---
title: "INSERT DISK 2"
url: https://manvsmidi.com/projects/insert-disk-2/
category: experiment
status: playable
date: 2026-07-13
tags: [web, simulation, dos]
play: https://manvsmidi.com/play/insert-disk-2/
related: [life, turfmaster, evonet]
---

# INSERT DISK 2

> A web page that recreates installing a 1990s PC game under MS-DOS, from the BIOS beep and the IRQ/DMA settings to the "Please insert Disk 2 of 9" prompt. It invents a new fake game on every load.

Experiment · Playable · 2026-07-13

**Play in the browser:** https://manvsmidi.com/play/insert-disk-2/

A reenactment of installing a PC game from floppies (or a CD-ROM) in the 1990s. It boots through a fake BIOS POST and MS-DOS, `INSTALL.EXE` runs on its own, and from there it's your job to get the thing installed.

## What you do

1. Accept the license and pick Typical, Full, Compact or Custom.
2. Edit the destination path.
3. Configure the sound card: choose the card, set the IRQ, DMA and I/O port, and press Test Sound. If the settings are wrong you get the classic "no card detected" error. Auto-Detect also works.
4. Watch the files copy, with an overall progress bar and a per-disk one.
5. Swap disks when it asks, and get through the occasional read error.
6. Reach `INSTALLATION COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY` and launch the title screen.

![The Sound Card Configuration dialog with Sound Blaster 16 at port 0x240, IRQ 7, DMA 1, and a green line confirming Auto-Detect found it](https://manvsmidi.com/_astro/sound-card.BOt5sYbX.png)
*Sound card setup after Auto-Detect. Set the IRQ or DMA wrong by hand and Test Sound reports no card.*

## The game is made up

Every load generates a different fictional game: genre (3-D action, graphic adventure, RPG, space sim, racing, RTS, pinball), title, publisher, release year, disk count and system requirements. Add `?seed=` and any string to the URL to get the same game every time. The current seed is shown on the welcome and title screens.

## Details

- It's one self-contained HTML file with no dependencies and no network calls, so it also works offline.
- PC-speaker beeps, floppy-drive grinding and a Sound Blaster FM test jingle are all synthesized with the Web Audio API. Sound starts on your first keypress or click.
- Everything works from the keyboard (Enter, Esc, arrows, Tab, Space) or the mouse.
- There's a CRT scanline flicker you can turn down, and a sound toggle.

Nothing is actually written to disk.

## Connected projects

- [LIFE](https://manvsmidi.com/projects/life/index.md): linked
- [TurfMaster Pro](https://manvsmidi.com/projects/turfmaster/index.md): shared tags: simulation
- [EvoNet](https://manvsmidi.com/projects/evonet/index.md): shared tags: simulation