Was thinkingg about buying another thin client PC to run DOS on, started thinking and remembered that outwest.synchro.net runs on a HP 5740e thin client that can run DOS.
Got it done, now my hp 5740e will be my next project, I will put the 4GB ssd back in it and remove the 2.5 500 GB HD that I mounted on the outside of the case, (thin client has no room on the inside), I will need to istall DOS and partition ssd. Will do that during thanksgiving holiday.
Got it done, now my hp 5740e will be my next project, I will put the
4GB ssd back in it and remove the 2.5 500 GB HD that I mounted on
I'm wondering if DOS will be able to successfully boot from an SSD on that machine.. I seem to recall hearing about issues with old operating systems booting from certain newer types of drives. I've seen people using period-correct hardware for old operating systems, and sometimes if they want a fast boot drive, I've seen adapters that will let you use a CompactFlash card with an IDE interface - so you'd basically be using a flash drive but make it look like an old IDE drive.
Got it done, now my hp 5740e will be my next project, I will put theI'm wondering if DOS will be able to successfully boot from an SSD on tha
Also, I remember DOS having a partition size limit too; you might not to
Nightfox
Nightfox
Also, I remember DOS having a partition size limit too; you might not to
From what I've read the Intel Atom N280 x86 can run DOS natively, I have read the only incompatability is with the sound, but there's a couple of solutions to fix that.
As far as the CPU, I think any modern Intel and AMD CPU could probably still run DOS natively, as x86 CPUs have a lot of backward-compatibility built in.
MSDOS 6.22 is limited to 2 gb hard drive partition. Better to create this partition first, if you plan to have multiple partitions on your Hard Drive.
Re: Thin client PC to run MS-DOS
By: Denn to Nightfox on Sun Nov 23 2025 06:34 pm
That's good.. My main thought was more of the storage, as I think I'd heard DOS can have trouble booting from some modern storage devices, such as SSDs (particularly if it's an m.2 SSD), and perhaps SATA (though I'm not sure about that).
As far as the CPU, I think any modern Intel and AMD CPU could probably still run DOS natively, as x86 CPUs have a lot of backward-compatibility built in.
Nightfox
Yes I realize that :) not sure if I'm going to install MS-DOS 6.22 or windows 95.
Re: Thin client PC to run MS-DOS
By: Denn to Lordwoodoo on Mon Nov 24 2025 01:03 pm
Well, I would suggest to install both, and even Windows 3.1 on the MSDOS partition is a cool thing. I will explain why later. It is always good to have a pure MSDOS. In that case, you need to part the hard drive in 2 partitions. One for MSDOS, 2 gb max, and the second to install Windows 95. See the max capacity limit for Windows 95, and if the hard drive have more space after that, you will have more space to create one more partition for data for exemple: games or software, etc.. for Windows 95. A very important thing is: you need to create 2 primary partitions to be able to boot both!! Before doing the installs. FDISK or Partition Manager will do the trick using a floppy drive or a CDRom device.
Installing Win 3.1 on the MSDOS partition does not affect the previous MSDOS installed, and its cool if you want to boot Win 3.1 and use MSDOS in windowed mode over it. You can take notes with notepad, for exemple playing Zork.. have multiple MSDOS windows opened, etc.. Really cool!
I'm leaning towards just installing DOS 6.22. I Remember when Windows 3.0 came out, i bought it and then I upgraded to 3.1, never really liked those 2 versions, they were basically DOS shells, in dos I used a program called xtree.
After Windows 3.0 came out, I think some programs came out that were specifically for Windows 3.x, so you basically had to use Windows to run the
Nightfox wrote to Denn <=-
After Windows 3.0 came out, I think some programs came out that were specifically for Windows 3.x, so you basically had to use Windows to
run them. I think especially things like graphical & drawing tools,
word processors, etc. moved toward Windows because (I think) drawing programs were probably easier to develop for Windows 3.x than for DOS,
and with word processors, you could get WYSIWYG interfaces, so it was a lot easier to create documents just as they'd appear when you print
them, compared to DOS software.
I'm leaning towards just installing DOS 6.22. I Remember when Windows 3.0 came out, i bought it and then I upgraded to 3.1, never really liked those 2 versions, they were basically DOS shells, in dos I used a program called xtree.
