Running DOS Mode in Windows 95
If you're like most Windows 95 users, the only DOS-based applications you still use are games. Although better Windows games are now beginning to appear, the best games were designed to run in DOS prior to the introduction of Windows 95. So, you probably have quite a collection of DOS games that you now want to run in Windows 95.
As you know, Microsoft designed Windows 95 to run almost all DOS applications right from within the Windows 95 Graphical User Interface (GUI), either in a window or in full-screen mode. When you run a DOS application from Windows 95, you'll notice a boost in the program's performance - this is because of Windows 95's 32-bit disk access and enhanced disk caching. Furthermore, the DOS application will speed up by using 32-bit drivers for other devices such as your mouse, sound card, and CD-ROM.
While most of your DOS games should run fine in Windows 95, there are some that just won't cooperate, no matter what you do. Fortunately, you can run those games using other methods.
You can run your DOS games from within Windows 95 using a shortcut, which you can configure for maximum performance. You can try two methods of running those DOS games that won't run in Windows 95 - one method involves using MS-DOS mode and the other a DOS startup. (Tho' this article focuses on DOS games, the techniques are applicable to all DOS-based applications.)
Getting started
To run most of your DOS games right from within Windows 95, simply use Windows Explorer or My Computer to access the folder containing the game's executable file. When you locate the file, just double-click it and the game should launch and run without a hitch.
If Windows 95 displays a message about not having enough memory or if your game runs but performs poorly, you may have a shortage of conventional memory. If so, you should read:
If your DOS game aborts and prompts Windows 95 to tell you it can't run while Windows 95 is loaded, you can skip to the "Preventing Windows Detection" section of this article. Once you perform the steps explained in that section, you can try to run your program again.
If the techniques presented in the "Tweaking Conventional Memory" article and the "Preventing Windows Detection" section don't enable you to run your DOS game in Windows 95, there's still hope. If you find yourself in this situation, you can try the techniques explained in the sections on using MS-DOS mode and a DOS startup.
Using a Windows 95 shortcut
When you launch a game by double-clicking its executable file, Windows 95 should automatically create a shortcut to that executable file. If it does, you'll find the shortcut in that program's folder. If Windows 95 doesn't create the shortcut, you can do so easily. Just right-click the executable file and select the Create Shortcut command on the context menu.
Once you have a shortcut to your DOS game, you can improve the way the game runs in Windows 95. For example, when you exit a DOS game, Windows 95 leaves on the screen a disabled DOS window.
The leftover window is completely useless, and manually closing it is a waste of time. You can bypass this manual operation by configuring the shortcut to automatically close the DOS window when you exit the game.
To do so, right-click your game's shortcut and select the Properties command on the context menu. When the properties sheet appears, select the Program tab and then select the Close on exit check box.
Once you select the Close on exit check box, you won't have to manually close the MS-DOS window after you exit the game.
The MS-DOS window will now automatically close when you exit the game, just like a Windows application. You can take this process one step further and put the shortcut on your Start menu by simply dragging the shortcut from Windows Explorer or My Computer to the Start button. Once you do, you'll be able to launch your DOS game just like a Windows application.
Preventing Windows detection
Many DOS applications, including games, are hard-coded to abort if they detect any version of Windows in memory. If this is the case, you'll see a message to that effect before the application aborts. To deal with these types of programs, Windows 95 provides a special cloaking feature that hides its own presence.
Before you can enable the cloaking feature, you have to create a shortcut to the executable file using the method explained above. Once you have the shortcut, right-click it and select the Properties command from the context menu. When the properties sheet appears, select the Program tab. Then, when the Program page appears, click the Advanced... button to bring up the Advanced Program Settings properties sheet.
For example, suppose that when you launch Heretic, it detects the presence of Windows and aborts. In this case, you'd access its Advanced Program Settings properties sheet. The Advanced Program Settings properties sheet lets you alter the way your DOS application runs.
As you can see, the default setting is Suggest MS-DOS mode as necessary. This is the default setting for all DOS applications and configures Windows 95 to tell you if your DOS application won't run properly in Windows 95. You might have seen a message to this effect if your DOS game refused to run from Windows 95.
To enable the Windows cloaking feature, select the Prevent MS-DOS-based programs from detecting Windows check box. Leave the Suggest MS-DOS mode as necessary check box selected. Then click OK twice - once to close the Advanced Program Settings properties sheet and once to close the main properties sheet. Now try to run your DOS game again.
Using MS-DOS mode
If you just can't seem to make your DOS game run from within Windows 95, you can use a special configuration option called MS-DOS mode. When you configure a DOS game to use MS-DOS mode, it will have exclusive access to system resources just as if Windows 95 wasn't there at all. To achieve this, MS-DOS mode actually unloads all but a 4-KB stub of the Windows 95 GUI and restarts your system with a real-mode MS-DOS shell before it launches your DOS game.
