GottaLottaStuff
Veteran Member
I'm not sure about the full install versions (never seen one) but the DOS 6.0 and 6.2 upgrades came on 1.44mb disks and had a card inside that you could mail in to get the other formats.
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Floppy Formats for MS-DOS 6.22
- Thread starter Shadow Lord
- Start date
Shadow Lord
Veteran Member
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
I see you partook of the upgrade offer!
FTIW, I have 6.22 Upgrade on 1.44 disks still in shrink wrap.
Shadow Lord
Veteran Member
AO,
I also have original 1.44MB disks. I am in search of 1.2mb disks or any DD format disks for 6.22.
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
I just re-read your thread. I'm just relying on my memory (not very good these days) but I don't ever remember seeing MS-DOS 6 on 5.25 disks, either DD or HD. That's not to say they didn't exit, however. I'm thinking that by the time DOS 6.22 arrived, the 5.25 format was pretty much on its way out. The last set of 1.2 HD 5.25 disks that I have is the Dell MS-DOS 5.0 version that was packaged with a PC (dated 1991). I've used 6.2 on various other PC's with 360 KB sets made off a HD in one of my AT's. I've never had a problem making 360 system disks using a 1.2 floppy drive.
GottaLottaStuff
Veteran Member
Why 6.22? Why not 6.0 or 6.2? Just curious, I don't remember there being much difference.
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
Why 6.22? Why not 6.0 or 6.2? Just curious, I don't remember there being much difference.
from the Wiki . . .
MS-DOS 6.x
- Version 6.0 (Retail) - Online help through QBASIC. Disk compression and antivirus included.
- Version 6.1 (none) - IBM and Microsoft alternate DOS 6 versions. IBM released 6.3 also.
- Version 6.2 (Retail) - Scandisk as replacement for CHKDSK. Fix serious bugs in DBLSPACE.
- Version 6.21 (Retail) - Stacker-infringing DBLSPACE removed.
- Version 6.22 (Retail) - New DRVSPACE compression.
Ole Juul
Veteran Member
Why 6.22? Why not 6.0 or 6.2? Just curious, I don't remember there being much difference.
What Agent Orange said.
However, running drvspace or dblspace has never been recommended, and few people would these days unless they want to try them for historical reasons. Because of that, I've never noticed a difference between the versions but there could be small changes (or even improvements!) in the code for the three main files. I've always been of the opinion that since the size is about the same, one might as well run 6.22 and not worry about it.
Scandisk is sometimes useful, but I suspect it will run with all 6.* versions.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Doesn't anyone remember the Stacker-Microsoft dust-up?
GottaLottaStuff
Veteran Member
Now that you mention it, I DO remember Drivespace and Doublespace. WOW, did they suck. And Scandisk, oh man. Just reformat and reinstall. You will anyway, after Scandisk gets through eating your files. If that's all you get, stay with DOS 5.0. Yes, Stacker was a wee bit upset about Microsoft cloning their software. But then so were Novell and Netscape.
And Scandisk, oh man. Just reformat and reinstall. You will anyway, after Scandisk gets through eating your files. If that's all you get, stay with DOS 5.0. Yes, Stacker was a wee bit upset about Microsoft cloning their software. But then so were Novell and Netscape.Shadow Lord
Veteran Member
Why 6.22? Why not 6.0 or 6.2? Just curious, I don't remember there being much difference.
Why not 6.22? :D
Honestly, if I am going to do it, it might as well be the last/final version. The biggest difference i recall (and I could be totally off here) was because of the Stacker lawsuit. MS Had to replace their disk compression program that was included w/ DOS.
EDIT: See what happens when you don't submit your replies immediately! Everyone beats you to it...
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
Why not 6.22? :D
Honestly, if I am going to do it, it might as well be the last/final version. The biggest difference i recall (and I could be totally off here) was because of the Stacker lawsuit. MS Had to replace their disk compression program that was included w/ DOS.
EDIT: See what happens when you don't submit your replies immediately! Everyone beats you to it...
Lord:
I never knew anyone to seriously use that thing. I supposed most everyone, including myself tried it out just to see what would happen. None of the major PC magazines and technical papers had anything good to say about Stacker or Double Space as I remember. 1 gig + ATA drives were coming into the picture at a reasonable price, and you would only consider Stacker or Double Space if you were on a short budget. You could just delete it and save yourself the hassle, but I can understand you wanting to get it exactly the way you want.
Caluser2000
Banned
I'm sure I've got MS Dos 6.2 and WFW 3.11 on HD 5.25" floppies
Sure do. Didn't use disk compression though and was using DRDos 6.0 (before that Compaq Dos 3.31) at the time.
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Shadow Lord
Veteran Member
AO,
I have no intention of using Double Space. As i said if i have to go through the trouble of finding the 1.2MB diskettes AND 6.22 came on 1.2MB diskettes (as well as low density formats) then I might as well find the 6.22 disks and get any minor or potential bug fixes along with it.
