How to Install FreeDOS From Scratch, Step by Step

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 d

For 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 active

A 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: /S

The /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:\>VER

Confirm 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.BAT

Step 10: install any additional packages afterward

C:\>FDIMPLES

Use 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.

Knowing which release you’re actually installing

FreeDOS’s stable releases have shipped at a deliberate, unhurried pace: 1.0 in September 2006 (the first release the project considered genuinely complete after over a decade of development), 1.1 in January 2012, 1.2 in December 2016, 1.3 in February 2022, and 1.4 in April 2025. Each carries a different default package set and updated driver versions — if you’re following an older guide or troubleshooting thread referencing a specific behavior, checking which release it was written against your own installed version (VER at the prompt) is worth doing before assuming identical behavior across releases spanning nearly two decades.

Choosing the Lite USB image instead, for a smaller footprint

Not every installation needs the full CD-sized image — the FreeDOS project also publishes a considerably smaller “Lite USB” image intended for exactly this streamlined installation path or for narrower use cases like firmware-flashing boot media, where the full package selection this walkthrough covers isn’t actually necessary.

Choosing the right installer image for your actual target

The full CD ISO includes the broadest package selection and the most straightforward installer experience for a first attempt; the “Lite” USB/floppy images trade a smaller package set for a much smaller download and footprint, better suited to constrained real hardware or a quick, minimal install where you plan to add specific packages afterward anyway. Matching the image to your actual target and goal upfront avoids either downloading far more than a simple use case needs, or starting from an image too minimal for what you’re actually trying to set up.

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