Resurrecting a Legacy X86 PC..

[Archive-8]

So ..windows Legacy geeks ..
I found this on youtube ...with links to download the 2 DVDs..
but ..an account with mega.nz required.
A cloud service ..not unlike dropbox I guess ..
So being the sort of guy who is always wary of anything I have never used before ..set up the account on a relatively unused PC running win 7 ..
that way it doesn't stop me working.
but they do offer 50gb free cloud storage ..so ..a plus there.

Basically using these 2 dvds ..Any Legacy version of Windows can be built to order on ISO ..with updates and service packs ..errr ..slipstreamed I guess ..
Obviously you still need keys to perform actual installs ..
Gonna take a long while to download the 2 dvds ..but ..I'm in no hurry..
..anyone used Mega ?
rgds
VS

Only once or twice to share some raspberry pi img' s didn't know it's 50gbs

Might have to look closer at it.

 

[Vipersan]

Only once or twice to share some raspberry pi img' s didn't know it's 50gbs

Might have to look closer at it.

Obviously they offer a faster serice with more storage ..as a pay service ..but the freebie is 50gb ..as far as I can tell..

 

[Vipersan]

So ..there's the catch ..
there had to be one ..
;)
I successfully download dvd1 ..and started dvd2 ..
a few minutes in ..a screen popup ..
Pay some dosh to continue as you will exceed your limit ...or wait 7 hours for free download and try again ..
Well ...I'm not in a hurry so ..I'll try for the second disc later..
lol

 

[Vipersan]

One of you guys could grab dvd2 ...and we could do swapsies over dropbox

 

[Archive-8]

One of you guys could grab dvd2 ...and we could do swapsies over dropbox

Got the link?

 

[Vipersan]

I'll post it as soon as I have made sure I can access the dvd I downloaded ??
It is there in my download flder ..but for some odd reason I can't copy it ~???
Have mega somehow encrypted or locked it ?
I'll let you know.
Looks like this company is holding it ransom atm ..
heh

 

[Vipersan]

I'll post it as soon as I have made sure I can access the dvd I downloaded ??
It is there in my download flder ..but for some odd reason I can't copy it ~???
Have mega somehow encrypted or locked it ?
I'll let you know.
Looks like this company is holding it ransom atm ..
heh

So ..my guess is that I dont actually have it ..and it only exists in the fekkin cloud...
So may have to wait at least 7 hours to try and actually 'own' it ..
..or pay the ransom..
bstds

 

[Vipersan]

If you want to give it a shot Chris..
DVD 1 MEGA
DVD 2 MEGA

 

[PaulR]

If you're not on a fixed IP address with your ISP why don't you try rebooting your modem/router? Got to be worth a try for a zero-cost experiment.

 

[Vipersan]

If you're not on a fixed IP address with your ISP why don't you try rebooting your modem/router? Got to be worth a try for a zero-cost experiment.

already tried it Paul ..
My ISP just assigns the same address..
Prolly have to drop the line for quite a while for a refresh..so might as well wait out the hours ..then try again

 

[Archive-8]

If you want to give it a shot Chris..
DVD 1 MEGA
DVD 2 MEGA

it says its downloading will check in a bit.

 

[Archive-8]

Got the same error as you for link 1

I did get link 2 but it's going to take a while.

 

[Vipersan]

Yep ....I suspect getting these files from Mega is going to be a PITA..
So ..knowing what the files are actually called I went -a-searching ..
arrived here ..
All Windows DVD : k1ller97 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
I'm hoping the downloads I've started actually complete..
I'll let you know..
lol
rgds
VS

 

[Archive-8]

Yep ....I suspect getting these files from Mega is going to be a PITA..
So ..knowing what the files are actually called I went -a-searching ..
arrived here ..
All Windows DVD : k1ller97 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
I'm hoping the downloads I've started actually complete..
I'll let you know..
lol
rgds
VS

Mega link 2 incoming

 

[Archive-8]

So ..my guess is that I dont actually have it ..and it only exists in the fekkin cloud...
So may have to wait at least 7 hours to try and actually 'own' it ..
..or pay the ransom..
bstds

Install the megasync app/sync prog and it should download the stuff to your pc.

 

[Vipersan]

got both files from the 'Killer97' link overnight ..
I'll burn em and check em later..

 

[davemurgtroyd]

Yep ....I suspect getting these files from Mega is going to be a PITA..
So ..knowing what the files are actually called I went -a-searching ..
arrived here ..
All Windows DVD : k1ller97 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
I'm hoping the downloads I've started actually complete..
I'll let you know..
lol
rgds
VS

Downloaded both, burnt to disk and verified. Both disks autorun for me and seem to be OK. This helps complete my collection of install disks for all versions of DOS and Windows.

 

[Vipersan]

Tonight I finally got Win3.1 - Win95OS2 & WinME to coexist on an 80 gb hard drive ..
This was not easy ..
I have already managed 95/98/and ME to coexist ...BUT ..they all had one thing in common ..
Fat32 ..
This latest offering has a FAT16 partition sitting alongside 2 x fat32 LBAs ..
Again using GAG which will hide the OSs not in use ..
Problem 1 ...95 and 98 tend not to want to coexist ..as they are to all intents and purposes ..the same Operating system..
So the previous 3 OS drive was a minor miracle ..
This one was equally tricky as ME did not want to be installed as it sees itself a potential upgrade to win95 ..
Win3.1 simply doesn't want to be a part of this ..it being fat 16
So ..
my method is and was to build each OS on seperate drives ...then using BART PE ..which is basically a stand alone OS on a disc which is bootable and can sit outside the 'systems' with USB support allowed me to dump the entire operating systems (including invisible or hidden files) to seperate USB sticks ..
Partitions are then created as needed to suit each operating system (primary drives all) ...and then the entire OS system written to each partition as needed ...from the stored files on the required pen drive
The partitions remains unbootable BUT they are all technically drive C
GAG is then applied as a sticking plaster to the MBR ..making each OS bootable when selected by making That partition and that partition ONLY bootable..
Hope this makes sense ..
But it DOES work ..
rgds
VS

 

[Captain Jack]

Nice one, Evan. Windows 3.1 I don't have a lot of experience of. One thing I remember is hacking a 'security' program called Future Lock (also available for Windows 95), which stored mildly encrypted passwords in a text file. 30 minutes 'decoding' a known password revealed a very simple shift cipher... I was in 'admin' account very quickly!

I actually wrote a similar program (called !FLock...) for my then Acorn RISC OS machine, which did a very similar thing... but anyway...

The most I've done was multi-boot Linux, some NT based Windows (probably 2000 at the time) and Windows 98... those were easy though as all are different architectures.

 

[Vipersan]

So ..
my latest 'toy' has arrived ..
An IDE to CF adapter which fits in a floppy diskette drive front bay ..
What I like about this unit is that it has an eject button for the compact flash ..
so Easy insertion ..and removal of the CF
So ..could I install Linux Mint 15 on a CF and get it to boot ?
See for yourself in the attached pics ..
No idea of durability ..or speed atm ..nor lifetime of a CF ...under Fixed Disc emulation conditions ...but I do know I had Freenas running on a 2gb CF for many years ..
The CF I'm using for Mint 15 is a 32GB CF..
The difference I susppose is that CF access under Freenas was mostly to the NAS drives ...so presumably write access to the CF was not as frequently required as it will be under MINT ..running a full OS ..
That is I suppose what makes this interesting.
Next question ..is
Can I run a windows OS on a CF ..?
If this works I can easily make CF Operating systems that plug in ..
I know this is possible with USB flash drives on modern PCs and laptops ..but this PC is old circa 2003.
So never had a bios that fully supports USB boot ..
This is is my workaround...and likely to be expensive ..simply because CF cards aren't cheap ..or at least large ones aint.
I guess it is basically a crossover between Mechanical hard drive to SSD ...without the need for SATA.
rgds
VS