Virtual serial port to transfer files between Windows and virtualized DOS (dosbox)

To generate a virtual serial port on Windows 10 and use it to enable communication between Norton Commander on your native system and another instance running inside DOSBox, you can follow these steps:

1. Install a Virtual Serial Port Driver: Use a tool like com0com, a kernel-mode virtual serial port driver for Windows, which can create virtual COM port pairs that appear in Windows as if they were real ports connected via a null-modem cable.
   • Download com0com from the official project site on SourceForge.
   • Install com0com, following the installation instructions. During installation, create a pair of virtual COM ports (e.g., COM3 and COM4).
2. Configure DOSBox: Modify the DOSBox configuration to use one of the virtual COM ports created by com0com.
   • Open the DOSBox configuration file (dosbox.conf).
   • Locate the [serial] section, and configure it to use the virtual serial port. For example, you might set serial1=directserial realport:COM3.
   • Save the configuration file.
3. Run Norton Commander in DOSBox: Start DOSBox, and run Norton Commander. It should now be able to communicate via the configured virtual serial port (e.g., COM3).
4. Connect the Native Norton Commander: On your native Windows system, run Norton Commander and configure it to use the other end of the virtual serial port pair (e.g., COM4).

With this setup, both instances of Norton Commander should be able to communicate as if they were connected through a serial connection. You can transfer files or execute commands across this virtual serial link.