The installer assumes that COMMAND.COM is in the root of the C: drive. That's usually true on real DOS systems, but the correct thing to do is to use the COMSPEC environment variable to locate the command interpreter.

Anyway, copying COMMAND.COM from DOSBox's Z: drive to the root of the *emulated* C: drive should make the installer happy. This situation is another reason why it's a bad idea to mount the root of the real C: drive as the root of the emulated C: drive.

Cool! Thanks a lot! I have no idea where DOSBox's Z: drive is, but I'll look for it. By my "emulated" C: drive, I assume you mean the folder I mounted as my C: drive. What do you mean about mounting the "root?" --Sorry, I know how to use computers, but don't know that much about how they work.

Thanks very much for replying!

I couldn't figure out where exactly the DOSBox z: drive files are actually located on my iMac, but I ran a search for "command.com" and I found one in another old DOS games. I put a copy of it in my C: drive (folder). Apparently, it is the right file because when I ran the game installer it said the install was successful and to type sr to start the game, but it didn't run. I got a notice saying: "stub exec failed: dos4gw.exe - no such file or directory."

That was one of the files that I mentioned earlier that were created by the game disks. So I tried moving the files from that folder to the new game folder that the installer had created (I marked all of them so I could remove them again if necessary). The game runs just the same as the other one I made before--only in demo mode.

It seems to me that the installer didn't copy all of the files from all three disks. But I really don't know what's wrong now

Thanks again for the help!

just enter the copy command inside dosbox.

I just tried typing "copy command.com" inside DOSBox and it said "Copy failure - 0 files copied."

I guess I was editing my last post when you posted your reply. I think I did find a copy of the file anyway.

Btw, you might want to test out my OS X built of the current development source of DODBox. Download in my sognature. It is signed and should be better in some ways than the old 0.74-1 version. As for trusting me, I also did the version you are using now 😉
(Won't help with your current problem but if I understood correctly it is working now)

@ripsaw and qbix: would it be possible to always add a virtual pointer to z:/command.com on every mount c? (If c is mounted as a hard drive AND no real command.com is present in the mounted folder) this would help the few games that have a problem with command.com not in the root of c:\

Well, the COMSPEC environment variable is a kind of pointer, but it's up to DOS programs to do the right thing and use it. 😀

It was a long time ago that I mentioned to Qbix the idea of internally converting C:\COMMAND.COM to Z:\COMMAND.COM, but it didn't go anywhere; it is indeed a kludge.

@Mr. Eeee: after mounting a C: drive, use the command: COPY Z:\COMMAND.COM C:\

Dominus . . . I DLed the "snapshot for OSX" I assume that's the right thing. Thanks a lot!
But no, my problem is not really solved. I guess I found the right file, but the install didn't work right even though it said "Install successful." Please see my earlier 3rd post.

Thanks!

The COMMAND.COM you "found somewhere" is not necessarily supported. You should use the one on DOSBox's Z: drive, like I described in my previous post, then re-install the game.

Also, how are you mounting the floppy drive or floppy images?

I just typed in exactly what you said and it came back with "illegal path" ???

I pretty uuch followed the manual as for my c: drive path . . . mount c ~/games/

But are you talking about something else? --Cause maybe that's my big problem. I haven't mounted any floppy drives

You are making some fundamental mistake, but we can't see what it is if you're vague about what you're doing.

Please list all commands you are typing in DOSBox, including all MOUNT commands, in order to install the game.

Can you do a screenshot of the DOSBox window of your mounts and when you typed the command? Preview is very handy for taking screenshots.

Okay . . . here is how I'm doing my commands . . .

After starting DOSBox (the new one I just DLed BTW), I type:
mount c `/Games/ (then hit return)
then I type: c:

And how do you plan to mount the floppy disks? With a real floppy drive? With images of the floppy disks?

BTW, the Z: drive is a virtual drive within DOSBox. It seems like you've been trying to do things outside of DOSBox when you should be doing them inside.

mount c ~/Games/
copy z:\command.com c:\

Okay . . . here is how I'm doing my commands . . .

After starting DOSBox (the new one I just DLed BTW), I type:
mount c ~/games/dosgames/ (then hit return)
Then I type: c:
Then I type: cd speed (the folder the game is in)
Then I type: install.exe

And that's pretty much it. Then it starts installing (with various degrees of success so far). 😀

Dominux . . . I took a screenshot of my DOSBox window with my commands but I'm not sure how to attach it. I see no button for that.

Are you copying the contents of all floppy disks to a folder on your hard disk and trying to install from that folder? That works in some cases, but not all. Normally you mount the A: drive as a floppy drive and install from A: to C:

Okay. so I just typed...
mount c ~/games/dosgames/ and it says Drive C is mounted as local directory
then I typed: copy z:\command.com c:\ and it says "COMMAND.COM - 1 file(s) copied.

so that's good. Now I will try and install again . . . I'll let you know how it goes . . .

Just make sure you don't install to C:\SPEED, because that's where you're installing FROM.