How to start in DOS?

Hello everyone, just a little morning note and pfuiitt!

Ipl, I'd like to add that it is preferable under Win9x to use their "MS-DOS" (versions W95 7, W98 7.1, WMe 8) because the last "classic" DOS (ver 6.22 FAT 16) does not support the FAT 32 of Win 9x and the "large" hard drives over 2 GB.

OFou Very affectionate and feisty Fox Terrier

Under the most recent Windows versions (ME, XP), it’s CTRL. Before, it was F8. You need to press it right after the BIOS POST is finished; otherwise, the operating system will load normally. If you press too early, you risk getting keyboard errors because the BIOS will think the CTRL key is stuck or defective.

Start/stop/restart in MS-Dos mode

[I wander, therefore I am!]

2002/2015 digging up/exhumation of post how to start in dos under windows 8??

Thank you very much to all of you.. I tried and it solved my system registry error problem.. Thanks again for your support.

I add that it's not always F8, sometimes it's F4, for me it was Ctrl (when I installed W98 for a short while)

Ctrl _before_ starting windows, that is to say, at the end of the BIOS gibberish (even from the middle, it doesn’t make the machine scream)

kinder.surprise,
the cat's jailer

Hello everyone, for a while now I've been having a problem with my HP Pavilion laptop running XP SP1

the computer refused to let me access certain websites, especially those for antivirus, so I realized I was infected, I delayed formatting several times

until a malware software stopped installing and asked me for 50 euros to clean my system

I then wanted to proceed with a format, but fortunately my CD drive is broken, I can hear it spinning the CD, but it never finds anything, and at startup the computer doesn't boot from the CD when I ask it to, it just skips it and starts XP

I then wanted to create a bootable USB with my XP CD copied onto it, I can see the USB in Windows, I start the setup, but when I tell it to boot from the removable device, nothing happens, it boots into Windows

I also tried your F8 method to start in command prompt mode, but it always starts under XP, so when I try to type format c:, well it runs in the OS

I then created a partition E on C, in which I copied my CD

if I start the CD (.exe) from E, it launches correctly, I select formatting and restart the computer and............ still under XP

Well, I think I've tried everything, I'm frustrated, the hard drive isn't even a year old…

Hello OFou,

Pfuiitt... you’re right to put a damper on my -6-! it’s only usable in very particular cases!

Have a good Sunday,

@12C4
Ipl

Good evening everyone,

On my computers: Various Dell models running Windows 9x or W2K, both the F8 and Ctrl keys work.

However, F4 launches one of the options in the boot menu.

@12C4
Ipl

I'm on XP! I want to restore my PC and the process is done in DOS. I already have a backup on a partition of my disk. I reach the prompt c:\_ after booting my PC with a WinXP CD, but when I try to access the partition where I put my backup file, my PC says "access denied" even though I entered as an administrator! Can someone help me?