First post, by Judgementand
Up until 6 months ago DOSBOX worked great on my PC. Reformatted computer and just installed it again yesterday and it runs like absolute crap. I'm using D-Fend (but results are same with just dosbox.exe) and when I start a game it sits at the dos box that says "CONFIG:Loading Settings from config file" and then has the path to my .conf file. That window sits there for around 30 seconds before the actual DOSBOX window opens, and then that window remains blank for another 30 seconds. During both periods the computer is for all intense and purposes "LOCKED UP". The mouse stops moving, the clock stops, and nothing is responsive. Once the game actually starts the emulator works fine but if I try to switch out of it (either ALT+TAB or just clicking on another window) it hangs for about the same length of time. When I close (either clicking on X or CTRL+F9) it hangs for about 10 seconds. The weird thing is last night I went to change my Windowblinds skin and it locked up Explorer (which it recovered but to a certain degree) and from that point until I restarted DOSBOX worked perfectly fine. Also it works 100% fine on my laptop.
PLZ PLZ PLZ HELP ME I really want to play my old games again 🤣 I've had a craving.
System Setup:
3.2Ghz P4E (1 physical processor - 2 logical)
P4C800-E Mobo
2ghz RAM
more than enough HDD space
ATi Radeon X800 XT 256mb vid card
Soundblaster Audigy 2 soundcard
Viewsonic VX2235WM (22" Widescreen) monitor (just trying to eliminate possibilities)
Logitech G-15 Keyboard (with LCD)
Microsoft Habu Gaming Mouse
That's about it. PLEASE help guys I'm desperate!
EDIT: Also I've tried both version 0.65 and 0.63 for compatibility issues with D-Fend. Both do the same. The weird thing is when the computer F'd up last night...when I went to start a game it only opened 1 DOSBOX window not the 2 like usual (when it hangs all the time). Also as far as Windowblinds I have all DOSBOX and D-Fend and CMD windows un-skinned completely so it's not a skinning issue. I've ever unloaded Windowblinds and still doesn't work.
EDIT2: Ok so I just thought about starting ScummVM (the emulator for SCUMM games) and it does the exact same thing. This is strange 🤣