CREEPINGNET'S WORLD
DOCUMENTS
This is where you'll find documents, tutorials, knowledgebases, and other stuff I've written regarding vintage computers on this site. All of the material concerns IBM Compatible MS-DOS/Windows machines, usually 80486 and older. Most of this is stuff that has come from decades of experience with tech old and new, as new developments for old computers continually come all the time. As of October 2022, I have organized things further into subfolders because the "docs" folder here has become such a huge mess of pictures, documents, and other stuff. Each section now has a main page to pick from.
SECTION LINK/NAME DESCRIPTION
DOS
Basically, this page now deals strictly with FreeDOS, which is the Free Open Source Software (FOSS) Operating System I currently use on ALL Creeping Network PC's as of 2026. To me, this is the way of the future for Retro-Computing on 486 and older desktop PCs in the mid 21st century. So far, I've been able to figure out ways around the issues with FreeDOS and it's slowly beginning to nullify my *need* to use any legacy Microslop OS on these PCs, allowing them to join the FOSS fold with my modern PCs. I'm even working on optimizations for the Tandy 1000 series now.
GENERAL STUFF A General section for newbies to vintage PC's and the various what, how, where, when of them. I'm aware a lot of the people taking this up now are of a much younger age and did not grow up in the age of IBM Compatible pre-Pentium PC's like I did. There's a lot that's different, just as much that's much the same as a modern PC, and a whole lot of interesting details and idiosyncracies that seem normal to someone seasoned like me, but seem weird to other people who have been at this a much shorter time. This section can be (but is not limited to): thoughts about vintage computing in the range I'm interested in, guides on stuff, thoughts on the future, new products, and some really, really basic introduction stuff like how to find old PC's in the wild without a mocodum of experience with vintage hardware.
HARDWARE My various writings on hardware. That's what I came to be known for for a time, as a hardware tinkerer pushing these things to do things that their designers probably never intended them to do. This includes a mix of things like, installing ginormous hard disks into ancient PCs, hardware and firmware settings, various wiring stuff. Just whatever I happen to mess with and feel is worth writing about. I'm not reinventing the wheel here, but I am going to talk about cases, form factors, power supplies, CPUs, RAM, motherboards, expansion cards, sound cards, video standards, and all sorts of other stuff. This is really my bread and butter when it comes to vintage computers. It also includes some specific makes/models of computer in there so that we can explore the weirder/rare/more esoteric stuff that I'm into such as the NEC Versa Laptops, NanTan, or even some delving into the Tandy 1000 line.
NETWORKING This section goes into the unique caveats of networking vintage IBM Compatibles on the modern network and internet. While many armchair infosec dweebs spend their time screaming "securiteez" into their FUD powered megaphones, I'm here to tell you a vintage machine can be secure - but to a point - on the modern web and otherwise, modern networks. I'm also going to go over interfacing with modern technologies, and even some legacy technologies to interface with on modern hardware. We migth start exploring newer products more and more.