COAST, http — ftp, now part of CERIAS at Purdue University. Inactive since 2000, few of the original DOS programs remain. The original COAST's SimTel archive was very similar – but not identical – to Simtel.Net's.

Garbo, maintained by Prof. Timo Salmi at the University of Vaasa, Finland. Large selection of quality DOS freeware and shareware programs, many not available elsewhere. New files activity low. The Main page at U. Vaasa has lots of info. For most efficient downloading, go to the garbo mirror that is closest to your own location: List of sites is on More Resources - 2.

gatekeeper.research.compaq.com, http — ftp, hosted by Compaq Corporate Research, has collections of programs and information from Compaq, DEC, Usenet and others. Search / info page.

Goodie Domain Service (GDS), http — ftp, hosted by Vienna Technical University, Austria. This site has a huge collection of Open Source and other free software. Main info page.

HENSA micros, ftp (no http access), now part of the UK Mirror Service archives, has Software for DOS and other OSes, in many categories. No longer maintained, but definitely worth a look,

ibiblio, http — ftp, hosted by the University of North Carolina (US). "The public's library and digital archive" has important collections of free software: Linux, GNUish, and more. Then there's the rest of human knowledge and culture. A site for everyone. Index / News / Search page.

The JISC National Mirror Service, http — ftp — rsync, "providing the UK academic community with high-speed, highly available mirrors of free software resources that originate on remote sites", is a huge site under active maintenance. It has less older software than the UK Mirror Service has. Use the http link to see the Index / News / Search page.

LEO – Link Everything Online, auf Deutsch oder/or in English, is hosted by the Dept. of Computer Science at the Munich University of Technology. It has software collections, English<>German and French<>German dictionaries, encyclopedias, University information, and much more.

Relcom's Kiarchive, http — ftp. This Russian archive contains many programs from Central and Eastern European developers. New DOS files activity low. Index / News page (in Russian & English).

PC-BLUE, ftp (no http access), now part of the UK Mirror Service archives, is a very old (1982 up to 1991) and historically interesting collection of PC shareware & freeware: PC-TALK circa 1982, an early DOS PAC-MAN... even some CP/M files mixed in the early material.

Planet Mirror, http — ftp. This Australian site has a large collection of mirrors and other archives. It also has a variety of levels of service, with free downloads for individual users, and paid extra features available. Use the http link to see the info / news / search page.

Simtel.Net still has a very large selection of DOS programs. New DOS files activity low-moderate (and, since 2001, with no index files at some sites, difficult to track). For most efficient connection, go to the Simtel.Net mirror that is closest to your own location: List of sites is on More Resources - 2.

The Slovak Antivirus Center (SAC) archive, actively maintained by Peter Hubinsky, has many DOS programs from developers in Central and Eastern Europe. DOS and WIN programs are not separated. New DOS files activity moderate. For most efficient connection, go to the SAC mirror that is closest to your own location: List of sites is on More Resources - 2. For easy offline browsing, get one of the SACVIEW programs: The DOS version is an index file reader with search, and other information; the Windows version adds a nice ftp client that can get files from any SAC mirror site. Downloads: sacdos.zip (33K) — sacwin.zip (412K) — sacftp.zip, current index file in plain text, updated often (~400K) — sacnew.zip, latest additions only, plain text (4-10K). There is also an online search page.

Software Paradise, English — Magyar, hosted by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. A nice collection of software for DOS & other OSes, special subjects, mirrors, docs, and links to other sites.

The SUNET FTP archive, http — ftp, hosted by the Swedish University Computer Network, has another excellent collection of mirrors, mostly of computer-related sites. Info / News / Search page.

SWITCHmirror, http — ftp, is a service of SWITCH, the Swiss Education & Research Network. It has some old, but still useful DOS and Win3 software collections, as well as current mirrors of important international sites. Search page.

The UK Mirror Service, http — ftp — rsync, "is provided by the Computer Science Department of the University of Kent, primarily for the benefit of the Kent community, the UK free and open source software communities and academic users in general." Huge assortment of old and new software for many platforms. Don't miss this one. Use the http link to see the news / search page. Note: HENSA micros, PC-Blue (see above), and a few other directories are accessible by ftp only.