I remember my 1st DOS machine, it had a whopping 20 mb hard drive. Then I bough my 386 sx that had 40 mb hard drive.
I still don't really like most GUI word processors, but they're definitely a lot better these days. Abiword was pretty good at one point, I wonder if that one is still actively worked on. It was decently fast, and had Word Doc support.
After Windows 3.0 came out, I think some programs came out that were
specifically for Windows 3.x, so you basically had to use Windows to run
them. I think especially things like graphical & drawing tools, word
That was about the time I started in DOS/Windows technical support. I remember seeing people be able to sit in front of Microsoft Word and write a memo without any training. WordPerfect came with keyboard overlays with all the commands on them.
We had one person who insisted on WP, and our finance team swore by 1-2-3. Excel wasn't quite ready for Prime Time yet.
MSDOS 6.22 is limited to 2 gb hard drive partition. Better to create this>partition first, if you plan to have multiple partitions on your Hard Drive.
Yes I realize that :) not sure if I'm going to install MS-DOS 6.22 or windows>95.
The other issue is that DOS partitioning wastes a huge amount of space
if the patitions are (to it) quite large. I often found myself breaking
up a drive that the OS could probably handle as-is into 4 or 5 partitions
to cut back on wasted space.
I will look into Xtree. Dont know it.
The other issue is that DOS partitioning wastes a huge amount of space if the patitions are (to it) quite large. I often found myself breaking up a drive that the OS could probably handle as-is into 4 or 5 partitions to cut back on wasted space.
I think Xtree was one of the most popular DOS utilities that was available at the time..
But for real multitasking with real MSDOS, Win 3.1 with a Windowed MSDOS over it is the best for me. My exemple was: you are playing Zork over MSDOS and you want to takes notes with Notepad at the same time. Desqview is really a cool thing but eating all the memory.
For multitasking in DOS, I think QEMM with DeqView was perhaps better than Windows 3.1, as there was no GUI to use resources.
FAT can handle 2 gigabyte partitions as stated, but FAT 32 can handle
2 Terrabytes. Win 98 comes with DOS 7.1 usually but you can use
DOS 6.22 with it if you prefer by installing 6.22 first and then installing Win 98 and telling it which version of DOS to boot with.
I will look into Xtree. Dont know it.
I think Xtree was one of the most popular DOS utilities that was available at the time..
For multitasking in DOS, I think QEMM with DeqView was perhaps better
than Windows 3.1, as there was no GUI to use resources.
Maybe. I will check this out. This is interesting for me. I have both installed in some hard drives. DESQView v.1.x version dont have a GUI, but version DESQView X 1.x and DESQView X 2.x have one. If I remember DESQView 1.xx have just a system menu wich remains hidden if not used.
Nightfox wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-
One time, years ago, there was someone who asked me, "You're a software engineer? Do you know how to create letter head in Microsoft Word?"
Being a software engineer doesn't mean I know how to do such-and-such
in any given program..
Nightfox wrote to Lordwoodoo <=-
For multitasking in DOS, I think QEMM with DeqView was perhaps better
than Windows 3.1, as there was no GUI to use resources.
Lordwoodoo wrote to Nightfox <=-
Maybe. I will check this out. This is interesting for me. I have both installed in some hard drives. DESQView v.1.x version dont have a GUI,
but version DESQView X 1.x and DESQView X 2.x have one. If I remember DESQView 1.xx have just a system menu wich remains hidden if not used.
After Windows 3.0 came out, I think some programs came out that were specifically for Windows 3.x, so you basically had to use Windows to run them. I think especially things like graphical & drawing tools, word
Interesting.. I used a version of DESQView without a GUI; I didn't realize they made one that had a GUI.
Oh, the time I spent trying to free up a megabyte or two of DOS memory with DesqView and QEMM!
I will look into Xtree. Dont know it.
I think Xtree was one of the most popular DOS utilities that was available at the time..
Working in IT in small companies, people tried to get me to fix lots of things that weren't IT related by adding the word "server" to it.
