Let’s be honest, more than a few of us still have a DOS application we like to run once in a while. Concern about losing access to these old family favorites may be keeping some of us from upgrading out of XP long after we would otherwise have done so. If you’ve tried running a DOS application under the Win 7 beta or Vista, you are already aware of the problems. The new operating systems will run DOS applications, but not very enthusiastically.
For one thing, shortcuts created for running DOS-based programs under Win 7 or Vista will display only an unattractive blank vanilla icon on the desktop. For another, all you get to run your DOS application in is a cramped little window almost too small to be usable.
Here’s a way to improve on both of these situations and enhance your DOS experience under Win 7 or Vista. It is adapted from a posting by Edward Mendelson on a Word Perfect-DOS site a year or so ago.
First, be sure you have copied all the files you need for your DOS program to a folder you can locate again when prompted. Now right-click on the desktop. Select New from the menu, then Shortcut, and then enter cmd.exe when asked for the location of the item. Click on Next, and type the name you want to use in the shortcut. For example, if the program you want to use is Professional File, as it is in my case, type in Pro File and then click Finish. Next, right-click on the resulting generic shortcut and choose Properties. Select the Shortcut tab and note what is now displayed in the Target field.
Do not alter what you see there, but move the cursor to the right of cmd.exe, type a space, then add this text:
/c c:\(folder location)\(executable file name). In my computer this would be /c c:\PF\PF.exe. Notice that the text to add begins with a forward slash, then the letter "c", then a space, then the folder location.
Now you are ready to select your icon. Click on Change Icon button and type moricons.dll or pifmgr.dll in the space under "look for icons…" at the top. Click OK and select the icon you want from the choices offered. Click OK again, and your new shortcut, complete with a new icon, will be displayed on the desktop.
The next step is to help resolve the problem of the cramped window you get to work with for your DOS application. You can’t actually increase the number of lines allocated to the DOS window, but you can make it bigger by choosing a larger font size. Right-click on your new shortcut and then the Font tab. Now select the Lucia Console font size you want. I find 20 about right, but you can pick a larger size if you prefer. The working window will enlarge in response to the font size change. Click OK, and you will finally have both a shortcut icon of your choice for your DOS application, and a window large enough to actually use.
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