Hello!
I think i will buy a CD with a copy of Windows 3.11, but i will only do it if I know it is compatible with my hardware. So can anyone help me? Here is my hardware:
Pentium III 550 MHZ
256 MB RAM
HD 10.2 GB
Motherboard PCHIPS M748LMRT
SIS 620 Video/ CMI 8738 Audio/ HSP56 Micromodem all of them onboard
CD ROM player and CD Recorder LG
Diskette Drive not working (is it really necessary?)
I want to install it on a second partition....is it possible to make a dual boot with my XP?
thanks,
giovanealex

Sure, Win 3.11 WILL work with your hardware.

PIII 550 MHZ: No problem. The faster your CPU is, the better Win3.11 works.

256 MB RAM: No problem.

10.2 GB HD: No problem. Make one or more FAT32 partitions on this 10GB HD, and install DOS + Win3.x.

SiS 620 Video: No problem. Its Win3.x driver is available from:

http://www.asus.com/pub/asus/misc/vga/620w31.zip

C-Media 8738 Audio: Seems to be OK. Its Win3.x driver is available from:

http://www.soundcard-drivers.com/drivers/11/11388.htm

Modem: What's its model? Is it a WinModem?

CD-ROM should work fine in DOS/Win3.x with correct driver loaded.

"Diskette Drive not working (is it really necessary?)"

Yes, it's necessary if you want to install DOS from floppy disks. Since Win3.x is not an operating system, it can't be installed without DOS, which is the real OS. Of course, DOS Installation CD is also available.

"I want to install it on a second partition....is it possible to make a dual boot with my XP?"

If you want to boot DOS/Win3.x from a second partition, then you need to use a additional boot manager/loader to achieve this. However, it's not necessary. As a matter of fact, it's recommanded that you install DOS and WinXP on the same of a different FAT32 drive from their own installers, so you can select the OS you want to boot from in WinXP's own dual-boot menu when system starts. After DOS is started successfully, install and run Win3.x from DOS. Then it should work. For information on how to install Win3.x from DOS, please read this article:

http://newdos.yginfo.net/msdos71/doskbd1.htm

---------------
Long Live DOS!

If you have XP set up with the NTFS format you will either need a partition formattted for FAT16 or you will need:

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/ntfsdos.shtml

which will give you a free module so DOS (and therefore Win3x) can read the NTFS drive.

WARNING: Since DOS and Win3x know nothing of the security system of NTFS (the administrator passwors that allow certain directories to only be accessed on a limited basis) this module bypasses all that. Thus it is a hack thru the security system.