How to Install FreeDOS From Scratch, Step by Step
A complete walkthrough installing FreeDOS onto a virtual machine or real hardware, from booting the installer to a working CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.
This walks through a complete FreeDOS installation, using the official installer image, ending with a working, bootable system ready for further configuration.
Step 1: get the installer image
Download the current FreeDOS distribution image from the official FreeDOS site (freedos.org) — typically available as a bootable CD ISO or a “Lite” USB/floppy image, depending on your target (virtual machine versus real hardware).
Step 2: prepare your target — VM or real hardware
For a virtual machine (recommended for a first install):
qemu-system-i386 -m 32 -hda freedos-disk.img -cdrom FD13-LiveCD.iso -boot dFor real hardware, write the image to a USB drive or burn the ISO to a CD, and configure your BIOS to boot from that media first.
Step 3: boot the installer
Once booted, FreeDOS’s installer presents a text-based, menu-driven setup process — select your preferred language, then choose “Install to harddisk” from the main menu.
Step 4: partition the target disk
The installer will offer to run FDISK if your target disk isn’t already partitioned:
Create a primary DOS partition
Set the partition activeA single primary partition covering the full disk is sufficient for most installs. After partitioning, the system typically needs a reboot to recognize the new partition table before continuing.
Step 5: format the partition
The installer runs FORMAT on your newly-created partition, preparing it with a FAT filesystem (FAT16 or FAT32 depending on partition size and your choices during setup):
FORMAT C: /SThe /S flag makes the resulting partition bootable by copying the kernel and COMMAND.COM onto it directly.
Step 6: choose your package set
FreeDOS’s installer lets you select which package categories to install — Base is required; Networking, Development, Games, and others are optional depending on your intended use. For a general-purpose system, Base plus Utilities covers most needs; add Development if you plan to write and compile software directly on FreeDOS.
Step 7: let the installer copy files
This step copies the selected packages onto your newly-formatted partition, generating an initial CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT automatically based on your selections.
Step 8: reboot into your new installation
Remove the installer media (or detach the ISO, for a VM) and reboot:
C:\>VERConfirm you’re now booting directly from the hard disk installation, reaching a C:\> prompt without the installer media present.
Step 9: review and tune the generated configuration
The installer’s default CONFIG.SYS is a reasonable starting point but worth reviewing — confirm HIMEM.EXE and EMM386.EXE are loaded appropriately for your available memory, and that SHELL= specifies an adequate environment size:
C:\>TYPE CONFIG.SYS
C:\>TYPE AUTOEXEC.BATStep 10: install any additional packages afterward
C:\>FDIMPLESUse FDIMPLES (or FDNPKG directly) to add any package categories you skipped during initial setup, once you know what else you need.
What to do next
From here, the practical next steps are configuring networking (if needed, via mTCP), setting up any specific applications your use case requires, and reviewing CONFIG.SYS memory settings — each covered in more depth elsewhere on this blog — building outward from this clean, working base installation.