University of Köln (Cologne), Germany, http — ftp. While relatively small, the actively maintained MSDOS collection is current and carries many excellent programs not stored on the other big sites, e.g., many files listed in these pages and difficult to locate elsewhere.

Jem E. Berkes's PC-tools.net is the home of small and efficient DOS and Win programs, some free, some shareware. "We believe that software should be simple, reliable and efficient. While today's software industry tends to value cosmetics and feature-overload, we hope to offer you a fresh alternative: simple solutions that work well! If you find this software useful please show your support by purchasing a trialware application or by making a donation." See Blackout — Capture — Dir2Web — Sequence — Power Menu — WIPE (2)  in these pages.

BTTR Software produces original, thoroughly documented software for DOS. Their site also has links to others with assemblers, compilers and other programmers' tools, drivers, docs & more. See BOOTMGR — DRVEXCH — TP7P5FIX — X (eXtract byte sequences) — A fix for the RENAME bug in OEM DR-DOS 7.04/7.05  in these pages.

Charles Dye's Freeware, FreeDOS and 4DOS-related stuff ("This page best viewed with EDLIN") is home to original software, info and links to still more good sites. See 4DOS.HLP — ATTRIB — CAL (3) — CHKSUM — CMOS — DELTREE — Locate, part 1 — Locate, part 2 — MDIR — Touch  in these pages.

Bob Ferguson's Freeware has a variety of programs for DOS & Windows – math utils, text editors & filters, programmers' tools & more. See EditV — Filter — FMORE — PICK — wc24  in these pages.

Brian Friesen's Freezerware is a collection of programs in pairs for 16-bit DOS and the Win32 console, as well as others for the Win32 GUI. See MultiCopy & MultiMove — MultiDelete — Swap — Tee — Sweep  in these pages.

Oliver Fromme doesn't do DOS anymore, but his older programs were built to last. See HD-COPY — LINK/LN — QPNG/386  in these pages.

Martin Goebbel's Order of the Command Line: "It took humankind obviously a long time to go from cave drawings to written Language and it seems that the Computer Industry will need only a very short time to take humankind back to the cave drawings." But until then, the site has useful downloads & other links. See CDPTSR — HList  in these pages.

Bruce Guthrie's Utilities, for DOS only, are so good that most of them are listed here. See CHANGE — CONVERT (3) — DATES — DIRCOMP — DIRTOTAL — FILL — FIXTEXT — FORTUNE — PAGINATE — READ  in these pages.

Philip Helger (PHaX) is the author of some of the best programs listed here, and his site has even more good stuff for DOS and Windows. See BP7PAT — FArc — GetTyp  in these pages.

Jason Hood is the author or co-author of many of the programs listed here, and his own active site has even more fine software for DOS and Windows. See CmdEdit — DELEN — DOSLFN — DOSLFNM — MAP — MouseClip — QuickFileCollection — TDE — Text Mode — Time and Date — WIPE — XRD  in these pages.

Sverre H. Huseby's Old Freeware for MS-DOS and MS Windows is another fine and diverse collection of small, fast programs. See DOSED — FORCEXT — MOUSEBUF — SHH ED — XDSKCPY  in these pages.

Bret Johnson's My Programs, http — ftp, are small, fast TSRs written in assembly language (source code available). See CLOCK — SERIAL — SCANCODE — SLOWDOWN  in these pages.

Dutra de Lacerda has both written and recommended programs that are listed here. His own site, The Human-Factor Workshop, in English or/o em Português, features his fine encryption and other software. See Blowfish-CBC — TinyFish  in these pages.

Eric Meyer is a creator of powerful programs coded in tight, efficient assembly language. See CTRLCAPS — EKB — FIXCAPS — MFD — VDE — ZIP  in these pages. Even more programs and info about their author at Short.Stop's Mostly VDE Page.

Stefan Peichl's DOS Palmtop Freeware is not for Hewlett Packard Palmtops only. Small, fast programs written in aseembly language and C-- perform a variety of tasks for PCs from 8088 up. See LxPic — LxVox  in these pages.

ROSE Software Engineering (ROSE SWE), "Always Under Construction :-)   Best viewed with... eyes 2.0!", offers excellent free and paid software. In addition to single programs, a big showcase package RFWT – ROSE SWE Freeware Tools (2005-07-14: v9.00, 4.8MB download) contains 10MB of program binaries, source code and docs. Hundreds of items for DOS / Windows / Linux include AV tools, fractals, games, archive utils, and much more. See RHBVS — RFW  in these pages.

