DVX
===

DVX is a graphical desktop for DOS: windows, a Program Manager, a File
Manager, a Notepad, a Terminal, DVX BASIC, and more.


What you need
-------------

  * DOS on a 386 or newer (486 recommended, Pentium for the best speed)
  * A video card with VESA BIOS Extensions 2.0 or newer (linear frame
    buffer); a VESA driver such as UNIVBE works with older cards
  * 4 MB of extended memory (8 MB or more recommended)
  * A two-button mouse and its DOS driver
  * About 12 MB of free space on the hard disk (14 MB with the base set
    of fonts, 22 MB with all the fonts)


Installing
----------

From the CD: change to the CD drive and type SETUP, for example

    D:
    SETUP

From floppy disks: put Disk 1 in drive A: and type

    A:
    SETUP

Setup shows the licence, asks for the folder to install DVX in (C:\DVX
unless you change it) and which fonts to install, checks the free
space, and unpacks DVX. With floppies it asks for each disk it needs in
turn. Setup can also add a line to AUTOEXEC.BAT so DVX starts with the
computer; it shows the line first and keeps a copy of the old file as
AUTOEXEC.DVX.

The fonts: None keeps DVX to its own font; the base set adds DejaVu
Sans, Sans Mono, and Serif in all their styles (about 2 MB); All adds
every font that comes with DVX (about 8 MB). A program that asks for a
font you did not install shows its text in DVX's own font, unless it
carries that font itself. Each font file holds the licence of the font
it was made from. With None or the base set, Setup does not ask for the
last floppy disks, which hold only fonts.

Setup never writes to the CD or the floppy disks.


Upgrading or repairing
----------------------

Run Setup again and choose the same folder. Setup asks whether to keep
your settings (the CONFIG folder); say Yes to upgrade or repair DVX and
keep them. Setup starts with the fonts the folder already has; choose
others to add fonts or remove them.


Removing DVX
------------

Run SETUP.EXE in the DVX folder (for example C:\DVX\SETUP) and choose
Uninstall. Setup removes the files it installed and, if you ask, your
settings; files you added yourself stay. It can also take the DVX line
out of AUTOEXEC.BAT.


Starting DVX
------------

Type C:\DVX\DVX (or the folder you chose). If DVX cannot use the
display mode in its settings, hold down Shift while it starts, or type
DVX /SAFE, to start it in 640x480.


Unattended install
------------------

    SETUP /AUTO=C:\DVX [/FONTS=NONE|BASE|ALL] [/LOG=C:\SETUP.LOG]

installs without asking (the licence is taken as accepted, settings are
kept on an upgrade, and AUTOEXEC.BAT is not changed). /FONTS chooses the
fonts; without it Setup installs the fonts the folder already has, or
all of them in a new folder. The exit code is 0 when DVX was installed.


DVX is free software under the MIT licence (see the licence in Setup).
Copyright 2026 Scott Duensing.
