For IBM DOS version 3.3


Assumption:  The hard drive has either just been low-level formatted, or its partition table is empty.

Requirement:  A DOS 3.3 boot floppy that also contains FDISK.COM and FORMAT.COM


STEP 1: Creating a Partition

This is where a single partition, the size of the hard drive, is created.
It will be flagged as 'active', which means that of all the partitions present (even though in this case there is only one), it will be the partition that is booted from.

1.1   Boot the computer from your DOS 3.3 boot floppy.
1.2   At the A> prompt, enter  FDISK
1.3   Choose option [1]   ("Create DOS partition")
1.4   Choose option [1]   ("Create primary DOS partition")
1.5   When then asked, "Do you wish to use the maximum size ..." question, press the ENTER key to accept the default answer of "Y".
1.6   When prompted, press any key to reboot.


STEP 2: High-Level Format of Partition

This is where we high-level format the partition that we created at STEP 1.
The "/S" portion of the command will add some required boot bits (COMMAND.COM and the two hidden system files) to the partition.

2.1   At the A> prompt, enter   FORMAT C: /S
2.2   At the "Proceed with format ..." question, press the Y key and then the ENTER key.

When formatting is complete, remove the floppy, then reboot the computer.
Your computer should now be booting from the hard drive.