Ben Myers said:
DOS used a utility called SmartDrive to store frequent disk reads in memory to speed up operation. When it is running, you can check its status by typing "smartdrv /s" at the command prompt.

Ben
I think I'll try that and if it is running, I'll see if it can be turned off by using the /? switch. Thank you.

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MisterEd said:
FreeDOS would be a little better that MS-DOS. I read you can install older versions of Windows in it but not Windows for Workgroups 3.11. However, it wouldn't be any better than MS-DOS unless you can change floppy disks. FreeDOS is normally installed from a CD but can be installed from a floppy drive.

DOSBox runs in Windows. It can use its Mount command to mount regular Windows partitions as drives, CD drives, and floppy drives. Of course unless Windows can see the floppy drive that won't work. DOSBox uses IMGMount to mount CD ISO images and floppy img images, I tried to install Lotus 123 in DOSBox but didn't succeed because I coudn't figure out a way to change floppy images during setup.

Note that when I run MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11 as a virtual machine using VMWare I did not have problem installing Lotus 123. That is because it has a built-in way to change CDs and floppies. I use CD and floppy images so can't verify how well it works with physical CD and floppy drives.
From what I have tried and failed at during this attempt to run DOS and after reading this, I believe I am never going to get to happen what I was trying to achieve. I do appreciate this information, thank you.

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Ben Myers said:
DOS used a utility called SmartDrive to store frequent disk reads in memory to speed up operation. When it is running, you can check its status by typing "smartdrv /s" at the command prompt.

Ben
It doesn't seem to be running smartdrv. Says something about not having hymem installed or allocated.

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Well, I just gave up. The disk has been partitioned and formatted back to NTFS. So my attempt to run DOS and Lotus 123 is finished. Thanks for everyone's help.