VOGONS


First post, by Gopher666

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I using this OS in Vmware

(edit by Dominus: link and mention of it removed)

I putting together a minipc dedicated to run just WFW, I was shocked that FreeDOS does not support WFW, after some research I found a thread that compiled with some custom option it might works... well I wont bother but wonder if anybody got it working with FreeDOS 1.3

In case of a physical machine with PCI ports only, what sound card would you recommend? I assume most which has a DOS driver will work in WFW as well

Was there RDP/VNC or any other remote desktop solution for this Windows?

Is this thing supports Extended partitions? It should, when I partition a 4GB CF card with 2GB and 1.7GB FAT16s and the second is Extended logical it does not see it, if both is primary FAT16 all good 😒

Last edited by Gopher666 on 2025-05-19, 09:27. Edited 3 times in total.

Reply 1 of 8, by wierd_w

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Please avoid putting non-free OS disk-images up here on VOGONS, there are pretty stringent rules.

Discussion of the OS, pictures of the OS, and the like are all highly encouraged, but distribution of non-free software is a no no.

That said-- The recently released/FOSS'd DR-DOS can run WFW, with some prodding.

Reply 2 of 8, by Jo22

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I was shocked that FreeDOS does not support WFW

The problem is support for Windows Enhanced-Mode.
Normal Windows 3.1x and WfW 3.10 could be run in Windows Standard-Mode, still.

There used to be a special, experimental build of FreeDOS kernal that supports 386 Enhanced-Mode.
Since 2021 a patch seems to be included but works for normal Windows only (non-WfW 3.11)?

Also, the FreeDOS memory managers don't seem to support GEMMIS so far, the Windows Global EMM Import Specification.
So the himem.sys/emm386.exe supplied with WfW are a better choice.

Btw, there's a setting that might be needed for some versions of FreeDOS.
InDOSPollingMode=True (in system.ini)

More information can be found here:
https://danielectra.github.io/blog/windows-31-on-freedos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMM386#Overview

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 3 of 8, by VintagePC'sWizard

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I used Rufus to install FreeDos then put a USB mouse driver into there (Not CuteMouse *i can't figure out why it does not work* but i used a wired mouse.com thingy but i can't seem to find anywhere after i downloaded it, and i have no idea how to upload it without spending money. If anyone can help with that please tell me) ran setup.exe, Then went though the setup process and It worked! I mean, if you ask me, That's a bit to easy.

Reply 4 of 8, by Gopher666

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Please stay on topic, this is strictly Windows for Workgroups discussion. 😁

For those who don't know how many version of this crap was out there: https://casadevall.pro/articles/2020/05/explo … 90s-networking/

  • Windows 3.1
    Windows for Workgroups 3.1
    Windows 3.11
    Windows for Workgroups 3.11

The others keep it to yourself, imo this was the best from the 3.x series due to the stability patches built in networking and if you read the article he will say that this thing is closer to Win95 in codebase than other 3.x es.

Freedos still DON'T support WFW 🙁

For now, FreeDOS 1.4 can't run Windows for Workgroups in enhanced mode, but can run Windows 3.1 in standard mode.

https://www.freedos.org/download/announce.html

Anyway MSDOS 6.22 ain't that bad. Next thing I need is to find a nice PCI card for this.

Reply 5 of 8, by wierd_w

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Yes. Freedos does not.

Again, DrDOS was recently open sourced (as SvarDos http://svardos.org/), *AND DOES*.

Reply 6 of 8, by chinny22

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Gopher666 wrote on 2025-05-18, 21:25:

In case of a physical machine with PCI ports only, what sound card would you recommend? I assume most which has a DOS driver will work in WFW as well

Was there RDP/VNC or any other remote desktop solution for this Windows?

Is this thing supports Extended partitions? It should, when I partition a 4GB CF card with 2GB and 1.7GB FAT16s and the second is Extended logical it does not see it, if both is primary FAT16 all good 😒

Your assumption is pretty much correct. If it supports dos good chance it supports Win3x as well but worth double checking you can find drivers first. Yamaha is probably the default option.

I'm assuming you want to access the Win3x box remotely. Back in the day this was done with paid software like PC Anyware, There is a VNC for dos but remote access seems more trouble then its worth.
http://arcady.chem.anrb.ru/vncdos

Pre WinXP RDP was known as Terminal Server Client, which did have a version for Win3x which can be found on the Win2k Server CD which will allow you to remote ONTO a remote computer but I think doesn't work on anything newer then Vista/2008

Windows relies on dos for HDD layout. can dos see the extended partition? That said I've only used MS Dos and that combinations definitely supports an extended partition with multiple logical drives set up.

Reply 7 of 8, by Jo22

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On plain Windows 3.1x, running share.exe is being recommend if multiple files are being opened/closed simultanously.
Windows for Workgroups 3.1x has vshare.386, I think.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 8 of 8, by VintagePC'sWizard

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Gopher666 wrote on 2025-05-19, 20:39:

Please stay on topic, this is strictly Windows for Workgroups discussion. 😁

Are you talking about me? If i did, i'm so sorry!