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Help

Welcome to the help section of DOS Games Archive. Read this page for information or consult the frequently asked questions on the contact page.

How can I download a game?

To download a game from this website, please follow the steps below.

  1. Click on one of the titles on the games page. You can search by category, game title, license, year of creation, et cetera.
  2. A page with information about the particular game will show up. Click on the file download link which you find underneath the header of 'Download this game'.
  3. A new page appears which gives you the possibility to download the file by clicking on the link. With most browsers, you'll see a pop up window asking you if you want to 'Open' or 'Save' the file. Choose 'Save'.
  4. Your browser should then ask you in which folder you want to save the file. It's a good idea to create a special folder (called 'downloads' or 'games' for example) in which you save the downloaded files. Then you always know where your downloaded files are. Choose a folder and click 'OK'. When this window appears, you should also make a note of the name of the download file; you need to know that to find it later.
  5. Your browser will then begin to download the file. How long this takes depends on the size of the file, the speed of your connection and the level of traffic on the server.
  6. When the download is completed, you can close your browser.

How can I use the downloaded file?

After you downloaded a game from DOS Games Archive, you receive a ZIP file. Before you can run the game, you need to extract that ZIP file (in other words 'unzip') in order to get access to the game files. Follow the steps below to do that.

  1. Go to the folder in which you saved the file.
  2. Most operating systems are able to extract ZIP files without having to install an additional application. If you need an application to do that, you can use 7-Zip or WinZip for example.
  3. Unzip the files to a folder on your hard disk. After that go to the folder where the files are placed.
  4. Read the answer to the question below on how to run the game on your computer.

How can I run the game after extracting?

Do you use Windows, Mac OS or Linux? Then it's a good idea to download DOSBox. This emulator can be downloaded from www.dosbox.com. With the help of DOSBox you can 're-live' the good old days. The application can run plenty of old games that don't run on your new computer without DOSBox. The software is totally free of charge and open source.

First download DOSBox, install the application and run it. Then you can navigate to the folder on your computer in which the downloaded game was extracted. Most games are equipped with an installation program or setup utility to install or configure the game. Look for setup.exe, install.exe or another executable file (.EXE, .COM or .BAT) and run it by entering the file name. This step is different with each game.

Please follow the DOSBox tutorial for more information. Good luck and have fun!

Other DOSBox tutorials

In case you need more help, you can consult the DOSBox tutorials from the list below:

DOS games
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