VOGONS

Search

Common searches

boot win 7 into dosbox

Topic actions

First post, by tsmpaul

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Hi, I have Windows 7 Home Edition 64-bit, running on a Sony Vaio Pro 13 laptop.
processor: intel core i5-4200u
Ram: 4gb
I use the D-Fend Reloaded front end for DosBox.
I have windows 3.1 installed in my dosbox.
I created a shortcut on my desktop, which launches my dosbox installation, and starts windows 3.1
If I put this shortcut into my Windows 7 Startup folder, then when I boot up my laptop, it starts windows, then it launches dosbox Windows 3.1 fullscreen - so my laptop is loading into win 3.1 when my computer finishes booting up.
However, after about ten seconds, dosbox minimizes and the windows 7 desktop is back. It doesn't shut dosbox down, it just minimizes the program. If I click to restore it back to full screen again, dosbox continues running without any problems from that point onward.
If I don't have the dosbox shortcut in startup, and just manually launch it using the desktop shortcut after my computer has finished booting up, then it works fine and does not minimize, but if I have it set to launch when my computer starts up, it will always minimize after around 10 seconds.
I am wondering if anyone else has suggestions on how to have it load up when windows starts, and stay active, instead of minimizing back to the win 7 desktop?

Reply 1 of 3, by konc

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Something else is running after dosbox, which comes to the foregroung.
I'd suggest running msconfig -> startup tab and try to identify what's causing this by disabling entries for testing. Then make sure dosbox runs after it. I assume dosbox is already the last entry in the startup folder.
It's not 100% guaranteed that this will have any outcome though, it could be a windows thing/process/service that causes this, which might be trickier to identify.

Last edited by konc on 2016-05-09, 15:58. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 2 of 3, by Jorpho

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

I agree with the above.

I suggest launching DOSBox from a batch file placed in your startup folder. Use the "timeout" command as discussed in http://superuser.com/questions/239749/delay-w … unching-at-boot to prevent DOSBox running for about 30 seconds. Hopefully whatever is causing DOSBox to minimize will have finished running by then.

Reply 3 of 3, by tsmpaul

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Thanks guys! I delayed the start of dosbox by 10 seconds, and it still dropped out, so I gradually increased the time, and when I got to 40 seconds, it worked! So I'll try to work out what other program or process is interfering, but I'm glad to know that it will work.

Go to top of page Go to top of page
Back to DOSBox General
Close window
Close window