I can use HP's Flash Format Utility to format my 32 Meg flash drive and it works with no problem. I have a directory that contains IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM from Windows 98 and I tell the utility to use those files for booting. Then the flash boots like a normal C: drive. But if I use the files of the same name from MSDOS 6.22 the computer will just hang when I boot on the flash. My flash is partitioned as FAT16. I have searched around a bit and found nothing. Anybody out there tried this?

You need to SYS C: from MS-DOS 6.22 Boot Disk, you can not just copy over AFAIK!

Then explain why it works when using Windows 98 system files.

This is a quote regarding WinDOS 7.1x, which is the W95 OSR2 / W98 MS-DOS SubSystem:

"There is a file in your root directory called MSDOS.SYS. This file used to be a binary file, but now it's a text file"

That is the main difference, as MSDOS.SYS deals with the Booting, and another quote:

"One of the system files in the MS-DOS Operating System. A hidden file in the root directory, sometimes called the kernal for DOS. When an application needs to access a device or peripheral, this file translates the request into actions that IO.SYS can perform."

All this and more could fo been found by GOOGLING !!

As and aside the HP Utility is meant to be used under Windows NT O/Ses (W2K, XP, W2K3), HP pulled the Utilty that was available for MS-DOS many moons ago, therefore this is not directly an MS-DOS question.

You wrongly listed your O/S, As you are actually using a Windows NT O/S to perform the action of making the drive bootable.

Use a pure standalone MS-DOS 6.22 or PC-DOS 7.0x etal system and you may get somewhere.

I am just wondering if anybody has actually ever booted 6.22 DOS from a flash. Since my flash boots on 7.1 DOS that means I have a valid MBR and a active boot partition and sector that starts IO.SYS (I verified this with Norton Utilities.) It doesn't matter if MSDOS.SYS is a text or binary file, it is IO.SYS that takes control and acts accordingly. 6.22 DOS should boot with 6.22 system files present. Unless somebody can tell me they actually have booted 6.22 on a flash I'm thinking it is not possible for some reason.

O/S = MS-DOS 6.22, that is clearly not correct, therefore install MS-DOS 6.22 on a PC and SYS the USB Flash media.

Until you have got out of XP or W2K it is pointless to make assumptions, the HP Utilty as already stated is NT O/S Software.

BUT all the links I have found on the WWW state to use WinDOS7.1, so would assume that the HP Utility Software was written to use that version, but only HP could clarify that!, have you asked them ??

I don't own a floppy drive anymore so installing 6.22 would be a pain but you did give me an idea. I've been assuming the boot sector would be pretty much the same between 7.1 and 6.22. But maybe something changed in the way it passes on to io.sys. Thanks, if that is what the deal is, it should fairly easy to fix.

It is more than likely the HP Software IMO!

This is a **-DOS Forum and not the place to discuss NT Software issues...

This is a DOS issue. A flash drive with a 6.22 boot sector, 6.22 system files, and it says MS-DOS 6.22 on the screen after it boots. What other forum would I possibly go to? I did get it to work because I had to edit the boot sector with Norton's DISKEDIT (a DOS program also) and had to make sure IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS are the first two files on the flash, DOS 7 doesn't care where they are. HP's Format utility and SYS.COM don't perform magic, they simply copy the correct boot sector and copy IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM to the target disk.

There must be 25 ways or more to do what you want.

It also kind of assumes stuff. Seems to be how the bios views that flash would decide in some part how or if it can work. Some drives are real stinkers to get working.

See also grub, knoppix and barts usb solutions for ideas.

I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.