This is not a FAQ, it is a META FAQ, i.e. it is a list of pointers to
sources of information about DOS. It only references material that is
mainly of use to the original MS-DOS and its derivatives, DR-Dos, and
FreeDos, not the 32 bit versions that underlie Windows 95 and later OSs.
It was originally aimed at Demon Internet users, but should be of
interest to other DOS users who wish to access the Internet.
Unfortunately DOS applications and usage is dwindling and so such
information is not being updated (except in some limited cases).
It was inspired by discovering the large amount of relevant
documentation available when I revised "The DIS-Meta FAQ", and later
created "The Win-Meta.FAQ" now no longer available.
It was originally created by Michael Bernardi in June 1995.
It was first posted to demon.ip.support.pc on 20 June 1995.
It was revised when the Demon FTP archive was originally re-organised.
This coincided with my change of email address to
mike_at_dendarii.demon.co.uk.
A further major revision occurred in December 2001 after the Demon FTP
archive was again re-organised. The December 2002 revision occurred
due to my leaving Demon for another ISP.
It is posted to demon.ip.support every two weeks, and is cross posted to demon.answers at that time.
If you have found other sources of information about Using DOS with the
Internet, then please let me know, so that I can add them to this list.
Please send any comments/corrections/additions to:
Michael Bernardi <faq-admin_at_dendarii.co.uk>
URLs (Universal Resource Locators) have been used to give standard nomenclature for file/information location. This is the format used by the World Wide Web (WWW) and the Usenet newsgroup comp.infosystems.www.announce. URLs are detailed in:-
"Universal Resource Identifiers in WWW" [Jun 94]
by Tim Berners-Lee <timbl_at_info.cern.ch>
<URL:http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1630.txt>
<URL:http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1630.html>
<URL:http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/Addressing/URL/Overview.html>
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/mirrors/internic/rfc/rfc1630.txt>
and also in
"Uniform Resource Locators (URL)" [Dec 94]
by URI-WG <uri_at_bunyip.com>
<URL:http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1738.txt>
<URL:http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1738.html>
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/mirrors/internic/rfc/rfc1738.txt>
Demon related material can be found in the following areas.
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/demon/ibmpc/dos/>
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/ibmpc/dos/apps/>
<URL:demon.ip.support.pc>
"DOS Applications for Internet use"
<URL:http://www.dendarii.co.uk/FAQs/dos-apps.html>
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/ibmpc/dos-apps.txt>
by Michael Bernardi <mike_at_dendarii.co.uk>
This gives details of many DOS applications that can be used over the
Internet, and where they can be found.
"DOS Networking HOWTO"
<URL:http://www.dendarii.co.uk/FAQs/dos-net.html>
by Michael Bernardi <mike_at_dendarii.co.uk>
This is part of the FreeDOS documentation project. It gives details of
networking a DOS PC including using the internet.
If you are using DOS to connect to the Internet you are most likely to use the DIS Suite of programs, which uses KA9Q as its network operating system (NOS), TCP/IP stack. Note a large percentage of ftp sites on the Internet are Unix systems. These allow long filenames which are also case sensitive. When downloading such files you will have to rename them to conform to the DOS 8.3 syntax.
"Connecting to Demon using a DOS PC"
by Demon Support Team <Internet_at_demon.net> [4 Oct 94]
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/demon/ibmpc/dos/doc/dispc.txt>
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/ka9q/dispc.txt>
This is THE document for users running DOS on a PC and using NET.EXE (KA9Q
communications software), SNEWS off-line Usenet News reader, PCElm off-line
mail package and DIS.EXE the front end manager. These are the standard
packages available for download from the file server ftp.demon.co.uk and
are supported directly by Demon.
"Using a PC to access the Internet"
by Richard Palmer <pcfaq_at_blackbrd.demon.co.uk>
URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/ibmpc/Pcfaq.txt>
Explains how to use a PC to access the Internet via Demon.
"Performance tuning of KA9Q"
by Richard Palmer <Tuning_at_blackbrd.demon.co.uk> [11 Jul 95]
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/ka9q/Tuning.faq>
<URL:demon.answers>
Originally created by Richard Clayton <richard_at_locomotive.com> this gives
details of tweaking various files to get the best performance.
"Demon/DOS Idiot's Guide to FTP"
by Mark Rogers <mcr_at_holly.demon.co.uk> [12 Aug 95]
<URL:mailto:mcr_at_holly.demon.co.uk>
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/ibmpc/ftpidiot.txt>
This gives detailed instructions on how to use ftp. It is aimed at users of
the DOS KA9Q (NET.EXE) program, but some of it is generally useful.
