[OFFER] Windows 3.0 on 360KB Disks, No 3.0a
I'm here to bring the long-requested Windows 3.0 360kb no a version of MS Windows 3.0.
I'll Put the link right down here: ---> https://www.mediafire.com/file/iue790n6wbj3s5d/Microsoft_Windows_3.0_%285.25-360k%29.7Z/file <--- (FILE Uploaded by 16BitOnNewTechnology)
I tried to install it for proof, but it's just stuck at operation fail at ms-dos install.
I'll Put the link right down here: ---> https://www.mediafire.com/file/iue790n6wbj3s5d/Microsoft_Windows_3.0_%285.25-360k%29.7Z/file <--- (FILE Uploaded by 16BitOnNewTechnology)
I tried to install it for proof, but it's just stuck at operation fail at ms-dos install.
Comments
What I posted in the link below was a direct dump from the original diskette and outputted as a file list, and it matches Microsoft's information.
https://forum.winworldpc.com/discussion/6377/windows-3-0-on-360k-disks
https://forum.winworldpc.com/discussion/comment/138795#Comment_138795
Didn't see that sorry, Didn't know that the files had to be put in the correct disk to be a legit copy
But still now got to install it and heres a couple of screenshots.
Edit: It says "For DOS Systems", so it appears to be upgrade.
Edit #2: It's identical to the one posted above, that ibm5150 claimed was not dumps of the original disks, something that has now been demonstrated to be false by the find on archive.org, which has photos of the box and a scan of the User's Guide.
In fact, it appears it's the very same disk images, repacked. And they have no signs of tamepring. Furthermore, SETUP.INF confirms WIN.CNF on Disk 1, so these images are confirmed to be original, they just differ from the listings by Microsoft and ibmpc5150 because they're the Upgrade images while Microsoft and ibmpc5150 have the non-Upgrade version.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325708127426?nordt=true
https://www.ebay.com/itm/384715936872?nordt=true
I also no longer have a floppy drive (since 2018, really), and even that was 3.5", so I wouldn't be able to do anything with those floppies, anyway.
Lots of people on this site, including myself, buy floppy disks and archive them.
Verification of releases can be important, but verification is always better when there is more information - Flux level dumps, label scans, box scans, document scans, etc.
It is not just a single file either, but verifying the layout of the entire disk including boot sector, FAT, file order, date stamps, deleted space, and so on.
Problem here is:
1: Sellers want a bit too much for those disk sets.
2: It is not 100% clear if those are the 3.0 or 3.0a version, or perhaps even OEM. I'd hate to buy a set and find out it is the same as the one I already have.
Personally, I collect non-dump files directly from the original diskettes and manually create a messy disk image as if it were the original.
I don't like action.
Please note that a disk image created by collecting only files is completely different from a disk image dumped from an original diskette.
I compared the original diskette and the dumps, and the closest one is Disk 9, and the rest of the files have different contents/arrangements.
Yes, and that's fair. If I could afford a 5.25" drive, the hardware to use it, the disk set, *and* it was worth it, I gladly would. But just to get SETUP.INF? Sounds a bit overkill.
> It is not just a single file either, but verifying the layout of the entire disk including boot sector, FAT, file order, date stamps, deleted space, and so on.
That's true. But, in the absence of full disk images, at least having all the files would be an improvement.
> I'm only providing the right information, to prevent the truth from being distorted in an attempt to misrepresent it over the years.
The problem is, you never provide any means to verify that information. If you provide information, it's up to you to back it up in ways we can verify, not "oh here's one disk set for sale, go and purchase it". Not to mention that clearly, not all disk sets match yours, as is clear from the one on archive.org, so what if both of the eBay ones end up beign like that? Then I would have wasted my money purchasing something that I already had.
> Personally, I collect non-dump files directly from the original diskettes and manually create a messy disk image as if it were the original.
I don't like action.
Original media are getting ever scarcer. Floppy disks don't last forever, and not all of sets get sold, either. And real-life archaeologists, historians, etc. do that all the time as well. Sometimes, a reconstructed copy is the best we can get.
> Please note that a disk image created by collecting only files is completely different from a disk image dumped from an original diskette.
Yes, that's true. But, in the absence of an original disk image, at least having the contents is already an improvement.
> I compared the original diskette and the dumps, and the closest one is Disk 9, and the rest of the files have different contents/arrangements.
And I compared the disks with your arrangment, and I posted my conclusion above. Now, I didn't compare the order of the files, that's true, but that's because I can't, for obvious reasons. And I can't comapre their contents, either, though I would presume all the files except for SETUP.INF would be identical to those in the known copies of Windows 3.0 - it's, after all, the exact same piece of software with a different disk layout. And you refuse to upload the SETUP.INF, so I can't know what differs between the two, which I'm curious about since I have no idea what on Earth would add about 300 bytes of extra content.
Anyway, generally, and just to whoever reads on, I'm reminded of one of The Matrix movies - the last one I think - and the Oracle asks the Architect what he's going to do, now that Humans are free to eff up their lives any way they please, and that in essence, he himself might not exist.
And he replies: "There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept."
That's the way I see software, texts - all of this stuff we and others have created. Any form of it is better than no form of it. WE become informed about who we were and what we were doing - that's why the libraries - great and small exist.
I do not ever come here (WinWorld) with expectations. I expect each contributor and "question asker" alike participate to add to the whole of this collection.
Some here with their flux machines amaze me. It's so far beyond what I was able to do in the 80s and 90s. However, my days of interest in floppies are gone. All those box sets I collected, all the stuff I got from warez gurus in other countries, the tools, the tricks, gone too. (big nasty fire)
But still, I like browsing and playing with the floppy based stuff in virtual machines.
I have no idea what ultimate value those flux images serve - except perhaps to a really dedicated archivist. I'm happy with files that work, but even happier with an *.img that I can mount in a VM and tinker with the app.
Coming here, or IA, is for me like going to a library of books or a record shop with 45s in the scuffed jackets in plywood bins. It's just.....cool.
When I can add to the collection, it makes me feel good. When others add, that makes me feel good. Just being able to see something again, or that I couldn't afford "back in the day.
I think it's most unfortunate that some believe that asking a question is a form of personal attack. And I leave it at that.
So this may indeed be a well-crafted fake - recreated disk image with a recreated SETUP.INF, with someone else's manual scan added to the archive.org upload, to make it look more legitimate.
Anywho, looks like 360k disk sets are nearly unobtainium, since the retail box packaging infers/suggests that 360K disks can be obtained through microsoft.
And it suggests to me, that no one on this forum has the actual SETUP.INF, even though one might have believed they did.
Just saying....
Please include either scans or readable photos of the floppy disk labels.
https://mega.nz/file/vE1l1YSR#2y5qUGTID8MnDl2CWptq0OnuImVEUugcpbTkyxum5WE
Thanks very much!
All disks are dumped perfectly as same SHA1 with mine.
Now it is verified!
*I dumped it in Feb.05, 2014.
I introduced the file list and screenshot in 2017.