Guide:Installing Windows 1.0x
Back to the Microsoft Windows in DOSBox-X
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Windows 1.01
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Initial US release version
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Windows 1.02
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International release
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Support for international keyboards
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Support for regional settings like time and date format
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Support for A4 paper
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Windows 1.03
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Additional drivers
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Adds support for Tandy graphics
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Windows 1.04
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Adds support for the IBM PS/2 (but no support for PS/2 mouse or VGA)
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Windows 1.0x was the first versions of the Microsoft Windows line, available as both Retail and OEM editions. A runtime edition was also included with some applications.
According to Microsoft: Windows 1.0 required a minimum of 256 kilobyte, two double-sided disk drives and a graphics adapter. A hard disk and 512KB memory are recommended for running multiple programs or when using DOS 3.0 or higher.
In actuality, it also needs at least DOS 2.0 (but lower than 4.0), and the two disk drives are not mandatory if there is a harddisk. It only supports up to 640KB base memory (no support for EMS/XMS/UMB memory).
The retail release of Windows 1.04 adds support for the IBM PS/2 but did not add support for the IBM PS/2 Mouse, or the newer VGA, MCGA or 8514/A video adapters. IBM distributed a special OEM version of Windows 1.04 as part of the "IBM PS/2 Collegiate Kit", which does have support for those features.
Unless this special IBM OEM version of Windows 1.04 is used, you must enable the serial mouse emulation in DOSBox-X and tell Windows during installation to configure a serial mouse. And likewise, you will be limited to EGA graphics.
It is recommended that you create a custom DOSBox-X config file for running Windows 1.0x
[sdl] autolock=true [dosbox] title=Windows 1.0x [dos] ver=3.4 [serial] # Comment out the line below if you have the special OEM Windows 1.04 # release from the IBM PS/2 Collegiate Kit, which supports PS/2 mouse. serial1=serialmouse [parallel] parallel1=printer [printer] multipage=true timeout=5000 [render] scaler=none [autoexec]
Copy the above config and save it as win1x.conf
The installation will be into a mounted folder, and Windows 1.0x will run from the integrated DOS that DOSBox-X provides. You can optionally install real DOS into DOSBox-X and install Windows 1.0x in that, but there is no known advantage to doing so.
Start by creating a directory on your system that you’re going to use (mount) as your Windows 1.0x C: drive. Valid examples:
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For Windows hosts
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C:\winroot
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C:\users\myuser\win1x
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For Linux hosts
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/home/myuser/winroot
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/home/myuser/windows/win1x
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Note
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For users running Windows on their host computer, do NOT mount the root of your C: drive as the DOSBox-X C: drive! (e.g., MOUNT C: C:\ should NOT be done)
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All Windows 1.0x versions were shipped on diskettes, requiring anywhere between 3 and 7 disks, depending on media-type and Windows version. And while it is possible to install Windows 1.0x from floppy images in DOSBox-X, the disk-swap process for this is rather tedious for substantial number of disks. As such it is recommended to make a directory such as "INSTALL" and copy the contents of ALL the diskettes into this directory. This way there is no need to swap disks during the installation process.
There are several ways to extract the contents of disk images, such as 7zip on Windows or "Disk Image Mounter" on Linux. In this example, DOSBox-X itself is used to mount a disk image, copy its contents into a folder, unmount the disk image and do the next.
MOUNT C /home/myuser/winroot C: MD INSTALL IMGMOUNT A DISK01.IMG -U XCOPY A:\. C:\INSTALL /S /Y IMGMOUNT A DISK02.IMG -U XCOPY A:\. C:\INSTALL /S /Y IMGMOUNT A DISK03.IMG -U XCOPY A:\. C:\INSTALL /S /Y IMGMOUNT A DISK04.IMG -U XCOPY A:\. C:\INSTALL /S /Y IMGMOUNT A DISK05.IMG -U XCOPY A:\. C:\INSTALL /S /Y IMGMOUNT A -U
Your new INSTALL directory now holds the contents of all 5 floppy disks.
You’re now ready to start DOSBox-X from the command-line, using the newly created win1x.conf config file.
This assumes that the dosbox-x program is in your path and win1x.conf is in your current directory.
dosbox-x -conf win1x.conf
You now need to mount your new folder as the C: drive in DOSBox-X, and the "INSTALL" directory on A: and start the installation.
MOUNT A /home/myuser/winroot/INSTALL MOUNT C /home/myuser/winroot A: SETUP
Adjust the path for mounting the A: and C: drive as needed.
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Note
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If your path has spaces, you need to enclose it in quotes. e.g., MOUNT C "C:\Users\John Doe\winroot"
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The Windows installation will now take place. See the Windows 1.0x setup program section below.
The setup program will ask several question relating to mouse, display and printer. If you have v1.02 or newer it will also ask you about the keyboard layout.
