DOS on a 64 bit system?

In general the answer is yes - you can boot a DOS system on 64-bit hardware. However, as with all things, the devil is in the details.  The various DOS architectures are very simple creatures and don't support a lot of expandability - for example, device drivers.  Yeah, there are some you can load (mouse or memory for example) but if your hard drive controller is not seen as a simple IDE controller by DOS then it won't be recognized and won't work.

Also please do keep in mind that you've oversimplified slightly, as the various DOS flavors are 16-bit architecture and not 32-bit architecture.  I can see the possibility that any given 64-bit platform won't run 16-bit code well or at all.

"Megahexe" wrote in message news:*** Email address is removed for privacy ***...

This is not - strictly speaking - a windows question... however... I'm in the process of upgrading to a 64 bit laptop.

My question is... Can a DOS system (e.g. Dr. DOS, Caldera DOS, MS DOS, PC DOS, etc.) be installed on a laptop with a 64 bit processor?

As 64 bit processors are supposed to be backward compatible to 32 bit architecture, this should be possible, but I haven't found any supporting statements.

If anyone has a thought on this subject, it would be greatly appreciated. However, please remember that the nature of the question is can/how and NOT why - I'm not looking for alternative solutions, only a simple yes or no.

Respectfuly,

Iain M. Guthrie

As 64 bit processors are supposed to be backward compatible to 32 bit architecture, this should be possible, but I haven't found any supporting statements.