# Trying to Run Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (1996) on windows 7 home edition



## Imissthe90s

As the title states, I found one of my beloved childhood computer games online and can't figure out a way to get it to run on my 64-bit laptop. 

I know applications such as DosBox and Oracle VM Virtual Box can run it, But I am not very good at using command prompts, and would appreciate if someone could explain to me step by step how to use these programs in layman's terms.


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## Imissthe90s

I should also add I used Oracle VM Virtual Machine to partition a section of my HDD for Windows 95. When I boot windows 95 from Oracle says:\

No bootable Medium Found! System Halted!


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## strollin

In order to install Win 95 on a VM, you'll need to first boot DOS, use fdisk to create a partition, then format the partition.  Once that's done you can boot to a DOS prompt in the VM and install Win95 from there.  It wasn't until Win 98SE that Windows install disks were bootable.


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## Imissthe90s

strollin said:


> In order to install Win 95 on a VM, you'll need to first boot DOS, use fdisk to create a partition, then format the partition.  Once that's done you can boot to a DOS prompt in the VM and install Win95 from there.  It wasn't until Win 98SE that Windows install disks were bootable.



That was a little complicated. I downloaded DosBox instead and I am having a problem trying to open the program. 

I moved the Carmen Sandiego file into the C drive. The directory is:
C:\Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

I am typing mount c c:\Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego on the DosBox screen and it is telling me directory c:\Where doesn't exist. 

Can someone solve this issue for me? Ive been trying to play this game for about a week now and its becoming a bit irritating.


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## strollin

Try the mount command like this: mount c "c:\Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego", that should work for you.


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## Imissthe90s

strollin said:


> Try the mount command like this: mount c "c:\Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego", that should work for you.



Thanks, It worked. Gotta go check the read me file and see what to do next. I'll be back if I dont find what Im looking for.

EDIT: Ok, I mounted the program. I typed C: and then cd where~1 and it is telling me it is unable to change to where~1


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## strollin

You need to enter c: to change to the c: drive then type in carmen to start the game.  The mount command is setting the Where in the world is carmen sandiego folder as the C: drive.


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## Imissthe90s

Sorry back again. I did what you said and its telling me carmen is an illegal command. 

Dunno if it matters but I downloaded the game off of megaupload and it hasn't been installed. I reason I need DOSBOX or a virtual machine is because the setup file isn't compatible with anything newer than Windows ME. 

Is there a command I need to execute in order to get the setup to run?

Once again, the directory is C:\Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

Is it possible to install a program using DosBox?

This a bit confusing to me.


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## strollin

Change to the C: drive type dir and press ENTER.  What files are listed there?


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## Imissthe90s

There is a setup.exe and a setup.cfg. 

I tried both setup, setup.cfg and setup.exe and it says this program must be run under microsoft windows. 

I also tried the autorun file an it says invalid. 

The dir command shows everything in the carmen sandiego folder.


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## strollin

If it says it requires Windows then you won't be able to install it in DOSBox.

I found a downloadable copy at abandonia.com that runs fine in DOSBox.  Try looking there.


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## S.T.A.R.S.

Why don't you try the most simple thing such as running it under the compatibility mode for Windows 95? That is the first thing I would try before using any extra software lol...

Try it and report back if it worked.

By the way what Microsoft Windows operating system are you using?


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## Imissthe90s

S.T.A.R.S. said:


> Why don't you try the most simple thing such as running it under the compatibility mode for Windows 95? That is the first thing I would try before using any extra software lol...
> 
> Try it and report back if it worked.
> 
> By the way what Microsoft Windows operating system are you using?



I've tired compatability mode. Still wont work. I'll have to try the version from the website above.


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## Imissthe90s

Well I appreciate all the help. Just got back from the local computer specialist and they said my best bet would be to search for an ancient computer that has 98SE and use it to play the older games.


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## strollin

That will work but there will be a cost to go that route.  If you could get the game running in DOSBox it wouldn't cost you a dime.  Good luck with it.


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## S.T.A.R.S.

If the game is not a DOS game,it will not work in a DOS environment at all.

What I would do if I were you is to find drivers for your hardware which are compatible with Windows 98 OS and then install Windows 98 to other HDD and then install the drivers and simply run the game on it.

But if you cannot get Windows 98 disk or cannot find any hardware supported by Windows 98 OS or cannot find the appropriate drivers,there are always other ways to run that old game.

