Art Kopp said:
I have an old game that is DOS based that I used to play on my old
Windows 98 computer that I can't figure out how to load on my new
Windows XP system. It would auto load if I recall then to play I
would have to switch over to MS-DOS mode. Now it won't do anything
in my new computer.
What is the command prompt to load a program?
The game was made way back in 1997.
If the game ran in a prior version of Windows but ran WITHIN Windows
then it might run under Windowws XP (in a DOS shell). If the game ran
by switching to real DOS mode (i.e., exiting Windows, leaving a code
stub for reloading Windows, loading a shell, running the game, exiting
the game which unloaded the shell and ran the code stub to reload the
Windows GUI) then it probably will not run under Windows XP. Old DOS
applications that require direct access to hardware probably won't run
under Windows XP. In Windows XP, you could try right-clicking on a
shortcut to run the executable file for the game and trying to use the
Compatibility setting.
If you absolutely must have the game, consider creating a separate
partition (as a FAT32 partition) for it where you install Windows 98 and
the game and using a multiboot manager to select which partition to boot
when you start the system. Do NOT install Windows 98 into the same
partition as where Windows NT/2K/XP is installed as it will step on the
boot sector program in the first sector of that partition and screw up
the other OS. In effect, you have the 2nd computer running Windows 98
that Mike mentions but without the expense of another computer (unless
you already have one laying around unused) although you impact the disk
space available for Windows XP by reducing its partition to create
another one for Windows 98 (unless you get another drive). No point in
getting detailed unless that's the route you want to take.