ModernMan wrote on 2026-07-15, 19:48:

The dongle in question states that it will run windows xp, vista, 7, 10 and 11 […]
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Matth79 wrote on 2026-07-15, 18:59:

You are trying to mash together things from eras so far apart that they can never go together. If you want networking in DOS (or even 98/XP) from a mobile dongle, you will need a more recent setup running the dongle and bridging to Ethernet, and an Ethernet card in the P4 if it doesn't already have a port in the IO.
Also, DOS is "hard mode" for a lot of the things you want to do, on a machine quite capable of running 98 or XP

The dongle in question states that it will run windows xp, vista, 7, 10 and 11

So I need an Ethernet router right. Meaning DOS can read Ethernet right?
if so then will this do
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296029858600
Think you plug your dongle into the router then plug the router into the Ethernet cable

Or the Sim card goes in the router, depends how they work.

DOS needs either a Network card, or a network port built in, and then a software network stack https://www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/networking_in_dos.php which requires a driver that supports the card or integrated network controller.
But it is basic, the best use of DOS networking is to FTP things down from another PC, while DOS web browsers exist, they use standards that have been left behind, many sites would not work.

Are you really giving serious answerso this topic which seems a prank?
Dos 6.22 on a pentium 4 and wifi dongle?

Nemo1985 wrote on 2026-07-16, 00:48:

Are you really giving serious answerso this topic which seems a prank?
Dos 6.22 on a pentium 4 and wifi dongle?

can you not read or something? there is no bloody wifi!

ModernMan wrote on 2026-07-16, 01:07:

Nemo1985 wrote on 2026-07-16, 00:48:

Are you really giving serious answerso this topic which seems a prank?
Dos 6.22 on a pentium 4 and wifi dongle?

can you not read or something? there is no bloody wifi!

Sorry I don't waste my time with pranks and trolls.
Try to use google and wonder why the wifi doesn't work on dos.

Matth79 wrote on 2026-07-15, 23:16:

Or the Sim card goes in the router, depends how they work. […]
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ModernMan wrote on 2026-07-15, 19:48:

The dongle in question states that it will run windows xp, vista, 7, 10 and 11 […]
Show full quote

Matth79 wrote on 2026-07-15, 18:59:

You are trying to mash together things from eras so far apart that they can never go together. If you want networking in DOS (or even 98/XP) from a mobile dongle, you will need a more recent setup running the dongle and bridging to Ethernet, and an Ethernet card in the P4 if it doesn't already have a port in the IO.
Also, DOS is "hard mode" for a lot of the things you want to do, on a machine quite capable of running 98 or XP

The dongle in question states that it will run windows xp, vista, 7, 10 and 11

So I need an Ethernet router right. Meaning DOS can read Ethernet right?
if so then will this do
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296029858600
Think you plug your dongle into the router then plug the router into the Ethernet cable

Or the Sim card goes in the router, depends how they work.

DOS needs either a Network card, or a network port built in, and then a software network stack https://www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/networking_in_dos.php which requires a driver that supports the card or integrated network controller.
But it is basic, the best use of DOS networking is to FTP things down from another PC, while DOS web browsers exist, they use standards that have been left behind, many sites would not work.

reading that artical. looks like i will need something to plug into my eithernet port and a program to install on DOS like "Microsoft MS-Net and LAN Manager" the one that was mentioned

Nemo1985 wrote on 2026-07-16, 01:09:

ModernMan wrote on 2026-07-16, 01:07:

Nemo1985 wrote on 2026-07-16, 00:48:

Are you really giving serious answerso this topic which seems a prank?
Dos 6.22 on a pentium 4 and wifi dongle?

can you not read or something? there is no bloody wifi!

Sorry I don't waste my time with pranks and trolls.
Try to use google and wonder why the wifi doesn't work on dos.

there is no wifi

ModernMan wrote on 2026-07-15, 20:04:

douglar wrote on 2026-07-15, 19:28:

In DOS, you need to load device drivers to make DOS understand any device that is not supported directly by the ROM BIOS. Usually this is done via entries in the config.sys file.

My keyboard is USB, how comes that it works when i am in the DOS OS?

The USB keyboard is supported by the BIOS ROM.

ModernMan wrote on 2026-07-15, 23:05:

It has an inbuilt drive that can not be altered! that drive contains the file for it to run it
hear is what it looks like

Looks like that device can take an SD card also, so can add storage to your windows PC. It is unlikely to work in DOS. Though some motherboards can allow it by making it appear as a hard drive. My ASUS P5PE-VM does so:

I have to admit, this thread does seem very much like a prank. But I would like to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Could you please provide a bit more detail on what you are trying to do. There must be some motivation for you installing DOS, right? You seem to not have even basic knowledge of it. It might be an idea to buy a book or watch some tutorials first in order to learn the fundamentals.

