# Running MS-DOS on Windows XP
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 7, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106 "2004-10-07T22:14:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Dr.Starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Starfish)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/1 "2004-10-07T22:14:05Z")
Hello. I have Windows XP as the operating system on my home computer. I’d like to know if XP can be modified to run MS-DOS programs? Are there any system drivers I can download to run 16-bit applications?
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### Author:  [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/2 "2004-10-07T22:20:55Z")
You just need to execute the command intepreter, cmd.exe which is the accessories menu as “command prompt.” Note that not all DOS applications will run but many will.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/3 "2004-10-07T22:36:02Z")
When you attempt to run a DOS program under XP, it launches NTVDM (Virtual DOS Machine) and runs your program within the virtual DOS environment; if your programs require direct access to hardware (quite common, especially in DOS games), they simply will not work because XP expects hardware to be controlled indirectly via something called the hardware abstraction layer (which DOS programs don’t know about)
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### Author:  [@Cooper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cooper)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/4 "2004-10-07T22:36:18Z")
> [@Dr. Starfish](#):
>
> Hello. I have Windows XP as the operating system on my home computer. I’d like to know if XP can be modified to run MS-DOS programs? Are there any system drivers I can download to run 16-bit applications?
There are some compatability settings you can try - many DOS programs will work on Windows XP. If they absolutely won’t, and you really want the program, take a look at Virtual PC. You can install DOS in a Virtual PC and run it from Windows. It works really well - we use it at work to run various versions of Windows as well as Linux.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Starfish)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/5 "2004-10-07T23:01:15Z")
What compatility settings are you refering to? Which file folders do I look into, and what path? Desktop Settings, Control Panel or Accessories? Or do I look for Configuration Settings? I would like to try making adjustments before downloading Virtual PC. I would like to save a copy of the file to disk-how much disk space does it use?
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### Author:  [@Dr.Starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Starfish)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/6 "2004-10-07T23:02:38Z")
> [@Padeye](#):
>
> You just need to execute the command intepreter, cmd.exe which is the accessories menu as “command prompt.” Note that not all DOS applications will run but many will.
How do I do that? Just do a search for the file and click on it?
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/7 "2004-10-07T23:12:53Z")
You can download [bochs](http://bochs.sourceforge.net/) and install a copy of [FreeDOS](http://www.freedos.org/) on it and that will catch 99.99% of all DOS programs. (If you have a copy of MS-DOS, you can install that on bochs and maybe the setup will run a couple more.)
(And, since FreeDOS is a real DOS in and of itself, you can use it on boot disks and other places you might want to run a DOS.)
I don’t think dosemu runs under Windows XP, which is a pity: It’s probably the simplest way to run a DOS box on a non-DOS x86 OS (like Linux for x86).
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### Author:  [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/8 "2004-10-07T23:14:50Z")
> [@Dr. Starfish](#):
>
> How do I do that? Just do a search for the file and click on it?
Yes, or click on Start Menu/Run then type “cmd” or “command”
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### Author:  [@Dr.Starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Starfish)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/9 "2004-10-07T23:19:29Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> You can download [bochs](http://bochs.sourceforge.net/) and install a copy of [FreeDOS](http://www.freedos.org/) on it and that will catch 99.99% of all DOS programs. (If you have a copy of MS-DOS, you can install that on bochs and maybe the setup will run a couple more.)
>
> (And, since FreeDOS is a real DOS in and of itself, you can use it on boot disks and other places you might want to run a DOS.)
>
> I don’t think dosemu runs under Windows XP, which is a pity: It’s probably the simplest way to run a DOS box on a non-DOS x86 OS (like Linux for x86).
I’m assuming both programs are Freeware?
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/10 "2004-10-07T23:30:52Z")
> [@Dr. Starfish](#):
>
> I’m assuming both programs are Freeware?
They are both open-source software and are both freely downloadable, yes.
To put things simply, there’s a difference between freeware in the Windows world and open-source software in the non-Windows world. It mainly applies to people who like to create software, though, and I don’t think you fall into that camp. Open-source software also won’t install sneaky crap on your computer, unlike some freeware downloads.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/11 "2004-10-07T23:35:21Z")
Sorry for the double-post. I hit submit too quickly.
[The GNU Project has put together a quick primer on the differences between the different kinds of software.](http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html) The definitions they use aren’t accepted by everyone, but few people will misunderstand you if you use their terms.
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### Author:  [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/12 "2004-10-08T00:13:18Z")
I use the open source [DOSBox](http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/) emulator to run old DOS games, most recently Fantasy General.
It works very reliably. And it doesn’t require that you reboot into DOS or anything.
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### Author:  [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/13 "2004-10-08T00:22:31Z")
I second the DOSbox. It’s great.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/14 "2004-10-08T00:56:27Z")
DOSBox is good. I didn’t think it worked under Windows, which is why I didn’t mention it.
BTW, I don’t know that you can reboot into DOS under Windows XP. Am I wrong?
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/15 "2004-10-08T01:02:47Z")
I’ve tried running DOSBox, but I can’t get it to run fullscreen. Anything I’m missing on that? (It’d be nice not to have to boot into WinME to run Privateer.)
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### Author:  [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/16 "2004-10-09T20:04:58Z")
I found dosbox just browsing Sourceforge.
[http://sourceforge.net/](http://sourceforge.net/)
I haven’t needed another program to run my DOS games since. (Long live scorched earth!)
What I liked about it, was that DOSbox knew how to work my speakers, which I could never figure out. I now have that wonderful nostalgic music on my XP system.
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### Author:  [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-ms-dos-on-windows-xp/268106/17 "2004-10-10T05:02:01Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> To put things simply, there’s a difference between freeware in the Windows world and open-source software in the non-Windows world. It mainly applies to people who like to create software, though, and I don’t think you fall into that camp. Open-source software also won’t install sneaky crap on your computer, unlike some freeware downloads.
nitpick
It is entirely possible that someone could write an open-source program that includes a spyware installation. Of course, it would be pretty pointless, as any useful open source program with spyware would simply have some programer type come along, strip out the spyware code, and make the spyware free version available.
/nitpick