D-Fend Reloaded is a great frontend for DOSBox, the popular DOS emulator. It lets you install and run many DOS games and applications directly from its interface without ever touching a DOS prompt. It works great on XP, Vista, and Windows 7 32 & 64-bit versions.
Getting Started
Download D-Fend Reloaded (link below), and install with the default settings. You don’t need to install DOSBox, as D-Fend Reloaded will automatically install all the components you need to run DOS games on Windows.
D-Fend Reloaded can also be installed as a portable application, so you can run it from a flash drive on any Windows computer by selecting User defined installation.
Then select Portable mode installation.
Once D-Fend Reloaded is installed, you can go ahead and open the program. Then simply click “Accept all settings” to apply the default settings.
D-Fend is now ready to run all of your favorite DOS games.
Installing DOS Games and Applications:
To install a DOS game or application, simply drag-and-drop a zip file of the app into D-Fend Reloaded’s window. D-Fend Reloaded will automatically extract the program…
Then will ask you to name the application and choose where to store it — by default it uses the name of the DOS app.
Now you’ll see a new entry for the app you just installed. Simply double-click to run it.
D-Fend will remind you that you can switch out of fullscreen mode by pressing Alt+Enter, and can also close the DOS application by pressing Ctrl+F9. Press Ok to run the program.
Here we’re running Ms. PacPC, a remake of the classic game Ms. Pac-Man, in full-screen mode. All features work automatically, including sound, and you never have to setup anything from DOS command line — it just works.
Here it’s in windowed mode running on Windows 7.
Please note that your color scheme may change to Windows Basic while running DOS applications.
You can run DOS application just as easily. Here’s Word 5.5 running in in DOSBox through D-Fend Reloaded…
Game Packs:
Want to quickly install many old DOS freeware and trial games? D-Fend Reloaded offers several game packs that let you install dozens of DOS games with only four clicks…just download and run the game pack installer of your choice (link below).
Now you’ve got a selection of DOS games to choose from.
Here’s a group of poor lemmings walking around … in Windows 7.
Conclusion
D-Fend Reloaded gives you a great way to run your favorite DOS games and applications directly from XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Give it a try, and relive your DOS days from the comfort of your Windows desktop.
What were some of your favorite DOS games and applications? Leave a comment and let us know.
Links
Download D-Fend Reloaded
Download DOS game packs for D-Fend Reloaded
Download Ms. Pac-PC
