# qbasic **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2001, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322 "2001-12-06T23:19:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/1 "2001-12-06T23:19:18Z")
what the fuck? i searched my windows 98 system last night for any traces of basic. no luck! when did this happpen? microsoft no longer bundles basic in with ms-dos… er, windows? what are budding programmers to fuck around with? distributed denial of service attacks, i suppose. anyway, gq. where can i find a nice basic or qbasic version to run on my gateway? many thanks, jb ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/2 "2001-12-06T23:47:08Z")
Here’s something, **jb\_farley** : [Rapid-Q BASIC Compiler BETA](http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,10615,64813,00.html). Other shareware & freeware sites may have similar tools. When I wanted to monkey around with QBasic, I just pulled out my old DOS install disks and extracted the files from there. You _do_ still have your install disks from ten years ago, don’t you? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/3 "2001-12-06T23:48:42Z")
My Gateway system is about 2 years old, and I have QBASIC. IIRC I had to install it from the Windows CD. Check there. ---
**Author:** ![aramis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@aramis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aramis)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/4 "2001-12-06T23:58:56Z")
PowerBASIC, which long ago was Borland’s Turbo Basic, has a freeware version available called FirstBasic. You can get it [here](http://www.powerbasic.com/files/pub/) ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/5 "2001-12-07T05:05:36Z")
Most installations of Windows have the Windows Scripting Host, which includes both JScript and VBScript. The latter is a derivative of VisualBasic, and should do the job for you. It is possible that you’ll have to download it from [Microsoft](http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp?url=/downloads/sample.asp?url=/MSDN-FILES/027/001/733/msdncompositedoc.xml&frame=true), but it’s free and it’s probably already on your machine. From a command prompt, type “wscript” to see if the interpreter is installed. VBScript is commonly used in Active Server Pages on Microsoft’s IIS (although that’s changing with their .NET initiatives). And, you might interested to know that WSH supports a whole bunch of other languages, including Perl. Microsoft even demonstrated Cobol once (!). ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/6 "2001-12-07T05:21:43Z")
I just installed qbasic on my computer last night for school.If it’s possible I’d be happy to send you a copy. ---
**Author:** ![n5tp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@n5tp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/n5tp)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2002, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/7 "2002-03-11T02:39:03Z")
It should be on your original Win 98 installation disk under qbasic.exe…190 KB file. Just insert your CD, then click on Start-Find, enter qbasic. TP ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2002, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/8 "2002-03-11T03:38:01Z")
- - - Don’t bother with other “imitation” basics: all the books refer to the MS versions, and the real MS ones are out on the net, available for (illegal) download (-hey, it’s not like _I_ put them there…), and Google knows where they are. You’ll hit some dead ends, but last time I lost my copies I found every version there was, mostly on European-language sites. -To my knowledge, there were no non-English versions, so anywhere you find a reference, try it. - DougC ---
**Author:** ![Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diver)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/9 "2002-03-11T13:04:09Z")
It’s in the “Tools/oldos” folder on the Windows CD. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2002, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/10 "2002-03-11T14:59:08Z")
> [@Diver](#): > > It’s in the “Tools/oldos” folder on the Windows CD. - - - Yes it is, but some disks don’t got none. If you have a proprietary system restore CD (instead of a typical Microsoft CD), it may not have it at all: my 4-yr old Acer Aspire’s CD didn’t, compressed or uncompressed. - DougC ---
**Author:** ![Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diver)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2002, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/11 "2002-03-11T20:57:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DougC \* > \*\* > > > [@Diver](#): > > > > It’s in the “Tools/oldos” folder on the Windows CD. > > - > - > - Yes it is, but some disks don’t got none. If you have a proprietary system restore CD (instead of a typical Microsoft CD), it may not have it at all: my 4-yr old Acer Aspire’s CD didn’t, compressed or uncompressed. - DougC \*\* I do (For Distribution With A New PC Only. …) and it is (on it), however as flaky as Microsoft sometimes is, I am fully prepared to believe you are 100% correct! ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2002, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qbasic/97322/12 "2002-03-12T02:04:44Z")
- - - Oh, that ain’t all! Get this: the Acer system restore CD will not install Win98 onto any other PC’s (I tried it on two different ones, and there’s no “setup.exe” or any similar-functioning program on it…), and the Acer computer will not install Win98 from a _standard_ Windows 98 retail CD (an original MS CD I bought legit). ~ Furthermore, the motherboard will not boot at all unless the original 6 gig HD is connected. (You can connect it as a master or slave, but it must be present) And since there’s nowhere now to get a new (identical) 6 gig HD anymore, once the original HD dies, the computer will be useless. Well, at least the motherboard and case (it’s non-standard, too…) ~ - The PC uses a proprietary motherboard made by Acer, and the BIOS looks for a certain code on the CD, and will not proceed with installation without it. The install routine is buried, scripted, and checks for part of the correct BIOS string. There’s a similar event for the HD. Name-brand computers suck _so_ bad… - DougC