Main Page

Welcome to the Wiki page of the DOSBox project

DOSBox emulates an Intel x86 PC, complete with sound, graphics, mouse, joystick, modem, etc., necessary for running many old MS-DOS games that simply cannot be run on modern PCs and operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Linux and FreeBSD. However, it is not restricted to running only games. In theory, any MS-DOS or PC-DOS (referred to commonly as "DOS") application should run in DOSBox, but the emphasis has been on getting DOS games to run smoothly, which means that communication, networking and printer support are still in early development.

DOSBox also comes with its own DOS-like command prompt. It is still quite rudimentary and lacks many of the features found in MS-DOS, but it is sufficient for installing and running most DOS games.

DOSBox has a lively, user-supported community forum hosted at VOGONS (Very Old Games On New Systems). Feel very very free to drop by if you have questions about DOSBox!

General Information

• Downloading DOSBox - Official releases
  • DOSBox SVN Builds - Plain and enhanced SVN builds
  • Unofficial ports - For other operating systems and hardware platforms (unsupported)
• System Requirements
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Guides
  • Basic Setup and Installation of DOSBox
    • Vista Specific Issues
    • Mac OSX Specific Issues
    • Mac OSX Advanced
    • Recording Video
  • Contributing to this Wiki
  • Games that DOSBox can (or can't) run
  • Software applications that DOSBox can (or can't) run
  • Tools that can assist either playing games or using DOSBox generally
  • Frontends - simplifies running and understanding DOSBox.
  • Running Resource Demanding Games
• Special Thanks
• Contact

More Specific Topics

• DOSBox.exe Supported Parameters
• Z:\> Prompt
• Command Line Utilities
  • Mounting your CD-ROM in DOSBox
• Special Keys
• The Configuration File (dosbox.conf)
  • Associating the Configuration File in Windows
• The Language File
• The Keymapper
• Ubuntu Configuration
• Network Setup (SerialPPP, SLIP and IPX-tunneling)
• DOSBox Shortcuts
• GOG Games that use DOSBox - An overview

DOSBox resources

• DOSBox README File
• List of Games and Applications (and how to install and run them)
• DOSBox community forum

Advanced Topics

• BuildingDOSBox - Building your own version of DOSBox
  • Building DOSBox with MinGW
  • Building DOSBox with Visual C++ 2008 Express
• Using SDL FAQ (SDL environment variables that can make or break things)
• Index of all articles