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    DOS games on XP

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by leumas614, Aug 18, 2005.

  1. leumas614

    leumas614 Newbie

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    Can you install DOS games on Windows XP? For example, will Warcraft II work on my laptop?
     
    leumas614, Aug 18, 2005
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  2. gilo

    gilo Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    search for "dos box" & simillar emus on google ..
     
    gilo, Aug 18, 2005
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  3. Spare Tire

    Spare Tire Notebook Evangelist

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    dual boot with windows 98
    hey, it's just 200 megs for the OS
     
    Spare Tire, Aug 18, 2005
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  4. azntiger1000

    azntiger1000 Notebook Deity

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    actually wont all the old games like warcraft work on xp? unless they are super old like doom then i'm not really too sure. wow the good old times :)
     
    azntiger1000, Aug 20, 2005
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  5. Dragon_Myr

    Dragon_Myr Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    Yes. Find their .exe files after install and set them to run compatability mode for windows 98 or something like that (right click > properties > last tab? > compatability modes). It should still work. Some games (Duke Nukem 3d) still throw a fit so google patches, updates, and ports made by users to get these older games working again. I have something for Duke3d that ports the content of the cd over to a more XP-friendly game engine.
     
    Dragon_Myr, Aug 23, 2005
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  6. pygo

    pygo Notebook Consultant

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    depending on the age of the game emulators may or may not be a good idea, i have a few oldies that i ran on emulators and even at the absolute lowest settings the game was waay to fast to enjoy.
     
    pygo, Aug 23, 2005
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  7. sanpabloguy

    sanpabloguy Notebook Deity

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    Just came across this thread and it answered my question perfectly (make the compatibility change to the .exe file, not the shortcut). Not to resurrect a dead thread, but per pygo's post, there is one app I know of that can slow things down. I've never tried it and have no info on it. But if someone else wants to give it a try, it's at: http://www.cpukiller.com/

    The referral for it came from this Microsoft article:

    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/games/expert/durham_og.mspx
     
    sanpabloguy, Sep 26, 2006
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  8. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

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    Most games will run directly under XP. Sometimes, you'll need to enter properties for the .exe file and set it to run in compatibility mode, but you can usually get games running. However, they might run insanely fast, and they usually have no sound.

    For full compatibility, use DosBox.
     
    Jalf, Sep 26, 2006
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  9. Thaenatos

    Thaenatos Zero Cool

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    Yes dos games will work on xp. XP uses whats call a ntdvm or 16bit shell to run 16bit apps. When you go to run and type cmd to get the command prompt it opens a NTDVM. I ran warcraft 1 on my xp machine and it worked just fine, although the scroll was a little fast for comfort. If you have issues running it normal try running it in compatibility mode. But I think youll be just fine.


    eidt: WOW dead indeed, I should pay more attention to time stamps...
     
    Thaenatos, Sep 26, 2006
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  10. sheff159

    sheff159 Notebook Deity

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    Yeah DOS games work in XP. I was having a conversation with my room mate about when we were kids. Dinosaur Park Tycoon came up in the conversation, its a really old DOS game. I was in 2nd grade when I played it. So I searched the web and found it on a site, downloaded it, and then played it. Worked fine.
     
    sheff159, Sep 26, 2006
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  11. sanpabloguy

    sanpabloguy Notebook Deity

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    Just installed Heretic II, set compatibility to Win98 and it runs perfectly. What a hoot!
     
    sanpabloguy, Sep 27, 2006
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  12. l33t_c0w

    l33t_c0w Notebook Deity

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    some dos games work, and others don't. dosbox is a great program that you can run a lot of stuff with pretty well, provided you tinker with the settings file. (I was playing daggerfall in it a bit ago. i imagine i will do so again when i feel so inclined.)
     
    l33t_c0w, Sep 27, 2006
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  13. Thaenatos

    Thaenatos Zero Cool

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    I remember playing that game in middle school on the crappy MACs we had. I wish I remebered the $5000 money cheat....err I mean glitch :D
     
    Thaenatos, Sep 27, 2006
    #13