Author: Glenn Scrima
Guide By System:
First Download The Free Game The Oregon Trail:
Choose from one of the following sites.
Abandonia : Download Game : Download InstructionsXTC Abandonware : Download Game : Download Instructions
Mr Old Games : Download Game : Download Instructions
The House of Games : Download Game : Download InstructionsNext Download & Install the Emulator Dosbox on Windows:
Go To: http://www.dosbox.com > Downloads Tab > Click the Windows version (Under the Dosbox category).
Next: Run the downloaded installer file and install Dosbox on your hard drive in the directory C:\Games\Oregon. Simply entering this will create these folders for you.
Next: Open the Games folder then the Oregon folder within it. Locate and then run Dosbox by double clicking on the Dosbox program icon.
Next: At the the command prompt in Dosbox type "config -writeconf dosbox.conf" and then press the "Enter" key.
Next: Type "exit" to exit Dosbox.
Now: Locate and right click on the Dosbox config file. Click "open with" and select notepad.
Finally: With the dosbox config file open scroll to the bottom. We are going to place some text below [autoexec]:
Abandonia: For those who downloaded the game The Oregon Trail from Abandonia copy and paste the following text:
mount c c:\games\oregon
c:
cd oregon
XTC Abandonware: For those who downloaded the game The Oregon Trail from XTC Abandonware copy and paste the following text:
mount c c:\games\oregon
c:
cd oregon~1
The House of Games: For those who downloaded the game The Oregon Trail from The House of Games copy and paste the following text:
mount c c:\games\oregon
c:
oregon
Save and exit the config file when you are finished.
Now Let's Setup The Oregon Trail's Sound (Abandonia & XTC Abandonware Only):
First: Double click on the Dosbox program in the Oregon folder.
Next: At the "C:\OREGON>" prompt type "setup" and press enter.
Then: At the Oregon Trail introduction screen press enter again. Next you will see a menu labeled "Sound Configuration". Click the small circle next to "Sound Blaster" then click the "OK" button when you are done.
Next: You should now be back at the "C:\OREGON>" prompt in Dosbox. Type "exit" and then press enter to exit Dosbox.
Now: We are going to edit the Dosbox config file again. Right click on the config file like before and click "open with" and select notepad.
Finally: Scroll down to the section at the bottom labeled [autoexec]. Under the commands we entered before type "oregon".
Save and exit the config file when are done.
Home on the Range:
Double click on the Dosbox program in the "C:\Games\Oregon" folder and the game The Oregon Trail will launch, enjoy!
FAQ:
The config file is missing what do I do?
The game won't run on Windows Vista. What should I do?
The game runs sluggish. Is there a way to improve this?
How do I make the game launch in fullscreen mode?
How do I change the amount of RAM available?
How do I mount a hard drive or CD-ROM drive in Dosbox?
How do I change my machine type in Dosbox?
How do I capture a screenshot during gameplay?
I can't download from Abandonia. What should I do?
How do I close or exit Dosbox?
112 comments:
Aww man, it didnt work for me. oh well. I think it might have been the part where you have to add text, I dont think I did it right
after fussing with dosbox for three hours i couldnt get it to run oregon trail. i know i did what i was supposed to do, it just hates me! could you help me glenn?
Hi Willy are you running XP or Vista?
-Glenn
im using xp
Hi Willy if you are having trouble with the steps in the guide another alternative would be to enter the commands I have manually. So basically you would do everything in the guide 'but' edit the dosbox config file. When you enter dosbox instead of the game you will see a black screen and a Z:\ prompt. At that point you would enter the commands I have for the config file line by line pressing enter to insert them after each line.
So for instance you would type:
mount c c:\games\oregontrail [Enter]
c:
[Enter]
etc.
how do i get sound i cant get any sound
Hi it looks like the guide needs some minor changes to get the sound working again. I will try to update it in the next few days.
Best,
Glenn
I tried downloading the Dosbox but it said that something was wrong with it. And I'm using an XP. Help please?
The download server on their site might have been temporarily down. I just checked it seems to be working fine now.
Best,
Glenn
I just wanted to add a quick message that I updated the guide to fix the sound problem!
Best,
Glenn
The autoexec text that you enter shouldn't include "cd"
never mind, i dunno what i'm talkin about
It worked great for me. I just did what it said. Make sure you put spaces where they need to go. That's a simple way to get it to not work.
