I'd use that floppy to create boot floppy disk (from your 98se machine for instance), and prepare dossetup folder also from your 98se pc in targe computer hd.
Then I'll try to boot your Pentium machine with the floppy disk and install DOS directly from created folder containing setup files.

This works perfect for installing Win9x without any additional media. Don't know if this can also fit for installing DOS 6.22 😀

Assuming the 98SE PC has a working floppy drive, write DOS 6.22 disk 1 image to the floppy, boot and install disk 1, eject floppy, write disk 2 image, repeat until DOS is installed. 3 disks If I remember correctly.

If you need to do any HDD management, you can exit the DOS installer and run fdisk etc from the DOS prompt.

mmx_91 wrote on 2026-04-04, 12:09:

I'd use that floppy to create boot floppy disk (from your 98se machine for instance), and prepare dossetup folder also from your 98se pc in targe computer hd.
Then I'll try to boot your Pentium machine with the floppy disk and install DOS directly from created folder containing setup files.

This works perfect for installing Win9x without any additional media. Don't know if this can also fit for installing DOS 6.22 😀

Yeah, that's how I installed 98 on this one hehe. Will try it later on but was thinking maybe I would be better with 98 on this one aswell. I could use the DOS mode. 😀

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-04-04, 12:09:

Assuming the 98SE PC has a working floppy drive, write DOS 6.22 disk 1 image to the floppy, boot and install disk 1, eject floppy, write disk 2 image, repeat until DOS is installed. 3 disks If I remember correctly.

If you need to do any HDD management, you can exit the DOS installer and run fdisk etc from the DOS prompt.

I was wondering if maybe I would be better off with 98SE, I could have both DOS mode and the good stuff that comes with it, being fat32 compatibility and the other stuff. 😀
The board has a usb header and all.

A Gotek would be a good floppy substitute. Then you can just put a pile of disk images on a USB and install away.

The Gotek is a life saver!

Another option I've used is a bit more convoluted, but it works perfectly. I've used a virtual machine to install an OS, including DOS 6.22 and Win95/98, to an image file. Then use that file to image whatever I was using as the primary storage for that machine. DOS is actually really easy since it doesn't try and install any drivers.

In my case, I use Oracle VM VirtualBox (it's open source) to create a DOS disk the size of the real medium I'm using in the real hardware, like a 2GB SD card. Then I use DOS 6.22 floppy images to format and install DOS to that disk I just created inside the virtual machine. Now you have a 2GB DOS 6.22 image, but it's in VDI format. I use AnyBurn (also free) to convert the Oracle VDI into a standard ISO I can then use with the imaging software of my choice to write to my physical medium. Works like a charm.

Like I said it's a bit convoluted, but it works. For a DOS setup, the entire process only takes a few minutes. 😀

StriderTR wrote on 2026-04-04, 13:56:

The Gotek is a life saver! […]
Show full quote

The Gotek is a life saver!

Another option I've used is a bit more convoluted, but it works perfectly. I've used a virtual machine to install an OS, including DOS 6.22 and Win95/98, to an image file. Then use that file to image whatever I was using as the primary storage for that machine. DOS is actually really easy since it doesn't try and install any drivers.

In my case, I use Oracle VM VirtualBox (it's open source) to create a DOS disk the size of the real medium I'm using in the real hardware, like a 2GB SD card. Then I use DOS 6.22 floppy images to format and install DOS to that disk I just created inside the virtual machine. Now you have a 2GB DOS 6.22 image, but it's in VDM format. I use AnyBurn (also free) to convert the Oracle VDM into a standard ISO I can then use with the imaging software of my choice to write to my physical medium. Works like a charm.

Like I said it's a bit convoluted, but it works. For a DOS setup, the entire process only takes a few minutes. 😀

Woah! That's a nice one indeed,
So far I've installed 98SE and using it's DOS mode, feeling great so far.
How do you make the physical medium bootable? Like, what do you use Anyburn to burn to? Can I write that to my HDD and it just boots DOS afterwards?

A usb floppy drive for your main pc is what I do. Have never gone the gotek route, dont like the appearance and dont want to buy one for each of my retro pcs which all came with a floppy.

daeds wrote on 2026-04-04, 16:57:

Woah! That's a nice one indeed,
So far I've installed 98SE and using it's DOS mode, feeling great so far.
How do you make the physical medium bootable? Like, what do you use Anyburn to burn to? Can I write that to my HDD and it just boots DOS afterwards?

Nice!

The image is already bootable. You just write the bootable image to the HDD/SSD/SD Card you want to use in your retro PC. Personally, I use Win32 Disk Imager for that, and you're done. 😀

I use AnyBurn to convert the VDI image file created by VirtualBox to a standard ISO image file that can be used by most any disk imager to write it to your medium of choice.

StriderTR wrote on 2026-04-04, 17:31:

Nice! […]
Show full quote

daeds wrote on 2026-04-04, 16:57:

Woah! That's a nice one indeed,
So far I've installed 98SE and using it's DOS mode, feeling great so far.
How do you make the physical medium bootable? Like, what do you use Anyburn to burn to? Can I write that to my HDD and it just boots DOS afterwards?

Nice!

The image is already bootable. You just write the bootable image to the HDD/SSD/SD Card you want to use in your retro PC. Personally, I use Win32 Disk Imager for that, and you're done. 😀

I use AnyBurn to convert the VDI image file created by VirtualBox to a standard ISO image file that can be used by most any disk imager to write it to your medium of choice.

