You should get 2 windows when you start DOSBox. The main window, and status window with info about which config is being loaded.

So - which config is used?

Thanks for replying!

It says that it is using dosbox.conf

Delete any dosbox.conf you've manually copied into the dosbox directory.

No other config files in there at all - contains zmbv folder (containing zmbv, a dll, and the README), AUTHORS, COPYING, INSTALL, NEWS, README, and THANKS txt/notepad files, two dlls, DOSBox executable, and the uninstall.

No other config files in there at all

dosbox tells otherwise. The default installation uses a dosbox-0.73.conf in the apps data directory.

So not in the C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.73 folder? (There is a conf file which can be accessed via the start menu, but my problem is that changes are not being picked up when made to this conf file. Really struggling with this one.

I am sure there is a way in Windows to have it search the whole harddisk for a file named dosbox.conf. Absolutely sure.

apachebreak wrote:

So not in the C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.73 folder? (There is a conf file which can be accessed via the start menu, but my problem is that changes are not being picked up when made to this conf file. Really struggling with this one.

Never put config files or any other file that needs to be changed into the C:\Program Files folder structure under Vista! Vista will protect that folder tree from changes by rolling back or silently failing to save changes. This is why DOSBox 0.73 saves its .conf file to your user profile folder area by default. DOSBox 0.73 adds a shortcut to your Start Menu that you can use to edit the .conf in its proper location.

MiniMax - There is indeed a function for finding any file in Vista, and when I search, the only dosbox.conf file on my laptop is in C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.73

Hunterz - The dosbox.conf file was placed in C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.73 by the installer when I downloaded 0.73 from www.dosbox.com.

Sounds like I need to delete existing dosbox.conf from C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.73, create a new one within my user area, then get DOSBox to point itself at that new conf file to get the latest configuration?

I actually did succeed in creating a new dosbox.conf file in my user profile area during the course of my tinkering after reading the README before starting this thread, but I don't know what commands to type into dosbox to make it look at this new conf file to pick up any changes I make.

I am afraid I am not very experienced with the nuances and commands of DOS, so a step by step of exactly what to type into the command line in dosbox once I have created a new conf file in my user area to achieve this would be highly appreciated. Thanks again for your help guys!!

Hunterz - The dosbox.conf file was placed in C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.73 by the installer when I downloaded 0.73 from www.dosbox.com.

Not possible.

DOSBox 0.73 creates a .conf with the version number in it now I think, not "dosbox.conf".

Suggestions:

1. Uninstall DOSBox.

2a. Reinstall DOSBox 0.73. Use the "Edit configuration file" shortcut that it creates in the Start Menu to edit the conf file. Don't try opening it any other way.

- or -

2b. Use a DOSBox frontend utility like D-Fend Reloaded to manage profiles for you via a GUI.

Uninstall what you have now, and make sure you have the installer for 0.73. Then install, and you should have a fresh, clean config-file in that hidden user-area.

Dominus - All due respect, but that is where the dosbox.conf file has been put by the installer, so not only is it possible, it's happened. I'll mail you a screen dump if you have an email address I can use?

MiniMax - Already tried uninstall then reinstall a few times, but I'll give it another whirl. Thanks.

HunterZ - I am editing the dosbox.conf file from the start menu 'edit configuration' option, and it is not picking up my changes, presumably because the dosbox.conf file is within C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.73 (which is why I need some help in getting dosbox to look at a new conf file I'll create within my user area if you can please). I'm struggling with front ends, tried a few of the ones from the dosbox wiki, but not all of the links are good and there are no/very few instructions for them. Do you have a good link for D-Fend/some instructions please?

Thanks again guys.

I belive you that you have the file dosbox.conf there, but it was not put there by the dosbox installer. Much more likely it was put there by your frontend experiments...

If you delete the dosbox.conf file in the program location, dosbox will use the settings you change in the "edit configuration" start menu link...

As Dominus says, the dosbox 0.73 installer definitely does NOT put up a
dosbox.conf in the program files directory by any means.

I don't have Vista, but isn't there some kind of directory virtualization thing for apps that put stuff in program files and aren't supposed to? Maybe the poster has such a directory for Dosbox with dosbox.conf in it (leftover from 0.72?), which gets picked up.

http://blogs.scb.rit.edu/dave/2007/02/09/wind … tualized-files/

ripa wrote:

I don't have Vista, but isn't there some kind of directory virtualization thing for apps that put stuff in program files and aren't supposed to? Maybe the poster has such a directory for Dosbox with dosbox.conf in it (leftover from 0.72?), which gets picked up.

http://blogs.scb.rit.edu/dave/2007/02/09/wind … tualized-files/

Yes, that's what we're saying! However the dosbox.conf got there, it shouldn't be there because you're not going to be able to easily edit it and make the changes stick due to the virtualization that is used to protect files under Program Files from being messed up by users.

It's likely that a dosbox.conf got into the OP's DOSBox installation folder by some means other than the installer, and that it is taking precedence over the one in the OP's user directories. That dosbox.conf needs to be permanently removed.

My point is that if he can't find dosbox.conf in c:\program files even though dosbox loads such a file ("No other config files in there at all"), he should look in the virtual program files directory (which would be something like C:\Users\username\AppData\VirtualStore\Program Files\dosbox-0.73\dosbox.conf like on the page I linked to).