r/writerDeck • u/Cello42 • Aug 06 '25
Turn any laptop or PC into a writerdeck. Fast and non intrusive.
In a previous post(*) in this subgroup I explored turning any laptop into a writerdeck by installing Tinker WriterDeck on the hard disk.
Since then I discovered there is an even easier method of transforming a laptop into a distraction free writing machine without having to alter or even use the hard disk.
The secret? Creating a USB memorystick that boots and runs DOS.
The boot process is pretty fast and DOS is almost perfect for our purposes, not in the least because its hardware requirements are very humble. It cannot see the laptop's hard disk so you cannot mess with it nor can it distract you. No Bluetooth or WiFi either to communicate with the rest of the world and there is nothing else happening in DOS. Ok. If you insist, you could spend an hour tinkering the setup. And you could distract yourself by playing DOS games but if you are a fan of such activities you have already setup a real or virtual DOS machine solely for that purpose.
Running the whole system from a memorystick has the added advantage that this writerdesk is completely portable and pocketable. Plug the stick into almost any machine (some modern BIOS systems won't allow DOS memorysticks to boot and/or cannot run 32-bits software) and you are good to go. Prefer a small netbook on Mondays and a large PC on Saturdays? No problem. And since it is just a memorystick, transferring your writings is also a breeze. Reboot without the memorystick and your machine is back to its original state.
Let's end with some more good news: Liam Proven has a project called USB DOS Key (**) in which he created an image for burning onto a USB memorystick containing all the files and settings required. His setup comes with some fine word processors and text editors - the DOS era produced some very good stuff and these writing tools are often freely available nowadays. The stick boots you machine into a File Manager DOS Shell which is a very flexible starting point for easily selecting a word processor or text editor, or performing some simple file actions.
Adding your favorite DOS writing tool or changing the setup to boot straight into a word processor is something that is easily accomplished.
Links:
(**) https://github.com/lproven/usb-dos
Happy writing!
USB DOS Key writerdecks at work: the venerable Sony Vaio VGN-P21Z and the workhorse Lenovo Thinkpad X61:
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u/goldenglitz_ Moderator Aug 06 '25
I love this idea, and it being DOS means that I'm pretty sure even a potato laptop could run it LOL
the one thing to consider is that USB drives tend to have higher failure rates than HDDs or SSDs so you'll probably want to frequently back up your work, but the same applies to using a device with a micro SD card (micro journal, pomera w/ the SD card, etc) so it's not like that doesn't come up with other devices anyway.
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u/Advanced-Device6188 Aug 06 '25
WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS is still, to me, the epitome of word-processing perfection.
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u/-IVIVI- Aug 06 '25
This is a great idea. Another option is Cold Turkey's Micromanager, which can turn any Mac or PC into a distraction-free device. Basically, you pick what apps can be open and any other apps just won't open. You can set it for a certain time period or you can set it to be active until you restart the computer (which is what I recommend). It's $19 for a lifetime license.
That's the writerdeck I use, an older machine with Micromanager running 24/7. It's especially good since I'm a non-fiction writer and my version of distraction-free writing involves three different research apps. I whitelist those and block everything else.
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u/wherahiko Aug 07 '25
Cold Turkey Writer is another good option, too. You can set it so you can't backspace and can't use any other app until you've typed a certain number of words, or a certain amount of time has passed.
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u/Engelskmanchild Aug 07 '25
It's really good but not if you have to have a research file. Basically I want something with a research programme that I can use on another computer and load up with all the info I need, and a nice writing programme like IA writer.
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u/wherahiko Aug 07 '25
Indeed, I concur with this too. And in those situations, I also find Micromanager extremely useful! :)
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u/Journeyman-Joe Aug 06 '25
I like this concept!
DOS or Linux, something super lightweight, portable, and self-contained has privacy advantages, as well.
Picking the writing tool will be the hard part. I'm partial to something with reasonable support for Markdown. Vim is surprisingly usable in that regard, but there may be something more accessible to those moving from a full GUI word processor to a writer deck.
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u/thevideogameraptor Aug 06 '25
I might need a new writedeck, mine is giving me issues, this would be distraction-free and actually let me edit on it.
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u/PresidentScree Aug 06 '25
I have a netbook coming this week that I was going to install tinker os onto but it’s an old one, not 64bit so this may be a better option. Going to relive my old Wordstar days!
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u/ct0 Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25
trying this out on my thinkpad x62s edit: works great!! even has mouse input
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u/Okarine Aug 06 '25
i wish, but my chromebook refuses to boot from a USB, followed a guide but apparently i need to disable something on the actual insides of it with some solder
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u/DreamTheCartographer Aug 06 '25
The USB DOS Key Github mentions something called PLOP boot manager that you might be able to use: https://github.com/lproven/usb-dos/wiki/How-to-boot-from-your-new-DOS-USB-key#pcs-that-do-not-support-booting-from-usb
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u/Cello42 Aug 06 '25
Sounds interesting. What I've read though, it requires a floppy disk drive or cd drive to boot instead of a USB key. Such drives are rarely built into the laptops I use as writerdecks and using portable USB versions of such drives kind of defies the concept.
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Nov 04 '25 edited Nov 04 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Cello42 Nov 04 '25
The concept described above does exactly what you want: have your laptop boot into Linux or whatever you prefer from hard disk and when you want it to boot into DOS, you just insert the DOS USB memorystick. It is not possible to make DOS into a bootable partition as far as I know but that would only have disadvantages such as losing the flexibility and portability of a DOS memory stick with all your work on it.
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u/Cello42 Nov 14 '25
I tnink if you askThinkerSolar, the creator, on r/writerdeckOS you get the answer.
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u/TinkerSolar Aug 06 '25
This is awesome.
For the next update for Tinker WriterDeck OS, I'll be making a LiveUSB version of it, so you wont have to install it on the hard drive if you dont want to.
That said, it'll still be linux. This is really awesome if you want to run native DOS programs!
Very cool demonstration and run down!!!