Category Archives: Computing History

Learn Something Old Every Day, Part XII: Strange File Resizing on DOS

Posted on June 7, 2024 by Michal Necasek

Someone recently asked an interesting question: Why do Microsoft C and compatible DOS compilers have no truncate() and/or ftruncate() library functions? And how does one resize files on DOS? OK, that’s actually two questions. The first one is easy enough … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing History, CP/M, Development, Documentation, DOS, Microsoft | 29 Comments

IDLE DR-DOS

Posted on May 13, 2023 by Michal Necasek

I have a laptop. Sometimes I run VMs on it, and some of those VMs run DOS. When a DOS VM does not have any power management, the laptop quickly lets me know by kicking up the fan speed. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing History, Development, Digital Research | 11 Comments

A wunderBAR Story

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Michal Necasek

Or, what should be broken became solid, and what should be solid became broken. While searching for something completely different, I came across a fascinating story of the “wunderBAR”. Since the story is very short, I’ll quote it here in … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing History, Corrections | 21 Comments