Misc. Utilities for DOS [page 1 of 2]

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HEX EDITORS

There are many freeware hex editors floating around- only a few listed here. I use these mainly for patching.


1. BIEW- Hex Editor.
2. HIEW- Hex editor for power users.
3. HexIt- Hex editor with macros; can insert and delete bytes/ blocks.
4. Zap-It- Hex and disk editor.
5. Hex- Small hex editor handles big files.
6. QVIEW- Text viewer for programmers doubles as hex /asm editor.
7. KZAP- Dual file hex editor/viewer with TSR option.

  1. BIEW: unrated [added 2000-07-11 updated 2002-03-28]. Brief remarks: Biew presents a Norton-like interface. Unlike QVIEW and HIEW, BIEW remains both free (GPL) and in active development. Includes binary, hexadecimal and disassembler (Pentium4/K7 Athlon/Cyrix-M2) modes, with editing capability. Text mode allows viewing only. Real and protected mode DOS versions are available. Uniquely, Linux, Win32 console, BeOS, OS/2 versions of BIEW are also available. GPL freeware. Biew Home Page. Author: Nick Kurshev, Russia (2002).
  2. QVIEW: * * * * * A slick and fast text/hex/asm viewer that can also function as a very capable hex editor. QVIEW can insert and delete bytes- not many freeware hex editors do that. Block operations supported. Mouse support. Note: Like HIEW, QVIEW is intended for experienced users and others should approach it with some cautions in mind: editing changes appear to be written to disk without confirmation (at least the default config appears to act this way). There is an UNDO command that works in an untraditional fashion (place cursor on altered byte(s) that you wish to undo). See extended description on Text Viewers page.
  3. HIEW: * * * * * [added 1998-06-23 updated 1999-07-27]. Hacker's View. This hex editor seems to be a long-standing freeware (prior to v6.15) favorite among programmers and hackers- the relatively sparse documentation assumes experience with hex editors (Use Alt-H for context sensitive help). Features from docs: Text/ hex mode editor; Built-in Pentium Pro assembler; create new files; search and replace mode; Search of assembler commands using pattern; bookmarks; Block operations in HEX/DECODE modes. HIEW.EXE runs under both DOS and OS/2. As of 7-99 HIEW has become shareware (commencing with v6.15). Author: Eugene Suslikov, Russia (1999).
  4. HexIt: unrated. [added 1998-8-16 updated 2001-09-19]. Includes text, hex, code and dump modes. Easy custom keyboard configuration. Byte insertion/ deletion and block cut/ paste. Can manage many files at once. Macro recording and playback. File compare feature. Includes assembler/ disassembler. 2001-09-19: latest version is 1.57 (09-01)- among other changes, package now includes a Win32 console exe. Under development. Author: Mikael Klasson, Sweden. (2001)
  5. Zap-It: unrated. A general purpose disk and hex editor- see extended description on disk utilities page.
  6. Hex: * * * Listed here because it is quite small (11k) yet very usable for simple patching tasks. Can edit ascii or binary files of any size. Dual display of hex and ascii panes. Includes a character search feature. Help bar displayed at bottom of screen. Files must be loaded from command line. Byte replacement only. Interface is German yet easy to interpret. No mouse support. Author: Christian Stellmach.
  7. KZAP: * * * * [added 1998-03-16]. A useful and "dangerous" hex editor/viewer. Useful because it can display two files simultaneously enabling you to scroll and compare both in a synchronous manner. If two files are loaded KZAP can also compare the data in the two windows. Potentially dangerous because any editing changes will be written to disk- whether you like it or not. Kzap can also function as a RAM or disk viewer/ editor. Byte replacement only. Option to load as a TSR (w/ unload). No mouse support. Author: Doug Bagley (1991)

SMALLER LINUX DISTROS COMPATIBLE WITH DOS PARTITIONS...

Below are some *smaller* Linux OS distributions that can coexist with DOS/Win9x on the same partition.

