Hello,i haven't managed to install windows 3.1 or windows 3.11 WFW starting it from a cd-rom or hard disk...i can only install win 3.1 from installation disks that are slow and expensive considering that wfg 3.11 is about 25MB(i don't want to buy 22 disks).If i install it from the cd-rom or from a directory in which i saved it,i'll be able to install it but i can't use it because during the boot of the system (dos 6.22) you read : missing himem.sys (so the xmms driver is not loaded) then: in the command line c:\ i write "win" just to try to start windows,but again you read missing himem.sys make sure the file is in the windows directory and is correctly specified in the config.sys ....but as i can see himem.sys is there and the config.sys is correct..(i think) so no way to install it from the hd or cd-rom....what can i do? -how can i use more colors and more memory? i have a NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 VANTA 16 MB 4X AGP -how can i get the best from my win 3.11 ? -any tip or tricks? i think this is the right place to ask this... -which cool programs do you know? -what can i do if i've a p2 mmx 233mhz 128 mb of sdram(a pc pretty modern for that os) i have new hardware with an old os...where can i find generic audio end video drivers.... -how can i use a wireless connection for internet? what should i buy?

If DOS says: missing himem.sys, than it can't find it. Double-check config.sys. There should be a line with himem.sys, it has to ba a full path to it. Something like: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS Than check if the file exist in that directory: DIR C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.* If it doesn't exist, you will have to find it and change the path in config.sys to point to the right location.

Not sure if I am following your questions, so please don't be fustrated if these aren't the answers you need. First, I am not aware that Microsoft ever released a version of Windows 3.1 or WfW3.11 on an installation CDROM. As far as I know, this software was only available on 1.44MB floppy disks. I have both, and Windows 3.11 is on 6 floppy disks and WfW3.11 is on 8 floppy disks (the last 2 disks contain the networking software). It actually only takes about 15 min. or so to use the floppy disks to install either of these to a hard drive. You also mentioned DOS6.22 (which I also have). This came on 3 installation disks. I've installed the DOS + Windows combination many times and never experienced any of the problems you are writing about. Starting with a computer with a blank hard drive and set to boot from a floppy drive A:, you just put the DOS 6.22 disk 1 into the A: drive and start the computer. The computer boots from disk 1 and a setup screen appears asking if you want to install DOS 6.22. All you have to do is keep hitting the <ENTER> key to accept all the defaults and follow the instructions. After the setup program is finished, the computer will be able to reboot from the hard drive C: into DOS 6.22. After the computer boots from the hard drive with DOS 6.22 and you are looking at the screen at a "C:\>" prompt, just put disk 1 of either Windows 3.1 or WfW3.11 (I'd recommend WfW, it's a little better even if you aren't networking) and at the C:\> you type "A:\setup" and <ENTER>. Again, just follow the instructions and accept all the defaults. When Windows setup is through, the computer will reboot and start up Windows. The DOS 6.22 setup will provide a CONFIG.SYS file and the first 2 lines of that file will read: DOS=HIGH DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS The Windows setup will change those lines in the CONFIG.SYS file to read: DOS=HIGH DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS because windows came with a newer version of HIMEM.SYS and was better for running Windows. The version which came with DOS 6.22 is left in C:\DOS (actually, I think that DOS 6.22 had the same version, but Windows setup just did that automatically in case it was being installed on DOS 5). Now, as far as getting the "most out of" newer hardware, well that's the classic problem with using old software. Hardware manufactuers stopped providing driver support for Windows 3.x around 1998. So, if your video card, sound card, etc. are newer than that then there probably isn't a correct driver. You can seach the web and maybe find generic type drivers (VESA, etc.) which will be better than 16-color VGA, but you won't find an optimum Windows 3.x driver for any new hardware - it was never developed. There is still development in DOS (the FreeDOS project), since Windows 3.x used DOS for much of the low-level stuff, you might find some wireless device support for DOS, you can possibly get it to work for Windows 3.x, but your not going to get a nifty Windows 3.x utility for wireless. There was a LOT of software written for Win3.x and there is even a Win32 add-on to Win3.x which will run many programs developed for Win9x. Please read previous postings on this forum (go back as many years as available) and you will learn about lots of different Win3.x software. I wouldn't "buy" anything until I was confident it's going to work with what you get set up. There are software repositories with lots of shareware for Win3.x, better to try it out before you buy it.