Topics on this page:
Backbround Information
Preliminary Research
Gathering Up The Pieces
But, What About The Hard Disk?
The First Attempt
Conclusion
DJE Systems Links
Our first entry into the world of Windows/95 comes almost as Windows/98 is about to be foisted upon an unsuspecting public. There are still a LOT(!) of problems with WIN/95 (and WIN/98, but that will be another story - maybe later this year (1998)). Still, in the interest of keeping current, it seemed a wise move to do the upgrade and see what the hoopla is all about.
We are still using MS-DOS V6.20 + WFW V3.11 as our everyday machine and also as our development system for the website and the BBS. It's DOS/WIN, but hey - it works well enough. Consequently, we didn't want to be without a working system while battling with the WIN/95 install.
We knew going in that we would need some kind of "temporary" hard disk of decent capacity.
Initially, we found two choices: the Zip or Jaz drives from Iomega, or the new "SuperDisk" 120 MB floppies. The parallel-port Zip drive has the advantages of being low cost (relatively) and also being portable - there's even a rechargeable battery pack you can get to provide power away from "home". SuperDisk is less portable and also lesser known at the present time. Media for both were comparable (though not equivalent) in price. We settled on the parallel-port Zip drive.
Although Iomega claims that the Zip disks provide 100 MB of storage, their calculations are based on decimal numbers instead of the powers-of-two numbers that all computers use. Zip disks provide roughly 96 MB of storage. This an important distinction in the planning stage of a project.
So, we got our Zip drive. Now, you can't boot from a parallel-port Zip drive, so the system needs to boot from a diskette. Thus, everything needed for a "normal" system startup needs to be on the boot diskette: HIMEM, EMM386, the Sound Blaster drivers, even the Zip drive driver.We elected to put the Zip drive "GUEST" program on the boot diskette. Every thing else from AUTOEXEC.BAT can be on the Zip drive, once it becomes accessible.
But, What About The Hard Disk?
Well, since we're using a 1.6 GB hard disk with an older BIOS, we need the On-Track Dynamic Drive Overlay in order for DOS to "see" the hard disk. When you boot from a "generic" boot diskette, there's no DDO; so, no C: drive until you load the Zip drive software.
We'd done almost everything right, oddly enough. On the first try, we were able to boot up fine, access the Zip drive, and startup the rest of the system. The menu appeared and everything looked pretty good. A few paths were incorrect, and some files were missing, however.
Once we cleaned that up, we tried to start Windows for Workgroups. A few more missing files were needed. So, we copied them to the Zip disk and tried again.
Now, don't get us wrong - this is HARDLY an ideal solution! Even after "accelerating" the parallel port driver, performance was usable, but abysmally slow.
Windows normally takes less than twenty (20) seconds to start from the hard disk. From the Zip disk, it takes a good three (3) minutes! Our ISP's dialer wasn't too bad, and Eudora was about what we expected. However, if you're going to try to run AOL V3.0 from a Zip drive, plan on making (and eating!) dinner before it finishes loading! Navigator Gold isn't quite that bad, but bad enough.
So, there you have it.
While attempting the Windows/95 install, we will still be able to start up DOS and Windows so that we can collect e-mail and fulfill our support responsibilities, and be able to FTP and update our web site as well. It's VERY(!) slow, but at least it's possible. (Web "surfing" is DEFINITELY NOT recommended!)
The system boots from diskette, and runs from the Zip drive.
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