Once I was asked to reboot the coffee "server". In all fairness, it was a Rube Goldberg-esque machine with an internal conveyor belt made of filter paper. a contraption pressed coffee down onto the filter and passed hot water through it. The conveyor moved onto a fresh piece of filter, and the coffee contraption dumped the puck into a trash bin. All this happened through little peepholes in the case, with the interior lit up. It looked like an erector set on the inside.
Interesting.. I used a version of DESQView without a GUI; I didn't
realize they made one that had a GUI.
If you have a chance give a try to DESQView 2.xx Its really something impressive for the time. A good experiment! :0)
> > if the patitions are (to it) quite large. I often found myself breakingThe other issue is that DOS partitioning wastes a huge amount of space
I can remember back in the days taking a large drive and partitioning it>into several "drives" of ~120MB. ;)
FAT can handle 2 gigabyte partitions as stated, but FAT 32 can handle> I think I still have a windows 98 CD, I think I'll give that a try.
2 Terrabytes. Win 98 comes with DOS 7.1 usually but you can use
DOS 6.22 with it if you prefer by installing 6.22 first and then
installing Win 98 and telling it which version of DOS to boot with.
That's actually a great idea, I am going to install MSDOS 6.22 soon,
Maybe I'm thinking of earlier systems but if I recall there was a huge storage waste reduction if you went to partitions of less than about 32 gig. I recall dividing a 160 gig drive into 5 drives.
I think Xtree was one of the most popular DOS utilities that was availabl at the time..
I know it was probably my most-used utility back in my DOS days...
Man, so many people were all about xtree gold.. I was like, what's the big deal? It's just another shell you arrow-key around in. I didn't mind typing in paths to files. Imagine how stoked I was when I found tab completion, though ;)
I didn't know any DOS command shell had tab completion.. I had even used 4D sometimes..
One time, years ago, there was someone who asked me, "You're a software engineer? Do you know how to create letter head in Microsoft Word?">things that weren't IT related by adding the word "server" to it.
Being a software engineer doesn't mean I know how to do such-and-such
in any given program..
Working in IT in small companies, people tried to get me to fix lots of
phigan wrote to Bf2k+ <=-
Man, so many people were all about xtree gold.. I was like, what's the
big deal? It's just another shell you arrow-key around in. I didn't
mind typing in paths to files. Imagine how stoked I was when I found
tab completion, though ;)
poindexter FORTRAN wrote to phigan <=-
Man, so many people were all about xtree gold.. I was like, what's the
big deal? It's just another shell you arrow-key around in. I didn't
mind typing in paths to files. Imagine how stoked I was when I found
tab completion, though ;)
To me, it was a Window manager before we had window managers. For a
time, the last line of my autoexec was to run Xtree.
Norton Commander was nice along the same lines, if memory serves.
But for real multitasking with real MSDOS, Win 3.1 with a Windowed MSDOS over it is the best for me. My exemple was: you are playing Zork over MSDOS and you want to takes notes with Notepad at the same time. Desqview
is really a cool thing but eating all the memory.
For multitasking in DOS, I think QEMM with DeqView was perhaps better than Windows 3.1, as there was no GUI to use resources.
Maybe. I will check this out. This is interesting for me. I have both installed in some hard drives. DESQView v.1.x version dont have a GUI, bu
version DESQView X 1.x and DESQView X 2.x have one. If I remember DESQVie
1.xx have just a system menu wich remains hidden if not used.
Interesting.. I used a version of DESQView without a GUI; I didn't realize they made one that had a GUI.
I can remember back in the days taking a large drive and partitioning it>into several "drives" of ~120MB. ;)
Maybe I'm thinking of earlier systems but if I recall there was a
huge storage waste reduction if you went to partitions of less than
about 32 gig. I recall dividing a 160 gig drive into 5 drives.
I recall one time I was working on a system that was in a home for family us but also had business software on it for the construction and trucking company they ran. While cleaning up the business stuff I ran across some por and I hesitated to mention it since they were a Very religious family, but I
"Normal" DESQView (no "X"), which most people are most familiar with, didn't have a GUI.
DESQView-X (the X standing for, IIRC, "X window") did indeed have a GUI. If you knew what you were doing, you could set up an application on a DV-X box and be able to run it remotely on a linux box. I never could get the reverse to work, though.
