Is it possible to run a DOS program in Windows 7?

Asked by HungryGuy (16044

) May 29th, 2010

I have a DOS program text editor that I like very much. Under XP, I was able to open a command prompt and use the program. But Windows 7 gives me an error that this program is incompatible with the 64-bit version of Windows, and recommends that I upgrade to the 64-bit version. But there is no 64-bit version! Is there a utility that will let me use DOS programs under Windows 7?

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6 Answers

If you have windows 7 pro or ultimate then you could run XP in a virtual machine and then run you DOS program on that.

Lightlyseared (34863

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Oh? Alas, the machine came with Home Premium. And I don’t want to waste money upgrading Windows because I plan to replace it with Linux when I get around to it…

HungryGuy (16044

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Have you tried using DosBox? It’s mostly used for games, but it might work for you.

If it does, you’ll be all set when you jump to Linux, too.

mrentropy (17213

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I just tried it. It looked promising at first, but it didn’t work. I mounted my drive and ran my program. My program started to run, then crashed with an error that it couldn’t find its config file.

HungryGuy (16044

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Is the config file in the same directory? You may need to play with the PATH.

mrentropy (17213

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I thought about that. But yes, the config file in in the same directory, and I changed to the directory containing the program and the config file before running it. But you’re right, I probably need to specify the path as well as change to the directory for the program to run. I’ll play with it a little more tomorrow…

HungryGuy (16044

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