For this discussion I believe MS-DOS mode refers to W95/W98 when you reboot into MS-DOS mode rather than windows. Definitely NOT running a command line window.

Yes not much. Only difference you can't run QEMM386 or EMM386 and other memory managers under win95 dosmode. You need to write a config.sys that does not load win.com.

Some old games needed 600 kbyte memory while others couldn't cope with EMS extenders.

For example this was my old config.sys back in w95 days:

1SWITCHES=/F
2[MENU]
3MENUITEM=RAW,WIN
4MENUITEM=EMS,VCPI
5MENUDEFAULT=RAW,10
6
7[RAW]
8; THIS IS IT!
9SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /P /E:4096
10
11[EMS]
12FILES=40
13DOS=UMB,HIGH
14LASTDRIVE=M
15DEVICE=C:\UTILITY\QEMM386.SYS RAM BF:N
16; DEVICEHIGH=C:\UTILITY\STACKER.COM /P=9 C:\STACVOL.DSK
17DEVICEHIGH=C:\CYBIDE.SYS /D:DARKSUN
18; DEVICE=C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\CTSND\DRV\CTSB16.SYS /UNIT=0 /WIN95 /BLASTER=A:220 I:5 D:1 H:1
19; DEVICE=C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\CTSND\DRV\CTMMSYS.SYS
20
21[COMMON]
22COUNTRY=036,852,C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\COUNTRY.SYS
23SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /P /E:4096

Yes, we need more testers to report any problems if it occurs while running games or programs in Windows 9x's MS-DOS MODE.

When we look back at it, the Win9x's DOS MODE is just the DOS 7 we boot into. Windows9x is an "enhanced Win3.x" which still "sits on" DOS (of course with some core differences). (Windows ME is just made MORE difficult to enter pure DOS, but workaround is possible.)

I guess this leaves us into the "MS-DOS 6.22 [&-] Vs. MS-DOS 7 [&+] for programs compatibility" area.

Only programs and/or games which may cause problem are those that were designed during the MS-DOS 4.0 and below era.

Later MS-DOS OSs attempted to remove the incompatibilities especially with the SETVER device driver and the LOADFIX command.

So, back to square one - the final problem related to the question of this thread manifests as :

DOS 6.22 and below VS. DOS 7 and above.

Unlike Windows9x programs and their compatibility with other Win9x and NT versions, cross-compatibility in MS-DOS is very high amongst it's own versions.

We need testers to comment on the compatibilities of Games/Programs while :

a. MS-DOS 6.22 (the most common) VS. MS-DOS 7/7.1

b. FAT16 Vs. FAT32

Problems :

a. Compatibility is very high for DOS programs/games amongst it's brother/sister DOS versions. - Translates into trivial results, if any.

b. May not be any differences when comparing a FAT16 and FAT32. Most probably the problem may or may not be related to saving games and corruptions while writing to or reading from a disk during program run, not on execution.

Also, here's a small trivia (for those who may not know this) :

You can basically "transform" your Windows 95 based machine into a "PURE DOS" machine :

1. Create a Desktop Shortcut for the Command Prompt.
2. In the shortcut properties, make it to "Boot into MS-DOS mode"
3. Name the shortcut as Pure DOS Mode or something like that.
4. Just click on it and Windows will boot into the MS-DOS MODE.
5. Now you can add your own Autoexec.bat and Config.sys contents.
6. Do your DOS stuff - play, tinker,etc.
7. DON'T type EXIT when you have finished.
8. Turn off machine.
9. When you turn it back on, the machine will Boot back to the MS-DOS mode directly. It won't load Windows, and this is not the Ms-Dos window.

The machine will behave as a pure DOS machine, until the "EXIT" command is entered. When EXIT is entered, the machine will boot back into Windows.

(When a program/shortcut requests a "Boot Into MS-DOS" routine, Windows will flag Windows to not load the GUI until EXIT is entered. Windows 95 also maintains separate Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files for Windows 95 and MS-DOS mode. So you can treat these files freely as you like. Once EXIT is entered, these files will be renamed and the original Windows95's files will be called in and renamed as the current working files.)

which still "sits on" DOS (of course with some core differences).

Both win3x enhanced and win9x take over the system completely, only using "good old dos" where absolutely necessary (e.g. v86 dos shells), same for "good old bios" (e.g. int13 fallback).

Dos games run slower under windows, thats one reason to use pure dos, depending on the speed of your machine it may not be an issue.

I haven't faced incompatibilities yet in win'98 booted in dos mode, even very old xt games that don't have speed issues, work on it like a charm. Or configuration-hell games like Turrican II works like a charm.

The potential advantage of true DOS is the ability to tweak your boot files to fit the driver or memory footprint needed by the game. When you use "Restart to MS-DOS mode", you're pretty much using the Win98 defaults unless you've tweaked them previously. And even then, you don't get as much control as booting straight to MSDOS 6.22

So the answer is "it depends". If it works for you, great. If it doesn't, you have to go to DOS.

