Need Help Transferring Files out of DOS 6.22 Guest

Discussions about using non Windows and Linux guests such as FreeBSD, DOS, OS/2, OpenBSD, etc.
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Voyager
Posts: 7
Joined: 4. Mar 2013, 19:07

Need Help Transferring Files out of DOS 6.22 Guest

Post by Voyager »

Hello,

I hope someone can help me out. I have a DOS 6.22 guest VM installed in a Windows 8.1 host. I have MS Fortran installed in the DOS VM. When I compile a Fortran program and generate an executable file, I want to copy that executable (and the source file too) out of the DOS VM. But I don't know how to do that or whether it is possible at all. I thought I could attach a USB floppy drive and copy the files to the floppy, but that didn't work. I have tried using shared folders, but it appears they are not implemented in the DOS VM. Can anyone show me how to transfer files out of the DOS VM? Thanks in advance!
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Need Help Transferring Files out of DOS 6.22 Guest

Post by mpack »

Voyager wrote:I thought I could attach a USB floppy drive and copy the files to the floppy, but that didn't work.
Naturally not! DOS 6.22 is from the early 1990s (and the architecture is from the 1980s). USB mass storage came in the 2000s.
Voyager wrote:I have tried using shared folders, but it appears they are not implemented in the DOS VM.
You mean in the VM settings, i.e. GA shared folders? There are no GAs for DOS.

I believe you can access a true network share however - look in the Howto area.
Voyager wrote:Can anyone show me how to transfer files out of the DOS VM?
If all else fails you can simply read the hard disk contents as the second drive in another VM, or from a host application that understands the virtual disk format you select for the VM.
darkhog
Posts: 2
Joined: 29. Sep 2015, 01:11

Re: Need Help Transferring Files out of DOS 6.22 Guest

Post by darkhog »

I've used Dosbox's imgmount utility for this. First, I've created empty floppy image which I then formatted using guest dos' format command (after mounting of image to drive a:). Then I've exited it and launched dosbox. I've used following command there:

imgmount a -t floppy <nameoffloppyimage.img>

Then using dosbox and standard dos knowledge I've copied files I wanted there, closed dosbox and launched guest system. I've mounted floppy and had all data I needed.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Need Help Transferring Files out of DOS 6.22 Guest

Post by mpack »

A standard floppy only holds 1.44MB, so using that as your transfer medium could get quite tedious. Unfortunately, writeable CDs are a bit too modern for DOS, but shared folders, a second VM, or accessing the virtual disk contents directly from the host - are all possible.
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