This How To is in multiple parts:
- Introduction
- Using Windows to Go as the base OS for your bootable VirtualBox system
- Using Kubuntu Linux as the base OS for your bootable VirtualBox system
- Using MacOS as the base OS for your bootable VirtualBox system
- Downloading or Creating your VM and moving files in and out of the virtual drive
Creating the base SpinRite Virtual Machine
- Directions between Windows, Linux, and MacOS are fairly similar, so I'll combine them all into this one post
- If you will be proceeding to build your own Virtual Machine, you must create the SpinRite floppy Image, currently only possible via the SpinRite executable running on Windows. You may have done this already, if not:
- Go to GRC.com and download your personal copy of SpinRite
- Run the SpinRite executable in Windows
- Use the option to "Create ISO or IMG file"
- Click on "Save a Boot Image File"
- Dialog box comes up; change the Save as type entry to: IMG (for making boot diskette)
- By default it's called SpinRite.img, change the name to SPINRITE-FD.img and save it
- Close the status message then Exit SpinRite
- Copy that file to a USB flash drive and put it aside, you'll use it later
- On your Target Machine, boot from your HostOS flash drive containing VirtualBox
- Start VirtualBox as previously noted (graphically on Windows or Linux, via
sudo virtualbox
on MacOS) - Create a new VirtualBox Machine
- Name: SRDOS (or whatever you want)
- Type: Other
- Version: DOS
- Base Memory: 128 MB
- Processors: 1
- Virtual Hard Disk Size: About 100 MB (this space is for logs, so whatever size you want)
- NOTE: The Virtual Hard Disk will be connected to a virtual IDE controller as Primary Device 0.
- Finish
- This will create the ‘VirtualBox VMs’ directory underneath your home directory, if it's not there already
- Insert that 2nd USB drive from the Windows PC noted above
- Open the USB drive from the desktop
- Copy the
SPINRITE-FD.img
file to the VirtualBox VMs directory- On Windows, you'd use Explorer, on MacOS, you'd use finder, and on Linux you'd use the Dolphin File Manager
- We also need a FreeDOS 1.3 boot disk
- Using your browser, go to https://freedos.org/download/
- Download from the "Live CD", button, and unzip the downloaded file
- Take the
FD13BOOT.IMG
file and copy it to the "VirtualBox VMs" folder
- Open the Settings for your virtual machine
- Make sure the Floppy controller has two devices, device 0 and device 1 (you may have to add an empty device)
- In Device 0, attach the SpinRite disk,
SPINRITE-FD.img
- In Device 1, attach the FreeDOS disk,
FD13BOOT.img
- In Device 0, attach the SpinRite disk,
- Make sure the Floppy controller has two devices, device 0 and device 1 (you may have to add an empty device)
- Click on Start. The Virtual Machine should boot up from the SpinRite disk, which is Drive A
- The system will automatically boot into SpinRite. As soon as you can, hit Escape to terminate SpinRite and get back to the A:\> prompt
- You should now be at the
A:\>
prompt - Change to the B: drive
- From root directory:
cd \freedos\bin
- Copy the following files to
A:\
fdisk.*
sys.*
format.*
fdapm.*
- Copy the following files to
- Now enter
A:
to go back to the A drive edit config.sys
- REM the
INSTALL=DOWNSIZE.COM
line - REM the
DEVICE=SRSPLASH.SYS
line
- REM the
- Exit and save
edit autoexec.bat
- REM the
SPINRITE
line
- REM the
- Exit and save
- You'll now create a one line shutdown.bat file
- edit
shutdown.bat
fdapm.com /poweroff
- Exit and save
- edit
- from the A:\> command prompt:
fdisk
- Question on Large Disk support - answer
Y
- Choose option
1. Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive
- Choose option
1. Create Primary DOS Partition
- Use max size:
Y
- Partition will be created
- Press
ESC
- Press
ESC
- Message regarding restart. Press
ESC
- Question on Large Disk support - answer
- Back at the
A:\>
promptshutdown
- From the Settings:
- Remove the FD13BOOT.img from the floppy controller
- Start the VM again
- From the
A:\>
prompt:format c: /s
- at prompt that all will be deleted, type
YES
- Enter volume name as desired
- Back to the
A:\>
prompt. - Copy all files from the A Drive to the C drive
copy *.* c:\
- Copy hidden files
mkeyb.exe
andsrsplash.sys
also - type
shutdown
to end the virtual machine session - Go to Settings | Storage:
- Remove attachment for
SPINRITE-FD.img
on the floppy controller - Remove attachment for the Optical Disk connected to the IDE controller
- Add an AHCI controller
- Remove attachment for
- Start the Virtual Machine
- It should boot to the C drive
- You can start SpinRite, it should only see the boot drive but it should work!!
C:\>spinrite
- Shutdown the virtual machine
C:\>shutdown
- That's it!!
- Now return back to your instructions for your Host OS to learn how to map the drives on the host into VirtualBox:
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