatuner statistics server to set a frame limit based on monitor resolution, and vsync to maintain a smooth experience with minimal input lag. I set frame limit to 2 frames below refresh rate. The Nvidia profile inspector proved useless for me.

Refresh Lock is mandatory for all my XP systems since XP loves to default to 60hz.

Monitor: Samsung syncmaster 955df 19" (mine is black)

Sly_Botts wrote on 2025-04-19, 17:38:

My original plan was to use an ensoniq audiopci 1370, partition the drive and have a DOS 6.22 partition for DOS gaming. However Dos does not like to share a drive with with XP. It kept corrupting the XP boot sector. So I kept it as a pure XP system.

Does your motherboard BIOS have a boot device menu? I can't remember when that became a common feature but it's usually hitting F-10 or another F key and it will list the drive. You can configure it to default to XP. But boot off a separate DOS drive if you want.

SScorpio wrote on 2025-04-19, 18:23:

Sly_Botts wrote on 2025-04-19, 17:38:

My original plan was to use an ensoniq audiopci 1370, partition the drive and have a DOS 6.22 partition for DOS gaming. However Dos does not like to share a drive with with XP. It kept corrupting the XP boot sector. So I kept it as a pure XP system.

Does your motherboard BIOS have a boot device menu? I can't remember when that became a common feature but it's usually hitting F-10 or another F key and it will list the drive. You can configure it to default to XP. But boot off a separate DOS drive if you want.

Yes but Dos doesn't like to be 2nd fiddle. It likes to interfere with the boot sector. If I had a 2nd drive I'm sure it would be fine.

Sly_Botts wrote on 2025-04-19, 18:36:

Yes but Dos doesn't like to be 2nd fiddle. It likes to interfere with the boot sector. If I had a 2nd drive I'm sure it would be fine.

That's what I'm saying. Have a second small physical SSD in there for just DOS and use the BIOS boot manager when you want to boot to that instead of XP.

DOS gaming generally isn't very write heavy. You can get 32GB 2.5" SSDs for under $10.

I had a habit of installing DOS 7.1 before installing Windows XP. On a FAT32 primary partition. It always worked fine. The Windows XP installer will keep DOS 7.1 as a boot option.

Sly_Botts wrote on 2025-04-19, 18:36:

SScorpio wrote on 2025-04-19, 18:23:

Sly_Botts wrote on 2025-04-19, 17:38:

My original plan was to use an ensoniq audiopci 1370, partition the drive and have a DOS 6.22 partition for DOS gaming. However Dos does not like to share a drive with with XP. It kept corrupting the XP boot sector. So I kept it as a pure XP system.

Does your motherboard BIOS have a boot device menu? I can't remember when that became a common feature but it's usually hitting F-10 or another F key and it will list the drive. You can configure it to default to XP. But boot off a separate DOS drive if you want.

Yes but Dos doesn't like to be 2nd fiddle. It likes to interfere with the boot sector. If I had a 2nd drive I'm sure it would be fine.

There is no such general problem with DO
S. DOS can coexists with WinXP partitions on the same drive without problems.
Actually DOS can run from the same partition as WinXp if XP is installed on a Fat32 partition. This way you can start DOS from the XP boot menu with the help of an inserted section into boot.ini that refers to BOOTSECT.DOS as the original boot record.

Falcosoft wrote on 2025-04-19, 20:15:

There is no such general problem with DO S. DOS can coexists with WinXP partitions on the same drive without problems. Actually […]
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Sly_Botts wrote on 2025-04-19, 18:36:

SScorpio wrote on 2025-04-19, 18:23:

Does your motherboard BIOS have a boot device menu? I can't remember when that became a common feature but it's usually hitting F-10 or another F key and it will list the drive. You can configure it to default to XP. But boot off a separate DOS drive if you want.

Yes but Dos doesn't like to be 2nd fiddle. It likes to interfere with the boot sector. If I had a 2nd drive I'm sure it would be fine.

There is no such general problem with DO
S. DOS can coexists with WinXP partitions on the same drive without problems.
Actually DOS can run from the same partition as WinXp if XP is installed on a Fat32 partition. This way you can start DOS from the XP boot menu with the help of an inserted section into boot.ini that refers to BOOTSECT.DOS as the original boot record.

Maybe my issue was XP being NTFS then. I just noticed whenever I installed DOS it would screw up my XP boot when I switched back to XP. I did read somewhere that DOS likes to be installed on its partition before XP. Mind you I'm not mucking with boot.ini either.

gerwin wrote on 2025-04-19, 19:54:

I had a habit of installing DOS 7.1 before installing Windows XP. On a FAT32 primary partition. It always worked fine. The Windows XP installer will keep DOS 7.1 as a boot option.

This is a great suggestion.

Actually this triggered a memory of this in my college days back in the early 00s

Typically I'll partition my drives like this

Primary Partition
C:\Fat 32, Win98 (same as Dos 7.1) 2GB

Extended Partition/Logical drives
D:\ Fat 32, Data (all remaining space not used in c:\ or e:\
E:\ NTFS, WinXP, 4GB

I use fdisk to do the partitions, that way I know the Win9x stuff will understand the disk layout

Hi, my main computer is a Sandy Bridge i5-2520M, 8GB Ram. I use windows XP as only and main OS, then i need as much updated i can, hardware and software, because i need for my everyday needs

I found Primo Ramdisk very good to do a ramdrive of unussed ram areas of xp 32bits, i create a compreesed Z: drive and there i have a 2GB swap file, and rest is for temporary files. I will upgrade soon to 16GB, to do a 4GB swap and leave 8Gb to temp files, because i compile a lot with cygwin and mingw and temporary ram drive is amazing fast

theelf wrote on 2025-04-22, 14:15:

Hi, my main computer is a Sandy Bridge i5-2520M, 8GB Ram. I use windows XP as only and main OS, then i need as much updated i can, hardware and software, because i need for my everyday needs

I found Primo Ramdisk very good to do a ramdrive of unussed ram areas of xp 32bits, i create a compreesed Z: drive and there i have a 2GB swap file, and rest is for temporary files. I will upgrade soon to 16GB, to do a 4GB swap and leave 8Gb to temp files, because i compile a lot with cygwin and mingw and temporary ram drive is amazing fast

That's awesome!

This is great! Seems like Ivy Bridge is a great platform for XP, I am just beginning to acquire some Ivy Bridge parts for a SuperXP build. Will be following this!