DOS, Amiga, IBM PC: 4 Ways to Run Old Games on Your Modern PC

The internet is awash in tips on how to squeeze life out of old hardware to play the newest games. But what if you want to go in the opposite direction? Maybe you want to replay some of the gems of your childhood and see if they hold up against modern games, or maybe you are just discovering PC gaming for the first time and want to catch up on all the history you missed.

While many classics can be purchased from modern storefronts like Steam and GOG, it can often be difficult to get old games running properly on your modern machine. In many cases, the further back you go, the more challenging things get.

The good news is that there has been a boom in conservation efforts in recent years, the upshot of which is that a lot of games that were in danger of disappearing completely are now fully playable. Some of the methods involved are more arcane than others, but if you put in a little effort, a treasure trove of historic artifacts are yours for the plundering.

1. Try Windows' Built-in Options

Before turning to third-party solutions, it may be worth trying the built-in Windows options. Right-click on the game icon and click Run as administrator in the menu or open Properties, click the Compatibility tab, and enable Run this program as an administrator. This will grant the program extra permissions it may need to function properly.

If the game still does not launch, or if you experience glitches, stuttering, or a black screen, return to the Compatibility tab and turn on Compatibility Mode. You can then open the drop-down menu and choose from a number of operating systems Windows can emulate while running your game. A good way to use this feature is to find an OS that corresponds to the time the game in question was first released.

If there are still issues with running the game, try playing with some of the settings in the Compatibility tab. Enabling things like Reduced color mode or Run in 640x480 screen resolution could get things moving.

2. Emulate With DOSBox

For those still learning, DOS was the operating system that preceded Windows and other graphic interfaces. It was almost entirely text-based, and using it involved a lot of command-line work and navigation through typing. Despite this, it still had a large collection of games that are worth preserving and revisiting.

If you really want to excavate the roots of PC gaming, DOSBox is a great place to start. It takes you back to that dusty, fiddly error by emulating a DOS environment, which is necessary to get many of the games developed during that period to run on modern hardware. 

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Fortunately for modern users, the creators of DOSBox have done an incredible job of tutorializing the experience, eliminating much of the guesswork and trial and error that plagued gamers of that era. If you're wondering where to start, jump into the web tutorial and view the list of supported games. For more granular info, take a look at the incredibly detailed online manual.

DOSBox even lets you install old CD-ROM games (assuming you still have an optical drive in your PC) by mounting them as virtual drives. It’s such a popular emulation method that many older games sold on GOG include some level of DOSBox integration by default. 

3. Broaden Your Horizons With RetroArch

DOSBox is a great emulator option for a specific channel of games, but if you want to play older games from even more obscure platforms, RetroArch may be the solution you need. Instead of directly emulating games for you, RetroArch acts as an aggregator for a number of different emulators under one convenient frontend.

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The sheer volume of operating systems and platforms under its umbrella is staggering. Similar to OpenEmu for Mac owners, RetroArch includes emulators—called cores inside the program—for classic personal computer platforms, as well as arcade systems and home game consoles. The best part is that it's all packaged in an approachable UI, so it's user friendly as far as emulator software goes.

4. Build a Virtual Machine

If you're still hitting a wall, it may be time to create a virtual machine to run an older PC inside of your modern computer via emulation. You can then install an older operating system and trick your game into believing it's being installed natively on the OS it was originally meant to run on.

This is an even more robust option than using compatibility mode in Windows because you're essentially running a complete version of the operating system. For example, you could run Windows 95 in your VM in order to play 3D Pinball Space Cadet.

While Parellels Desktop and VMware Fusion are our top choices for commercial virtualization software, gamers can turn to the free VirtualBox to create a virtual machine. The process can be pretty onerous, but there are tons of helpful tutorials available online.

I recommend starting with the Virtual Box forums, particularly the Howtos and Tutorials section. The retro PC crowd is generally pretty welcoming of neophytes, so help should be easy to find.