>> The problem with this approach is that the programs are almost
>> never on C:, and they may not be on D: either. The way I manage
>> that is to set myself up an S: ("System") drive which is where the
>> programs are located. I use whatever tools I have available in the
>> DOS I'm using to do that (usually SUBST or SWSUBST, but e.g. in
>> DOSBox I need to use MOUNT). I have the programs and batch files
>> set up to assume S: instead of C: for the default drive.
>>
>> That's probably too complicated of a setup for most people, but is
>> how I do it.
>
> Aha. That's a good idea. Thank you -- I may try that.
Just as an FYI, if you're going to do something like that, as you're booting
you'll also want to set up environment variable(s) to indicate which VM you're
in and possibly which version/manufacturer of DOS you're using. You may need
that in some of the batch files since there are certain times when things work
a little differently depending on the operating environment.
The main one that pops to mind right now is that I have a batch file called
ETHERNET that sets up the LAN packet driver. When I'm running in "real" DOS,
the driver that needs to get loaded is the one for the real NIC in the
computer. In a VM the NIC is always virtualized, and exactly which NIC is
virtualized varies by VM. The ETHERNET.BAT file looks at the environment
variables to determine which packet driver to load. The ETHERNET.BAT file will
also unload the packet driver if it is unloadable (some are and some aren't).
I know I have a few other batch files where the operating environment makes a
difference, though most of the time it doesn't matter. The main VM I have a
problem with sometimes is DOSBox, since it's actually a Virtual DOS rather than
just a Virtual Machine, so (among other things) not all of the DOS internal
structures are there which causes problems with some programs.
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