Note: Unless otherwise noted, the below screenshots are from the retail Windows 1.01 release, other releases can vary. In particular, OEM or Runtime versions may have a different number of disks and present other options.
Simply press Enter, or "C" to continue as prompted.
Installation directory
You can optionally specify a different directory to install Windows into.
Simply press Enter to continue as prompted.
This screen will vary depending on the release version, OEM and if it is a runtime version.
Simply press Enter, or "C" to continue as prompted.
Keyboard selection
If you have version 1.02 or later, SETUP will ask for your keyboard layout.
Mouse selection
If you have the special IBM OEM version of Windows 1.04, as shown below, you can select option 8 "IBM Personal System/2 Mouse" for PS/2 mouse. In which case you need to disable the serialmouse option in your DOSBox-X config file.
Otherwise, select option 2 "Microsoft Mouse (Bus/Serial)" and press Enter to continue as prompted.
Graphics Adapter selection
If you have the special IBM OEM version of Windows 1.04, as show below, you can select option 2 "IBM Personal System/2 Model 50, 60, 80" for VGA.
Otherwise, select option 6 "EGA (more than 64K) with Enhanced Color Display" as shown below, and press Enter to continue as prompted.
Build disk
SETUP now asks for the Build disk.
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If you’re following the folder installation method, you can simply press Enter.
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If you’re using disk images to install Windows, you need to now swap the disk using the menu item "DOS" followed by "Swap floppy". And then press enter.
Utilities disk
SETUP now asks for the Utilities disk.
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If you’re following the folder installation method, you can simply press Enter.
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If you’re using disk images to install Windows, you need to now swap the disk using the menu item "DOS" followed by "Swap floppy". And then press enter.
Printer setup
SETUP now asks if you want to set up a printer. You can press enter or "Y" to confirm, or you can press "N" to skip this step.
Printer setup - select model
If you indicated wanting to set up a printer, SETUP now asks you which model.
For this guide we use option 2, the "Epson LQ-1500", and press Enter.
Later releases may have more options, such as a "Generic / Text Only" printer which can also be used.
Printer setup - port select
If you indicated wanting to set up a printer, SETUP now asks you which port the printer is connected to.
Select the number for the "LPT1:" port and press Enter.
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Note
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In the version shown, it is option 1, but in some other releases it is option 2. |
Printer setup - another printer
SETUP now asks if you want to set up another printer.
Press Enter to continue without setting up another printer.
You can always change the installed printers afterwards by running CONTROL.EXE from within Windows 1.0x.
Desktop Applications disk
SETUP now asks for the Desktop Applications disk.
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If you’re following the folder installation method, you can simply press Enter.
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If you’re using disk images to install Windows, you need to now swap the disk using the menu item "DOS" followed by "Swap floppy". And then press enter.
Microsoft Write Program disk
SETUP now asks for the Microsoft Write Program disk.
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If you’re following the folder installation method, you can simply press Enter.
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If you’re using disk images to install Windows, you need to now swap the disk using the menu item "DOS" followed by "Swap floppy". And then press enter.
SETUP completed
The setup program is now finished, and you’re ready to start Windows 1.0x.
But first type EXIT to close DOSBox-X.
And then edit your win1x.conf config file and add the following lines into the [autoexec] section at the end of the file:
@ECHO OFF MOUNT C /home/myuser/winroot C: SET PATH=%PATH%;C:\WINDOWS; C:\WINDOWS\WIN.COM EXIT
Adjust the path for mounting the C: drive as needed.
If you don’t want DOSBox-X to close when exiting Windows 1.0x, remove the EXIT command.
After the installation is finished, you can start Windows 1.0x from the command-prompt with the following command:
dosbox-x -conf win1x.conf
You can optionally create a shortcut on your desktop to start Windows 1.0x directly.
When running Windows in DOSBox-X the integration is not seamless. You need to capture the mouse and again release it when you want to leave the DOSBox-X window. This is because Windows uses it’s own driver instead of using the integrated mouse support that DOSBox-X provides.
There is however experimental support in DOSBox-X for such seamless integration. To get this working take the following steps:
Go to doslib releases and download the latest binary release of doslib.
Unpack the archive, and you will find a Windows 1.0 mouse driver with installation instructions in the windrv/dosboxpi/bin/win10 directory.
Follow the installation instructions, and in addition, set the following options in your DOSBox-X config file:
[sdl] mouse emulation=integration [cpu] integration device=true
Now when you run Windows 1.0, you should have seamless mouse support.
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Note
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These old windows versions had no support for mice with scroll wheels. By default DOSBox-X will simulate cursor up/down keypresses when you use the scroll wheel.
This can be controlled by the mouse_wheel_key= setting in the [sdl] section of your DOSBox-X config file.
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