DOSBox only supports DOS programs. The installer you are trying to run in DOSBox is probably a Windows program.....which will not work in DOSBox.

The installed game will probably work just fine in DOSBox.

Also:

http://wolfenstein.bethsoft.com/

or

http://www.chaos-software.de.vu/

Thanks 😀
sorry, just re-read your post and I misunderstood it. How do I install it manually then, if it automatically installs it when I put the cd in? Or how do I play it in dosbox?

Yes.

Either use the installed copy of the game in DOSBox and configure the sounds settings

or

Use Wolf4SDL to turn Wolfenstein 3D into a Windows game.

I guess I don't understand how to use the installed copy of the game in Dosbox? I apologize for my ignorance, I called my brother who is in computers for a long time and he couldnt get it to work over the phone. I appreciate the help.
I basically followed the dosbox instructions to the best of my ability but got stuck when it came to executing the game on dosbox. I actually used a walkthrough that I found on a post on here but it didn't cover this scenario.

Ok, Dosfreak I followed your tutorial for Dosbox video tutorial and it all falls apart on the third bit about running or installing a game, I just get the "program cannot be run in dos mode" message.

Again DOSBox only runs DOS programs. The error "Program cannot be run in dos mode" is saying that you trying to run a Windows program in DOS which will not work in DOSBox.

So if you are running the installer in DOSBox and receive that error message then stop doing that.

If you are running the game executable in DOSBox and receive that error message then forget about using DOSBox. Use Wolf4SDL.

Ok I downloaded wolf4sdl, I chose the latest one v1.7 I think it was. Thing is I am so noobish I dont even know what to do with it. How do I run wolf4sdl in conjunction with my cd?

fukyterrance wrote:

while it works on XP (old comp) the music will not play.

You appear to be trying to run the installer under DOSBox. You need to find the specific program for the game you are running under XP and run that under DOSBox.

Does it have an entry in your Start menu? Here's what you can try to do:
-Right-click the Start menu entry and select Properties.
-Click the "Find Target" button. This should open up a folder with a bunch of files in it.
-For convenience, make a new folder on your hard drive called C:\GAMES (or whatever you like). Make a new folder inside that folder called WOLF3D.
-Copy all the files from the folder you got using "Find Target" to C:\GAMES\WOLF3D.
-Then use DOSBox as shown in the videos. Type:
mount c c:\games
c:
cd games
wolf3d
See if that works.

Maybe browse around the CD-ROM and see if you can find the original DOS game files, then copy and use those instead of trying to go through the Windows-based installer.

You could also try running the installer directly in Windows to get it installed onto your hard drive, then use DOSBox to play it. This may not work though if the installer is a 16-bit Windows program and you're on a 64-bit version of Windows.

Jorpho wrote:

You appear to be trying to run the installer under DOSBox. You need to find the specific program for the game you are running u […]
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fukyterrance wrote:

while it works on XP (old comp) the music will not play.

You appear to be trying to run the installer under DOSBox. You need to find the specific program for the game you are running under XP and run that under DOSBox.

Does it have an entry in your Start menu? Here's what you can try to do:
-Right-click the Start menu entry and select Properties.
-Click the "Find Target" button. This should open up a folder with a bunch of files in it.
-For convenience, make a new folder on your hard drive called C:\GAMES (or whatever you like). Make a new folder inside that folder called WOLF3D.
-Copy all the files from the folder you got using "Find Target" to C:\GAMES\WOLF3D.
-Then use DOSBox as shown in the videos. Type:
mount c c:\games
c:
cd games
wolf3d
See if that works.

Jorpho, I tried this but when I try to "find target" that button is not available to click. Is this because its a shortcut?
Hunter Z, I tried looking around on the CD rom and found out that the launch and install programs, etc are all supposed to be MSDOS programs so I don't get why I get the message "this program will not run in DOS mode. I also tried changing the compatibility mode to win95 but did nothing.
I'm pretty determined to get this to work so thanks for all the help guys, at any rate I am learning a thing or two since I bought this cd.

fukyterrance wrote:

Jorpho, I tried this but when I try to "find target" that button is not available to click. Is this because its a shortcut?

Now this really doesn't make any sense. Shortcuts are supposed to have that button. Are you right-clicking on the folder in the Start Menu, or are you right-clicking on the start menu entry that actually runs the game?

