8525 Starter Diskettes

To configure the various hardware aspects and options of your Model 25, you will need the starter disk that is appropriate for your machine. The 25-XT, 25-286 and 25SX all use a different starter disk and they are not interchangeable with each other.

EduQuest Machines DO NOT use starter diskettes. They have built in setup programs.

Why do I need a starter disk?

The starter disk is the equivalent of a "system setup" for your Model 25. From it you can set the time and date, run diagnostic programs, prepare hard disks for an operating system and do some other things.

It is better to make the disk now and have it handy than it is to make configuration changes and have to hassle with making the diskette or finding it just so you can finish up and use your computer again.

Making Starter Diskettes

A couple of basic rules apply here:

You may make the starter diskette on any MS-DOS or compatible system. This includes Windows 9x, Windows Me, and also the Windows NT (NT3/4, 2000, and XP) systems.

If you store the file in a path with long file names and you're using a Windows NT box, the self-extractor programs will appear not to work. This is because those programs are actually two in one programs. One half is DOS and the other OS/2. On a true DOS system, the OS/2 half is simply ignored. On Windows-NT family products, however, there is an OS/2 subsystem that sees the OS/2 parts of the self-extractor and NT then treats it as an OS/2 program. For some reason, the program just terminates and does nothing. You can solve this one of two ways:

Make sure that all the directories leading up to the one where the file is stored are no longer than 8 characters in length. A simple way to insure this is to temporarily put the self-extractor in your root directory.

If you don't wish to move the file, simply open up a command prompt window, navigate to the directory where the self-extractor is stored and key in FORCEDOS programname.exe
The extractor will then run.

Do not look at the diskette's contents under Windows 9x/Me or NT4 and higher systems...you will end up writing over some special ID bytes on the diskette and though it will still work, your PS/2 won't know that it is "special" in the case of configuration troubles. If you want to explore the diskette's contents (none of which are really exciting anyways), write protect the diskette first.

Now, on to selecting the diskette you need to make...

Make sure the diskette you select is a fresh diskette or one with no errors or data on it.

For the 8525-XT models, you need this image file. A separate extractor program will expand this file for you...and I will be posting a link to that shortly. Note that this file REQUIRES you to use a low density, 720 Kilobyte capacity 3.5" diskette.

TeleGet Program (needed to extract the file you will download below, instructions are here)
Model 25 XT

(To download the TGSFX.COM file you may have to force your browser to do a binary download, otherise display garbage will appear.)

Both 25-286 and 25SX models have high density disk drives and the disk images are also self-extractors, meaning that you won't have to fuss with running a separate program to expand the contents of the file to a diskette. You will need 1 3.5" 1.44MB diskette for each of these systems.

25-286 Starter Disk
25SX Starter Disk

Using the Diskette

Have you read Quick and Dirty setup? It's highly recommended reading if you're just getting started with your 25.

Once the diskette has been created, pop it out of the drive and into your model 25. Check the voltage switch on the back of the machine, plug it in, turn it on, insert the diskette and wait. In a moment you should see a memory count on the screen. You might also see errors. Let the diskette boot.

If you see errors, run diagnostics from the diskette. This will help you figure out what is wrong.

If you don't see errors, simply look around the diskette to see what your options are and what you can do. You won't mess anything up just by looking and looking through the contents of the disk to see what you can do beats writing up a small book here to explain everything about the different systems to you.

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