Read my 60 Seconds Guide to DOSBox (and don't just read it - follow it too).

If that doesn't help, come back with details on how you mounted your C and D drives, how you did the install, how you configured sound, music etc.

I got most of the way through your guide, but unfortunately hit a wall at the point of installation. When I go to install, it says it could not write the files correctly and to try again, even though it gets to the end of the installation. I would try installing on another drive but I can't type slashes in DOS BOX and as such I can't type the full directory. I don't think I'm gonna be able to install through DOS. I mounted the game directory on my C: drive as C and the CD ROM is actually the E: drive mounted as D:. I also tried a few other things, such as trying all of the compatibility modes outside of DOS Box. Using the compatibility mode for later versions of Windows solved the laggy mouse but I'm still getting freezes. I uninstalled and reinstalled just the old version of the game to see if the EXE would run in DOS but when running the EXE off the hard drive, it still says it can't be run in DOS mode. Running the DOS4GW EXE gives the same result. I also tried disabling Norton while playing, but still problems.

can't type slashes in DOS BOX and as such I can't type the full directory

Please check the readme that comes with dosbox.

None of the solutions in the readme worked for me. I added all my commands to the config file including the directory I want to use to install but it won't show up in the directory field when the installation starts. I have no idea what to do with the keyboard layouts as far as changing them. I tried the keys around enter but none are the slash. The links for Keyb2.0 are broken and I couldn't find it in Google. I will see if there's a sticky around here which has a link to it. All the other solutions I didn't mention in the readme did not work.

Also, is it really necessary to install the game through DOS? If not, then I would rather just save myself the hassle and install through the CD in Windows, which has no problems.

Update: I searched a bit in the forums. Keyb2.0 isn't a program? I was reading through one topic and saw that keyb.com was a command, I thought it was supposed to be a website. 😜 Anyhow, I tried that command and "Keyb US", even though my keyboard is standard US but to no avail.

MiniMax wrote:

If that doesn't help, come back with details on how you mounted your C and D drives, how you did the install, how you configured sound, music etc.

Freedos people currently have only their buggy keyb2.0 around, so don't
bother about that part. Can you type a \ at the dosbox command line?

coreyos wrote:

I got most of the way through your guide, but unfortunately hit a wall at the point of installation. When I go to install, it says it could not write the files correctly and to try again, even though it gets to the end of the installation. I would try installing on another drive but I can't type slashes in DOS BOX and as such I can't type the full directory. I don't think I'm gonna be able to install through DOS. I mounted the game directory on my C: drive as C and the CD ROM is actually the E: drive mounted as D:. I also tried a few other things, such as trying all of the compatibility modes outside of DOS Box. Using the compatibility mode for later versions of Windows solved the laggy mouse but I'm still getting freezes. I uninstalled and reinstalled just the old version of the game to see if the EXE would run in DOS but when running the EXE off the hard drive, it still says it can't be run in DOS mode. Running the DOS4GW EXE gives the same result. I also tried disabling Norton while playing, but still problems.

Changed it around a bit to this:
"mount d D:/Program Files/Old Games"
"mount e E: / -t cdrom"

I changed the drives around a bit because I was going to try installing on my other hard drive since the installation was giving me trouble on the C: drive.

@wd: I'm not sure exactly where you want me to type this. I typed that command but it tells me it's an illegal command. I tried a few different combinations of it too.

I'm not sure exactly where you want me to type this.

Right after starting dosbox (z:\ prompt).

coreyos wrote:

Changed it around a bit to this:
"mount d D:/Program Files/Old Games"
"mount e E: / -t cdrom"

Thank you!
Now try to do it like the guide said (and without a space between E: and /):

mount C "D:/Program Files/Old Games"
mount D "E:/" -t cdrom

wd wrote:

I'm not sure exactly where you want me to type this.

Right after starting dosbox (z:\ prompt).

I'm typing this but I'm still getting the same result. "a " without the quotes was what you wanted me to type, right? When I go to type it after starting DOS BOX, it says it's an illegal command.

@Minimax: Sorry, I forgot to mention I put a space in there for my post because without the space, it created an emoticon (e:/). In DOSBOX, I typed it just as you wrote.

When I go to type it after starting DOS BOX, it says it's an illegal command.

So you can type a \ or not? I'm not talking about hitting enter.

wd wrote:

When I go to type it after starting DOS BOX, it says it's an illegal command.

So you can type a \ or not? I'm not talking about hitting enter.

Oh ok. Yeah I can type that. I just can't type any kind of slashes in the installation program for the game.

coreyos wrote:

@Minimax: Sorry, I forgot to mention I put a space in there for my post because without the space, it created an emoticon (e:/). In DOSBOX, I typed it just as you wrote.

So you type

1mount C "D:/Program Files/Old Games"
2mount D "E:/" -t cdrom

then

1D:
2install

and then what??

Ok, I got the game to install successfully by trying another file on the CD and the game's EXE will run off my hard drive now. I've just got a few problems:

-The game still freezes after a few minutes of play. I'm not sure if there's anything further that can be done to fix this. I tried patching the game to the current version but when I go to run the patch program, it says it must be run in Win32.
-The sound in game is a little behind, so I'm going to try changing the sound card driver that's being used for the game and see if that will fix it.

So, any ideas?

I don't know what patch you think you are running, but the only patch that exists for Theme Hospital (Theme Hospital Fix #1, also known as Theme Hospital 1.1 or Theme Hospital beta5) is a DOS application.

Snover wrote:

I don't know what patch you think you are running, but the only patch that exists for Theme Hospital (Theme Hospital Fix #1, also known as Theme Hospital 1.1 or Theme Hospital beta5) is a DOS application.

I installed the patch you mentioned and I'll let you know how that works. This is the readme from the patch that was included with my CD. I don't know what version it is. However, when I searched for Theme Hospital patches on Google, I found this one most often:

======================== Theme Hospital(tm) Patch ======================== […]
Show full quote

========================
Theme Hospital(tm) Patch
========================

If you are experiencing any technical problems try installing
the Patch.

To install the patch do the following:

1. Go to the 'Start' button on your Windows task bar,
2. Select 'Run',
3. Type:- D:\Patches\TH_Patch_SO.exe
(assuming that the letter of your CD-ROM drive is d:)
4. Click 'OK'.

What does the patch/update do?

This file adds difficulty levels to the game and also adds
Multiplayer support for Serial connection (2 players), Modem connection
(2 players) and IPX Network connections (4 Players)
The file also corrects a number of graphical glitches and common
gameplay problems, including crashes in the middle of a game.

Update: I installed the patch you linked to but I'm still getting crashes.

Are you sure you just haven't forgotten to increase the cycle count and the game is locked up because you need to give it more CPU cycles? That would also explain sound problems.

Snover wrote:

Are you sure you just haven't forgotten to increase the cycle count and the game is locked up because you need to give it more CPU cycles? That would also explain sound problems.

Maybe. I have no idea what the cycle count is or how to change it though. Plus, the freezing problem occurred before I tried running the game on DOSBOX, I don't know if that would change anything. I went to find DOSBOX after the freezing started to see if running it in DOS would stop the freezing problems. Also I tried the patch you mentioned and unfortunately I had the same results.