Timo Salmi, administrator of the garbo archive, is a programmer too. See CALPAGE — STATistics — TODAY — Tschek — TS Filters  in these pages.

Horst Schaeffer's Software Pages, in English, or/oder auf Deutsch offer a variety of fast, compact, useful programs for DOS and Windows. See LMOD — PBATS — QECHO — VARSET — 2Calc — Browse — SHOW — GPAGE — PMENUE — WBAT — WCLIP  in these pages.

Klaus Meinhard's 4DOS.INFO is a large resource for 4DOS, and for other subjects: DOS flavors, other software for DOS & Windows, and much more. Also: Downloads, and links to related sites in English and German.

AXCEL216's MAX Speeed has a huge quantity of great tips, bug fixes, other info, links, and some hand-picked software. Covers all MS OSes.

Yves Bellefeuille's Best freeware for DOS and Windows 3.1, is a highly recommended list (plain text, zipped), still the first place to look for a concise, intelligent selection of DOS programs. (Last update was May '97 – some links to files may not work).

Florian Xaver's Club Dr-DOS should be of interest to users of all DOSes, not DR-DOS only. The site, under active maintenance, lists DOSes, other software, and info in English and German.

Completely Free Software (for DOS & Windows) is a 101-page list, mostly of full working programs, with some 'lite' versions of payware or shareware. After payment of a membership fee of US$5.00/month or US$15.00/year (or equivalent in Aus$ or euros), downloads are free and unlimited.

Disk Operating System (DOS) related web sites at Steven Libis's Earthquake City BBS, is another nice links list.

Richard Bonner's DOCTOR DOS BETAMAX'S * DOS SITE *  "All DOS - All Day - Alright!!!"  has tutorials on batch files, switches & more, humor, and lots of links.

Charles Angelich's DOS...the Ghost in the Machine! is dedicated to 16-bit DOS and Win3.x. The site has info, tutorials, reviews and thousands of links to more resources and software.

A. H. Gray, Jr.'s DOS Utilities and Comments has thoughtful reviews, other info, downloads and links to more sites.

DOSNET web ring has a list of websites dedicated to DOS.

Thorsten Duhn's Freeware Guide lists a good selection of newer Win3.x programs; some DOS apps are also listed. Frequent updates. Graphics biased navigation. Text mostly in German – but site is easy to navigate, with the help of program names and important cues ("Home", "download", etc.) in English.

Dev Teelucksingh's Interesting DOS Programs is an excellent selection of programs and resources, mostly freeware. Dev tracks the development of great DOS shareware as well. Site is organized clearly, easy to navigate.

Nerd's Heaven: The Software Directory Directory really is a directory of directories containing vast quantities of software of many types, for DOS and other OSes.

PC Magazine utilities, http — ftp, at the SUNET FTP archive, are the volumes and loose software that used to be on Simtel.net, but aren't anymore. Use the http link to see the info / search page.

The Useful Site has a DOS page that "...features the best DOS tips and utilities to make using DOS as fast and efficent as possible...links to other DOS related sites on the internet."

Daniele Giacomini's The valuable DOS Freeware page lists software for 286 & older CPUs. It should interest the power user, programmer, and DOS network / Internet user.

MSDOS Education Collection, originally hosted by Australian Educational Resources (aeRes). Look for Access and Adaptive Software, which has links to Special Access, Hearing Impairment, Low Vision and Blindness, and Switch Activated Games.

Programs Assist Handicapped w/computers – HEHANDI and Programs & Info for Handicapped – HEDISABL from Alternatives.com, Canada. These are lists of files with descriptions and download links: HEHANDI is software, HEDISABL is mostly informational text files with a few programs.

Blynx: Speech-Friendly Lynx Help Files — "Support files for the text-based web browser Lynx, tailored for the blind and visually handicapped user. Includes basic documentation for the new user, an interactive tutorial, and advanced documentation for power users."

../simtelnet/msdos/handicap/00_index.txt lists and describes 114 programs. Download it now, then use it as a reference when you go to a Simtel mirror site that doesn't have index files anymore.

Maximum Compression "...features benchmarks designed to show/test the best lossless data compression software." Test reports, comparison charts and a downloads page, too.

