VOGONS


First post, by DustyShinigami

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I know the web has got a vast library of information about MS-DOS, how to use it, and all the various commands etc., but there's nothing quite like owning a physical book that can be put on a shelf and read. I was just wondering if anyone knows of any really good books - old and maybe even new-ish...? - they could recommend? I missed out on using it properly growing up and what little I did use of it I didn't really understand. Or avoided it like the plague. There's no doubt many tips and tricks I'm still not aware of and just thought it'd be cool to have a book on it to study. 😀

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Slot 1 Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/128MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Motherboard: ABit AB-BE6-II Intel 440BX
HDD: C, D - IDE 1, CD-ROM - IDE 2, E - IDE 3

Reply 1 of 11, by Disruptor

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Depends what you want to do.
Just use DOS itself or a reference with all INT21h functions to use in assembly language.

Reply 2 of 11, by Carrera

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DOS for Dummies comes to mind...

Reply 3 of 11, by DustyShinigami

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Disruptor wrote on 2025-12-07, 17:54:

Depends what you want to do.
Just use DOS itself or a reference with all INT21h functions to use in assembly language.

Just DOS itself. Have zero experience with Assembly Language. 😅

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Slot 1 Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/128MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Motherboard: ABit AB-BE6-II Intel 440BX
HDD: C, D - IDE 1, CD-ROM - IDE 2, E - IDE 3

Reply 4 of 11, by DustyShinigami

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Carrera wrote on 2025-12-07, 17:56:

DOS for Dummies comes to mind...

Ooh. Great. Thanks. I’ll see what I can find out about it. 😃

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Slot 1 Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/128MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Motherboard: ABit AB-BE6-II Intel 440BX
HDD: C, D - IDE 1, CD-ROM - IDE 2, E - IDE 3

Reply 5 of 11, by maxtherabbit

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The attachment 20251207_152133.jpg is no longer available

Had to out words in the post to appease the forum software

Reply 6 of 11, by DustyShinigami

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maxtherabbit wrote on 2025-12-07, 20:23:
The attachment 20251207_152133.jpg is no longer available

Had to out words in the post to appease the forum software

Cool. Thanks. It looks like copies that are sold in the UK don't appear to have a front cover. It's probably one I'd have to import...?

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Slot 1 Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/128MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Motherboard: ABit AB-BE6-II Intel 440BX
HDD: C, D - IDE 1, CD-ROM - IDE 2, E - IDE 3

Reply 7 of 11, by maxtherabbit

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The front cover is awesome indeed but idk if I'd import a copy just to have it. I'm sure the content within is really what you need 😀

Reply 8 of 11, by DustyShinigami

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maxtherabbit wrote on 2025-12-07, 21:51:

The front cover is awesome indeed but idk if I'd import a copy just to have it. I'm sure the content within is really what you need 😀

True. I'm just not sure if the copies I'm seeing on UK Amazon and eBay are genuine though. It's hard to know for certain based on what looks like some placeholder image.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Slot 1 Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/128MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Motherboard: ABit AB-BE6-II Intel 440BX
HDD: C, D - IDE 1, CD-ROM - IDE 2, E - IDE 3

Reply 10 of 11, by DustyShinigami

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oso2k wrote on 2025-12-08, 07:16:

The MS-DOS 6.22 Manual is how I learned - https://ia801204.us.archive.org/33/items/msdo … _manual_622.pdf

Oh, nice. Thanks. There's loads of physical copies on eBay, too. Pretty cheap. 😁

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Slot 1 Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/128MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Motherboard: ABit AB-BE6-II Intel 440BX
HDD: C, D - IDE 1, CD-ROM - IDE 2, E - IDE 3

Reply 11 of 11, by megatron-uk

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Remember when DOS came with manuals??? I think I have my "Epson DOS 5.0" books around somewhere....

My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net