How to Play DOS Games under Windows

MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) has many enjoyable game software titles that may not be playable on Microsoft Windows without having a few changes made to their configuration. Try the following options in order to play a DOS based game on a Windows Operating System:

Compatibility Settings

In Windows, compatibility may be possible with some DOS titles. The process requires having the ability to install the DOS game from the install media or having the game files available to be launched through explorer.

Go to the installation directory for the DOS game that is going to be played. In the installation directory, a series of files are available for browsing. Find the executable file that is used to run the DOS game. Right click on the file (will usually have an “exe” or “bat” extension) and select properties from the drop down menu.

In the DOS game properties menu, select the “Compatibility” tab and under the Compatibility mode check the “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” box and select the lowest version of Windows available (usually Windows 95).

Note: This is a simulation of Windows 95, and will not actually have DOS compatibility when running.

Tweak how Windows handles the game in the same menu under the “Settings” section. Selecting boxes such as “Run in 256 colors” and “Run in 640×480 screen resolution” is usually necessary.

There may also be a “Program” tab available. If so, select it and uncheck the box labeled “Close on exit.” Click on apply to set the settings for this then select “OK” to close the properties. Closing properties upon exit causes the program to close error messages if it suddenly closes. When the box is unchecked, errors are prevented from closing with the DOS game on an error message.

Attempt to run the game from the executable (or the new “bat” file which was created for compatibility information) file. The game may run. If not, try the next method.

Using a DOS Emulator

Dos Emulators are very few and far between. One of the options which have been in development exclusively for DOS game compatibility is DOSBox, available at www.dosbox.com.

Download and install DOSBox that is compatible with your PC.

DOSBox has a command prompt similar to DOS.

Mount the directory to find the installation directory for the game. In order to do this, put in the following command: “Z:>MOUNT C C:GAMEinstallationDIRECTORY” where GAMEinstallationDIRECTORY stands for the directory where the user’s games are located. If using a drive other than “C:” simply input the necessary drive letter in its stead.

The correct directory should look like this- “C:” then input the executable file name as the next command to run the game like so: “C:run.exe”. Remember that some DOS games use a “.bat” or “.com” extension, so consult the game manual in order to run the game properly.

Troubleshooting DOSBox

There are many options for repairing a game that does not initially function. First check to see if the game is compatible or has known issues with DOSBox or the operating system that DOSBox is installed on. This list of games (over 3500 games) can be found at http://www.dosbox.com/comp_list.php.

Note: Games with less than 100% compatibility will more than likely crash at some point.

For additional help with DOSBox, refer to the Frequently Asked Questions that came packaged with the DOSBox installation.