07-22-01: Slackware's ZipSlack, UMSDOS filesystem, requires about 100MB free (about 107MB allocated) disk space. Distributed in two forms: one huge zip file (40MB- see the FAQ for unzipping issues on a DOS only system); or 24 floppy-sized files.


  1. BasicLinux- A small ramdisk Linux with Internet support.
  2. Pygmy Linux- Small Linux distribution coexists in DOS/Win partitions (UMSDOS filesystem).

2. BasicLinux

unrated [added 2000-10-15 updated 2002-05-13]

This newer Linux distro was designed to run on minimal hardware (a 386 CPU with 8MB RAM), yet it includes TCP/IP networking capabilities (ppp/plip/ethernet/slattach), an adequate set of networking applications (web browser, ftp, telnet, fetchmail, router/firewall), and other tools (Pico text editor, bash, and several unix tools).

BasicLinux runs in a 4MB RAM device giving it a degree of quickness even on slower 386's. Although many RAM disk-based Linux distributions are designed to be booted from floppies, the distribution files for Basic Linux (~2MB) can be unzipped to a hard disk directory and Linux can be booted immediately from the DOS prompt. Although you can also boot from pre-prepared floppies (2 req.), a HD boot will obviously be quicker (e.g., about 80 sec. from boot command to login prompt on my 386sx/20 w/8MB RAM, which is fast compared to floppy-only Linux distros). Because it runs in a RAM disk, BasicLinux is a fairly safe distribution to use for learning and experimenting; however, it does permit mounting (and modification) of other drives and was not designed for tutorial purposes (e.g., lacks man pages).

As distributed, BasicLinux provides only about 800 Kb free space in the 4MB RAM disk but an additional 4MB RAM disk can be created if you have 16MB+ RAM. You can mount other drives in order to permanently save work from the RAM disk, but you'll need to be comfortable with creating mount points and mounting devices. BasicLinux is derived from Slackware 3.5.

Author: Steven Darnold, New Zealand (2002)

2002-05-13: v1.7 (2002-04) available.

See the BasicLinux Home Page for more info and download links. Also see Steven's Linux For Old PCs page.


3. Pygmy Linux

unrated [added 1999-09-26 updated 2002-10-05]

"...is a small distribution of the Linux operating system. Pygmy is UMSDOS based, it allows a novice user to install a fully functional operating system that co-exists peacefully with DOS/Win95,98 on the same partition. It is great for people who wish to experiment with Linux without the fear of trashing their computers with fdisk, for old PC users (minimal configuration is i486, 8 MB RAM and approximately 25 MB of disk space). Pygmy is internet ready, it supports connection via phone line (modem) and network card (LAN). It allows installation of Slackware, Redhat and Debian packages."

2002-10-05: v0.92 (06-01)- development has ended?.

See Pygmy Linux Project Homepage for download information, add-ons, and FAQS. Maintainer: Peter Psota (2002)


Linux-related: other

DOSEMU- Provides DOS emulation under Linux.

unrated [added 2000-03-06 updated 2001-06-16]

"DOSEMU is a PC Emulator application that allows Linux to run a DOS operating system in a virtual x86 machine. This allows you to run many DOS applications." DOSEMU does require native DOS files (e.g., command.com, io.sys, msdos.sys). Compatible with many DOS's.

Capabilities include:

06-16-01: v1.02, stable (06-00) available.

Author: DOSEMU Team. (2001).

Home Page.


LTOOLS (formerly LREAD)- Command line tools to read/ write Linux ext2 filesystem from DOS/ Windows .

unrated [added 2001-08-05 updated 2002-05-13]

All the following functions are included in a single (111K) executable (individual functions can be called with included batch files):

Authors: W. Zimmermann (v2.x+), J. Hunter and D. Lutz (v1.0). (2001) Home Page. Suggested by Jon-Egil Korsvold.

2002-05-13: v5.6.1 (2002-03) available.

Download Page


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