NTFS volumes not readable in DOS

[Conrad Woo]

I wanted to update the firmware for my CD-RW drive, and
it tells me I have to enter real dos-mode to get it.
However, when I enter DOS mode thru a boot disk, it tells
me that my drives are not FAT or FAT32 compatible. I can
understand that because my drives are NTFS, but I can't
do anything in DOS but view the A: and the diagnostic
files which are copied to C:. How do i actually enter
dos mode then with NTFS partitions?

 

[Ken Blake]

In

You can't, DOS can't read an NTFS volume.

There is, however, third-party software that can be run after a
boot to a DOS diskette that enables it to see NTFS partitions.
One such program is called NTFSDOS. I've looked at it, but
although I can verify that it does work, I don't have enough
experience with it to comment on how good it is.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I wanted to update the firmware for my CD-RW drive, and
it tells me I have to enter real dos-mode to get it.
However, when I enter DOS mode thru a boot disk, it tells
me that my drives are not FAT or FAT32 compatible. I can
understand that because my drives are NTFS, but I can't
do anything in DOS but view the A: and the diagnostic
files which are copied to C:. How do i actually enter
dos mode then with NTFS partitions?

Really the idea is that you do not. You can do needed repair work on XP
by booting its CD to 'recovery console' mode. And if you need to run
DOS programs in true 'real mode' then make a separate FAT 32 partition
(which need not be big) for them, and boot a DOS startup floppy, eg a
Win98 one.

There is a free add-on for a DOS boot floppy that will allow read access
to NTFS partitions, at http://www.ntfs.com/products.htm

Anything to give write access from DOS is going to be very expensive