Helpful Hints for
Amiga Cross-DOS Users

by Adam Trionfo

(1999)

This article was written for a 1999 issue of MAUS Dropping, the newsletter of the New Mexico Amiga Users' Society (NewMAUS).

Lately, I have met Amiga users who are having trouble with Cross-DOS, the program that allows IBM PC disks to be read on an Amiga computer. Two primary problems exist:

  1. The attempted use of IBM-formatted, high-density disks on the Amiga's low-density drive. Use 720K IBM-formatted disks, not high-density disks. Simple.

  2. The second problem is far less obvious. Windows 95, 98 and NT do not format disks in the exactly same way as MS-DOS. Even though MS-DOS has no trouble reading Windows '9x-formatted disks, the Amiga versions of Cross-DOS prior to 7 do, which means that all versions of Cross-DOS included with the Amiga OS will eventually give you problems at some point -- unless you only use MS-DOS.

  3. Formatting a PC disk properly can also be a problem. Here is a quick and easy way to format a 720K PC disk under Windows XP from Run on the Start button: 
    cmd  /k  format a:  /t:80  /n:9
    While the command may look a little different from what you're used to, this will work.

Cross-DOS 7 is the newest version, and is easily obtained from any Amiga dealer. If you need to exchange files with a Windows box, using this program is the way to do it.

Update (March 2012):

      Over the years, Cross-DOS has fallen out of favor. Many Amiga users prefer Fat95, which can be downloaded from Aminet. If you're having troubling finding it there, then here is a local, direct link to version 3.11 of Fat95.