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[Eagle of Fire]

None of your arguments make sense, and doesn't apply to either point...

There is several advantage to mount c:\ directly in DOSBox. For one, if you somehow install or run the install of an old game in windows then run the game in DOSbox (something that newbies are prone to do), some games which "catch" the full installation path in their config files will refuse to work. Regulars won't have much problem with this, as they'll understand they need to install the game directly in DOSBox first, but most people won't even begin to understand why it's not working.

Second, it's only natural to start at c:\ in Windows, just as it is even more natural in DOS. Never in my life I have seen a DOS tree with games starting directly in the c:\ root directory. Some specific games will ask for it, but otherwise people usually always class their games one way or another in subdirectories. If I mount my c:\ drive directly, I know what I'll get and where I'm going. No need for superfluous powder dust here.

Third, I've never seen a MS-Dos game screwing an autoexec.bat or a config.sys, nor is it possible. I've seen plenty of them add lines in those files but nothing even remotely serious and which can't be solved, if there is ever a problem which I doubt greatly, by removed said lines. You got exactly the same remote chance of running into a virus or whatnot by running a file in DOSBox than you'd have running any random file you get from the internet. No point arguing that...

I also really don't understand why it would even matter that those "noobs" work on c:\ instead of a subfolder. There is no difference whatsoever. The only way they could screw their computer up would be by deleting random stuff around, and let me tell you that if someone is dense enough to do that in DOSBox, they are way more likely to do it in Windows beforehand as it's way easier to achieve in Windows with the graphic interface than under a command type DOS emulator. In Windows all you need to do is press delete...

On a side note, if an old game wants to alter config.sys and autoexec.bat, you should let them if you're running an old computer. It won't matter the slighlest bit in DOSBox (except if you want to try running the game thru Windows later on, which is a moot point anyways for a noob) and those games are likely not to work under a native DOS environement if you don't let them alter those files and reboot...

[dosraider]

None of your arguments make sense, and doesn't apply to either point...
Same goes for your arguments I'm affraid. :laugh:
There is no reason why you shouldn't use a directory to mount as virtual C:
And there is no reason whatsoever to mount your C: directly.

Except one point: you don't run dosbox under Dos but under Windows.
And you advise people who have clearely no idea what they are doing.
That gives you at least some responsability.
You aren't giving advise to people who know what they are doing, those don't ask help, they simply don't need it.

Anyway, this has been discuted longely and elaborate on Vogons, and I honnestly aren't very eager to go over the same yes-no ping pong here again.

BTW, you really haven't tried that root mount in Vista ...... or Linux or a Mac, did you? Or a non-admin account in XP/Vista .....

Oh whatever, it ain't a capital sin to mount the root anyway, but maybe it's better safe then sorry?

[The Fifth Horseman]

If you never use the delete command in DOSBox, I suggest to everybody who is listening to downright mount their c:\ drive directly. I simply can't fathom how you could destroy your hard disk using DOSBox if you don't to it directly yourself with a command... And it might also prevent errors the user have no way to understand.

There is one danger though - if the user tries to set up Windows 3.x under DOSBox, with the root of their C drive mounted as DOSBox drive C, they will overwrite part of the contents of the Windows directory, irreversibly crippling their system.

[Eagle of Fire]

We're not talking about the same thing at all though. The guy here who is asking for information want to know how to run a game. With an installation of Win 3.1, we're talking about something which would usually require a dual boot and all that stuff, which I would not recommend to do in DOSBox anyways.

BTW, you really haven't tried that root mount in Vista ...... or Linux or a Mac, did you? Or a non-admin account in XP/Vista .....

No, I didn't. I never used a Mac and never used Vista, and I'm pretty glad about the Vista part. However, people should expect to have weird problems when using programs which are not made for their operating system. Care to enlighten me a little more on the subject? I thought that DOSBox wasn't supposed to work at all on non-admin account anyways?

For the rest DosRaider, it's not that I don't want to acknowledge what you're saying... But for me it only look like your whole argument is based on the idea that "noobs should not be given the opportunity to screw up". Which is, I believe, the best way to stop them from learning from themselves, and the main reason why I hate the newbie friendliness of WinXP since it in practice prevent you from doing anything at all. I played myself as a noob in the root directory of MS-DOS, Win 3.0 and 3.1, Win 95, Win 98 and WinXP since countless years... And I only screwed up once in my very early days, on my 386... That didn't stop me from doing anything.

[dosraider]

W3.11 runs directly ànd flawless in dosbox 0.72.
And I d'rather run W3.x games that way then directly in XP, no need to clutter up my Win with all those (for NT) INI files, dlls and whatever was used in those days.
And no, it's NOT dual boot, as said, runs flawless in dosbox.(800x600 is my screen setting there). Neat.

Dosbox runs also flawless in Vista, on a non-admin account, simply use your own folders, and aboutt the C root mount: forget it.
BTW: it's common to run as non-admin on Unix likes, it's one of the major security settings.

And once again, you're not advising people who knows (or should know) what they doing, but peeps who apparently only know how to click something to get it working.
That gives YOU responsability when they screw up.

[Scatty]

My responsibility is to advise those, who asked for help, how to do what they asked for. Their responsibility is to follow it and keep it in mind for the future, learning in the process. If they can't learn in the process, then they'll either ask again, or try on their own to see what is what. In either way, that's their responsibility and their risk, you can't really take it from them. To claim anything else is just waste of words and forum space.

[Eagle of Fire]

Thank you scatty, I could not have said better myself.

[Sturmrabe]

HAHAHA! This is awesome! I go to some debate forums so I'm used to starting a ruckus but I certainly wasn't expecting one here! :eek:

Ok here is what I do:

I use my S: drive (I have a 20g OS partition, and the rest of the HDD is taken up with "Storage (S)" in case I ever need to blow out my OS for whatever reason) so at the autoexec part of the DOSBOX config file I have this:

mount c s:\dos\
c:

Dos is my folder at the root of S: I put all my games in for neatness sake

When is start the game I CD BUCK (I extracted the zip to that folder in the S:\DOS folder, I pick a name of less than 8 chars to extract all my game files to, again for neatness) and then run START, so it looks like;

C:\BUCK\start

and the game starts up... the SAVE folder, as well as the games config folder, are both in C:\BUCK\ and when I open the buck folder and run the game from there it saves games fine but as I've mentioned the game runs way too fast when executed directly on XP (though I'm suprised that it runs at all)

So from what I read, and correct me if I'm wrong, I'm pretty much already doing what was suggested above as far as where to mount, or was is suggested I:

mount c s:\dos\buck
c:

I'll try that while I wait for a reply and see what happens... Ok tried it and still can't save...

I've also tried adding a "save" folder to S:\dos\ (next to the BUCK folder) and no luck there either...I'll reread the mounting suggestion above and try that...

Also I dunno if it makes a difference but I installed DOSBOX to the S:\Program Files\ folder rather than on C:\ as I keep only "work related" programs on C: (office, etc) and have never had an issue with doing that so I am inclined to think that is unrelated, but letting you know for maximum config disclosure

[dosraider]

You can safely mount your S: directly if you want to, the -(friendly )- discussion is about mounting your C:\root as C: in dosbox.
If you have a partition for dosgaming only you can mount that one directly.
That's what I do with my USB sticky, me likes to have my dosgames around, certainly whan I have to babysit a nightlong my children's offspring.... :nuts:

[Sturmrabe]

Oh I'm not "worried" about "mount c s:" but having a Dos folder that I put the games' folders into just seems more organized to me...