Now as for Stacker I plan to use it because I have a 20MB HDD in my 286XT and more importantly I have the co-processor board and I had always wanted to try that out. But stacker is DOS ver independent (for the purposes of this discussion) so 6.2 vs 6.21 vs. 6.22 is meaningless.
I have no intention of using Double Space. As i said if i have to go through the trouble of finding the 1.2MB diskettes AND 6.22 came on 1.2MB diskettes (as well as low density formats) then I might as well find the 6.22 disks and get any minor or potential bug fixes along with it.
Now as for Stacker I plan to use it because I have a 20MB HDD in my 286XT and more importantly I have the co-processor board and I had always wanted to try that out. But stacker is DOS ver independent (for the purposes of this discussion) so 6.2 vs 6.21 vs. 6.22 is meaningless.
Shadow Lord
Veteran Member
BTW: Here is a MS document outlining major and minor changes between DOS 6.0, 6.2, 6.21 and 6.22
The MS-DOS 6.22 Step-Up improves on the safety and ease-of-use provided by
MS-DOS 6.x, and is designed for users of Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0, 6.2 or 6.21 only.
This file explains what functionality changes your system undergoes when you
use the MS-DOS 6.22 Step-Up; these changes depend on your current version of
MS-DOS. This file also describes features in MS-DOS 6.22 that are new
since MS-DOS 6.0.
If you currently have:
MS-DOS 5.0 or before
If you have MS-DOS 5.0 or earlier, you cannot use the Step-Up to
install MS-DOS 6.22. To upgrade your version of MS-DOS, obtain the
full MS-DOS 6.22 Upgrade instead.
MS-DOS 6.0
You'll gain all of the MS-DOS 6.22 features and functionality,
including Data Protection Technology. You can either keep
DoubleSpace compression or replace it with DriveSpace compression.
MS-DOS 6.2
You will not gain any incremental functionality other than the
opportunity to convert your DoubleSpace drives to DriveSpace.
MS-DOS 6.21
You'll gain the DriveSpace compression technology and all of the
other features listed in the following section.
Safety Features and Enhancements
--------------------------------
* MS-DOS 6.22 includes ScanDisk, a utility that detects, diagnoses, and repairs
disk errors on uncompressed drives as well as both DriveSpace and DoubleSpace
compressed drives. ScanDisk can repair file system errors (such as crosslinks
and lost clusters) and physical disk errors. ScanDisk keeps a log of its
repairs and enables you to undo any of the changes it made. DriveSpace
runs ScanDisk to check the reliability of your disk before it begins
compression. You can also run ScanDisk yourself by typing SCANDISK at the
command prompt.
* DriveSpace includes DoubleGuard safety checking, which protects your
data by verifying data integrity before writing to the disk. If DoubleGuard
detects that the memory DriveSpace is using has been written to by another
program, it notifies you and recommends you shut down your computer
immediately to minimize damage to your data.
* The MS-DOS extended-memory manager, HIMEM, automatically tests your
system's memory when you start your computer. This test can identify
memory chips that are no longer reliable. (To turn off the memory test,
add the /TESTMEM:OFF switch to the command that starts HIMEM.)
* Setup now configures SMARTDrive as a read-only cache by default. Even if
write-caching is enabled, MS-DOS does not display the command prompt
until SMARTDrive has written its cache to your disk.
* The MOVE, COPY, and XCOPY commands now ask you for confirmation before
copying a file over another file that has the same name. (However,
to maintain compatibility with existing MS-DOS batch files, these
commands do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting a file
when issued from a batch file.)
Ease-of-Use Features and Other Enhancements
-------------------------------------------
* SMARTDrive now caches CD-ROM drives.
* DriveSpace automatically mounts compressed floppy disks and other
compressed removable media -- even when Windows is running.
* You can easily uncompress a DriveSpace drive or even completely
uninstall DriveSpace from memory.
* You can easily convert a DoubleSpace drive to DriveSpace format.
* Interactive Start (the F8 key) has been enhanced so that you can now bypass
or carry out individual commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and other batch
programs. (In MS-DOS 6, this capability was limited to your CONFIG.SYS
file.) This feature makes it easier to troubleshoot your system configuration.
* The DISKCOPY command now uses your hard disk as an interim storage area,
which makes copying from one floppy disk to another faster and easier.
* Microsoft Defragmenter makes better use of your computer's extended
memory, so it can now defragment much larger disks and disks containing
many more files and directories.
* The output of the DIR, MEM, CHKDSK, and FORMAT commands is much easier to
read, since it now includes thousands separators when displaying numbers
greater than 999. For example, "1000000 bytes free" now reads "1,000,000
bytes free."
The MS-DOS 6.22 Step-Up improves on the safety and ease-of-use provided by
MS-DOS 6.x, and is designed for users of Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0, 6.2 or 6.21 only.
