mTCP NetDrive is a DOS network client that maps a remote disk image to a local drive letter — just like a real floppy or hard drive, but served over modern TCP/IP. Write a command, press Enter, and the disk appears as D: (or any letter you choose). No downloading. No extracting. No emulators. Just DOS doing what DOS does.
The X86.WORLD public server hosts a curated collection of preserved vintage floppy disk images — cover disks from PC magazines of the 1980s and 90s, as well as any number of historically significant, or period-curiosos, captured directly from original media using a Greaseweazle flux reader. Every image on the server has been catalogued, SHA-256 verified, and AV scanned.
The X86.WORLD private servers host your very own NetDrives allowing you to share storage amongst your vintage machines with ease, curate offsite backups, take advantage of state-of-the-art virus scanning and backups, and support one of the coolest endeavours on the planet (archiving cover disks!).
Real DOS access. Works in FreeDOS, MS-DOS 3.3+, PC-DOS — any DOS with a packet driver and mTCP configured.
Read-only & safe. The server is read-only. You can read, copy, and run files but nothing you do can modify the archive.
No download required. Access the disk directly over the network. Copy individual files to your local drive whenever you want.
Genuine preservation. Raw flux captures converted to .IMG — the same format your DOS machine expects from a real floppy controller.
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| DOS machineREQUIRED | Real hardware, VM (VirtualBox, 86Box, PCem), or DOSBox-X with NE2000 networking |
| Packet driverREQUIRED | Appropriate for your NIC. Most ISA/PCI cards are supported. DOSBox-X includes one built-in. |
| mTCP suiteREQUIRED |
Free download from Michael Brutman's site: https://www.brutman.com/mTCP/ |
| MTCP.CFGREQUIRED | mTCP configuration file with your IP settings. Run DHCP from the mTCP suite to auto-configure. |
| Free drive letterOPTIONAL | Any unassigned letter (D:, E:, F: etc.). Set LASTDRIVE=Z in CONFIG.SYS to maximise options. |
Connect to whichever server is closest to you for the best latency. All servers carry the full disk archive and are kept in sync with the master. More mirrors are coming online — check back soon.
| Address | Location |
|---|---|
| disks.x86.world:2002 | London, UKMASTER |
| disks.uk-lon.x86.world:2002 | London, UKMIRROR |
| disks.us-sea.x86.world:2002 | Seattle, USAMIRROR |
More mirrors coming online soon. Substitute any server address into the NETDRIVE CONNECT command.
Grab the latest mTCP package from
brutman.com/mTCP.
Extract to a directory on your DOS machine — C:\MTCP\ works well.
The package includes NETDRIVE.EXE, DHCP.EXE, and all other tools you need.
Before running any mTCP tool, your packet driver must be loaded.
Consult your NIC's documentation or add the load command to your
AUTOEXEC.BAT. Example for a common NE2000-compatible card:
IRQ and I/O address will vary by card and jumper settings.
If your network has a DHCP server (most home routers do), simply run:
This creates or updates MTCP.CFG with your IP, gateway, and DNS.
Set the MTCPCFG environment variable to point to it:
Add both lines to AUTOEXEC.BAT to run automatically on boot.
Visit the X86.WORLD disk archive from any modern browser to find the image you want to mount. Each disk page shows its contents, file listing, and the exact connect command to use:
Use NETDRIVE CONNECT with the server address, the image filename,
and the drive letter you want to assign:
Replace <imagename.img> with the filename shown on the disk's catalogue page.
Replace <D:> with any free drive letter on your system.
You can substitute any mirror address in place of disks.x86.world:2002 — see the Available Servers section above.
For example, to mount the PC Plus Issue 33 cover disk as drive D:
The drive is now live. Change to it, list the contents, copy files, or run programs directly — exactly as you would with a physical floppy:
Catalogued vintage floppy images — cover disks, utilities, games, and more.
Every disk listed with full contents, SHA-256 manifest, and a ready-to-use connect command.
http://dl.x86.world · Open in any browser