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DOS and Windows Network Shares (Was: Shares)

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ChrisCwmbran

Experienced Member
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Oct 11, 2011
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Cwmbran, Wales, United Kingdom
Hi all

If you were to fit IBM PC/AT with a 3.5" 1.44Mb floppy drive, and an ISA network card, is it possible to boot DOS with relevant drivers to allow the machine to access shares on say a Windows 2008 R2 server?

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Regards,

Chris.
 
Check out THIS LINK.
I prefer Microsoft Network Client for DOS using the NETBEUI protocol. The server would also need to run the same protocol. So, netbeui may not be the best choice. I believe TCP/IP will run on a 286 with MS Network Client, but I haven't tried it.
 
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You will likely have trouble going from DOS -> Windows 2008 even with TCP/IP because the old DOS software doesn't have support for the newer standards (even over TCP/IP, DOS Samba tools wont be doing 128bit encrypted passwords etc) and over time support for the old standards gets dropped. I use MS LanManager for DOS and Windows 2000 Server with domains - because I found that to be the most reliable for viewing/mounting shares. MS Client or LanMan without domains, often gave trouble (for me anyway) viewing (NET VIEW) other machines.

You'll also likely find it kills your conventional memory on a machine without upper memory, so DOS 6 boot menus or putting the command line network start commands in a batch file instead of AUTOEXEC is a good idea I found (especially the TCP/IP TSR which is huge). Another alternative would be not installing a DOS client, and instead installing Windows 3.11 with networking, so you can get in there when you need it. I tend to just do this now as it makes things a lot easier - when you return to DOS you get all your conventional memory back.

Just a few thoughts from when I set up my network, you could have a different experience, let us know how you get on :)

Edit: if its just for the intiial install, might be easier to go with FastLynx 3.3 (serial/parallel cable, how I used to do it when the machines were current) or mTCP (which has an FTP client).
 
I stuck with Win2000 server as well, also lets me connect my old 68K macs to my file archives.
 
I have WFW 3.11 with networking support running on a 386. The network features themselves aren't that slow, but starting them, or running programs that extensively use the networking features are much slower. There is a big difference in speed for this between a 386 and a 486. Running it on a 286 will require more memory and more (much) waiting time.

I believe MS Lan Client will ask you to input a domain (not a workgroup), but it will serve the same purpose.
 
DOS lives on!! said:
I have WFW 3.11 with networking support running on a 386. The network features themselves aren't that slow, but starting them, or running programs that extensively use the networking features are much slower. There is a big difference in speed for this between a 386 and a 486. Running it on a 286 will require more memory and more (much) waiting time.

I believe MS Lan Client will ask you to input a domain (not a workgroup), but it will serve the same purpose.
Click to expand...

There's a download on the MS FTP site somewhere that replaces the 3.11 16-bit TCP stack with the 32-bit stack from NT3.51 - it's a bit faster, and has a few extra features. It might make a difference to network-heavy programs.
 
You're probably looking for MS's TCP/IP-32B. It provides the updated TCP/IP protocol along with more networking features. Although installing it after Win32S is really bothersome.
 
To the Original Poster, ChrisCwmbran,

You specify that your using an IBM PC/AT. Am I correct to assume that it has an 80286 processor?
If that is the case, I think we should do a better job of staying on topic and not recommend a software that needs a 386 or better.
 
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