I remember when I first got my Dell Optiplex off ebay in 2005, it had a "MS-DOS 7.1" loading screen that looked just like Windows 98, complete with the blue sky background. I wiped it and installed my real copy of '98. I kind of miss that screen!

Oh, that? I've seen it floating around out there. I might even be able to dig up the screen in question. (It is entirely unofficial, to be sure.)

Malik wrote:

7. DON'T type EXIT when you have finished. 8. Turn off machine. 9. When you turn it back on, the machine will Boot back to the M […]
Show full quote

7. DON'T type EXIT when you have finished.
8. Turn off machine.
9. When you turn it back on, the machine will Boot back to the MS-DOS mode directly. It won't load Windows, and this is not the Ms-Dos window.

The machine will behave as a pure DOS machine, until the "EXIT" command is entered. When EXIT is entered, the machine will boot back into Windows.

I've never heard of this before. Is this something you've used yourself?

Windows 95 also maintains separate Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files for Windows 95 and MS-DOS mode.

I also thought it only did that if you have MS-DOS installed before you install Windows 95, and use the "Previous version of MS-DOS" option from the F8 boot menu.

I am using dos like Malik suggested I dont see any downside. I set up 1 set of autoexec and config that will run all my dos games from the 90's perfectly and I dont need to worry about hard disk space with fat32.

[quote="Jorpho"]Oh, that? I've seen it floating around out there. I might even be able to dig up the screen in question. (It is entirely unofficial, to be sure.)

@Jorpho, Yeah! That would be cool if you could find it. I believe it looked something like this:

But it had a background like the one on the Windows box. I may just put pure DOS on my Dell again one day. I still have the floppies for DOS 5, although they are 5 1/4".

Whoops, that image you posted is precisely the one I was thinking of.

I can't find it (exact 320x400) and it seems odd how fresh OEM computer setups are never preserved with things like that. I wish I could factory restore some of mine.

I did find this 320x400 boot screen however

I just leileilol'd at Bill Gates. 😁

Jorpho wrote:

Oh, that? I've seen it floating around out there. I might even be able to dig up the screen in question. (It is entirely unof […]
Show full quote

Oh, that? I've seen it floating around out there. I might even be able to dig up the screen in question. (It is entirely unofficial, to be sure.)

Malik wrote:

7. DON'T type EXIT when you have finished. 8. Turn off machine. 9. When you turn it back on, the machine will Boot back to the M […]
Show full quote

7. DON'T type EXIT when you have finished.
8. Turn off machine.
9. When you turn it back on, the machine will Boot back to the MS-DOS mode directly. It won't load Windows, and this is not the Ms-Dos window.

The machine will behave as a pure DOS machine, until the "EXIT" command is entered. When EXIT is entered, the machine will boot back into Windows.

I've never heard of this before. Is this something you've used yourself?

Windows 95 also maintains separate Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files for Windows 95 and MS-DOS mode.

I also thought it only did that if you have MS-DOS installed before you install Windows 95, and use the "Previous version of MS-DOS" option from the F8 boot menu.

Yes, I used to do with this type of configuration once, when I didn't have the time to maintain a separate DOS-based machine last time (college days).

Did this with Win95. And yes, it maintains a different autoexec&config files when it boots to it's own MS-DOS (7.0).

I discovered this accidentally - the ORIGIN's Crusader : No Regret game came with a Win95 install, which will place a desktop shortcut to run it after install. It's actually a pure MS-DOS mode shortcut - it boots to DOS and runs the game. Turning the system off and restarting after a session, it stayed at dos, when exit was not entered.

I guess if it was 7.0 that it was Win 95a, then?

Actually if you load DOS drivers (MSCDEX, UDMA drivers, etc) you can force Windows to use DOS drivers for almost everything (including disk access!)

To get FAT32 I now use MS-DOS 7.1. Basically what I did was install W98SE once and then copied all the important DOS files. There is a folder called COMMAND which has most of the DOS things and then you grab HIMEM.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT and whatever else you need. Or just make a backup somewhere in case you aren't sure what you need.

Then I just format my C: drive with a W98SE startup disk, create a folder DOS, copy all the W98SE DOS files into there and then create my CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.

Now I can use a 16GB CF card in my time machine which makes life a lot easier.

Volksjager wrote:

Actually if you load DOS drivers (MSCDEX, UDMA drivers, etc) you can force Windows to use DOS drivers for almost everything (including disk access!)

If I'm not mistaken, that comes at a considerable speed penalty for normal Windows things. (Also, I vaguely recall that it ignores DOS CD-ROM drivers and MSCDEX.)

I found one case where Win98 DOS box is actually better than pure DOS. Bethesda's Terminator Skynet SVGA-mode is more "stable" within Win98 for some reason. In DOS it would freeze up repeatedly no matter what I did (even changing hardware). But this game is so bug-ridden that it's impossible to know what the reason for improvement was.