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Looking for original Windows 98 FE Retail or OEM Full IO.SYS (DOS 7.1)

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First post, by WiNdOwS

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Hello everyone,

I’m doing forensic archival research on the Windows 98 FE boot chain and specifically need the original IO.SYS from a Retail or OEM Full Windows 98 First Edition CD (not Lite, not Restore).

All boot floppies I’ve found contain the 222,390‑byte IO.SYS from DOS 7.0 (Win95), so I now understand that the real DOS 7.1 IO.SYS (~242 KB) exists only on the full installation CD.

If anyone has a verified Retail or OEM Full Windows 98 FE CD, could you please provide:

• the exact file size of IO.SYS
• the file date
• (optionally) an MD5/SHA‑1 hash
• or the file itself, if possible

Also, if you know any less obvious archives, mirrors, or collector communities where such discs might still be preserved, I would be grateful for recommendations.

Thank you in advance!

Reply 1 of 2, by konc

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I don't know how you got this impression. All windows 9.x versions beginning from Win95 OSR2 and including Win98FE OEM & Retail full version CDs and Win98SE have the 222.390 byte IO.SYS, which is DOS 7.1.

DOS 7.0 came with the original/first Windows 95 version.

Reply 2 of 2, by WiNdOwS

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@konc
Yes, that makes sense. All the Win98 boot disks I checked had the same 222,390‑byte IO.SYS, and nobody would downgrade the DOS kernel anyway. While comparing them, I also noticed that another component — EBD.SYS — was damaged or missing on most images, and only one diskette had the proper ~2 KB version. Do you have any advice on how to reliably locate the original one?

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