Restoring some computer History here.

[TooManyFords]

This is way off topic and very computer history related.. Fair Warning!

I've been working with computers since way back. Now that I witnessed snow in the air today, I'm resurrecting an old project of installing old operating systems in virtual machines on my desktop. I find it fun to bring up old systems and play with them like some people play poker online.

I have several of my old favorites running so far:

1. HP-2000E running ACCESS BASIC that I played with at the local university back in 75. Full system complete with logon accounts via the Internet and everything. I'm still looking for the actual hardware to run a real system too. It is very hard to find.

2. TRS-80 Mod I running NewDOS80/2 and various other DOS versions. My first real computer.

3. IBM 390 running MVS. Even has TSO enabled.

4. Windows 95 on up in their own VM's So I can see what the dialog boxes look like when I do support.

5. DOS 6.2 (why, I don't know but I do have it for using Turbo Pascal and the original source to Qmodem)

6. A couple different flavors of Linux, even though I run a couple boxes on the net with Slackware. I still like to play with the gui interfaces and use Kylix under Redhat without having another box.

Now, I've recently moved and I've discovered that some of my collectables have disappeared. I'm looking for copies of the following:

1. Windows 1.0. Anyone got this on 3.5"?

2. Windows 3.0 and 3.1 with or without Workgroup?

3. OS/2 2.0? I used to have this one on 3.5" floppies and I think I had a CD for it too, but I can't find my OS/2 box anywhere.

That's the ones I can think of at the moment. I've owned all of these but can't find the media, so it's not like pirating them. That and they are all very old.

PLEASE PM me if you have one or more of these and can loan them to me for a few days.

Thanks!

[hitchhiker]

Try these ebay searches and possible refine it over time and you will find quite a variety of vintage computer equipment and software.

http://computers.search.ebay.com/Computers-Vintage_Vintage-Computing-Products_W0QQcatrefZC12QQfromZ R10QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQfstypeZ1Q QftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQsacatZ11189QQ saprchiZQQsaprcloZ

http://search.ebay.com/Computers-Vintage_W0QQcatrefZC6QQfromZR1 0QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ2QQfstypeZ1QQf trtZ1QQftrvZ1QQsacatZQ2d1QQsap rchiZQQsaprcloZ

Regards,

David

[CRUZTAKER]

I pitched ALL of that stuff when we bought our house a few years back.
Who'd a thunk someone would want it??
I moved that crap around for years, and had no use for it. I would have gladly given you that stuff.

[Mike M]

Besides my automotive shops, I've had a computer business for the last 16 years now. I just threw out boxes and boxes of old software, I know you don't want to hear that.
My friend in New Jersey has an unbelievable computer museum in his house. I mean every personal computer since the beginning (osborne etc). He even has them organized by serial numbers and they all work.

[dwasson]

You're bringing up memories


This is way off topic and very computer history related.. Fair Warning!

I've been working with computers since way back. Now that I witnessed snow in the air today, I'm resurrecting an old project of installing old operating systems in virtual machines on my desktop. I find it fun to bring up old systems and play with them like some people play poker online.

I have several of my old favorites running so far:

1. HP-2000E running ACCESS BASIC that I played with at the local university back in 75. Full system complete with logon accounts via the Internet and everything. I'm still looking for the actual hardware to run a real system too. It is very hard to find.


That's a lot earlier than my first computer. I had an IMSAI (like the one in "Wargames") running CPM. Do you remember 8 inch floppies?



2. TRS-80 Mod I running NewDOS80/2 and various other DOS versions. My first real computer.

I bought one of those. It wouldn't run Flight Simulator and I was very PO'd.


3. IBM 390 running MVS. Even has TSO enabled.

4. Windows 95 on up in their own VM's So I can see what the dialog boxes look like when I do support.

5. DOS 6.2 (why, I don't know but I do have it for using Turbo Pascal and the original source to Qmodem)


I'm still convinced that word processors peaked with WordPerfect 6.0 for DOS. After WP invented the "Make It Fit" button I don't think that there has been another important innovation in word processors.

6. A couple different flavors of Linux, even though I run a couple boxes on the net with Slackware. I still like to play with the gui interfaces and use Kylix under Redhat without having another box.

I never drank the Linux Kool-Aid but, if you are willing to configure everything you can get it to do things.