If you re-read his post, he is talking about DESQView-X.
poindexter FORTRAN wrote to phigan <=-
Man, so many people were all about xtree gold.. I was like, what's the
big deal? It's just another shell you arrow-key around in. I didn't mind
Norton Commander was nice along the same lines, if memory serves.PC-Tools was a favorite of mine.
And of course the classic "LIST". Fantastic piece of software.
For multitasking in DOS, I think QEMM with DeqView was perhaps better than
Windows 3.1, as there was no GUI to use resources.
You are correct, there was no competition really. Only thing Windows 3.x wa better at was running Windows applications that wouldn't run under DOS. OTOH any DOS programs that wouldn't run with QEMM/DV were very unlikely to run under Win 3.x, either.
> > storage waste reduction if you went to partitions of less than about 32 giMaybe I'm thinking of earlier systems but if I recall there was a huge
It all depended on the size of the files you stored - with 4k clusters, if yo>ad a ton of files smaller than 4K, each one would occupy 1 4k cluster on the
Smaller partitions meant smaller cluster sizes and more efficient storage of>ll files.
"Normal" DESQView (no "X"), which most people are most familiar with, didn't have a GUI.
DESQView-X (the X standing for, IIRC, "X window") did indeed have a GUI. If you knew what you were doing, you could set up an application on a DV-
box and be able to run it remotely on a linux box. I never could get the
reverse to work, though.
If you re-read his post, he is talking about DESQView-X.
Ah.. Yeah, I wasn't aware of the existence of DESQView-X.
For multitasking in DOS, I think QEMM with DeqView was perhaps better than
Windows 3.1, as there was no GUI to use resources.
You are correct, there was no competition really. Only thing Windows 3.x w
better at was running Windows applications that wouldn't run under DOS. OTO
any DOS programs that wouldn't run with QEMM/DV were very unlikely to run under Win 3.x, either.
Bending the rules a bit, OS/2 rocked at running DOS programs. I ran my BBS on it and ran OS/2 at work to support Windows desktops and Novell servers. I coul
have multiple DOS windows open, even VDMs with separate versions of DOS...
Man, so many people were all about xtree gold.. I was like, what's the big deal? It's just another shell you arrow-key around in. I didn't
mind typing in paths to files. Imagine how stoked I was when I found
tab completion, though ;)
To me, it was a Window manager before we had window managers. For a
time, the last line of my autoexec was to run Xtree.
Norton Commander was nice along the same lines, if memory serves.
And of course the classic "LIST". Fantastic piece of software.
Dude, you beat me to it, I was going to chime in on "LIST". I still use it today, that and QEdit (file editor) and a LIST clone called LOOK.COM
IIRC, I am thinking that the only programs I tried running under DV that wouldn't work also wouldn't work under OS/2 -- or at least I never went to the trouble to try.
I am positive I did try Simcity 2000 and it did *not* work. Another that I had trouble with was PC-Write and, for that matter, Wordperfect 5 for DOS. I never tried either of those under OS/2 but suspect that one or both might just work.
Dumas Walker wrote to GAMGEE <=-
And of course the classic "LIST". Fantastic piece of software.
Just used that a few minutes ago in a dosemu window. LIST was always
on my list of extra programs to add to any new DOS install. Now it is
on the list for dos emulator installs. ;)
Dumas Walker wrote to POINDEXTER FORTRAN <=-
Man, so many people were all about xtree gold.. I was like, what's the big deal? It's just another shell you arrow-key around in. I didn't mind typing in paths to files. Imagine how stoked I was when I found tab completion, though ;)
To me, it was a Window manager before we had window managers. For a
time, the last line of my autoexec was to run Xtree.
Norton Commander was nice along the same lines, if memory serves.
IIRC, isn't Midnight Commander a clone of Norton Commander?
Dumas Walker wrote to LONEWOLF <=-
Dude, you beat me to it, I was going to chime in on "LIST". I still use it today, that and QEdit (file editor) and a LIST clone called LOOK.COM
Using QEdit to respond to this message. That one is another essential
DOS program.