I'm pretty determined to get this to work so thanks for all the help guys, at any rate I am learning a thing or two since I bought this cd.

Well, there's always the newly-released browser version at http://wolfenstein.bethsoft.com/ .

Jorpho wrote:

Now this really doesn't make any sense. Shortcuts are supposed to have that button. Are you right-clicking on the folder in th […]
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fukyterrance wrote:

Jorpho, I tried this but when I try to "find target" that button is not available to click. Is this because its a shortcut?

Now this really doesn't make any sense. Shortcuts are supposed to have that button. Are you right-clicking on the folder in the Start Menu, or are you right-clicking on the start menu entry that actually runs the game?

I'm pretty determined to get this to work so thanks for all the help guys, at any rate I am learning a thing or two since I bought this cd.

Well, there's always the newly-released browser version at http://wolfenstein.bethsoft.com/ .

I'm right clicking on the "play wolfenstein 3d Icon" from the start menu drop down. Would it help if I took a screenshot?
Thanks for the browser based link but I really want to get this disc going since it has Spear of Destiny on it as well.

DOSBox can be quite confusing when you are new to it.

IMO download and install D-Fend reloaded, a user friendly frontend that comes with DOSBox.

Then use the wizard to add your two games from the CD.

fukyterrance wrote:

I'm right clicking on the "play wolfenstein 3d Icon" from the start menu drop down. Would it help if I took a screenshot?

Yes, I think it might. Please post a screenshot of the Properties dialog as well.

If nothing else there should hopefully be a field named "Start In:" which should indicate where they program's files are stored. You can then browse to that folder manually and follow the instructions I posted before.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Then use the wizard to add your two games from the CD.

That's probably not going to help if he can't find the DOS executables to begin with.

fukyterrance wrote:

Hunter Z, I tried looking around on the CD rom and found out that the launch and install programs, etc are all supposed to be MSDOS programs so I don't get why I get the message "this program will not run in DOS mode. I also tried changing the compatibility mode to win95 but did nothing.

How can you tell if an executable is for DOS or Windows without running it? That message is the tell-tale sign that you're looking at a Windows program.

Could you inform us of what computers you have to work with? Specifically, which versions of Windows (XP, Vista, 7, etc.) and are they 32- or 64-bit?

Screenshots of the CD-ROM's contents may also be useful.

I have only the one computer to work with which is an older one that runs on XP. I'm not sure how to tell if its 32 or 64 bit tbh. I found the file in C: by looking at the properties so I went there and found some files.
Here are some screenshots I took while looking for the stuff you all are talking about:

The way the game looks on my start menu:

What happens when I right click on it:

The "wolfenstein3d" folder found in C:

Contents of "Wolf3d" folder:

Contents of "wolfenstein" folder:

I can take more screenshots if need be, just let me know.
I hope this new information helps guys, I really appreciated you all helping me try to figure this out. 😊

fukyterrance wrote:

Contents of "Wolf3d" folder: http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj573/Funkyterrance222/printscreenwolf3dfiles.jpg […]
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Contents of "Wolf3d" folder:

Yes, this is the folder whose files you need. Like I said, just copy all those files to a convenient folder that you can mount in DOSBox and then run WOLF3D.EXE. (It is displayed here as just "WOLF3D" because you have extensions hidden for known file types.) Alternatively, as Mau1wurf1977 suggested, you can direct D-Fend Reloaded to WOLF3D.EXE .

To use Wolf4SDL, just follow the instructions in the Wolf4SDL README:

To play Wolfenstein 3D with Wolf4SDL, you just have to copy the original data
files (e.g. *.WL6) into the same directory as the Wolf4SDL executable.

P.S. To take a screenshot of only the active window instead of the entire screen, press ALT-PrintScreen instead of just PrintScreen.

So you've got the game files on your hard drive in that wolf3d folder. This means you don't need to mess with installers. You should be able to just copy the wolf3d folder somewhere, mount it in DOSBox and then run wolf3d.exe inside of DOSBox.

Excellent!!! Thanks to everyone who has helped me so far, Jorpho in particular.
I copied the files to a file in C: and then used dosbox and was thrilled to hear the music I remember back in the day! The only thing now is that the game seems to only work minimized. Is this the sort of thing the patch you showed me is supposed to help? Also, is it not possible to run other windows at the same time I have the game running? It seemed like I had to exit dosbox in order to do anything else on my comp.