The config file file is specified when starting DOSBOX, NOT from the DOS command line in running DOSBOX!
You must edit shortcut properties.

Mirek

thank you for your help, I suppose that is an important distinction. unfortunately I remain ignorant of virtually all things program related and find myself driven only by my love of classic dos games. so i'm afraid I really have to ask, how do I do that?

At first you must go to your Dos Box directory and find a file which is name DosBox.conf...and then use windows notepad to open it..then you can config the things there..

I have figured out how to modify the conf file, I simply cannont get it to take effect when trying to run a program. I can work the basic dos commands, but I can't get the Dosbox to OPEN with the setting I have entered into the conf file.

Sorry, there is probably a forum somewhere for this but I sure can't find it. Any help out there?

uhm be sure the file is called dosbox.conf and not dosbox.conf.txt

Futher look at the shortcut for dosbox
at the end you will notice
a -c "blahblah/blah blah/dosbox.conf" make sure that one points to your modified dosbox.conf

"I have figured out how to modify the conf file, I simply cannont get it to take effect when trying to run a program. I can work the basic dos commands, but I can't get the Dosbox to OPEN with the setting I have entered into the conf file. \"

Did you save the file after you edited it?

I, too, had a spot of trouble with the bloody thing, and found that the dosbox.conf file in my dosbox directory (located on the E: drive) was NOT, in fact, being used. I actually made a shortcut to a batch file which ran DOSBox with the correct parameters for the config file. (DOS-savvy: don't get on me for that, I had just spent about an hour in giddy nerdvahnna splicing XCOMUTIL commands into batch files for easy fiddling with UFO Defense, so I wasn't think Windows shortcuts at the time.)

Anyway, I also put it on my girlfriend's machine, and noticed dosbox.conf under the recent files list immediatly after. (I hadn't loaded it myself yet.) This version of the file appeared in her C:\Windows directory, not under the install path for DOSBox, and I found that modifying it would change DOSBox without any special parameters in the shortcuts.

End result: put the dosbox.conf file in your c:\windows directory, and see if that works.

Side note: After doing that on my g/f's PC and having that work fine, I came back to mine and tried the same thing. Low and behold, I no longer needed my shortcut (or batch file, thank you very much). However, then having some problem with my sound (Note: having oplmode=auto under the soundblaster settings makes any Adlib-based music very, very quiet, a connection not explicitly stated ANYWHERE in the Wiki.) I had to change my settings and modifying the .conf in C:\Windows did nothing. So... I deleted it, made the changes to the .conf file in my install path, and now that one works fine with no shortcuts or parameters. So maybe my processor has poltergeists, I dunno. Good luck.

Ackapus - check your PATH setting. I am not sure, but I think DOSBox (like any other Windows app) goes through the same motions when locating a non-path'ed file:

1. Look in the current (working) directory.
2. Look in the directory where the .COM/.EXE is loaded from.
3. Look in each of the directories in the PATH.
4. Look in SYSTEM / SYSTEM32
5. Look in WINDOWS.

Edit: Just did a little searching. Found nothing about how INI files are located (dosbox.conf is treated like an INI file I think), but I did find something about DLL's (link). The sequence listed above seems to be incorrect, as the WINDOWS & SYSTEM directories seems to be searched before the PATH.

What a mess - the sequence I outlined would allow me much better control of where each Windows component can be put. Hooray for Unix, environment variables and ~/.files.