What's your favorite DOS-ism?

Illumina Drathiran'ar · 05-05-2004, 12:27 AM

Who here remembers DOS-isms? For such a simple-seeming system, it was fiendishly complicated and contained an alarming number of various error messages to communicate there was a problem without actually discussing the problem. Examples include...

Non-system disk or disk error. Strike any key when ready.

Keyboard not found. Press any key to continue.

Or the classic
Bad command or file name

Maybe commands, like dir/p or dir/w?

Personally, my all-time favorite has got to be
Abort, retry, fail?

But I'm curious to hear about what you guys remember from the days of DOS, when violence against computers was at an all-time high.

Link · 05-05-2004, 06:50 AM

When I was fed up with the computer I usually resorted to typing all sorts of things, which in turn led to the computer telling me "Command not recognized" (or your "Bad command"). Guaranteed fun.

DOS gave a whole new ring to the letters CD!

philip · 05-05-2004, 09:46 AM

DOS rocks! It has saved me a lot lately, like an hour ago and last week. Can't remember having a lot of trouble with DOS, though I was only playing games in it on an old 286.

Favourite has to be the message you get after the format command. 'All data will be lost, are you sure you want to continue? (y/n) '. Die windows LOL!

[ 05-05-2004, 09:46 AM: Message edited by: philip ]

Link · 05-05-2004, 02:48 PM

Retro games I used to play in the DOS-age were Commander Keen (especially the fifth one), Civilization and Colonization. There are probably more where those came from, but I can't really remember. It's all a long time ago [img]smile.gif[/img]

Arledrian · 05-05-2004, 02:54 PM

Deltree *.* [img]smile.gif[/img]

Jerr Conner · 05-05-2004, 03:25 PM

Commander Keen rocked.

Aelia Jusa · 05-05-2004, 04:45 PM

The thing I liked best about abort/retry/fail was that most of the time none of those things actually did anything. I know abort never did anything. What was the difference between abort and fail anyway?

Man I remember heaps of great games from the DOS days - death track, alley cat, secret agent sam, crystal caves, bubble bobble (LOL my brother found an emulator(?) version a while ago and we play it now and again for nostalgia

), the incredible machine. We still have colonisation and play it from the DOS prompt now!

dplax · 05-05-2004, 04:49 PM

Ah! Colonisation brings back good memories. I played that game for years.

Illumina Drathiran'ar · 05-05-2004, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Aelia Jusa:
The thing I liked best about abort/retry/fail was that most of the time none of those things actually did anything. I know abort never did anything. What was the difference between abort and fail anyway?

Man I remember heaps of great games from the DOS days - death track, alley cat, secret agent sam, crystal caves, bubble bobble (LOL my brother found an emulator(?) version a while ago and we play it now and again for nostalgia ), the incredible machine. We still have colonisation and play it from the DOS prompt now!

I was just thinking about that... Retry never did ANYTHING, usually abort was what you had to do. And I have no idea what the hell Fail was supposed to do.

Link · 05-05-2004, 06:16 PM

TIM!! Brings back good memories! An abundance of mouse powered engines made bowling balls bounce in the right direction!

05-05-2004, 12:27 AM	#1
Illumina Drathiran'ar Apophis Join Date: July 10, 2002 Location: I can see the Manhattan skyline from my window. Age: 39 Posts: 4,673	Who here remembers DOS-isms? For such a simple-seeming system, it was fiendishly complicated and contained an alarming number of various error messages to communicate there was a problem without actually discussing the problem. Examples include... Non-system disk or disk error. Strike any key when ready. Keyboard not found. Press any key to continue. Or the classic Bad command or file name Maybe commands, like dir/p or dir/w? Personally, my all-time favorite has got to be Abort, retry, fail? But I'm curious to hear about what you guys remember from the days of DOS, when violence against computers was at an all-time high. __________________ http://cavestory.org PLAY THIS GAME. Seriously. http://xkcd.com/386/ http://www.xkcd.com/406/ My heart is like my coffee. Black, bitter, icy, and with a straw.

05-05-2004, 02:54 PM	#5
Arledrian Egyptian Goddess of the Dead Join Date: July 12, 2001 Location: South Carolina Age: 41 Posts: 3,771	Deltree . [img]smile.gif[/img] __________________ Marvellous banter; I am bereft of ribs.

05-05-2004, 03:25 PM	#6
Jerr Conner Silver Dragon Join Date: January 24, 2002 Location: Mundania Age: 43 Posts: 1,634	Commander Keen rocked. __________________ <b>Founder of the NPC Defender Force</b>, <b>Affiliate of the Pro-Mazzy Society</b><br />\"I hate to admit it but you\'ve earned my respect.\"--Shar-Teel (Thanks for this Illumina Drathiran\'ar)<br /> [img]\"http://userpic.livejournal.com/14048184/35120\" alt=\" - \" />

05-05-2004, 04:45 PM	#7
Aelia Jusa Iron Throne Cult Join Date: August 23, 2001 Location: Brisbane, Australia Age: 44 Posts: 4,867	The thing I liked best about abort/retry/fail was that most of the time none of those things actually did anything. I know abort never did anything. What was the difference between abort and fail anyway? Man I remember heaps of great games from the DOS days - death track, alley cat, secret agent sam, crystal caves, bubble bobble (LOL my brother found an emulator(?) version a while ago and we play it now and again for nostalgia ), the incredible machine. We still have colonisation and play it from the DOS prompt now! __________________

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05-05-2004, 06:50 AM	#2
Link Jack Burton Join Date: May 15, 2001 Location: The Netherlands Age: 40 Posts: 5,888	When I was fed up with the computer I usually resorted to typing all sorts of things, which in turn led to the computer telling me "Command not recognized" (or your "Bad command"). Guaranteed fun. DOS gave a whole new ring to the letters CD!

05-05-2004, 09:46 AM	#3
philip Galvatron Join Date: June 24, 2002 Location: aa Posts: 2,101	DOS rocks! It has saved me a lot lately, like an hour ago and last week. Can't remember having a lot of trouble with DOS, though I was only playing games in it on an old 286. Favourite has to be the message you get after the format command. 'All data will be lost, are you sure you want to continue? (y/n) '. Die windows LOL! [ 05-05-2004, 09:46 AM: Message edited by: philip ]

05-05-2004, 02:48 PM	#4
Link Jack Burton Join Date: May 15, 2001 Location: The Netherlands Age: 40 Posts: 5,888	Retro games I used to play in the DOS-age were Commander Keen (especially the fifth one), Civilization and Colonization. There are probably more where those came from, but I can't really remember. It's all a long time ago [img]smile.gif[/img]

05-05-2004, 04:49 PM	#8
dplax Jack Burton Join Date: July 19, 2003 Location: an expat living in France Age: 40 Posts: 5,577	Ah! Colonisation brings back good memories. I played that game for years.

05-05-2004, 06:16 PM	#10
Link Jack Burton Join Date: May 15, 2001 Location: The Netherlands Age: 40 Posts: 5,888	TIM!! Brings back good memories! An abundance of mouse powered engines made bowling balls bounce in the right direction!

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