Ok, nevermind. I figured it out. I had something funny folder wise.
it worked great for me. thanks. now how do you do more than one game?
No problem, what is the title to the other game you're looking for?
Best,
Glenn
Trying to get all the carmen sandiegos, simearth, simcity2000, simfarm, and xmen2. thanks.
im a other anonymous i got no idea how to make that oregon game file without having the game first.
Do you mean the save file folder or getting the game extracted into a folder?
Best,
Glenn
Hi Guides for all of those games are on the site and downloads are available as well.
Best,
Glenn
i got to-
'Now Let's Setup the Game's Sound:'
and had a problem being that
"C:\OREGON>"
of
Next: At the "C:\OREGON>" prompt type "setup" and press enter.
i cant find to put set up afterwords.
Hi when you launch Dosbox what comes up on the screen? If you are just seeing the c:> instead of c:\oregon> then you might have mistakenly not saved the changes to the config file.
Best,
Glenn
hey thanks for this, its the only download i could find online that actually was easy for me to understand about the DOS.
oregon trail is fun ^^
Hi Cheyenne, thanks this is a favorite from my childhood so I have a lot fondness for it as well. Enjoy the playing Oregon Trail!
Best,
Glenn
after i change the config file and open dosbox it says "unable to change to :oregon"....what am i doing wrong?
i am using the latest edition of dosbox by the way... 0.73 not 0.72 if that matters
Hi Todd, it sounds like the games files didn't extract into the right folder. When it is unable to use the cd, "change directory" command it means that directory doesn't exist within the one that contains Dosbox. I'd give extracting the game files a second try and just double check and make sure the file path given on the guide is the same you use to extract the game.
Best,
Glenn
As far as I can tell I've done everything correctly, but the game will not load. I am running Vista, I am the administrator, and I am making sure to run DOSbox as Administrator. I got the config file set up no problem, and it mounted my game folder, but after that nothing seems to work. When I try to run the Setup, it tells me that "This program requires Microsoft Windows." If I just try to run the game without setting it up, it tells me that "This program cannot be run in DOS mode." There are also 2 different versions in subfolders, a 16-bit and a 32-bit, should I be trying one of those? Sorry for all the questions, any help would be greatly appreciated, any ideas? Thanks in advance!
Thanks for all your help Glenn, you were right about not having the dosbox file installed in the correct folder. I will definitely come back to your page if I need any more help.
I'm having a problem finding the cofig file for dosbox. What do I do?
Hi Steve the setup command needs to be run within Dosbox. If you run them by clicking on it in Vista it won't run. Let me know if this helped.
Best,
Glenn
For help with the config file check out this guide.
http://www.glennsguides.com/2009/06/config-file-is-missing-in-dobox-073-how.html
Best,
Glenn
Is there any way to run this completely from a flash drive? I want to make it portable so I can play it anywhere.
Hi Laura you should be able to run the game from the flash drive by changing the mount command drive c: to the drive assigned to your flash drive say f: etc.
Best,
Glenn
so everything works as it it supposed to until I am trying to set up the sound. When I open dosbox the prompt C:\>oregon does not come like it is supposed to, but instead the Z:\> comes up again like before. Did I do something wrong during the installation process?
Hi, it sounds like the commands you put in the config file might not have been saved. Head back to the config file and just copy and paste the commands from the guide and then save your changes and you should be all set.
Best,
Glenn
Hi Glen,
I did what you said and copied and pasted the instructions into the config file and the prompt C>oregontrail still did not come up. I don't know if it make a difference, but in notepad it does not say just [autoexec]. After that it says:
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
Hi, that's normal to be there. The only thing to make sure of is that the commands start on the line below that. If they are on the same line then Dosbox will ignore the commands. Let me know if this helps at all.
Best,
Glenn
Hi Glen,
Im having the same problem as the of the anonymous people.Everything works up until I am trying to set up the sound. When I open dosbox the prompt C:\>oregon does not come like it is supposed to, but instead the Z:\> comes up again like before. I followed all the steps and i am saving the config. I even copy and pasted just like you told an anonymous. Still the prompt is not coming up as C:\>oregon. Am I doing something wrong?
