I am trying to recover some very old data (must be 10 years old) from
an old AP/DOS system which I had archived. I am working on Windows
Vista, and have managed to recover all the PICK0001.VOL and other
files successfuly. However, when I try to run the PICK.BAT file, I
get the message

Reboot system using CONFIG.SYS with FILES=15 or more

Can anyone tell me how to overcome this problem on Vista ... please?

On 14 Aug, 11:40, Malcolm Bull <calderd... (AT) sky (DOT) com> wrote:
I'm afraid I've lost my notes from eight years ago on running AP/DOS
in NT/Win2k/XP - it wasn't easy.
Some things are physically checked in C:\CONFIG.SYS (which it is
harmless to construct in Vista) by AP/DOS while others are checked
against real memory parameters. I remember the FILES=15 bit, but not
which of these two types it was.
If reconstruction doesn't you get past this, then try getting an MsDOS
v6.22 system running in VMware or Virtualbox for AP/DOS. I'm
attempting that at present (when time permits).
You didn't happen to "archive" the stuff as a "floppy tapes" by any
chance? If so, D3 can read images of those floppies directly as "file
tapes".
HTH
Mike

On Aug 16, 2:36*pm, MikeYates <myate... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Mike: Thanks for getting back to me on this. I looked at C:
\CONFIG.SYS and that contains just 1 line

FILES=40

so the mystery deepens

Malcolm

On 16 Aug, 17:25, Malcolm Bull <calderd... (AT) sky (DOT) com> wrote:
Try making it exactly 15 and adding a line "BUFFERS=15"
I've a vague recollection that the error message is incorrect.

On 16 Aug, 18:54, MikeYates <myate... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Correction:-
BUFFERS=<1-99 (512 bytes)>,<1-8 (readahead)>
is the required syntax for DOS 6.22
but I don't know if AP/DOS reads all or any of that from the file
though I remember it does read CONFIG.SYS
Try
FILES=30
BUFFERS=30,8
which runs AP/DOS well in 512 MB RAM in DOS 6.22
If it reads from the system, you need to tweak the command shell
in which you're running it, AFAIR in the registry, not any GUI setting.

You may want to try www.dosbox.com. It's more games based - but it may
allow you to quickly load and retrieve your info....

hth
Colin

On Aug 14, 4:40*am, Malcolm Bull wrote:

On 17 Aug, 19:29, Colin <ud.u2.... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
I've tried "Dosbox" and I'm afraid it's less stable and efficient than
Dosemu, VMware or Virtualbox.
It will not mount "raw" floppies for use as tapes.
Why use any of these if a native Windows command shell will do?
I certainly got an NT-style com-shell running AP/DOS in 1992 though
I'm stuck now, because I've only got a part-installed AP/DOS, ready to
import its ABS and sample data from "tape" but unable to do so with
any of the floppy drives I possess. I tried a Dell tower today and
could not install MsDOS on its hard disc due to SATA and LBA (divide
by zero in SYS.COM). Pick would run in floppy-booted MsDOS but could
not cope with the change of floppies to load its floppy-tapes while
keeping A:\COMMAND.COM loaded. Maybe it was the PCI floppy
driver,though, as Pick failed "Error 3" or "Floppy disk failure"
alternately, as it had in VMware. I'm about to try an old laptop,
sigh!
Givusajob at Bletchley Park...

On 17 Aug, 19:29, Colin <ud.u2.... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
I've tried "Dosbox" and I'm afraid it's less stable and efficient than
Dosemu, VMware or Virtualbox.
It will not mount "raw" floppies for use as tapes.
Why use any of these if a native Windows command shell will do?
I certainly got an NT-style com-shell running AP/DOS in 1992 though
I'm stuck now, because I've only got a part-installed AP/DOS, ready to
import its ABS and sample data from "tape" but unable to do so with
any of the floppy drives I possess. I tried a Dell tower today and
could not install MsDOS on its hard disc due to SATA and LBA (divide
by zero in SYS.COM). Pick would run in floppy-booted MsDOS but could
not cope with the change of floppies to load its floppy-tapes while
keeping A:\COMMAND.COM loaded. Maybe it was the PCI floppy
driver,though, as Pick failed "Error 3" or "Floppy disk failure"
alternately, as it had in VMware. I'm about to try an old laptop,
sigh!
Givusajob at Bletchley Park...

And all the time you are spending on this is worth less than the time
it takes to get a free D3 eval, a free "anything else", or a $500 D3
license? Wow. Software isn't the only issue that needs to be fixed.

Try this

http://chitchat.at.infoseek.co.jp/vmware/vfd.html
Use a little utility called FIRM.COM to create an image of the boot
(or other) floppy disks

Diets