This file explains what functionality changes your system undergoes when you
use the MS-DOS 6.22 Step-Up; these changes depend on your current version of
MS-DOS. This file also describes features in MS-DOS 6.22 that are new
since MS-DOS 6.0.
If you currently have:
MS-DOS 5.0 or before
If you have MS-DOS 5.0 or earlier, you cannot use the Step-Up to
install MS-DOS 6.22. To upgrade your version of MS-DOS, obtain the
full MS-DOS 6.22 Upgrade instead.
MS-DOS 6.0
You'll gain all of the MS-DOS 6.22 features and functionality,
including Data Protection Technology. You can either keep
DoubleSpace compression or replace it with DriveSpace compression.
MS-DOS 6.2
You will not gain any incremental functionality other than the
opportunity to convert your DoubleSpace drives to DriveSpace.
MS-DOS 6.21
You'll gain the DriveSpace compression technology and all of the
other features listed in the following section.
Safety Features and Enhancements
--------------------------------
* MS-DOS 6.22 includes ScanDisk, a utility that detects, diagnoses, and repairs
disk errors on uncompressed drives as well as both DriveSpace and DoubleSpace
compressed drives. ScanDisk can repair file system errors (such as crosslinks
and lost clusters) and physical disk errors. ScanDisk keeps a log of its
repairs and enables you to undo any of the changes it made. DriveSpace
runs ScanDisk to check the reliability of your disk before it begins
compression. You can also run ScanDisk yourself by typing SCANDISK at the
command prompt.
* DriveSpace includes DoubleGuard safety checking, which protects your
data by verifying data integrity before writing to the disk. If DoubleGuard
detects that the memory DriveSpace is using has been written to by another
program, it notifies you and recommends you shut down your computer
immediately to minimize damage to your data.
* The MS-DOS extended-memory manager, HIMEM, automatically tests your
system's memory when you start your computer. This test can identify
memory chips that are no longer reliable. (To turn off the memory test,
add the /TESTMEM:OFF switch to the command that starts HIMEM.)
* Setup now configures SMARTDrive as a read-only cache by default. Even if
write-caching is enabled, MS-DOS does not display the command prompt
until SMARTDrive has written its cache to your disk.
* The MOVE, COPY, and XCOPY commands now ask you for confirmation before
copying a file over another file that has the same name. (However,
to maintain compatibility with existing MS-DOS batch files, these
commands do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting a file
when issued from a batch file.)
Ease-of-Use Features and Other Enhancements
-------------------------------------------
* SMARTDrive now caches CD-ROM drives.
* DriveSpace automatically mounts compressed floppy disks and other
compressed removable media -- even when Windows is running.
* You can easily uncompress a DriveSpace drive or even completely
uninstall DriveSpace from memory.
* You can easily convert a DoubleSpace drive to DriveSpace format.
* Interactive Start (the F8 key) has been enhanced so that you can now bypass
or carry out individual commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and other batch
programs. (In MS-DOS 6, this capability was limited to your CONFIG.SYS
file.) This feature makes it easier to troubleshoot your system configuration.
* The DISKCOPY command now uses your hard disk as an interim storage area,
which makes copying from one floppy disk to another faster and easier.
* Microsoft Defragmenter makes better use of your computer's extended
memory, so it can now defragment much larger disks and disks containing
many more files and directories.
* The output of the DIR, MEM, CHKDSK, and FORMAT commands is much easier to
read, since it now includes thousands separators when displaying numbers
greater than 999. For example, "1000000 bytes free" now reads "1,000,000
bytes free."
krebizfan
Veteran Member
I used DriveSpace on one of my computers which mainly downloaded lots of text. That was close to the perfect situation for disk compression. It worked with no problems for about a decade in that configuration. As precompressed files (GIF, JPEG, all the zipped document packages) started to come into vogue, disk compression became useless.
I admit that when I saw a high end server (Pentium 90 with SCSI) running DOS 6.22 with DriveSpace I was very confused.
I admit that when I saw a high end server (Pentium 90 with SCSI) running DOS 6.22 with DriveSpace I was very confused.
Why? NTFS supports compression too and it still makes sense to use it on even the newest hardware.
krebizfan
Veteran Member
The system (maxed out Pentium with lots of memory) would have made sense if it had been running NT. I got called in to look at that server because it was running slow. The problem was the combination of DOS/WfW and disk compression which was just wrong for the intended server operation; slow reads and writes are not beneficial. Turning off disk compression reduced the problems and had they switched to NT the system would have ran even better. They did upgrade soon.
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
In the cheap/affordable "TERABYTE" era, why does it make sense I'm wondering?
Shadow Lord
Veteran Member
Actually even MS does not recommend NTFS compression. The performance hit is huge because of the way the compression works. For example even moving a file on the same compressed volume gets hit by a penalty because the data is read, uncompressed, re-compressed and then written as opposed to just moving the compressed data on the volume.
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