I just bought a pc/xt clone at a garage sale for 50 cents. Seemed like a good deal. It boots to dos 3.3 but has nothing else on the hard drive. The guy threw in a box of 5.25" floppies, all blank. I have experience with both laplink and intersvr.exe (which is NOT on dos 3.3, came later) but have no idea how I am going to get either onto a 5.25" diskette in order to facilitate transferring files to this machine. Any ideas? Thanks!

I'm not completely sure if you can run intersvr on DOS3.3 - maybe, maybe not . Quite likely you'd have to use the serial port and a 'null modem' cable or adapter - although it's not as fast as using the LPT, early machines often didn't have bi-directional parallel ports - which is necessary for using interlnk on that port. You could try intersvr /rcopy "/RCOPY Copies Interlnk files from one computer to another, provided that the computers are connected with a 7-wire, null-modem serial cable and that the MODE command is available on the computer where you are installing Interlnk." Other than that, you could try and find a low density (360K) 5¼" floppy drive and retrofit it into a spare machine - although you might be able to use a higher density drive (1.2 Mb). I think XTs might have supported up to a 720K 3½" drive - so going that way might not be much of an option.

I use an old DOS version of FastLynx to transfer files via serial cable and I've also used an old DOS version (v.4) of Laplink. Both these programs have a 'remote install' feature. With the serial cable connected to both computers and the transfer program running on the main machine you can select 'remote install.' You then type a couple of commands on the remote machine after DOS has loaded and this will transfer the program. (The MODE and CTTY commands are required in DOS.) Once the program has transferred it can be run on the remote machine and you are ready for file transfer.

Thanks to both who replied. I made a mistake though in not making my problem clear in the first post. I have no programs on the PC that are usable for file transfer. I have no programs on 5.25" diskette either. My problem is how do I get anything onto a 5.25" diskette that is not currently on a 5.25" diskette. Thanks.

You can't - at least, not without the appropriate fdd drive installed. The 'remote install' option would seem to be your best bet - skip the 5¼" disks altogether.

I still have my PC/XT "Turbo" and transfer files via interlink between my new computer and the XT, which has DOS 3.2. If you can't find a way to do what you want, I gladly mail you a 5.25 floppy with Interlink on it, just mail me your address.

First ascertain the format of the 5.25" disc that the xt supports. 360kb, 1.20mb or what. Then, move the old fdd drive to a more modern pc. If necessary format the 5.25" floppys to the size required. Then copy the files you require onto the floppies. Do not go too mad as if the format is 360kb, you do not want to use too many of them. Then move the old fdd back and hey presto, you should be able to link up using a serial port. The old xt clone will probably support a 3.5" fdd at 720k or if you are lucky (but doubtful) 1.44. Look in the bios for settings. If does not appear you will most likely require a driver, which converts either A: or B: to the later format. In terms of hardware required, you need a fdd drive, fdd interface cable with plugs for both 3.5 and 5.25. Also a 5.25 carrier that fits in the spare bay that takes a 3.5 drive. This normally has the power lead convertor, but if not obtain. Good luck - keep us posted.