How to Run DOS Games in DosBox

More Dos games will be featured on this site in the coming months, and it’s only fair that I write up some clear tips on how to play these on modern computers. DosBox is everyone’s favorite MSDOS emulator, and learning how to use it takes but a few minutes.

1. First you’ll need to download DosBox and install it.
2. Create a folder for Dos games on your hard-drive. We’ll assume this folder will be: D:DosGames
3. Copy your Dos games into the folder. If you must install a Dos game from a CD, then please see this tutorial.
4. Open DosBox and type in the following command line, without the quotes: ‘mount c d:dosgames’ + Enter (change according to your Dos games folder)
dos4
5. DosBox will now recognize your ‘dosgames’ folder as C: .Simply type ‘C:’ or just ‘C:’ to enter this directory, as seen above.
6. Enter the game folder of your choice and play the game!

If you do not want to repeat this process every time, open your dosbox.conf file with NotePad and locate [autoexec]. Now add the ‘mount’ command of your choice, as seen below:

dos5

Useful DosBox command lines:

cd [Directoy Name] – Change Directory. Example: ‘cd doom2’ + Enter
cd… – Back to root directory. Example: ‘cd…’ + Enter
dir – Lists all files located in current folder. Example: ‘dir’ + Enter
Up Key – Rewrite latest input command line.
exit – Closes DosBox
Alt+Enter – Switch to fullscreen mode or back to windowed mode.

Performance wise, DosBox can be quite a hassle to run on old computers, especially if you want to play demanding 3D Dos games (eg: Carmageddon, Armored Fist 2, Quake). It’s safe to say that you’ll at least need a computer with a Dual Core processor and at least 2GB DDR2 RAM or more before attempting to run these games.