Your copy of WIndows 1.0 Alpha is a modified version
Here https://winworldpc.com/product/windows-10/alpha you can download Windows 1.0 Alpha, but it isn't a raw disk dump. It has been altered from its original state. I can tell, because it supports PS2 mouse. Before Windows 2.0 only serial mice were supported. Windows 1.0x release version, as well as Beta and Alpha, are not supposed to be able to support a PS2 mouse. Yet when I run it in DOSBox (an emulator that has no serial mouse support), it miraculously is able to have its cursor moved around with my mouse. It appears that the copy of Windows 1.0 Alpha that you have is not a pure original, but rather a hacked copy. Most likely, this hack consisted of replacing the official mouse driver for Windows 1.0 Beta, with the mouse driver that came with Windows 2.x. This is a well known trick for converting the normal release version of Windows 1.0x to have PS2 mouse support, but was unaware that it worked on a version as old as Alpha (well before version 1.01).
However convenient this may be for those who want to just use it, and don't care about having an authentic unaltered copy, it is an absolute abomination for me, who's trying to find in fact an UNALTERED disk image of Windows 1.0 Alpha. I DON'T want it to support PS2 mouse, because then I know it's been altered/modded. If you guys at WinWorld have any knowledge of where to obtain an unaltered copy of Win Alpha, please let me know.
Also, here's a request to the admin that runs the site and maintains the download links. If you know the contact info for the person who sent you this copy of Win Alpha, I ask you to contact them, and request that they send you an UNALTERED copy of Win Alpha.
However convenient this may be for those who want to just use it, and don't care about having an authentic unaltered copy, it is an absolute abomination for me, who's trying to find in fact an UNALTERED disk image of Windows 1.0 Alpha. I DON'T want it to support PS2 mouse, because then I know it's been altered/modded. If you guys at WinWorld have any knowledge of where to obtain an unaltered copy of Win Alpha, please let me know.
Also, here's a request to the admin that runs the site and maintains the download links. If you know the contact info for the person who sent you this copy of Win Alpha, I ask you to contact them, and request that they send you an UNALTERED copy of Win Alpha.
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Comments
As far as I know this software was never distributed on mass produced disks. And even then, this was probably a so-called "leaked" copy. I don't know who unearthed it originally, but it wasn't anyone here.
Of course, if anyone does have any other sufficiently original pre-windows 1.x versions please do let us know.
I don't think that a DOS mouse driver would have originally been on the disk that had it, even if it wasn't a publicly distributed disk. I would think the driver would have been on a DOS disk, and Windows would have simply depended on that already existing, rather than coming with its own copy of the DOS mouse driver. If it was leaked, then it must be that the employee who leeked it added a copy of the DOS mouse driver on the disk, rather than leaving it completely original and untouched.
Also, why does it keep trying to copy the files to drive B, instead of drive C, when I run the installer?
"Incompatible DOS version - DMAADD does not match"
How do I fix this? Is this a broken copy of Win Alpha? Or is it a bug in DOSBox?
DOSBox has a built in MS-DOS compatible mouse driver. You won't see a mouse.com file, but it invisibly provides the mouse interrupt services. In other emulators, like on real hardware, you must manually install a mouse.com or mouse.sys file.
Also, DOSBox does not actually run DOS. As I understand it, it runs a customized stripped down version of FreeDOS. And quite frankly this combination sucks donkey balls compatiblity wise. This alpha doesn't just check the DOS version, it checks some other DOS stuff, which DosBox doesn't match. If I recall correctly, that also fails on later versions of MS-DOS.
This alpha is simply designed for an earlier copy of DOS, and in this case, faking the version number simply isn't enough.
I also checked the dumped image.
It seems not to be modified or bad dumped.
Also I have a question.
Did you run Windows 1.0 alpha on real old PC or PCEM, 86BOX?
P.S. This is Not site issue.
So I recommend to post it on Software topic.
I ran it on DOSBox.
I think you seems not to understand site issue.
Windows 1.0 alpha seems to be no problem.
So you had better contact to DOSBOX.
(At least disk image is Not added Mouse Driver for PS/2 support you've mentioned.)
It works well and Mouse Driver has no problem to work.
But it doesn't work on DOS 3.10 or higher.
I think it seems to be limited under DOS 3.0.
(I've tested it on IBM PC DOS 3.00)