Dumas Walker wrote to POINDEXTER FORTRAN <=-
IIRC, isn't Midnight Commander a clone of Norton Commander?
Dumas Walker wrote to LONEWOLF <=-
Using QEdit to respond to this message. That one is another essential
DOS program.
Gamgee wrote to Dumas Walker <=-
I have often thought that that "era" (let's call it '85 to '97 or so)
of computing was my favorite time with computers. Sure, we now have so much more capability, and Linux, and graphics galore and all....
but.... that period of time was when I feel like I "peaked" in many abilities. All the stuff you had to know to maximize MSDOS, and batch files, and putting *so* many pieces of software together to run a
complete BBS/Mailer setup. I think of it as the "Golden Years". ;-)
I have often thought that that "era" (let's call it '85 to '97 or so) of computing was my favorite time with computers. Sure, we now have so much more capability, and Linux, and graphics galore and all.... but.... that period of time was when I feel like I "peaked" in many abilities. All the stuff you had to know to maximize MSDOS, and batch files, and putting *so* many pieces of software together to run a complete BBS/Mailer setup. I think of it as the "Golden Years". ;-)
>> huge storage waste reduction if you went to partitions of less thanMaybe I'm thinking of earlier systems but if I recall there was a
Yes. This would have been on a DOS machine that didn't run Windows and>wasn't 32-bit. IIRC, it was when DOS (under Windows) became 32-bit that
To me, it was a Window manager before we had window managers. For a>time, the last line of my autoexec was to run Xtree.
Norton Commander was nice along the same lines, if memory serves.
> > but also had business software on it for the construction and truckingI recall one time I was working on a system that was in a home for family
Oh, I hated that! It always seemed to be database administrators at one job t> would let their kids onto their work laptops - see them with all sorts of ga
"A crack occurred..."
And of course the classic "LIST". Fantastic piece of software.>, that and QEdit (file editor) and a LIST clone called LOOK.COM
Dude, you beat me to it, I was going to chime in on "LIST". I still use it to
I have often thought that that "era" (let's call it '85 to '97 or so) of computing was my favorite time with computers. Sure, we now have so
much more capability, and Linux, and graphics galore and all.... but....
that period of time was when I feel like I "peaked" in many abilities.
All the stuff you had to know to maximize MSDOS, and batch files, and
putting *so* many pieces of software together to run a complete
BBS/Mailer setup. I think of it as the "Golden Years". ;-)
Yes, these days it seem every kid over 5 has their own computer and we forget about the 'good olde days' when it took about 2 months income to buy a computer so having multiple systems was a lot more difficult so, do you keep your kids from getting used to them or do you take a chance and hope for the best?
Obviously this is a bigger problem/question when you run your business out of your home..
I remember Norton Desktop, it was an alternative window manager
for Windows 3.x, looked pretty nice.
Nightfox wrote to Gamgee <=-
I have often thought that that "era" (let's call it '85 to '97 or so) of computing was my favorite time with computers. Sure, we now have so much more capability, and Linux, and graphics galore and all.... but.... that period of time was when I feel like I "peaked" in many abilities. All the stuff you had to know to maximize MSDOS, and batch files, and putting *so* many pieces of software together to run a complete BBS/Mailer setup. I think of it as the "Golden Years". ;-)
What I liked about that time (and I was also fairly young and didn't
get my own PC until 1992) was that upgrades were a lot more
significant, so it was a much more noticeable difference. For
instance, going from a 12mhz 286 to a 40mhz 386 or from monochrome graphics to color, or adding a sound card to a PC, were exciting
upgrades. After making those kinds of upgrades, I was excited to use
my computer. Also, home computers were still a relatively new thing in those times, so there was the novelty of it too. And things like being able to run a BBS from your home computer was pretty cool.
Although I like today's computers too, I feel like technology has
reached a bit of a plateau, and computer upgrades these days often
don't seem quite as significant or noticeable.
Dumas Walker wrote to GAMGEE <=-
I have often thought that that "era" (let's call it '85 to '97 or so) of computing was my favorite time with computers. Sure, we now have so
much more capability, and Linux, and graphics galore and all.... but.... that period of time was when I feel like I "peaked" in many abilities.
