OS/2 2.1 CD to HD

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Article Info
Author Gary Williamson
Date 1993-08-01
OS Version OS/2 2.1
Companion File N/A
Source N/A


For those of you who have a CD-ROM which is unsupported by 2.1, but would like to install the CD-ROM version of the 2.1 Upgrade (because it's cheaper and has more multimedia stuff on it) without resorting to diskettes then here is the method I used. If you have a free 32MB on a partition on a hard disk then you can install from there. Here's how:

1. Boot DOS.

2. Copy the entire OS2SE21 directory and subdirectories, intact, from the CD-ROM to the root directory of the hard disk partition. Do not copy to a hard disk partition which you intend to format during the 2.1 Install procedure. I happen to have 2 hard disks, so I copied to a FAT partition on the disk on which I wasn't installing 2.1. I would expect, though I haven't tried it, that you could copy the tree to your OS/2 2.0 partition if you didn't intend to reformat. [The easiest way to copy the tree is to use a GUI File Manager to copy from the CD-ROM directory tree to the hard disk tree.]

3. Insert the OS/2 2.1 diskette labeled 'Diskette 1' (1 of the 2 disk set which came in the 2.1 Upgrade package with your CD-ROM) into your floppy drive.

4. Make a copy of the CONFIG.SYS file on the diskette [>COPY A:CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.OS2]. Copy the CONFIG.SYS file from the \OS2SE21\DISK_1 directory of the CD-ROM to the diskette - overwriting the CONFIG.SYS on the diskette.

5. Use a DOS editor to open the CONFIG.SYS file on the diskette. Add the following lines to the end of the file after the statement 'device=\testcfg.sys'.

    set os2_shell=sysinst2.exe x:\os2se21
    set source_path=x:\os2se21
    set saveconnect=1

where x is the letter of the hard disk partition to which you copied the CD-ROM files.

6. Add the following to the end of the line which starts 'path='. This statement is found near the middle of the CONFIG.SYS file.

    ;x:\os2se21

where, again, x is the letter of the hard drive partition.

7. Save the edited file.

8. Close the editor.

You are now ready to install the OS 2.1 upgrade from a hard disk. Follow the installation procedures outlined in the OS/2 Installation Guide. Anytime during the installation procedure, if you are asked for the drive from which you are installing from, reply with x:\OS2SE21 where x is letter of the hard drive partition. Sit back, put your feet up and peruse the OS/2 manuals as the installation proceeds with almost no intervention from you.

This is the method I used and it worked flawlessly.

Installing MMPM/2 is even easier. Just copy the directory tree from your CD-ROM to the hard disk and install from there.

Gary Williamson

CIS: 71034,1631