The COMPRESSION PROJECT in Russian — in English has information on compression methods, comparison charts of prgrams and software. See ERI & ARI in these pages.

An incomplete list of Batch resources on the Web (some of the following sites also have good meta-lists of additional batch resources).

Timo's collection of http links, compiled by Prof. Timo Salmi has a concise list of batch resources. More in these pages from Timo Salmi.

Laurence Soucy's Batfiles: The DOS batch file programming handbook. Laurence also maintains an extensive meta-list of other batch and DOS related sites.

Rob van der Woude's Scripting Pages has DOS and batch tips. (v. comprehensive).

Ted Davis' DOS Batch Language: A Personal View is a detailed manual, covering elementary to advanced use of batch files.

Tom Lavedas' Batch File Applications is a creative collection of batch tips.

Benny Pederson's NOTES ON MS-DOS 6.22 + BATCH programming on Win9X has references & examples.

Gord's World of Batch Files has tips, downloads & links to more sites.

Andrew Malek's DOS and Batch Files Help and Tips has lots of good stuff.

FidoNet's FileGate Archive BFDS file area has FAQs & batch utils.

Howard Eisenberger's Home Page is the gateway to the author's information and links pages, covering TCP/IP under DOS, and other subjects.

REVOBILD: internet access & applications in DOS TEXT MODE has docs and software for text mode and DOS Internet users.

Wayne Buttles's FDISK.COM DOS Internet Pages has downloads, info, and links to more sites.

John Lewis's Internet Programs For DOS also has downloads, info, and links to still more sites.

Short.Stop's Mostly Pegasus Mail Page has information on, and links to, Pegasus Mail and mail-related programs for DOS.

Jeffrey L. Hayes's Tvdog's Archive: Internet Access Programs, http — ftp, has detailed advice on setting up a DOS machine for Internet access, as well as software recommendations and links. (If you go to the ftp site, start by getting the file readme.txt).

DOS Internet Web Ring has a list of websites with info about DOS Internet access (some have general DOS info as well).

Robert G. Durnal's site, My Privacy and Encryption Links and Files, covers everything you need to know on the subject. with descriptions and download links. Some other useful programs are also listed. See a sampling from the site, including the author's own TINYAES, in these pages.

Hobbes, http — ftp, hosted by New Mexico State University, US. While focus is on OS/2, some command line apps are also ported to DOS (and not easy to locate).

Christopher Heng's thefreecountry.com lists compilers, code libraries, emulators, security software, perl scripts, tutorials, documentation and lots more. Concise, informed, first-person descriptions.

Programmer's Heaven is strong in materials and docs for database and Web developers.

An excellent historical discussion of the origins of the Unix tools can be found at Netizens: An Anthology, Chapter 9.

GNUish Project download sites are listed in More Resources - 2.

DJGPP / GNU download sites are listed in More Resources - 2.

GnuWIn32  "provides Win32-versions of GNU tools, or tools with a similar open source licence... native ports... rely only on libraries provided with any standard 32-bits MS-Windows operating system".

Karl M. Syring's GNU utilities for Win32 are open source, native ports of over twenty utils and packages.

Dave Navarro's CMD Tools for OS/2 and Win32 perform a variety of small and large tasks – some but not all progs are Unix-related.

Cygwin is a Linux emulator that runs on Win32. Find ported tools at Red Hat's Cygwin Package List and at ftp://sunsite.dk/projects/cygwinports/.

Dan's Abandonware is an interesting and growing collection of descriptions and screenshots of many classic DOS and Windows applications.

Instead of tossing that old 286 into the toxic waste dumpster, let the little ones use it for fun and learning (they aren't so easily swayed by the "new is better" argument). Check out Each Nerd In His Small Corner, a guide to setting up PCs for young 'uns, with hand-picked games, puzzles, menus, screen savers, etc. (mostly freeware).

DOSGAMES.COM has over 400 free games grouped by categories.

news:comp.archives.msdos.announce is the place to go, to track the latest DOS program uploads to major archives.

news:alt.msdos.batch is an active group for both new and experienced batch file users.

Computing.Net's DOS Standalone Forum is an active (if chaotic) WWW board for posting specific DOS support questions.

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©1994-2004, Richard L. Green.
This Edition ©2004-2005, Richard L. Green and Short.Stop.