Now, I've recently moved and I've discovered that some of my collectables have disappeared. I'm looking for copies of the following:

1. Windows 1.0. Anyone got this on 3.5"?

2. Windows 3.0 and 3.1 with or without Workgroup?

Windows WfW 3.0 sold so badly that it was called "Windows for Warehouses"



3. OS/2 2.0? I used to have this one on 3.5" floppies and I think I had a CD for it too, but I can't find my OS/2 box anywhere.

OS/2 was a great OS for games. You could set up a dos box with 640K ram and if it crashed you would just close the box and reopen it. You never had to reboot.



That's the ones I can think of at the moment. I've owned all of these but can't find the media, so it's not like pirating them. That and they are all very old.

PLEASE PM me if you have one or more of these and can loan them to me for a few days.

Thanks!

Do you remember GRiD notebooks? They were almost bulletproof. The case on mine was carved from a billet of aluminum, like the first Escort radar detectors. They cost a fortune because that was before they realized that you were going to replace hardware every two years.

Thanks for the memories

[David Morton]

I've got Windows 3.1 backup discs from an old Radio Shack 386SX I bought back in 1990. I used to play X-Wing on that one. 2 megs ram, sheesh! Send me a PM.

I also have the DOS 6.2 upgrade disc that Stacker sued Microsoft over and won. They sent me a free DOS 6.22 disc later. I never used it.
Can you partition off a part of the hard drive so you can use the old DOS stuff on todays machines? I have a x486 machine I used to load up whole games into a 12 meg DOS 6.2 RAM disc and play straight from memory, no 'virtual' disc or Smartdrive crap to slow them down. Man could they fly. I wish I could use a RAM disc like that on WinXP. I've got 2 gigs I could load a program into now.

[TooManyFords]

I use VMWare Workstation [http://www.vmware.com] to run most of these on my desktop. The HP mini is run via SIMH under Windows, the IBM 390 is run via Herculese also under Windows and the TRS80 is yet a third simulator for Windows.

These VM's seem to be pretty fast and I have run games that just don't work under XP anymore. VMWare is ia bit spendy just to run games though. I use it primarily in program development for clients. I clone their server and then run it in a VM on my desktop and it is just like having 100mbit ethernet to their server, if not faster. I'm currently upgrading a database program for a local utility and their NT 4.0 server is kind of unique but it runs fine in the VM.

Oh, and I just found disk images of DOS 6.22, Windows 3.1 and WFW 3.11 on my server I forgot about! I used WinImage in the old days to make images of important floppies and I have these. So I'm still looking for the others.

Thanks

John

[watts428]

I've got a copy of OS/2, I'll have to see what version it is.


Jeb

[Mike M]

Windows WfW 3.0 sold so badly that it was called "Windows for Warehouses"
OS/2 was a great OS for games. You could set up a dos box with 640K ram and if it crashed you would just close the box and reopen it. You never had to reboot.

I don't think they made windows 3.0 for workgroups, just 3.1 WFW not 3.0

[Dr Caleb]

I don't think they made windows 3.0 for workgroups, just 3.1 WFW not 3.0

IIRC, it was WFW 3.11.

Just FYI too, the NT 3.51 server disc had a full copy CD installable of WFW 3.11 on it. NT 3.5 had Windows 3.0 CD installable on it.

I too threw most of that stuff away recently. I do have a copy of OS/2 Warp 4, and some really old Ydgrassl/InfoMagic Linux CD's if you want them. And the Microsoft OS/2 2.1 install disk (but not the media) that I kept just for giggles.

[dwasson]

I don't think they made windows 3.0 for workgroups, just 3.1 WFW not 3.0

That's right. 3.1 was the bad one. 3.11 worked ... kinda.

[Breadfan]

I have windows 1 for floppy in a zip file! I have it at home, let me find it and I can get it to you.

Check out http://www.toastytech.com/guis/

Great site on some history of OSes, he used to linke the Windows 1 zip file too.

[TooManyFords]

I have windows 1 for floppy in a zip file! I have it at home, let me find it and I can get it to you.

Check out http://www.toastytech.com/guis/

Great site on some history of OSes, he used to linke the Windows 1 zip file too.
Cool link! Looks like I need a few more GUI's! One I noticed missing from the list was Ashton-Tate's Framework. Anyone else spend a pile of money on that worthless gui? And, did you save the disks? (never hurts to try)


Cheers!

John