Hi, when you go back to the config file after launching dosbox are the commands still there or missing. I'm thinking that the commands might not be saved after closing the config file then as it looks like for some reason Dosbox isn't loading them. Check out this guide that might be a cause for that issue if it is occuring.
http://www.glennsguides.com/2008/12/i-am-experiencing-difficulty-running.html
The other thing you can do also is enter the lines manually when Dosbox starts. This will take a little while longer but it will work the same as having them in the config file (press enter after entering each line of commands). Let me know if this helps at all.
Best,
Glenn
When I open the config file it still says:
mount c c:\games\oregontrail
c:
cd oregon
BUt when I open Dosbox it still comes up with Z:\> instead of C:\OREGON. I went to the link you left and it said to download a Dell Vista Driver. The computer Im using has windows vista I dont know if that helps. Also when i tried to download the dell vista driver it wanted me to pay monthly for it which I didnt. Is there anyother way to run Oregon trail without having to download dell vista driver?
hey, I am having the same problem at the sound part, when I double click dosbox, I get:
Z:\>SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 H5 T6
Z:\>
I am running windows vista as an admin, i have all the correct file folder names, and I have check the config file, which is copy pasted from your guide. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!
I have tried to figure out a way to set up easy access to multiple programs through dosbox. I got Oregon Trail setup, then I took off the autoexec to it so that I could also play a different game. Is there anyway to write in code for autoexec to get a simple choice between programs (instead of having to type cd oregon, cd.., cd qisland, etc. to navigate in dos)? It would help me so friends that arent computer-literate could just point and click.
Hi Joe instead of saving the commands in the Dosbox config file just enter the same commands in Dosbox before playing a game that are used for that game and make sure to press enter after each command.
Best,
Glenn
Hi sunshine_023, are you going to Abandonia. You shouldn't need a Dell driver where did you see that link?
Best,
Glenn
Hi Anonymous, is your c: drive mounted/loading?
Best,
Glenn
after i change the config file and open dosbox it says "unable to change to :oregon"....what am i doing wrong?
I am using 32 bit Windows Vista
Hi Evan it sounds like the game zip didn't extract or extracted to the wrong folder. I would redo this step to make sure it was extracted to the right directory on the C: drive.
Best,
Glenn
I tried that. I have done it several times to make sure. what can i do?
Hi Evan, look for the file oregon.exe and let me know if it is located in
c:\games\oregontrail\oregon
or
c:\games\oregontrail
I can give you the commands depending where it is located on you HD.
Best,
Glenn
thanks Glenn its under:
c:\games\oregontrail
Hi Evan these commands should get it working. Let me know if you still run into any trouble though.
mount c c:\games\oregontrail
c:
oregon
Best,
Glenn
hey now its a new problem
when i open dosbox command prompt it says: Illegal command: oregon
hey glenn could you please help.
I really want this game. thanks
will it work with Windows Vista?
Hi Evan, those would be the right commands if the file is in c:\games\oregon. It will run in Vista when using Dosbox also. Maybe there is a typo in your autoexec commands that could cause it possibly. If the oregon.exe file isn't in that folder I don't know why it wouldn't run. I'd just double check all the steps in case there is an error somewhere maybe. Let me know if you find anything.
Best,
Glenn
i put it under
C:/games/oregontrail
and this is what my autoexec in the dosbox looks like:
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount c c:\games\oregontrail
c:
oregon
Now it's telling me that it's:
Unable to change to: oregon
"Illegal command: oregon" would mean that Dosbox cannot find a file by that name. If the c: drive mounts correctly and the file is in the directory that the c: drive is specified as then the game should run. I don't know what to say other than there must be another variable that is causing it not to run. I have tested the game using Vista so that couldn't be it. And all the steps written have been tested. Is there any other errors in Dosbox before "Illegal command: oregon" in Dosbox?
Best,
Glenn
nope
keep in mind that it doesn't say "Illegal command: oregon"
any more
all it says now is
"Unable to change to: oregon"
I can't find DOSBox in my Oregon Trail folder
everything works but the hunt, if i shoot at something the game freezez happened 5x what can i do?
Hi April, if the game is slowing down or freezing this guide might help.
http://www.glennsguides.com/2008/05/how-to-improve-dosbox-performance-in.html
Best,
Glenn
hi glenn i love your guides and have been able to sucessfully download your warcraf verison and play with no problem
my question is
i allready have dobox installed into my computer to run my warcraft game
do i have to install another dosbox to run this or what
Hi thanks Marian, you can use one copy but you would have to enter the commands manually each time you play a different game. To do this first erase the commands from the config file so you can add the new ones. Enjoy playing Warcraft its a favorite of mine too.
