DOSBox - free opensource DOS & X86 Emulator for Windows & Linux

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DOSBox is a free opensource DOS-emulator for Windows, BeOS, Linux and MacOS X. DOSBox also emulates CPU:286/386 realmode/protected mode, Directory FileSystem/XMS/EMS, Tandy/Hercules/CGA/EGA/VGA/VESA graphics, a SoundBlaster/Gravis Ultra Sound card for excellent sound compatibility with older games…

DOSBox is ideally for users who wants to play old games or even applications which are not supported on the newer versions of Windows like Windows Vista, Windows XP. DOSBox is simple and easy to use and but still can provide you with very useful features to run your old applications and games.

Download & Install

Download the latest stable version for DOSBox from here.

The installer extracts and installs the required files to the system. When prompted, install it to c:\dosbox. This isn’t a necessity but easy to manage.

Once installed, copy all your old applications or games to subdirectories to a directory say c:\oldapps.

So, it looks like c:\oldapps\app1, c:\oldapps\games1

Start DOSBox

Now, Launch DOSBox.exe from the c:\dosbox

This should now launch a DOSBox DOS console. From within the DOSBox console, mount the old application directory (c:\oldapps) as the root (c:) to the DOSBox console as follows:

Z:\>MOUNT C C:\OLDAPPS
Drive C mounted as local directory C:\OLDAPPS\

If you are trying to mount a CD-ROM drive,

Z:\>MOUNT G G:\ -T cdrom
MSCDEX installed.
Drive G is mounted as CDRom G:\

Now, you are all set and ready to go. Change to C: from the default Z: this will take you into the new root for your DOSBox we mounted earlier as follows:

Z:\>C:

C:\>

Now, you should find all your apps (app1, games1 etc) from where you can install and run the applications of your choice.

For more detailed instructions, click here