I develop under Windows and there is two tools I simply cannot live without
ImDisk (You can emulate any form for disk with this, also floppy, and it works SO well)
HxD (Write to raw sectors of a harddisk, program or file)
Writing a os on windows 8?
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Combuster
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Re: Writing a os on windows 8?
I used to run rawwritewin under windows for accessing actual hardware. That later changed to dd (and mtools) to automate it properly without any manual intervention.
Re: Writing a os on windows 8?
Long time ago I used to do OS dev in DOS and Windows (9x/XP).
At different times I used the following tools in different combinations: MASM, TASM, NASM, Borland/Turbo C/C++, DJGPP, Open Watcom C/C++. From time to time I also booted my stuff from a floppy on a physical computer.
Over time I moved away from DOS (mainly because it's not properly if at all supported in Windows anymore) and mostly from the tools that aren't available either outside DOS or are still not free. I'm left with NASM, Turbo C++ 1.01, Open Watcom C/C++ 1.9 and MinGW on Windows and NASM and gcc on Linux. I run Turbo C++ 1.01 in DOSBox when I need it. I run Ubuntu and my boot-ish/kernel-ish code in VirtualBox on Windows. Fast and easy. I prefer not to use too many 3rd party tools when building the code and I prefer to write simple tools for myself rather than depend on something or someone else.
I now have my own C compiler and I can use it in DOS, Windows and Linux and I can do OS dev using it. I don't need to build a gcc crosscompiler or port in pains the entire glibc or something similarly large and complex. It's easier to deal with smaller and more familiar tools. Of course, the compiler doesn't support some language features and there are some limitations, but it's fairly usable and it can compile itself and produce DOS/COM/MZ-EXE, Windows/PE, Linux/ELF and flat binaries. I might eventually put together a tutorial on doing OS dev with it (I've had a stab at it and my code boots, but I haven't had the time to complete it).
At different times I used the following tools in different combinations: MASM, TASM, NASM, Borland/Turbo C/C++, DJGPP, Open Watcom C/C++. From time to time I also booted my stuff from a floppy on a physical computer.
Over time I moved away from DOS (mainly because it's not properly if at all supported in Windows anymore) and mostly from the tools that aren't available either outside DOS or are still not free. I'm left with NASM, Turbo C++ 1.01, Open Watcom C/C++ 1.9 and MinGW on Windows and NASM and gcc on Linux. I run Turbo C++ 1.01 in DOSBox when I need it. I run Ubuntu and my boot-ish/kernel-ish code in VirtualBox on Windows. Fast and easy. I prefer not to use too many 3rd party tools when building the code and I prefer to write simple tools for myself rather than depend on something or someone else.
I now have my own C compiler and I can use it in DOS, Windows and Linux and I can do OS dev using it. I don't need to build a gcc crosscompiler or port in pains the entire glibc or something similarly large and complex. It's easier to deal with smaller and more familiar tools. Of course, the compiler doesn't support some language features and there are some limitations, but it's fairly usable and it can compile itself and produce DOS/COM/MZ-EXE, Windows/PE, Linux/ELF and flat binaries. I might eventually put together a tutorial on doing OS dev with it (I've had a stab at it and my code boots, but I haven't had the time to complete it).