Best,
Glenn
hey there, im trying to download oregon trail using vista but it wont go, i did everything until dosbox then when i went to setup the sound the prompt didnt say what it was suppose to say
thank you so much this actually worked. i really appreciate you taking you time in setting all of this up so other people can enjoy as well!
Hi slugurl85, does this happen when you type setup in Dosbox or are you in the setup program?
Best,
Glenn
No problem enjoy playing Oregon Trail!
Best,
Glenn
Hey Glen, love your site! it's so helpful and informative. I'm trying to run Gizmos and Gadgets on DOSbox and it says I need a VGA graphics adapter - can I bypass that? how can I find the right patch? Thanks, Coleman
Hi Coleman, thanks where did you download your copy from?
Best,
Glenn
Hi Glenn,
I have the same problem as most people.... i get to the setup sound and in DOSBOX it states
c:\>cd oregon
Unable to change to : oregon
and i did everything else right.. so maybe is it just a problem with vista?
the game is in the right folder.. under local Disk C
then games
then Oregon Trail
everything is set up correctly.
please let me know if there is nething you can do?
YOUR DIRECTIONS ARE SHIT! 2 hours later and NADDA I despISE Dosbox with a passion and it doesnt mount shit!!!! there.. i feel better
Hi, when you open the games folder then the oregontrail folder do you see another folder within the oregontrail folder titled oregon?
Best,
Glenn
Hi Glenn,
I was having the same problem that several others were having trying to get Oregon Trail to run in DosBox on my WIN XP system. I replaced the lines under autoexec with the following lines and it works now:
MOUNT C C:\games
C:
cd C:\oregon~1
oregon\oregon.exe
thank you sooo much glenn, i have no idea how you figured this out, but nothing has ever worked for me and ive been trying to get this forever and this worked!!! I love you!
No problem enjoy playing Oregon Trail!
Best,
Glenn
For those of you having a problem with the
cd oregon
unable to change to oregon
this is because you need to find your .exe file and use that name. if its oregont then you have to use that and for any other games you will need to use it as well.
Hope this helps someone else out there trying to figure it out, it took me a couple hours.
help i cant figure out which file is the config file in the dos box file i downloaded version 7.3
i'm having trouble locating the config file from the DOSbox fi1e can it be because i downloaded a different version 7.3
i just figure out how to install sound on the oregon trail without doing the cd oregon! first drag the setup file to the dosbox(the icon looks like a tool in a window) then click enter then click sound blaster EZ if u r still confused let me kno
Omg im dying to play this but I cant get it to work. I am sooo far away from understanding computer lingo but I have made it to the part where Im trying to get the sound. I read through other peoples comments but I still am having trouble. If this wasn't like the greatest game of all time it so would not be worth the trouble. Anyways please help me. I have dosbox and it says unable to change to: oregon. I think something went wrong on trying to expand the zipped file. Im using vista so that alone makes it difficult especially with my lack of commputer knowledge!! Please help me!! :D
i cant get the config??? and i cant ever remember if i have xp or vista.lol
Vista is tricky but I finally got it to work and beat the game. It seemed so much harder in 1994. Thanks a lot!!
I get the same problem as Evan did on this thread. Illegal command: setup. However I am using Windows 7.
It correctly mounts saying "Drive C is mounted as local disk directory c:\games\oregon trail\".
Then it gets me to the prompt for C:\OREGON, but the setup gives me the same Illegal command: setup error. Now assuming I did this all correct, the oregon trail files are suppose to be within the same folder as DosBox correct? If not then I did something wrong.
Here is the code in dosbox.conf (version .072), but it is fine considering it gave me the prompt:
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount c c:\games\oregontrail
c:
cd oregon
Nevermind, the problem can be solved by just dragging oregon.exe onto the dosbox.exe file.
Ok, i got to-
'Now Let's Setup the Game's Sound:'
and had a problem being that
"C:\OREGON>"
Next: At the "C:\OREGON>" prompt type "setup" and press enter.
