FreeDOS is free DOS - not only as in free beer, but also as in free will. FreeDOS provides Live CD and USB installer, but how if one wants Live USB? Since FreeDOS is simply a DOS distribution which is a simple DOS kernel with additional programs shipped, we can install the transfer the system and install packages manually.
Prepare the USB Drive
This could be done in a traditional (and DOS) way:
FDISK /AUTO 1
FORMAT /S
REM Assume the disk is C: drive
SYS C:
But a quick way to prepare the USB drive is to use Rufus: select the drive and choose "FreeDOS" in the image. Then you are a go!
Install the Base System
At this point, the USB drive is already bootable (of course, not UEFI but under legacy mode). We've already had a minimal system. Now, we are going to prepare a FreeDOS Live CD, which contains all the files we need.
Transfer System Files
Copy and rename CDROM:\FREEDOS\BIN\KERNL386.SYS
to \KERNEL.SYS
. This is the FreeDOS kernel.
The FreeDOS kernel will look for FDCONFIG.SYS
to configure the system. Copy and rename CDROM:\FDOS_X86\FREEDOS\CONFIGS\CONFIG.DEF
to \FDCONFIG.SYS
. Open the file and replace the following variables:
$FTARGET$
toC:\FREEDOS
$FDRIVE$
toC:
$FCCC$
to001
,$FCKC$
to858
(or any other country code you would like to set)
And we also copy and rename CDROM:\FDOS_X86\FREEDOS\CONFIGS\AUTOEXEC.DEF
to \FDAUTO.BAT
. Then, again, replace:
$FTARGET$
toC:\FREEDOS
$FDRIVE$
toC:
$FLANG$
toEN
$TZ$
toHKT
(or any time zone using abbreviation)$LANGSET$
to""
(delete the line)
Transfer Command Shell and Package Manager
Change directory to CDROM:\FDOS_X86\FREEDOS\BIN
, copy command.com
, fdimples.exe
, fdinst.exe
and fdnpkg.conf
to \FREEDOS\BIN
.
Now the base system is ready to use. There is a last step: copy PACKAGES
folder from CD to \
. Make sure you include all desired packages in the folder so that they could be installed later.
install Software Packages
Reboot the computer. Boot into FreeDOS and Choose 5 - Load FreeDOS without drivers (Emergency Mode)
. Start the package manager:
set TEMP=\TEMP
fdimples
To install FreeDOS, mark "Base" group. Optionally, install "V8Power" package from group "Utilities" for some text UIs.
![](https://blog.sakuragawa.moe/content/images/2022/12/VirtualBox_FreeDOS_09_12_2022_07_11_53.png)
Trouble Shooting
Unable to Use FDIMPLES
If the error occurs during installation process:
Error: custom dir 'links' is not a valid absolute path
Make sure you set an absolute (not relative) path in %DOSDIR%
.