PC help: Retro gaming

Q I have downloaded several old Dos games. Although they download without problems, I cannot play them. There are various error messages but the most common is “This system does not support fullscreen mode”, with the options to close or ignore.

If I press ignore, there is a strange noise and the game freezes. Is there any other way to play these old games in Windows Vista?

M1sszada, Computeractive forum

A The best way to enjoy old games written for Dos (the operating system before Windows) is to use an emulator that fools the software into thinking it is running in Dos. Dosbox is an open-source emulator that can be downloaded at no cost from here.

As an example, we will explain how to play Commander Keen 4, one of our favourite Dos games. Download the game from here and extract the file to a folder on the computer that does not have any spaces in the name.

We recommend that you create a new folder just for Dos games and storing the games in this. For example, c:\DOS\games\Keen4. Next, start Dos Box from the Start Menu.

Dosbox does not have access to the hard disk on the computer until given permission, and then only specific folders. This makes sure that there is no risk to Windows files and documents.

To give Dosbox access to the Commander Keen files type the following command exactly as written (without the quote marks) ‘mount c c:\DOS\games’.

Then type ‘c:’ and press enter. you can view the files in the folder by typing dir and change folder by typing cd followed by the name of the folder. Type ‘cd Keen4’ followed by enter and then ‘install’ followed by Enter again. This will start the install program.

After it has finished, Dosbox should be in the correct folder for the game. Simply type keen4e and press enter to start.

Having to type the mount command, and remember the correct folder, every time you want to play the game will quickly become tiresome.

For this reason we recommend downloading and installing the D-Fend software from our website. This is also very helpful when playing games that have more demanding requirements.

This software stores the settings needed to play different games. Click on the Profile menu and then on Add with Wizard. Name the profile after the game and use the browse buttons to find both the install program and the game program (in this case the keen4e file).

Click on the button with two >> symbols twice (the second screen can be left as it is. Click on the Auto Create button and then the >> button six more times followed by Finished. Now the game can be started by double clicking the Commander Keen 4 icon in D-Fend.

Don’t forget the Dosbox is a full Dos emulator and can be used with any Dos software, not just games.