I've seen false starts like that when a game needed a CD to run and I hadn't mounted it.

does it run elsewhere?

Moved to DOSBox Games/Apps. Section

what is your dosbox version and where have you got it from?
what is your Operating System?
what are your PC specifications?

post content of "DOSBox Status Window" (in Windows: right click on its title bar -> edit)
enclose your dosbox's config file

do other games work?

This is DOSBox 0.74. Here's the content of my status window:

DOSBox version 0.74
Copyright 2002-2010 DOSBox Team, published under GNU GPL.
---
CONFIG:Loading primary settings from config file C:\Documents and Settings\Danny
\Local Settings\Application Data\DOSBox\dosbox-0.74.conf
MIDI:Opened device:win32

I got it from the DOSBox website, and my operating system is Windows XP. As for specs, what do you specifically want to know? It's got a Pentium 4 CPU with 3.2GHz, and 512 MB of RAM. I don't have any other DOS games to try out, so I don't know whether they'd work or not.

robertmo wrote:

enclose your dosbox's config file

Whoops, I missed that part. I think this is it. I found it in this folder. C:\Documents and Settings\Danny\Local Settings\Application Data\DOSBox
I couldn't upload it directly from that folder, however, because for some reason the upload box couldn't find the Local Settings folder, so I made a copy of it on the desktop and uploaded that.

lightsabermario wrote:

Then I typed WC, and it said, Loading INSTALL.DAT Loading WING COMMANDER. Please wait... Expanded memory detected. _ […]
Show full quote

Then I typed WC, and it said,
Loading INSTALL.DAT
Loading WING COMMANDER. Please wait...
Expanded memory detected.
_

I suspect your source for the game and/or a corrupt install. I just ran WC1 no problem with .74, with the default config file (the one you have here should be good enough).

After the "Expanded memory detected" you should get another line that says "Expanded Memory fully used." So the game itself is hanging. Is this an original copy or from a warez site?

-Frob

I actually have two copies of the wing commander game from different sources. One was from a friend who sent me a copy of it, and the other one, which I got after the first didn't work, was from a torrent. I don't know where my friend got it, but it is possible he got it from a warez site. I'd buy the game if I could, but it is impossible to find that way, I've tried.

If both of my copies were bad or corrupted, where would I be able to get a working copy?

If both of my copies were bad or corrupted, where would I be able to get a working copy?

There are several listed on Ebay right now, admittedly way overpriced.

All I can tell you is using your conf file as supplied, and a vanilla install of Dosbox 0.74, my copy of Wing Commander 1 works fine (mine is installed from the WC 1+2 Origin CD original).

So it's not Dosbox, and it's not your config. That leaves your install, or your copy of the software.

-Frob