"Reference documentation/help screens for DIS KA9Q"
by Ian Wade <ian_at_dowrmain.demon.co.uk> [4 Jan 96]
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/disview/disvw601.zip>
<URL:http://www.ian.wade.care4free.net/disvw619.zip>
This is the ultimate documentation for the DIS version of KA9Q.
Explains everything you ever wanted to know about KA9Q.
Based on the DIS ver 2.16 NET.EXE. Includes TSR viewer program.
"DOSLYNX: DOS WWW Browser FAQ"
by Stephen Holmes <steve_at_blinkdog.airtime.co.uk>
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/ibmpc/dos/apps/lynx/doslynx.faq>
Answers frequently asked questions about using DOS and the World Wide Web.
"How to surf WWW using Demon's DOS Software"
by Bill Powell <bil_at_mrv5.demon.co.uk> [30 Nov 94]
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/ibmpc/wwwtelnt.txt>
How to use KA9Q and still use the Web, by telnetting to other WWW clients.
"Guide to Pegasus Mail Addons List"
by Michael Bernardi <mike_at_dendarii.co.uk>
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/ibmpc/dos/apps/pmail/pmail-addons.txt>
<URL:http://wwwbzs.tu-graz.ac.at/software/pegasus/addons/pmail-addons.txt>
<URL:http://www.dendarii.co.uk/FAQs/pmail-addons.html>
This is a comprehensive list of programs which work with the popular
Pegasus Mail program. Some of them are Demon specific but most are not.
"HOWTO-install-Pegasus for use with Demon, MS-DOS version"
by Michael Bernardi <mike_at_dendarii.co.uk> [30 Dec 02]
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/ibmpc/dos/docs/HOWTO-install-Pegasus.txt>
<URL:http://www.dendarii.co.uk/FAQs/Howto-Install-Pegasus.html>
Explains how to replace PcElm in the DIS front end with Pegasus Mail.
If you have suggestions on what else can appear here please let me know.
"TCP/IP Packages for DOS and Windows FAQ"
by C J Sacksteder <cjs_at_psuvm.psu.edu> [23 Jun 94]
<URL:ftp://ftp.cac.psu.edu/pub/dos/info/tcpip.packages>
This hasn't been updated since version 1.7 but is still a
useful guide
"General PC TCP/IP queries"
<URL:comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc>
This newsgroup does include DOS based material but a lot of it also relates
to Windows (Winsock and DUN)
"comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)"
by Mike Oliver <tcp-ip-faq_at_eng.sun.com> [9 Sep 99]
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/ibmpc-tcp-ip-faq/>
<URL:http://www.itprc.com/tcpipfaq/>
For users of any OS that uses TCP/IP - FAQ
"DOS Internet Webring"
<URL:http://members.tripod.com/~survpc/webring/>
Master link for the WebRing
"SurvPC: Mailing List archive"
<URL:http://www.egroups.com/list/survpc/>
A mailing list for discussion of old or low resource PCs & DOS Internet.
"A Dinosaur's Garden"
<URL:http://www.jdreece.com/dinosaur/dg.htm>
Lorraine Boanne has created a set of links for users of older PCs.
"Tvdog's Internet Archive"
<URL:http://www.oldskool.org/guides/tvdog/internet.html>
An interesting site explaining how to get Internet Access using a low
spec PC and an MSDOS compatible OS. Now somewhat out of date.
"Networking Technologies - Software Tools and Documentation"
<URL:http://www.nsrc.org/lowcost_tools/net-tech.html>
Includes details of methods historically used to communicate world wide
before TCP/IP became standard. Also details for TCP/IP communication.
"The FreeDOS Project"
<URL:http://www.freedos.org/>
Aims to be a complete, free, 100% MSDOS compatible Operating System.
"Links useful to DOS users of the Internet"
<URL:http://www.dendarii.co.uk/DOS/
This is my list of useful links, part of the DOS Internet Webring.
All the links here are actually given in this document.
The latest version is posted regularly to the newsgroup
demon.ip.support.pc and cross posted to demon.answers every week.
It can be obtained via ftp from
<URL:ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/ibmpc/dos-meta.faq>
A webified version can now be found at "The Dendarii Nexus"
<URL:http://www.dendarii.co.uk/FAQs/dos-meta_faq.html>
Copyright 1995/2004 by Michael Bernardi <mike_at_dendarii.co.uk>.
This file may be freely distributed provided that it remains unedited
from its current form, and best efforts are made to keep any copies up
to date. It may be printed for personal use.
Sections may be quoted for reference providing its source is given.
Mike
Last Updated: 4 April 2004
Michael Bernardi mike_at_dendarii.co.uk