It Ain't Over Yet - DOS Gaming in Windows Vista
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:06 pm
There has been much justifiable wailing and gnashing of teeth from the gaming community, regarding the difficulty of running old classic DOS games, or any 16 bit programs, under Windows Vista.
It certainly seemed to me that the imminent upgrading of my current Windows XP system would of necessity involve the loss of, not just Pac War, but a host of other older, but still enjoyable, games.
Then I read an article in the December 2007 issue of Computer Shopper magazine about running a virtual PC. This allows the creation of multiple operating systems which run in software within the host machine. The benefit of a virtual PC is that it has no effect on the host machine. It doesn't require disk partitioning, or dual booting. All you lose from the host system is an amount of disk space, and a percentage of the system RAM. Both of which are adjustable during or after set-up.
I have tried this, and it works.
After downloading and running Microsoft’s (free) Virtual PC 2007 from here;
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=78095
Then using an old Windows 98 SE disk, and running a normal Windows installation, I was able to create a virtual Windows 98 computer. After which, I copied across my Pac War folder from the host (Virtual PC 2007 supports drag and drop from the host to the virtual machine), and launched the program. It launched, and played ok.
You are not limited to Windows 98 either. The Virtual PC 2007 program will work for a number of different operating systems.
From what I can see, there should be no problem repeating the process from within a Windows Vista host. There is even a 64 bit version of Virtual PC 2007 for use with Windows Vista.
The article in Computer Shopper gives step by step instructions on how to complete the whole process, and is worth reading for the short cuts and avoidance of the minor pitfalls in installation and operation. For example, if you click your mouse pointer in the installed virtual PC, it becomes captured. To release it, just press the right hand Alt key on the keyboard (labeled Alt Gr).
The final DOS curtain may have just lifted for one more call.
It certainly seemed to me that the imminent upgrading of my current Windows XP system would of necessity involve the loss of, not just Pac War, but a host of other older, but still enjoyable, games.
Then I read an article in the December 2007 issue of Computer Shopper magazine about running a virtual PC. This allows the creation of multiple operating systems which run in software within the host machine. The benefit of a virtual PC is that it has no effect on the host machine. It doesn't require disk partitioning, or dual booting. All you lose from the host system is an amount of disk space, and a percentage of the system RAM. Both of which are adjustable during or after set-up.
I have tried this, and it works.
After downloading and running Microsoft’s (free) Virtual PC 2007 from here;
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=78095
Then using an old Windows 98 SE disk, and running a normal Windows installation, I was able to create a virtual Windows 98 computer. After which, I copied across my Pac War folder from the host (Virtual PC 2007 supports drag and drop from the host to the virtual machine), and launched the program. It launched, and played ok.
You are not limited to Windows 98 either. The Virtual PC 2007 program will work for a number of different operating systems.
From what I can see, there should be no problem repeating the process from within a Windows Vista host. There is even a 64 bit version of Virtual PC 2007 for use with Windows Vista.
The article in Computer Shopper gives step by step instructions on how to complete the whole process, and is worth reading for the short cuts and avoidance of the minor pitfalls in installation and operation. For example, if you click your mouse pointer in the installed virtual PC, it becomes captured. To release it, just press the right hand Alt key on the keyboard (labeled Alt Gr).
The final DOS curtain may have just lifted for one more call.
I tried to download what Skybolt said, but it said it wasnt compatible and wont run. If anyone has ANY idea how to fix this "better" Windows system, please, please email me at