how to install a DOS program on Virtual PC 2007

Hi,
I need to install Freelance Graphics, an old DOS program from the 1980s
(?) to read some drw files and the accompanying data to redo some stats
charts. It seems that there is no other more recent program that can
read Freelance DRW images.
The simplest way to run Freelance Graphics on a Win XP pro is - if I
understand well what I read on the web - to install Virtual PC 2007 and
run the DOS prog within the virtualisation. The installation was smooth
, but now how to continue ? I thought that installing a Windows 98 frame
would allow to run the DOS program, but this seems to be wrong. Do I
have to install DOS, too ? From where do I get a copy ?

After I start Virtual PC the first time an error message popped up about
a missing system disk.
Is there any tutorial on the web which I did not find on how to run a
dos program on win xp for dummies ?

TIA
- ftr

"ftr" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi,
> I need to install Freelance Graphics, an old DOS program from the 1980s
> (?) to read some drw files and the accompanying data to redo some stats
> charts. It seems that there is no other more recent program that can read
> Freelance DRW images.
> The simplest way to run Freelance Graphics on a Win XP pro is - if I
> understand well what I read on the web - to install Virtual PC 2007 and
> run the DOS prog within the virtualisation. The installation was smooth ,
> but now how to continue ? I thought that installing a Windows 98 frame
> would allow to run the DOS program, but this seems to be wrong. Do I have
> to install DOS, too ? From where do I get a copy ?
>
> After I start Virtual PC the first time an error message popped up about a
> missing system disk.
> Is there any tutorial on the web which I did not find on how to run a dos
> program on win xp for dummies ?


Have you tried just running Freelance Graphics directly in Windows XP? It
*might* run fine, or at least well enough. You might not have some
functionality, such as being able to print, though.

You're getting that error message because you have not installed on
operating system on the virtual computer. If you want to install Windows 98
as the OS, you're going to need a Win98 CD. If you're not familiar with
installing an OS on a computer with no OS installed, you might want to
enlist some help. As I recall, Win98 CDs were not bootable. That means you
need a floppy disk (or floppy disk image) that is bootable in order to start
the virtual computer and get to a command prompt from which you can install
Windows 98 on the virtual computer's hard drive.

--
Mike

On 24/08/2010 15:43, MikeD wrote:
>
> "ftr" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Hi,
>> I need to install Freelance Graphics, an old DOS program from the
>> 1980s (?) to read some drw files and the accompanying data to redo
>> some stats charts. It seems that there is no other more recent program
>> that can read Freelance DRW images.
>> The simplest way to run Freelance Graphics on a Win XP pro is - if I
>> understand well what I read on the web - to install Virtual PC 2007
>> and run the DOS prog within the virtualisation. The installation was
>> smooth , but now how to continue ? I thought that installing a Windows
>> 98 frame would allow to run the DOS program, but this seems to be
>> wrong. Do I have to install DOS, too ? From where do I get a copy ?
>>
>> After I start Virtual PC the first time an error message popped up
>> about a missing system disk.
>> Is there any tutorial on the web which I did not find on how to run a
>> dos program on win xp for dummies ?
>
>
> Have you tried just running Freelance Graphics directly in Windows XP?
> It *might* run fine, or at least well enough. You might not have some
> functionality, such as being able to print, though.

Mike, thanks for the idea. I hesitated to install it because I did not
want to screw up the installation.

In fact it is Freelance for Windows 2.1 (no year or OS mentioned on the
diskettes) so maybe this is a reason why Win XP accepts it (?).

And it works !
What remains to do is to get the best conversion from these old graphics
formats like cgm to current ones.

So, the installation of the VirtualPC was just in vain, this time. Now I
shall try other old DOS progs which will really need VirtualPC.

- ftr


So, the

On 31/08/2010 20:18, Esra Sdrawkcab wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:59:28 +0100, ftr <> wrote:
>
>
>> In fact it is Freelance for Windows 2.1 (no year or OS mentioned on
>> the diskettes) so maybe this is a reason why Win XP accepts it (?).
>>
> It's (Freelance for Windows) 2.1 - used to run on W3.1
> and, it seems, XP!
>
>> And it works !
>> What remains to do is to get the best conversion from these old
>> graphics formats like cgm to current ones.
>>
>
> there maybe a batch converter;
>
> Irfanview can view (surprise!) a whole load of formats, including CGM;
> and has a batch convert option (warning: I haven't tried it)
>
>
Thanks; I know it is uniconverter but is not a batch converter - you see
when you run it , and it produces an error :

niConvertor failed:
Cannot load plugin module cgmloader
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Program
Files\Inkscape\python\lib\site-packages\uniconvertor\app\plugins\plugins.py",
line 73, in load_module
desc)
File "C:\Program
Files\Inkscape\python\lib\site-packages\uniconvertor\app/plugins/Filters/cgmloader.py",
line 336, in <module>
init.text.fontindex = fntlst.index("Times-Roman")
ValueError: list.index(x): x not in list
When importing plugin cgmloader

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Program
Files\Inkscape\python\lib\site-packages\uniconvertor\app\plugins\plugins.py",
line 147, in __call__
module = self.load_module()
File "C:\Program
Files\Inkscape\python\lib\site-packages\uniconvertor\app\plugins\plugins.py",
line 73, in load_module
desc)
File "C:\Program
Files\Inkscape\python\lib\site-packages\uniconvertor\app/plugins/Filters/cgmloader.py",
line 336, in <module>
init.text.fontindex = fntlst.index("Times-Roman")
ValueError: list.index(x): x not in list


Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
File "C:\Program
Files\Inkscape\python\lib\site-packages\uniconvertor\__init__.py", line
72, in <module>
doc = load.load_drawing(sys.argv[1])
File "C:\Program
Files\Inkscape\python\lib\site-packages\uniconvertor\app\io\load.py",
line 364, in load_drawing
return load_drawing_from_file(file, filename)
File "C:\Program
Files\Inkscape\python\lib\site-packages\uniconvertor\app\io\load.py",
line 325, in load_drawing_from_file
loader = info(file, filename, match)
File "C:\Program
Files\Inkscape\python\lib\site-packages\uniconvertor\app\plugins\plugins.py",
line 154, in __call__
'message':self.class_name})
app.events.skexceptions.SketchError: Cannot load filter cgmloader.CGMLoader


CorelDraw 11 says it can read cgm files.

In fact I look for a program that can read Freelance Plus 4 drw and cht1
files. The cgm file is only an export format of this program.
Unfortunately DRW is also a Corel Draw file format but which is not the
same as the Freelance Plus DRW.

IrfanView allows to read CGM files, too, if you install the cadsoft
converter which is payware.


- ftr