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DarkmanX207
join:2001-07-29
Canada

DarkmanX207

Member

Can't run DOS games under windows ME. Please help.

Hello everyone, I tried playing a few old DOS games on Windows ME the other day, but I always get this warning:

"Program Requires MS-DOS Mode"
MS-DOS Prompt may not run well unless it is run in MS-DOS mode. Do you want to change its shortcut properties to always make it run in MS-DOS mode?

If I select yes, then I get this "Select MS-DOS Configuration Options" window with all these options.

If I select no, the screen will flicker and then it will flicker again and I'm back to where I was.

Sometimes, it will run, but the sound will be distorted and the desktop will also be all distorted If I press Alt+TAB to switch back and forth.

Can anyone here please help me out? Lately I've been posting a lot because of my cousin, Who's created so many problems on my computer. I was able to fix most of them, but I have no idea what to do about this. It was working fine a while back, and I would really appreciate it if someone could help out...

rtoday
join:2000-11-05
California

rtoday

Member

Time to update your games.

Here are some words of explanation and maybe some help from:
»www.webtechgeek.com/Wind ··· bout.htm

"Running DOS Programs
DOS applications that run in virtual mode should still work fine in Windows Me. However, applications that require real mode (that is, they are designed to install as a DOS application before Windows starts) will no longer run. Your DOS programs may work better if you set the MS-DOS properties to ignore Windows. Do this by opening the DOS console and then clicking the Properties button in the toolbar (it looks like a hand holding a piece of paper). On the Program tab, mark “Prevent MS-DOS-based programs from detecting Windows” and click OK.

In the Program tab of the MS-DOS Prompt Properties dialog box, mark “Prevent MS-DOS-based programs from detecting Windows.” It may also help to make the above changes to the Properties for the pif file associated with your application.

Setting Environmental Variables
Some DOS programs require you to set specific environmental variables in order for your video adapter or sound card to work. Instead of editing autoexec.bat or config.sys, you now set these variables using the System Configuration Utility. To open it, click Start—>Programs—>Accessories—>System Tools—>System Information—>Tools—>System Configuration Utility, or just click Start—>Run, type msconfig, and click OK. This dialog box has a new Environment tab for setting environmental variables. For example, if your old DOS program requires a statement such as FILES=x or Country=x, or if you want to modify PATH, you can do that on the Environment tab.

Use the Environment tab of the System Configuration Utility to change or add environmental variables."


[text was edited by author 2002-07-05 19:08:28]

Spectre1966
Premium Member
join:2001-06-07
Wallingford, CT

Spectre1966 to DarkmanX207

Premium Member

to DarkmanX207
Try booting up your system with a boot disk instead and playing that way. Thats how I get my Win98 system to play some of the older games.

Stec$
Coke Addict
Premium Member
join:2002-05-23
Welland, ON

Stec$

Premium Member

Same problem here. My Duke Nukem game is dos, for some reason it plays when it wants to but never with sound.

Spectre1966
Premium Member
join:2001-06-07
Wallingford, CT

Spectre1966 to DarkmanX207

Premium Member

to DarkmanX207
If you play these games in "pure DOS", you need to make sure the drivers for your soundcard are loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file or you wont have sound. Im guessing that if your mobo has on-board sound then this isnt necessary.
DarkmanX207
join:2001-07-29
Canada

DarkmanX207

Member

You're right, my sound card is on board. But I don't think that it's working properly with DOS. Is there a way of checking to see if it is configured with Autoexec.bat ??
DarkmanX207

DarkmanX207

Member

I just looked and I can't find Autoexec.bat anywhere in the C:\ directory.
DarkmanX207

DarkmanX207

Member

My bad, never mind, it was hidden. Sorry about that...

Spectre1966
Premium Member
join:2001-06-07
Wallingford, CT

Spectre1966 to DarkmanX207

Premium Member

to DarkmanX207
If you dont have the file, you could create one, however, without knowing the specifics about your on-board sound [DOS drivers, IRQ, DMA...] it will be impossible to run from a pure DOS environment.

What you can try is to make a CONFIG.SYS file that loads the DOS memory managers and see if that helps you run the game in Windows.

Sample CONFIG.SYS:

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM
DOS=HIGH,UMB
FILES=75
BUFFERS=40
STACKS=0,0
LASTDRIVE=Z

Make this file and drop it in your root directory. Reboot and try running your game from Windows.

rtoday
join:2000-11-05
California

rtoday to DarkmanX207

Member

to DarkmanX207
I believe that you'll find that the traditional autoexec.bat and config.sys files (even if they seem to exist) aren't able to successfully be modified because ME doesn't even parse config.sys and rewrites them at startup based on registry contents. Native ME doesn't support real mode drivers. Therefore, certain games that run only in real mode might only run if the correct settings are made in the Environment tab, where you can choose to "hide" Windows from the application. That's no guarantee, though.

There are some patches available to modify command.com, io.sys, and regenv32.exe to change ME to behave like earlier 9x, but use those at your own risk.

When you saw the prompt: "Select MS-DOS Configuration Options," there's also where you can make some adjustments based on the application's requirements.

Some more info and a couple of tips on modifying the ME registry are at:
»www.computerhope.com/iss ··· 0361.htm

[text was edited by author 2002-07-05 22:58:14]