About a week or two ago, I was browsing around on the internet, and I came across an article that said it was possible to use DOSBox to install old versions of Windows. I read the article and initially I brushed it off, figuring that the only way to put old OSes on a new PC was VMWare. Boy, this was a good time to admit that I was wrong.
The first step is to download a program that will UNZIP an ISO file. Now, normally, if one were burning a CD or DVD, the first step would be to use a program like Nero or Disc Juggler. However, seeing as we will be extracting Floppy images, I went with a different piece of software called 'MagicISO,' because it also works with the above type of file, that has extensions such as *.IMG, as well as others.
Once the program is installed, the next step would be to download a set of Windows floppy images (use Google for this). When the images are acquired, then MagicISO can be used to extract them to a directory where a user's DOS games are stored when they start DOSBox.
After the images are extracted, the user can start DOSBox, and mount the C drive to their DOS games directory. From there, use the cd/ command to switch to the directory that you extracted your images to. If all goes well, type SETUP at the prompt and wait for the fun to begin:
Whether a person chooses Express or Custom Install is entirely up to them. One is obviously for inexperienced and impatient users, whereas the latter is for experienced or meticulous users whom have too much time on their hands. Either way, pick one by pressing the corresponding letter on the keyboard (yes, keyboard--We're not installing Windows 8!) to continue.
Normally, if the user is trying this for the first time, they will not see this screen. However, by the time I took these snapshots, I had already tried this experiment once, and succeeded. Despite that, I did not have the photographic evidence to prove it. Therefore, I had to delete the directory and start from scratch. This caused the installer to assume that I was performing an upgrade. If this occurs, just press enter and let the computer continue installing the OS.
When you do this, the installer will give the user some flack about not doing a clean install, but go ahead and press Enter like it says to continue. Remember that the goal is to get Windows installed without any hiccups.
After the progress bar finishes (which there was no need to get a picture of--we all know what it looks like!, Setup will ask the user for a name to associate with that particular copy of Windows. Just type something in and press continue. This isn't a major issue.
After the registration name is completed, Setup will ask the user whether he or she would prefer to restart the computer, or return to the DOS prompt. Because we are using DOSBox, pick the second option. this will take you back to the C:\>_ prompt that the user initially created when they started DOSBox.
Next type CD\WINDOWS (lower case will do) and then type WIN (again lower case is acceptable). After the Windows splash screen, depending on how the user got their copy of Windows, the interface should look something like the picture below, but the program group items may vary depending on what came with the Install image:
