LOVE old chess programs!

[Nimzovik]

Dig! I got Power Chess , Kasparov's Gambit, old dos fritz stuff , Sargon, Battle chess 4000, M Chess rebel11, Pro Deo CM 3000 Combat chess, Socrates and a host of others. However my old computers are DYING! (old you know). I love playing old programs and Win 3.1 95/98 games--games earth siege, ultra bots wing commander and a plethora of others. Problem. I suppose I can get system commmander and or partition magic for the miscellaneous op systems ( not to mention qemm for reallocating the miscellaneous memory configurations) but finding vintage sound cards/drivers is another story..... Soooooooo..... I guess my question is this...Any one know a site where I can get old (new old) computers with compatible sound cards (usually sound blaster and drivers or perhaps- I dare hope -a site the lets you rent or buy revamped programs tha run on newer systems?? Too much to ask I guess....Heck I miss spending hours yelling at DOS!!! 486 @66 MGHRZ with 16 MB of Ram (with doubler chip) I Misss you!!

[TonyJH]

I don't know the answer to your question, but have you tried DOSBox?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOSBox
http://www.dosbox.com/

[Nimzovik]

Hm dos box is --convoluted to me... I am familiar with old stuff lke qemmm However I wonder if Dos box would solve the issues i need solved such as sound drivrs copatble with old programs and conventional memory issues... etc. I think buyin an old computer would be easiest solution. MUST be an old dx 4 out there somewhere that is new ........?

[Andres Valverde]

With DOS BOX I was capable to run all those memorable demos from Future Crew , with sound for Gravis Ultrasound * PERFECTLY *

[meschle]

Yes try dosbox - i can run fritz 2 in vista using this - it has soundblaster drivers if i remember correctly and dont worry its not too hard to setup

[AdminX]

Hi Alex,

Take a look at Virtualbox ...

http://www.virtualbox.org/

[Dr.Wael Deeb]

Hi Alex,

Take a look at Virtualbox ...

http://www.virtualbox.org/

Totaly agree here,this one is number one choice for such tasks

[Carey]

If you want the real hardware, there's no place better than ebay....

If you'd rather an emulator, you have several choices.

DosBox (esp. with a GUI) works okay, but it doesn't fully emulate DOS and that causes some problems with some programs. And its emulation isn't perfect either. But when you use a GUI, it is a fairly easy way to get old DOS programs running because you don't need to mess with virtual disks and trying to get files into & out of them.

This would be my recommeded choice for DOS based programs.


VirtualBox is pretty good, but it too has problems with hardware & graphic drivers. This would probably be my first choice for an emulator, though. Just install a copy of FreeDos or DrDos. Or Win98.

VirtualPC. It's also a decent choice now that its free. Not to say that I like it a lot, but it does seem to support older Microsoft OS's better than VirtualBox does. (VirtualBox is technically a commercial product and they are more interested in supporting more modern systems than DOS or Win98.)


You could also try Qemu, which is part of what VirtualBox is based on, but it's not user friendly. Not really recommended.

Bochs is a good choice for old, slow programs because its a simulator (rather than an emulator) that tries to get all the instructions exactly right. This means some software will run here that wont run in the other emulators. But it's also very slow. A factor of 1:100 slow.


Be aware that if you are going to do DOS, Win3 or Win98, you'll need to install some sort of 'dos idle slow down' program into the OS or else your real computer will spend 100% of its cpu power on the emulator even if you are just sitting at a dos prompt.

[fern]

One solution, perhaps somewhat wearisome, is going to live to Kenya....
There you also can get a Ford T and in the cinema you can be part of the first exhibition of Gone with the Wind.

Just kidding, have luck.
fernando

[Bill Rogers]

Alex
I have ran quite a few of the programs that you mentioned on my xt machine. Goto preferences and select Win 95 compatible. I even run Fritz 1 and 2 with no problems.
Bill