Emulator
 

I read this somewhere but I can't find it.

I just bought a new laptop to have, and I need DOS to run the E6K (Don't have yet, but am going to get) software. It's got XP on it, so there really isn't a DOS. What are you guys running software-wise on new computers to get the DOS stuff to run?

Also, I've got no serial port, only 3 USB ports, is there an adapter made?

I have a dos boot disk that I use when running the E6K software.

Does that actually work with the USB to Serial adapter?

I use Virtual PC with all DOS software installed on an XP Pro machine. But i do have a serial port.

http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/news.php?show_news=1

DOSBOX is a DOS emulator built to be run in XP. This should be the answer for running Haltek's DOS based software without needing to "boot" into DOS.

DosBox Install
 

Installed DOSBOX and mounted the c drive. All I need to do now is get a serial adapter.

Muchas gracias!

Did you try this?

At start menu, select run. Then type in cmd.exe and hit OK.

Not sure if this is a "full" dos, but it does give you the prompt.

Yea, I tried the command line in XP. The haltech software isn't too fond of it. You get the COMM 1 error, typical for 32 bit XP. The only problem I have with the DOSBox is that you have to mount the hard drive every time you run it. I'm not sure if there's a save feature or not. Granted it's a 1-line command (mount c c:\dosprog) after you create the dosprog folder in your C:\ drive.

I think this emulator is the ticket to run the DOS Haltech software though. I've played with it, and loaded some maps into the software, and it works like a charm. Just don't try to connect to the Haltech without it connected, it hangs.