# New to DOS Box and have questions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-to-dos-box-and-have-questions/533693>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [March 25, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-to-dos-box-and-have-questions/533693 "2010-03-25T01:23:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-to-dos-box-and-have-questions/533693/1 "2010-03-25T01:23:51Z")

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I have recently been yearning to play games of my younger years, most notably SimCity 2000. I have DOS Box downloaded and installed, and DOS Box seems to be running just fine. (I have Vista as an operating system. I know, make jokes about Vista somewhere else, though.)

I tried downloading some versions of SimCity 2000, but I keep getting error messages once DOS Box loads. The files are usually .rar (I have no idea what that means).

Basically, I’m not sure what I need to do to play this game. I’d rather not have to hunt for a CD version of the game (and if I find one, how do I get it to play?). How can I get a DOS game to play on Vista? What should I do? Where should I go?

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**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-to-dos-box-and-have-questions/533693/2 "2010-03-25T01:30:54Z")

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.rar is an archive format, like .zip. You need to unrar it - winzip and winrar are both freeware programs to do so.

You don’t NEED a frontend for DOSbox, but it makes things a LOT easier - D-Fend Reloaded is the one I use, and it’s very simple.

Once you’ve got the .rar unpacked and game installed, DOSbox via D-Fend can set up a shortcut to run the game under whatever conditions it requires.

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**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-to-dos-box-and-have-questions/533693/3 "2010-03-25T01:33:36Z")

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winzip and winrar are both nagware programs, though you can use them without paying. 7zip is freeware and does the same job.

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**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-to-dos-box-and-have-questions/533693/4 "2010-03-25T01:38:04Z")

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Right, I misspoke, they’re not freeware, just free.

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-to-dos-box-and-have-questions/533693/5 "2010-03-25T09:42:47Z")

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With the knowledge of DOS you seem to be professing, I’d say the front-ends would probably make Dosbox more useful for you.

Personally, I liked the whole DOS experience, and like having to “cd” to the directory and run it on my own.