Going to look for an older version as I just can use the old ide disk on my WIN98SE machine, does it exist? 😀

daeds wrote on 2026-04-04, 17:56:

Going to look for an older version as I just can use the old ide disk on my WIN98SE machine, does it exist? 😀

An older version of the software I use? I don't think so, but I've also never looked. I do all of this on my modern Windows 10 machine. 😀

StriderTR wrote on 2026-04-04, 20:50:

daeds wrote on 2026-04-04, 17:56:

Going to look for an older version as I just can use the old ide disk on my WIN98SE machine, does it exist? 😀

An older version of the software I use? I don't think so, but I've also never looked. I do all of this on my modern Windows 10 machine. 😀

Yeah, seems there is not a win9x version. 🙁
Any idea on what I can use that could do it on win9x?

FWIW, I have a DOSBOOT archive on my site which has images for boot diskettes for 17 different versions of DOS, as well as tools to create actual floppies from the images under DOS or Winblows.

Most of these create a RAMdrive and have my DDLINK tool on them so you can easily move on stuff you want to run that I've not provided.

They are standard raw sector dump images, so most software that can read/write whole diskettes can make them.

In case you don't have a working floppy drive and your system can boot CD/DVD - I do have a little tool I wrote a while ago which takes a 1.44 Bootable floppy image and makes a bootable .ISO you can write to a CD or DVD. I've not made this "public" yet but I do plan to clean it up a little and add it to the above archive. If there is interest, I can put a rush on doing that.

DaveDDS wrote on 2026-04-04, 23:59:

In case you don't have a working floppy drive and your system can boot CD/DVD - I do have a little tool I wrote a while ago which takes a 1.44 Bootable floppy image and makes a bootable .ISO you can write to a CD or DVD. I've not made this "public" yet but I do plan to clean it up a little and add it to the above archive. If there is interest, I can put a rush on doing that.

There are free tools that can do it like imgburn for windows and k3b for linux

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-04-05, 00:32:

There are free tools that can do it like imgburn for windows and k3b for linux

Absolutely, which is why I've not put a priority on releasing it ... I just like to put "most everything users might need" in my distributuibs.

PS: I use Imgburn quite a bit, another one I use a lot is "MagicISO" - I like that it can make a "miltiboot" disk where you can have several floppy images on the disc, and select which one to use at boot.

mistermister wrote on 2026-04-04, 17:30:

GoTek ... dont like the appearance and dont want to buy one for each of my retro pcs which all came with a floppy.

What I do (I only have one GoTek) - it's pretty easy to get the floppy cable out the side of most machines, I have power and ribbon extenders if I really need to access a local floppy drive at the same time.

I just plug the GoTek in on the side, have lots of boots to choose from on it, and can format/install to a new HD very easily. Also have some applicatiaon images on it, so I can copy on lot of the stuff I most often use. (and once I get network working I can get anything else from other systems)

mistermister wrote on 2026-04-04, 17:30:

A usb floppy drive for your main pc is what I do. Have never gone the gotek route, dont like the appearance and dont want to buy one for each of my retro pcs which all came with a floppy.

Using a Gotek doesn't necessarily mean one has to permanently put one in a build. I agree, I'm not a fan of the appearance either so I put regular floppy drives in all my retro builds.

Where I do use a Gotek is on my test/assembly bench for installing things like driver disks, operating systems, etc. It's much easier to have a Gotek with a hundred disk images installed on it rather than trying to install things from dozens of individual floppy disks. More reliable too.

Once everything I need is installed, then I can swap in a proper disk drive for occasional use.

DaveDDS wrote on 2026-04-04, 23:59:

FWIW, I have a DOSBOOT archive on my site which has images for boot diskettes for 17 different versions of DOS, as well as tools […]
Show full quote

FWIW, I have a DOSBOOT archive on my site which has images for boot diskettes for 17 different versions of DOS, as well as tools to create actual floppies from the images under DOS or Winblows.

Most of these create a RAMdrive and have my DDLINK tool on them so you can easily move on stuff you want to run that I've not provided.

They are standard raw sector dump images, so most software that can read/write whole diskettes can make them.

In case you don't have a working floppy drive and your system can boot CD/DVD - I do have a little tool I wrote a while ago which takes a 1.44 Bootable floppy image and makes a bootable .ISO you can write to a CD or DVD. I've not made this "public" yet but I do plan to clean it up a little and add it to the above archive. If there is interest, I can put a rush on doing that.

Sounds awesome! I just have to get some CDs, no need to rush though. 😀 Thank you!

daeds wrote on 2026-04-05, 19:59:

DaveDDS wrote on 2026-04-04, 23:59:

... In case you don't have a working floppy drive and your system can boot CD/DVD - I do have a little tool I wrote a while ago which takes a 1.44 Bootable floppy image and makes a bootable .ISO you can write to a CD or DVD. I've not made this "public" yet but I do plan to clean it up a little and add it to the above archive. If there is interest, I can put a rush on doing that.

Sounds awesome! I just have to get some CDs, no need to rush though. 😀 Thank you!

I cleaned it up some more this morning and will get it updated on the site in the next few days.

But as others have pointed out, there is lots of existing software that can make optical media to boot floppy images.

I do recommend one called "MagicISO" because it lets you create a single CD/DVD with many floppy images on it, and prompts for which one to use at boot time. So... you can have lots of different versions of DOS on one disc.
I don't know if it's still around - I got it many years ago... I also don't know if anything newer has this ability (?anyone?)

Another simpler/faster option might be to use a GoTek floppy emulator - lets you put lots of floppy images on a USB stick and select which one to use via front panel buttons.

Emulated drive seems pretty "normal", unlike a CD/DVD you can write to it! - And since it's connected through the floppy drive interface. it can be written in place at the speed of a floppy ... much easier/faster than "burning" CD/DVDs.