All the stuff you had to know to maximize MSDOS, and batch files, and putting *so* many pieces of software together to run a complete
BBS/Mailer setup. I think of it as the "Golden Years". ;-)
Same. It seems like I do learn things now, but a lot of it is "use
once" knowledge that I either never need again, or it is so long
between needs that I forget it. ;)
It somehow also isn't as much fun as it was when I learned something I could do back then.
poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Gamgee <=-
Gamgee wrote to Dumas Walker <=-
I have often thought that that "era" (let's call it '85 to '97 or so)
of computing was my favorite time with computers. Sure, we now have so much more capability, and Linux, and graphics galore and all....
but.... that period of time was when I feel like I "peaked" in many abilities. All the stuff you had to know to maximize MSDOS, and batch files, and putting *so* many pieces of software together to run a
complete BBS/Mailer setup. I think of it as the "Golden Years". ;-)
Getting a batch file, BBS, utilities and a mailer all working together
was a high point of BBSing in the DOS era. Scheduling mail runs, echo maintenance, defragging, log rotation and online games was pretty fly.
Did I just type that?
the only one who could have been downloading the porn was the
12 or 13 year old *Daughter*.. (Enter - Nanny Software..)
To me, it was a Window manager before we had window managers. For a
time, the last line of my autoexec was to run Xtree.
today, that and QEdit (file editor) and a LIST clone called LOOK.COM
I had trouble with was PC-Write and, for that matter, Wordperfect 5 for
list of extra programs to add to any new DOS install. Now it is on the
list for dos emulator installs. ;)
Although I like today's computers too, I feel like technology has reached a
phigan wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-
Ha! Now that you mention it, I knew a bunch of people that did that. Personally, I felt like I could type a file operation command even with full paths faster than I could arrow around and select things from a
menu.
phigan wrote to Dumas Walker <=-
Odd, I don't remember having an issue with WordPerfect 5.1 and DV, but maybe I just didn't use them together... which is hard to imagine ;). Maybe one day I'll be curious enough to try this.
phigan wrote to Nightfox <=-
The only thing I differentiate in today's computers is aesthetics. I
too miss the major upgrades and significant add-ons. Heck, it was a big deal for me just getting a serial mouse... and before that the serial
port that would take it ;)
It's odd, since the percentage of people who owned computers was so low,
Now, everyone has something at their house, but the stores are gone. Shame.
I have often thought that that "era" (let's call it '85 to '97 or so) of>computing was my favorite time with computers. Sure, we now have so
I remember Norton Desktop, it was an alternative window manager for
Windows 3.x, looked pretty nice.
I tried lots of different editors during the DOS era, but ended up
coming back to Qedit - still used it under DOSBOX for my offline reader setup as of last year. I found TSEPro, the 32-bit version of Qedit, and
am using that now!
I had trouble with was PC-Write and, for that matter, Wordperfect 5 for
Odd, I don't remember having an issue with WordPerfect 5.1 and DV, but maybe just didn't use them together... which is hard to imagine ;). Maybe one day I'll be curious enough to try this.
I remember Norton Desktop, it was an alternative window manager for Windows
3.x, looked pretty nice.
We used that on a couple of machines in an office I was working at in 1994. It made Win 3.x look somewhat like what Win95 would look like a couple of years later. I cannot remember if it had a "start" bar, but it did have onscreen icons and, IIRC, was the first time I remember seeing a "trash can" on a desktop. ;)
I assume TSEPro only works under Windows, or will it also run under
DOS on 32-bit machines?
Rob Mccart wrote to GAMGEE <=->computing was my favorite time with computers. Sure, we now have so
I have often thought that that "era" (let's call it '85 to '97 or so) of
Back around that time there were several BBS systems in town and
I was creating the menu screens for a couple of them.
I was writing the code from scratch at the time, and I totally
lost interest when programs like The Draw came out and any idiot
could do it.. I prefer being a Special idiot.. B)
Dumas Walker wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-
I tried lots of different editors during the DOS era, but ended up
coming back to Qedit - still used it under DOSBOX for my offline reader setup as of last year. I found TSEPro, the 32-bit version of Qedit, and
am using that now!