Ok, sounds like you have a USB SD card reader that presents itself as mass storage.

There is a decent chance that this driver might work for you

https://hddguru.com/software/2006.02.09-USBAS … -MS-DOS-Driver/

If that driver detects your device, you will need to navigate through a variety of other limitations, since DOS 6.22 doesn’t easily understand mutligigabyte storage devices or modern file system layouts.

So, once the device driver is loaded and your device detected, you will likely need to run fdisk to create a partition on the storage device, reboot, and then run format to put a FAT file systems on the partition you created

Then you can access the device as D:

wierd_w wrote on 2026-07-15, 19:12:

DOS did have art software.

PC Paintbrush, and Corel Draw 1.x, for example.

Also before Halo was a game, he was a well established Doctor - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Halo

Trying to get a cellular modem USB device to work in DOS is just not going to work, it's far too new. Your USB dongle needs to go into a router that supports it, then the router can connect via acable to the DOS PC. The curve ball though is that the network card will also need to work in DOS and P4 era network card might not have DOS drivers, you would need to check.

At the end of the day though, internet in DOS was pretty much about accessing BBS systems so hopefully that's what you are interested in

There's always 'bluetooth serial devices' to consider.

The kind intended for retrocomputing.

Example product, no endorsement:
https://www.usconverters.com/rs232-bluetooth-adapter

There are products made for old 8bit micros, like the c64 as well, that could be cajoled to live on a pc serial port.

Trying to get a cellular modem USB device to work in DOS is just not going to work, it's far too new. Your USB dongle needs to go into a router that supports it, then the router can connect via acable to the DOS PC. The curve ball though is that the network card will also need to work in DOS and P4 era network card might not have DOS drivers, you would need to

Hi! Networking on DOS is possible, but not with today's 0815 technology.

For example, 2G cellular phones used to have an 9600 baud modem in early 90s.
Travelling laptop users in the 90s then could retrieve e-mails via CompuServe on DOS or Windows or OS/2 (or on a PowerBook/System 7).

If an ethernet card is available, then an ethernet to WiFi bridge can be used.
WiFi repeater with ethernet ports also often have that feature, too.
They can work as an oversized WiFi dongle, basically.
That's been often used to get older video game consoles with ethernet port online from within the home WiFi network.

But that's not all. It's possible to use an ISA to PCMCIA adapter in order to use modern PCMCIA/PC Card expansion cards in old DOS PCs.
That way, modern PCMCIA/PC Card or Cardbus cards for WiFi can be physically used.
Drivers are another matter, of course. The card services and other drivers are needed, likely.

Similarily, there were Compact Flash card adapters with WiFi.
They were used in PDAs in early 2000s. They had a CF slot on the top.
HP Jornada 548, for example.

SD flash cards that can be accessed via WiFi do exist, too.
They were intended for digital cameras, so pictures can be retrieved with the card still left in the camera.

There are many weird things out there! 😆

At the end of the day though, internet in DOS was pretty much about accessing BBS systems so hopefully that's what you are interested in

Depends, internet or www or gopher basically started on Unix Workstations and IBM PCs at universities.
FTP, Telnet and Links/Lynx etc were available in text-mode.
(Macintosh computers were used early on, too, I guess.)

Then, there are also graphical web browsers for DOS such as Minuet, Arachne, Dillo.
The latest versions of PC/GEOS (-a graphical DOS extension-) do have a modern web browser, Skipper, latter WebMagick.

The BBS / mailbox scene was popular among computer freaks and home users.
They started out in the late 1970s with their TRS-80, Apple II or Commodore computers.

More tech savy users owned a serious VT-100 terminal and an high-end acoustic coupler or an early smart modem.
Something that public libraries and universities would own.
Edit: Commercial or professional users of the time did call X.25 PADs instead of dialing a mailbox directly.

In the 90s, ISDN was popular in the mailbox scene in my home country.
Windows 3.1 played some role by then, since it supported CAPI drivers for ISDN cards.
Edit: By this time, mailbox systems with ANSI art were quit popular, too.

Edited.

douglar wrote on 2026-07-16, 03:10:

The USB keyboard is supported by the BIOS ROM.

So will the keyboard work in win3.0 and win95 then? which have no USB support

douglar wrote on 2026-07-16, 10:41:

Ok, sounds like you have a USB SD card reader that presents itself as mass storage. […]
Show full quote

Ok, sounds like you have a USB SD card reader that presents itself as mass storage.

There is a decent chance that this driver might work for you

https://hddguru.com/software/2006.02.09-USBAS … -MS-DOS-Driver/

If that driver detects your device, you will need to navigate through a variety of other limitations, since DOS 6.22 doesn’t easily understand mutligigabyte storage devices or modern file system layouts.

