Installation Programs with Special Requirements

Some DOS application installation programs will not run properly in the OS/2 V2.0 virtual DOS machine, or will not install the program correctly. Some of the possible problems are as follows:

  • The installation program attempts to verify the version of DOS that is running, and receives a response that it cannot understand. One example is Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3.1+.

    The OS/2 V2.0 virtual DOS machine environment can be customized to return a DOS version in response to the installation program query and thus bypass the problem. This is accomplished by changing the DOS_Version parameters in the DOS Settings facility, which is accessed by pressing the DOS Settings push button on the Session page of the Settings notebook.

    The DOS Settings facility and the available settings are described in detail in DOS Settings.

  • The copy protection or user registration scheme implemented by the application bypasses DOS and directly accesses the disk. The OS/2 V2.0 system will not allow the installation program to do this, since it may interfere with other applications, and will terminate the virtual DOS machine in which it is running.

    It may therefore be necessary to perform the installation in a native DOS environment by rebooting the workstation with a DOS boot diskette. When the installation is complete, the workstation can be rebooted under OS/2 V2.0 and the application added to the Workplace Shell.

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