I assume TSEPro only works under Windows, or will it also run under DOS
on 32-bit machines?
Back around that time there were several BBS systems in town and I was
creating the menu screens for a couple of them. I was writing the code
from scratch at the time, and I totally lost interest when programs like
The Draw came out and any idiot could do it.. I prefer being a Special
idiot.. B)
Wow, I bet that was fairly tedious work, doing ANSI screens that way.
I know it was probably my most-used utility back in my DOS days...
Man, so many people were all about xtree gold..
I didn't know any DOS command shell had tab completion.. I had even used 4DOS sometimes..
Although I like today's computers too, I feel like technology has reached a bit of a plateau, and computer upgrades these days often don't seem quite as significant or noticeable.
I assume TSEPro only works under Windows, or will it also run under DOS on 32-bit machines?
Nightfox wrote to Gamgee <=-
Re: Re: Thin client PC to run
By: Gamgee to Rob Mccart on Tue Dec 02 2025 04:53 pm
Back around that time there were several BBS systems in town and I was
creating the menu screens for a couple of them. I was writing the code
from scratch at the time, and I totally lost interest when programs like
The Draw came out and any idiot could do it.. I prefer being a Special
idiot.. B)
Wow, I bet that was fairly tedious work, doing ANSI screens that way.
Recently, as RIP support has been added to the latest SyncTerm, I've
been more seriously been thinking of making RIP menus for my BBS.
There are RIP drawing tools, but for things like adding buttons,
colored borders & areas & such, I'm not sure the RIP drawing tools I've used so far support those (oddly); for those things, it seems like a similar situation where I may have to write them by hand with a text editor.
Although I like today's computers too, I feel like technology has reached a
bit of a plateau, and computer upgrades these days often don't seem quite
as significant or noticeable.
The way I overcome that was... I built my previous PC in 2012 with an intel mb and a gen 3 core i5 cpu with HDD rotators... used it for 10 years.
Then in 2022, I built a gen 12 core i9 on a gigabyte mb with 8tb of NMVMe ssd's..
This felt like an AMAZING improvement to me...
Yes, these days it seem every kid over 5 has their own computer and we forget about the 'good olde days' when it took about 2 months income to>And I think they tend to have parental controls on them too, so you can lock
buy a computer so having multiple systems was a lot more difficult so, do you keep your kids from getting used to them or do you take a chance and hope for the best?
These days, maybe a cheap tablet or smartphone would be okay for a young chil
Obviously this is a bigger problem/question when you run your business>ice room, maybe with a locking door, so a young child couldn't get in and mak
out of your home..
In that situation, if possible, I think it could be good to have a dedicated
Same. It seems like I do learn things now, but a lot of it is "use>leaps. We can now learn anything instantly with a Google search, which
once" knowledge that I either never need again, or it is so long
between needs that I forget it. ;)
Yep, for sure. Still learning also, but at a slower pace, and smaller
It somehow also isn't as much fun as it was when I learned something I could do back then.
Not *nearly* as much fun.
The idea at that time was the kids could use the computer if it wasn't being used for business at the moment. But unless you sit there and watch them every minute, kids tend to get into things and are often more clever at it than their parents..
Rob Mccart wrote to GAMGEE <=->leaps. We can now learn anything instantly with a Google search, which
Same. It seems like I do learn things now, but a lot of it is "use
once" knowledge that I either never need again, or it is so long
between needs that I forget it. ;)
Yep, for sure. Still learning also, but at a slower pace, and smaller
It somehow also isn't as much fun as it was when I learned something I could do back then.
Not *nearly* as much fun.
The other thing that's changed over the years is it's a lot harder to
get into the OS to change things. We used to have pretty much full
control over that if you knew what you were doing but it's a lot
harder to access things these days.
Probably some of the OS's other than Windows are still more open..
Lately I've realized that a good number of people these days don't have a desktop or laptop PC anymore and just use a tablet or smartphone.. I find that hard to believe though, because even some fairly simple things like sending an email and applying for jobs online (really, anything where you'd need to write up a document of some kind) is a lot easier with a real keyboard and bigger screen.