To configure your DOS game to run in MS-DOS mode, you have to create a shortcut to the program's executable file, as explained previously. Once you have the shortcut, right-click it and select the Properties command from the context menu. When the properties sheet appears, select the Program tab. When the Program page appears, click the Advanced... button to bring up the Advanced Program Settings properties sheet.
For example, suppose Heretic won't run on your system from within Windows 95 and you want to set it up to run in MS-DOS mode. To begin, you'd access its Advanced Program Settings properties sheet.
To configure the DOS game to use MS-DOS mode, select the MS-DOS mode check box. When you do, two other options - Warn before entering MS-DOS mode and Use current MS-DOS configuration - will be enabled by default.
The first option forces Windows 95 to display a prompt, before entering MS-DOS mode option when you run the program.
By clicking Yes at this prompt, you give Windows the go-ahead to shut down the GUI, load a real-mode MS-DOS shell, and run the application.
The Use current MS-DOS configuration radio button configures Windows 95 to use your current AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS file settings. In addition, MS-DOS mode runs an AUTOEXEC.BAT-like file called DOSSTART.BAT, which is able to load a DOS CD-ROM extension driver named MSCDEX.EXE or a mouse driver. For the most part, you shouldn't have to alter the DOSSTART.BAT file, but you can use Notepad to see the settings it contains. You'll find the file in your Windows 95 folder.
If the settings in the current configuration files are satisfactory, click OK twice - once to close the Advanced Program Settings properties sheet and once to close the main properties sheet. Now you can try to run your DOS game again.
Customizing the DOS environment
If your DOS game still doesn't run satisfactorily under Windows 95, you can return to the Advanced Program Settings properties sheet and create customized AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. When you use this approach, Windows 95 will actually reboot the system rather than just restart it. When the system reboots, it will use the settings in the customized AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, and the 4-KB stub of the Windows 95 GUI won't be present.
To create customized startup files, select the Specify a new MS-DOS configuration option. When you do, the contents of the CONFIG.SYS for MS-DOS mode and AUTOEXEC.BAT for MS-DOS mode list boxes are enabled.
When you select the Specify a new MS-DOS configuration option, you'll see the contents of the default CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
These list boxes contain several common configuration settings.
You can customize these files for your DOS game by using either of two methods. First, you can directly edit the contents of the CONFIG.SYS for MS-DOS mode and AUTOEXEC.BAT for MS-DOS mode list boxes. To make changes in either list box, simply click in the box and add or delete commands.
For example, if your DOS game needs to access the CD-ROM drive, you'll have to add lines to the new CONFIG.SYS file to load your 16-bit CD-ROM drivers. You'll also have to add a line to the new AUTOEXEC.BAT file to load the CD-ROM extensions driver. You can copy these commands from your existing CONFIG.SYS file and from the DOSSTART.BAT file as mentioned earlier.
The second way to customize the program's DOS environment is to click the Configuration... button. Doing so opens the Select MS-DOS Mode Configuration Options dialog box.
This dialog box offers various general configuration options, such as loading a mouse driver or enabling disk caching, that you might want to enable specifically for your game. You can view an explanation of each option by clicking on its text. (The explanation appears in the gray box below the option list box.) To select or deselect an option, click its check box. Once you've made your selections, click OK to return to the Advanced Program Settings dialog box. Then, click OK twice more to close out the application's properties sheet. Now you can try to run your DOS game again.
Accessing a DOS prompt
If you've tried all the techniques that have been explained so far and your DOS-based game still won't run, you can always resort to your previous version of DOS. If you set up a dual-boot configuration when you installed Windows 95, you can easily access your old version of DOS by pressing [F4] when you see the Starting Windows 95 message as your system starts.
If you didn't set up a dual-boot configuration, you can still boot up your system using an old DOS x.x boot disk. Then, you can create new CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to configure your system to boot up using the device drivers your game needs to run.
If you don't have an old DOS boot disk lying around and you have either the DOS 5.x or DOS 6.x installation disks handy, you can make a DOS boot disk easily and safely - as long as you pay close attention to these instructions and carefully follow the onscreen prompts.
To begin, find a blank floppy disk and your DOS 5.x or 6.x installation disks. Next, select the Shutdown command on the Start menu and choose the Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode option. When the system restarts, insert the DOS disk 1 and type SETUP /F on the command line. When you do, SETUP will prompt you to reboot the system by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][Del].
When the system reboots, SETUP will launch as normal. Don't worry - DOS won't install itself on your hard disk. If you're using DOS 6.x, you'll press [F7] to create a DOS 6.x startup floppy disk. If you're using DOS 5.x, you'll press [Enter] to proceed to the second SETUP screen. There you'll see a dialog box prompting you to confirm the settings. You'll notice that the INSTALL TO option is set to Hard disk. Simply select the INSTALL TO option and press [Enter]. When you do, you'll have the option of choosing Floppy disks. Once you select this option, you can proceed with the installation.
While DOS 6.x will allow you to create just a startup disk, DOS 5.x will require you to create an entire set of disks. You can then create new CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files on your DOS startup disk to configure your system to boot up using the device drivers your game needs to run.
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