hi,
On my really old computer, me and my brother have desperately been tyying to install Windows 3.11. I think I finally know how to do it. I can do a hard drive transplant. this is what I mean:

1)Format the hard drive on computer 1(the computer I'm trying to install windows 3.11 on)(I'm not quite sure if that's nesescary.)
2)Put it in computer 2(another computer which I use for expirements).
3)Install on C2
4)Take out hard drive And put it back in C1.

If anyone knows if this can cause an error, please tell me before I possibly ruin my computer forever(but not quiiiiiiiiite forever)
thanks

There are 3 types of people in this world, those who can count and those who can't.

That seems like quite the rigmarole - whatever your (so far unnamed) issues are with Win3x, likely there is a simpler solution

Well, please ask your REAL question.

Why is it that you think you need to swap the hard drive to start with?

Doesn't the target machine have a 1/44 floppy? If not, you might want to rethink.

Normally you would boot with a DOS diskette, FDISK the drive to create a Primary Partition if necessary and make it Active. Then you would reboot and run FORMAT C: /S to format the drive and install the boot files for DOS.

Then you would install at least a minimal set of DOS files, including the WINA20.386 module in the root directory. And then boot from the disk drive to the DOS C:\ prompt.

From there, you would run the SETUP program on the first Windows 3.11 install diskette, disk drive directory, network drive, or CD. The Setup program would then prompt you through the install of the Windows 3.11 files.

Windows 3.11 requires DOS to be installed first. However, I have no idea if it will install and run with DOS 7.10 which is really the WinDOS from Windows 9x.

name, The "REAL" question is "would that work?".

Well for anyone wondering, these are the specs of Computer 2:

500 mhz
Windows 95
16 mb RAM
15 gb hard drive
And just to amaze you people who think your computer is slow, it takes 2 Minutes, 23 Seconds to boot up.
A New Record!!!
(whereas my even older computer only 66mhz loads in 30 seconds on average)

The hard drive already has a perfectly working DOS 7.10 OS. I think this would work unless Windows Setup reads specific files from ROM.

I'm sorry for those of you who are confused.

There are 3 types of people in this world, those who can count and those who can't.

Yes it's possible, no it won't damage anything, "unless you zap it with static electricity" and yes you may get errors as the install would be for the hardware of the computer in which you installed dos and windows. Yet dos & 3.11 isn't as picky as 95&98 and should still boot.

Sounds like you need to hunt down msconfig, and winMEdefrag for that old 95 computer and do some registery cleaning too.

16mb of ram? lol I'd up it to 32 or even 64mb.

I have a old p2 333mhz w/128mb ram and 7gig hd. Windows 95 almost boots faster then the monitor takes to warm up! lol.

ASUS A7V8X
AMD XP 2700+ 2.17ghz
768mb ddr 2700
nVidia 128mb FX 5200
WD 80gb SE
DVD R/RW

"I think this would work unless Windows Setup reads specific files from ROM"

Who's confused (I mean, besides you)?

Give me ambiguity or give me something else

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"""name, The "REAL" question is "would that work?"."""

No, the "real" question is, "are you an idiot ?"

or maybe, "why are you doing this?"

What you are babbling about makes no sense at all.

??????WHAT IS THE REAL QUESTION??????

think "FOC - US, FOCUS, FOCUS,

WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT is it that you are actually trying to do, here, besides just fiddle around?

You start out by saying

""On my really old computer, me and my brother have desperately been tyying to install Windows 3.11.""

So reading into that, makes me think there is a roadblock to copying install files to that machine from whatever else you have.

Most of us, reading this, have no idea in the world where you are trying to head with this.

I concur with name's assessment as to the 'real' question.

We often see posts where the OP has devised some convoluted scheme in order to achieve some vaguely stated goal. These are usually doomed to failure and are typically a huge waste of time - not much gets accomplished until the true problem is stated (as opposed to the OP's interpretation of the problem).

Give me ambiguity or give me something else

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As long as your drives are set up in your BIOS, reponse #3 outlines all you should need to do to get Win 3.1 installed on that machine. There is no reason whatsoever (based upon what you've outlined) to remove the drive and put it in another machine.

It's a good day when you learn something

And with the risk of being insulted again, I say this:

I have tried installing it probably over 25 times!

And for everyone else:
DON'T INSULT ME AND JUST ANSWER THE STUPID QUESTIONS!

Y'know, your attitude here leaves much to be desired.

Members are under no obligation whatsoever to answer anyone's questions - we're volunteers.

Ordering folks around is pretty much a guarantee that you won't get help. You're wasting everyone's time and causing aggravation. If you don't modify this behaviour, the webmaster will be brought into the picture, and he will deal with you accordingly.

Give me ambiguity or give me something else

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Your questions have been answered. The methods to accomplish the end task you outlined have been provided in the best and easiest manner.

If you have tried what's been presented here 25 times, then either you have faulty hardware or source software.

It's a good day when you learn something