Member Avatar for Darizuka

G'day,

im just wondering if anyone can help me with this...

i have all these important data under ms-dos in my old windows 98 computer... and i was wondering if its possible to send all the data into a more modern computer without losing/corrupting any files?

if so, can anyone help guide me how to move my win 98 MS-DOS data into a win XP (and any other more modern versions)
and would i still be required to use MS-DOS or is there a more new and efficient program available? but can also use the data within MS-DOS.... like... imported into the new program?

Cheers Mate

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jephthah

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Short summary and updated plan (for ): a reliable, low-risk way to move your Win98 files into an XP (or newer) machine is to treat the old hard disk as the source and copy the data off it with modern hardware tools — not by repeatedly writing to tiny, old removable media. Some earlier replies mention floppies or ZIP media; those work only for very small piles of files and are slow or flaky. Below are practical options, what they preserve, and a few concrete commands you can use for integrity checks.

Option A — easiest and fastest for lots of data: remove the Win98 drive and connect it to the newer PC with a USB-to-IDE/PATA or SATA adapter or put the drive in a cheap external enclosure. Power down the old PC, remove the drive carefully (note jumper settings on very old IDE drives), connect it to the adapter/enclosure, then plug into XP and copy the files off to the new disk. Windows XP will read FAT16/FAT32 volumes used by Win98, so you should see your folders and files appear; if you hit a permissions block you can take ownership on the XP box and copy. (howtogeek.com)

Option B — if you need to run or preserve DOS programs: the files themselves copy fine, but many DOS apps are 16‑bit and either will not run on modern 64‑bit Windows or need an emulator. Use DOSBox to run old DOS programs and test or export any app-specific data. If you need a full Windows 9x environment, consider a VM image of the old system or export data from the original program before migrating. (dosbox.com)

Verify integrity and package for transfer: archive important folders with a modern archiver (7‑Zip is lightweight and reliable) and compute a checksum so you can confirm every file copied correctly. Example checks you can run after copying:

certutil -hashfile "D:\backup\archive.7z" SHA256
# or in PowerShell:
Get-FileHash "D:\backup\archive.7z" -Algorithm SHA256

Also, if you see “Access denied” on some folders after connecting the old drive, take ownership before copying (use Properties → Security → Advanced on XP, or follow the Windows take-ownership procedure). Back everything up to the new machine before you do any formatting or conversion. (7zip.org)

If needed, give details about the drive type (desktop 3.5" IDE/PATA vs laptop 2.5" SATA), approximate data size, and whether you must preserve timestamps or NTFS permissions — with that I can give a short hardware-shopping list and exact step-by-step commands.

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Member Avatar for Ancient Dragon

If the files are small enough why not just copy to 5 1/4" floppy diskette? Then copy then onto the XP file system. You might also be able to create a LAN and copy them directly.

Member Avatar for Member #334542

The important data is your folder and files r8. Then create an zip from dos and copy the data to floppy and try to unzip in moder windows os with the same ms-dos. For zip help please google it or read the help documents in msdos. I think that was mkzip and for help use /? in dos prompt.

Member Avatar for Darizuka

i dont understand how i can save it through alternate means

. . .

Member Avatar for Member #334542

Ms-Dos version is available in win98 and winXP. You know MS-DOS copy command r8. Then copy your files from win98 to a floppy disk (I never know you have a floppy drive or not?). Come to WinXP, copy the files from your floppy disk to your winxp. If not the solution, then exactly explain what you need?

Member Avatar for jwenting

MS-DOS is NOT available in Windows XP, nor is it in Windows 98.

It was retired with Windows 95. There is a command shell that has pretty similar commands available to it, but that's not the same.

Member Avatar for Member #334542

oh! I am not sure about that, but its possible to copy the files from there through that command shell r8?

Member Avatar for WaltP

Do you know how to use the computer you are trying to copy the files from?

MS-DOS is NOT available in Windows XP, nor is it in Windows 98.

It was retired with Windows 95. There is a command shell that has pretty similar commands available to it, but that's not the same.

As far as anyone is concerned, this is a worthless pedantic detail. The operation of CMD.EXE is virtually identical to DOS from a user standpoint, and any idiosyncrasies are immaterial for the requested task.

Edited by WaltP because: n/a
Member Avatar for jwenting

certainly not. It's a 32 bit command shell, not a 16 bit operating system :)

Anyway, I doubt you will be able to mount a 5 1/4" drive under WinXP (or if you can, whether you can actually get one for the computer it's running on).
3 1/2" would be a better bet :)

Member Avatar for WaltP

certainly not. It's a 32 bit command shell, not a 16 bit operating system :)

And I repeat: That is a worthless pedantic detail. I have never used the 32bit command shell any differently than any 16bit DOS/DOS Clone prompt. Each and every command I've used works and what's "under the hood" is completely invisible.

Member Avatar for jephthah

just go to a used computer parts and accessories store near you and buy an old ZIP drive.. remember the Iomega ZIP drives from the late 90s? you can still get them, and drivers are available for both Win98 and WinXP

use it to transfer all your important files from the old machine to the new.

the drawback is the zip drives are typically limited to 100MB or so, so it may take a few rounds depending on what you've got.

but overall, it's probably the easist and cheapest way to do it, and a helluva lot faster than using 1.44 MB floppy disks

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