The general rule

Here's the general rule: If the DOS program ran in XP, it will probably run in a 32-bit version of Windows 7. Nevertheless no DOS program can ever run in a 64-bit version of Windows 7.

If you're not sure whether your Windows is 32- or 64-bit, click the Start orb, right-click Computer, and select Properties. Look for the System type.

32-bit version of Windows 7 simply

You can launch most DOS apps in a 32-bit version of Windows 7 simply by double-clicking the DOS program's .exe or .com file. If it doesn't work, or if there are problems, right-click the file and select Properties. Click the Compatibility tab. Check the "Run this program in compatibility mode for" option and select an older version of Windows. You may have to do some experimenting to find the right one.

Actually, there are several solutions, all of which involve using software to create a virtual machine inside Windows. If you want to run a lot of different operating systems inside Windows, VMware Player is probably your best bet.

Create a folder and place in it every program and file you want DOSBox to access. You can use subfolders within that folder. Click Start, type notepad and press ENTER to bring up Notepad. Click Start, and select All Programs, DOSBox-0.74, Extras, Screenshots & Recordings. This will open Windows Explorer to a probably empty folder inside the DOSBox configuration folder. In the path bar at the top of the window, click DOSBox to go to that folder. Drag the file dosbox-0.74.conf into Notepad. In Notepad, go to the bottom of the file, where you'll find the [autoexec] section. On a blank line at the end of the file, type mount driveletter path, where driveletter is the drive letter you wish to assign the folder to, and path is the path to that folder. To illustrate, mount a c:dosfiles wil make the C:DOSFiles folder appear as DOSBox's drive A:. Save the file and launch DOSBox.