So, once the device driver is loaded and your device detected, you will likely need to run fdisk to create a partition on the storage device, reboot, and then run format to put a FAT file systems on the partition you created

Then you can access the device as D:

I have downloaded the link as a zip file. but I dont understand your instructions, do I not copy it to a floppy and boot from floppy in DOS or sometihng?

Many Bothans wrote on 2026-07-16, 12:19:

wierd_w wrote on 2026-07-15, 19:12:

DOS did have art software.

PC Paintbrush, and Corel Draw 1.x, for example.

Also before Halo was a game, he was a well established Doctor - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Halo

it says its compatible with IBM. dose that include MS-DOS?

wierd_w wrote on 2026-07-16, 14:18:

There's always 'bluetooth serial devices' to consider. […]
Show full quote

There's always 'bluetooth serial devices' to consider.

The kind intended for retrocomputing.

Example product, no endorsement:
https://www.usconverters.com/rs232-bluetooth-adapter

There are products made for old 8bit micros, like the c64 as well, that could be cajoled to live on a pc serial port.

looks like a VGA hub, cant see it working and if it did then I would have no monitor to watch

Uhm. That's a DB9. It's a serial port. Like it says on the tin.

Old PCs had these, and they looked like this.

A serial packet driver, or a serial terminal program, could use it like it was an oldschool serial modem.

It even supports the hayes AT command set.

ModernMan wrote on 2026-07-16, 20:33:

douglar wrote on 2026-07-16, 03:10:

The USB keyboard is supported by the BIOS ROM.

So will the keyboard work in win3.0 and win95 then? which have no USB support

Hi, yes. In general, yes.

Most BIOSes do simulate (emulate) USB mouse and keyboard as classic PS/2 mouse and keyboard.

That works in most operating systems, as long as they don't load USB drivers.
If they do, that simulation stops working (until re-boot).

That's why Windows 98 users had trouble with modern internet PCs in late 90s/early 2000s, by the way.
These cute, little and "legacy free" computers had no PS/2 ports but relied on USB.

The problem now was that after installation, Windows 98 tried to auto-detect new hardware and found the USB controller and asked the user for driver location.
But without a working mouse or keyboard the driver couldn't be selected, of course.

Anyway, sometimes those BIOSes don't simulate an USB mouse as an PS/2 mouse.
They merely provide support for USB keyboards.

So called "Thin Clients", small computers, often have that limitation.
Because they are made cheaply with Linux or Windows CE in mind (which have USB drivers).

In that case, an serial mouse for COM port can help.
Or a modern USB mouse with a converter. There are internet projects for that.

ModernMan wrote on 2026-07-16, 20:38:

douglar wrote on 2026-07-16, 10:41:

Ok, sounds like you have a USB SD card reader that presents itself as mass storage. […]
Show full quote

Ok, sounds like you have a USB SD card reader that presents itself as mass storage.

There is a decent chance that this driver might work for you

https://hddguru.com/software/2006.02.09-USBAS … -MS-DOS-Driver/

If that driver detects your device, you will need to navigate through a variety of other limitations, since DOS 6.22 doesn’t easily understand mutligigabyte storage devices or modern file system layouts.

So, once the device driver is loaded and your device detected, you will likely need to run fdisk to create a partition on the storage device, reboot, and then run format to put a FAT file systems on the partition you created

Then you can access the device as D:

I have downloaded the link as a zip file. but I dont understand your instructions, do I not copy it to a floppy and boot from floppy in DOS or sometihng?

First you want to locate the config.sys file if one exists.
If you are booting from a floppy, it is going to be on the floppy, A:
If you are booting from a fixed storage device, it is going to be on the fixed storage device C:

Next edit or create a config.sys file with these lines, assuming you have a directory named DRIVERS on C: with USBASPI.SYS & DI1000DD in it. Use A: if this is a floppy

1DEVICE=C:\DRIVERS\USBASPI.SYS /V /W
2DEVICE=C:\DRIVERS\DI1000DD.SYS

The command line parameters on USBASP.SYS

• /V Verbose mode. Displays detailed information during initialization
• /W Wait for device ready. This is more compatable
• /E - Force EHCI (USB 2.0) if not autodetected
• /O - Force OHCI (USB 1.1 - AMD, SiS, ALi, etc.) if not autodetected
• /U - Force UHCI (USB 1.1 - Intel, VIA)if not autodetected

Considerations for DOS 6.22:

• You need a FAT partition, not NTFS or FAT32. This partition type has rarely been used for new equipment in the last 20 years so you probably need to make one. You can use fdisk.exe to clear and create a new partition on your USB drive. Reboot. You can use formate.exe to format the new FAT partition.
• USB devices are not hot-swappable in MS-DOS. You must have the USB flash plugged in when you boot
• Avoid using USB hubs because as they are usually not supported by DOS drivers

If this is all too much for you, maybe you can find a free dos boot disk with this all set up already