My DOSBox says Z instead of C. I copied and pasted the config mount c c: and all of that to the notepad uder where it says # Lines in this section will be run at startup. and it's still saying Z. I have windows 7 i'm not sure if that's the problem? I did everything else it said
it didnt work for me!! :(
i have windows xp.. and when i save it it goes straight to winzip. then that says it does not appear to be a valid archive
If I've downloaded Dosbox for another game, do I reinstall it to this other folder? Will both games work, then?
Hi i am stuck on the command promt where you enter mount c C:\Program Files\OregonTrail and that stuff i have done it both ways and it tells me either illegal command or that the path doesn't exist then i altered it so the path was correct and the same thing if you could help that would be greatly appreciated BTW im running xp
hi, I have windows 7. I am having trouble and found that the game is not compatible with my version of windows. Is there anything I can do?? AM
Hi when you say not compatible is there an error you are getting. Dosbox works on 32 and 64 bit Windows 7.
Best,
Glenn
Yes, I also get this message.
"The version of this file is not compatible with the version of windows you are running. Check your computer's system info to see whether you need an x86(32 bit) or x64 (64 bit) version of this program."
However, I have windows 7 and it has the 64 bit operating system.
Why am I getting this message? - Thanks, Pete
for some reason instead of going into a .zip file my computer takes it upon itself to make it into a .rar file so i have no way of doing the steps after the "get it now" step. can anyone help me?
Hey glen i am having the same problem that todd had. I get to the part were i enter cd oregon into dosbox and it says its unable to change to oregon. I seen it is a extraction problem. it only lets me extract to my desktop. I try extracting to C:games/Oregontail
but when i click extract it asks me for a password because the files are password protected. I am running xp.
HINT: When I was writing the
"mount c c:\games\oregontrail"
i kept going to the DOSbox to see that the c:\OREGON was not there. Remember how we named the folder OregonTrail? Type the capitol letters in the "mount" line so that it looks like
"mount c c:\games\OregonTrail"
I didn't have any problems after that.
i got to where you're supposed to enter text in the notepad but i cant find the section where im supposed to enter it. help!
Sorry to bother you but I'm kinda stumped, I did everything including the sound setup. But when I clicked on the DosBox program to let me play the game it just goes the the same screen where it has the "Welcome to DosBox" and is waiting for me to type after the "Z:\>"
So any idea on what the problem is?
Hi the config file settings didn't save.
Best,
Glenn
I got a message :
C:\>cd oregon
Unable to change to: oregon
Not sure what to do now? Tried it over many times still getting same thing, I'm at a loss!
I can help by saying that you must make sure the names of your files must be exactly the same and where it is.Like when i download oregon it was Oregon Trail,The.Make sure u change it to oregontrail with caps or no caps.And you must have folders the same lie games and such.Unless you do it manually by c c:\...\ blah blah.Intro mount...But the best is keep to what glenn put!
hiya glenn. i was downloading this as said but it said it was saving onto the "Z" drive, rather than the "C" drive. can you please help me?
thanks. :)
ps- im on vista
to launch C:\setup, type in the words u have to type 4 notepad and to exit out, press quit on the game menu(p.s. i made the list of legends jack ass-cots)
Glen
I have been fumbling with the guide for quite a while, in the config file I found no label of "[autoexec]:" Last thing I saw was a contact category. In order to save you time Glen, I'll say this. Whatever you reply in guidance will not help me, the matter is too complex for me to comprehend. Please update your guide, I'm not sure if you have since 2008. I could never get past the part of setting up the sound, as I scrolled through the comments I saw that that's where the majority of people have issues with setting this up. Please clarify this issue. I would love to play Oregon Trail, but it seems that the effort is too much and that you just might be better off at buying the game instead of fumbling through all the guides, then getting stuck then awaiting an untimely response.
Grant
sad to say now when you download the file it dosent exist when you try to unzip it >.< grrr
mount c c:\games\oregontrail
c:
cd oregon
this is what i am haing trouble with.
its not mounting correctly, and i dont exactly know what i did wrong.
can someone please help?
Hi Glenn, I believe I've done everything right so far up until the part where you type in "setup" next to C:\OREGON>. Mine reads a little differently C:\OREGON~1>, but when I type in setup next to it and hit enter illegal command: setup comes up underneath it. Please let me know what I'm doing wrong. Thanks
Ohhhh I think to quick play Oregon Trail is after dowload oregon trail then drag OREGON game to dosbox That easy!
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