Those and the (1997) version of Qedit are all available here:
https://www.semware.com/
I've been somewhat similar lately. I built a new PC in 2011 and used it until 2019, when I built a new PC. It felt fresh & fast, though still I don't think it was quite as significant as older PC upgrades. I did put an RTX graphics card in it, which was cool though. I'm still using my 2019 PC, but I've upgraded a few components. One game I've been able to run on it is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (and then 2024), which I've really enjoyed, and I'm sure I probably wouldn't have been able to play that with my 2011 PC.
The other thing that's changed over the years is it's a lot harder to get into the OS to change things. We used to have pretty much full control over that if you knew what you were doing but it's a lot harder to access things these days.
Probably some of the OS's other than Windows are still more open..
Lately I've realized that a good number of people these days don't have a
desktop or laptop PC anymore and just use a tablet or smartphone.. I
find that hard to believe though, because even some fairly simple things
like sending an email and applying for jobs online (really, anything
where you'd need to write up a document of some kind) is a lot easier
with a real keyboard and bigger screen.
I cant imagine myself doing all this stuff on a smartphone. What a pain!! I have a phone to phone, and F2A by obligation.
The only social media
thing I installed on my smartphone is Snapchat to chat with my childrens and some friends.
Off subject, but look at the people in life, in the street, in restaurants, well.. everywhere: they cant live without this thing.
You can still access them with the real control panel on Windows. They want to hide all this by pushing the new ::I dont love it:: interface.
Reading this, I remember using Stardock Software to customize my desktop. Crazy themes you downloaded. And Windows Blinds, etc.. It was fun!
today, that and QEdit (file editor) and a LIST clone called LOOK.COM
What features does 'look' bring?
Semi-related - Sometimes it seems to me that some people expect people to quickly answer all their texts & things. Sometimes I'm doing other things which I'm focusing on, so I won't alawys reply right away. I think people sometimes forget what it was like before a lot of people had cell phones; also, there are people now who never even really lived without cell phones & such..
A while ago, I read that Microsoft was planning to eliminate the old Control Panel altogether.. I'm glad they haven't yet.
Reading this, I remember using Stardock Software to customize my desktop.
Crazy themes you downloaded. And Windows Blinds, etc.. It was fun!
I still use Stardock Window Blinds. But these days, it can't skin all apps anymore, because there's new & alternate GUI drawing functionality in newer versions of Windows that some software is using now (starting with Windows 10, or maybe Windows 8), so those programs won't get skinned by WindowBlinds. And apparently it's something that 3rd-party apps like WindowBlinds can't hijack, or else Stardock probably would have already updated WindowBlinds to do so. I have a feeling one reason Microsoft has done that is that for some reason they don't want 3rd-party apps to be able to customize the GUI in Windows.
Probably due to that, there aren't a whole lot of WindowBlinds themes being developed, so there aren't a lot to choose from, unless you want to get into making your own WindowBlinds themes (which I imagine could be fairly tedious).
GUI themes & skinning works a lot better in Linux GUI environments, probably because they were made to support that, whereas Windows wasn't.
> > 12 or 13 year old *Daughter*.. (Enter - Nanny Software..)the only one who could have been downloading the porn was the
"Research".
Back around that time there were several BBS systems in town and
I was creating the menu screens for a couple of them.
I was writing the code from scratch at the time, and I totally
lost interest when programs like The Draw came out and any idiot
could do it.. I prefer being a Special idiot.. B)
Wow, I bet that was fairly tedious work, doing ANSI screens that way.
Haha, not all idiots can even master TheDraw... Well done.
Semi-related - Sometimes it seems to me that some people expect people to
quickly answer all their texts & things. Sometimes I'm doing other
On Facebook, and elsewhere too, I get the impression that everyone is only interested in themselves. I'm there for musical projects; otherwise, I'd leave immediately. :0)) I like fediverse. Mastodon.
Yes, the complete Stardock suite offered a theme editor to create your own themes and potentially share them with the community. They had a utility that scanned hard drives to see what was taking up space. Very useful for starting a good cleanup or organization.
I wasn't really thinking of Facebook with that, but mainly things like regular text messages & emails & such.
| Sysop: | MarisaG |
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