Just curious...what compatibility modes have you tried?
By the way if you set the compatibility mode for a wrong file,it is logical that the game won't run.For example you must NOT set the compatibility mode for the game's shortcut.Instead you must find a target for the REAL file and set the compatibility for THAT file and NOT the shortcut.Also be sure that the file for which you set the compatibility mode for is the CORRECT file which actually IS a game.Because some games have 2 different type of files.First one is a menu from which you actually click a button to PLAY the game and once you have clicked the button to play the game,COMPLETELY OTHER file is run and that OTHER file is actually a game while the previous one for which you probably set the compatibility mode for is NOT the game...and instead it is the simple MENU from which you run the game.Games like Star Wars dark forces 2 from 1995. which are designed also for Windows 95 OS are a good example of these.

If you do not know on what exactly I mean,you can always send me a copy of that old game for Windows 95 and I will attempt to find a way to run it and once I did,I will let you know how you can run it under your Windows OS.



Cheers!


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## Imissthe90s

S.T.A.R.S. said:


> If the game is not a DOS game,it will not work in a DOS environment at all.
> 
> What I would do if I were you is to find drivers for your hardware which are compatible with Windows 98 OS and then install Windows 98 to other HDD and then install the drivers and simply run the game on it.
> 
> But if you cannot get Windows 98 disk or cannot find any hardware supported by Windows 98 OS or cannot find the appropriate drivers,there are always other ways to run that old game.
> 
> Just curious...what compatibility modes have you tried?
> By the way if you set the compatibility mode for a wrong file,it is logical that the game won't run.For example you must NOT set the compatibility mode for the game's shortcut.Instead you must find a target for the REAL file and set the compatibility for THAT file and NOT the shortcut.Also be sure that the file for which you set the compatibility mode for is the CORRECT file which actually IS a game.Because some games have 2 different type of files.First one is a menu from which you actually click a button to PLAY the game and once you have clicked the button to play the game,COMPLETELY OTHER file is run and that OTHER file is actually a game while the previous one for which you probably set the compatibility mode for is NOT the game...and instead it is the simple MENU from which you run the game.Games like Star Wars dark forces 2 from 1995. which are designed also for Windows 95 OS are a good example of these.
> 
> If you do not know on what exactly I mean,you can always send me a copy of that old game for Windows 95 and I will attempt to find a way to run it and once I did,I will let you know how you can run it under your Windows OS.
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers!



Yeah the guy I talked to said I couldn't run a virtual machine without upgrading to windows 7 pro for $80 bucks. Then I would need to spend more money on a program that would allow me to dual-boot both OS's. That and my laptop is a new model less than a year old so I probably couldn't find the proper drivers for it. The game I am trying to run came out a few years before HD audio and Directx.


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## strollin

If the guy you talked to said you couldn't run MS XP Mode without upgrading to Win 7 Pro then he was right but if he told you you couldn't run a virtual machine without upgrading to Win 7 Pro then that's not true.  Earlier in this thread you asked about installing Win 95 in VirtualBox which can certainly be done without upgrading.

If I could spend a few minutes on your laptop I'm sure I could get it fixed up for you with a VM to run your games.


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## Imissthe90s

strollin said:


> If the guy you talked to said you couldn't run MS XP Mode without upgrading to Win 7 Pro then he was right but if he told you you couldn't run a virtual machine without upgrading to Win 7 Pro then that's not true.  Earlier in this thread you asked about installing Win 95 in VirtualBox which can certainly be done without upgrading.
> 
> If I could spend a few minutes on your laptop I'm sure I could get it fixed up for you with a VM to run your games.



Yeah, we talked about virtual machine, as stated above, the drivers for 95 and 98se are not compatible with my hardware.


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## S.T.A.R.S.

Imissthe90s said:


> Yeah, we talked about virtual machine, as stated above, the drivers for 95 and 98se are not compatible with my hardware.


 
Nah he is saying that probably because he wants you to buy Windows OS from him.Tell him to go to hell lol! Because it is possible to install ANY old OS in a virtual machine under XP,Vista and 7.Hell you can even install and run Windows 1.0 in a virtual machine without any drivers.That is why it is called VIRTUAL and not REAL.Just like PAGE FILE.It's not REAL RAM,but it still serves the same purpose only much slower.

Use a virtual machine and install Windows 95 in it and run the game from there or install Windows 95 as a REAL OS on other HDD and run the game from there.

But I am pretty sure I would find a way to run that game under let's say XP.I ran games from 1994. and 1995. under XP.True I did lose some time to figure it out,but it's possible.You do not need any new OS and drivers just to run that lol believe me  If the guy is trying to sell you something,don't buy anything because you already have everything you need 

Oh and about that what guy said that you cannot run virtual machine without upgrading to Win 7 Pro for 80 bucks (which goes to his wallet lol) is BULLSH!T! If I am there instead of you,I would punch him in a face for lying and scamming people like that


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## strollin

A VM emulates, in software, very common hardware for video, sound, networking, etc... to the point that the drivers are part of the OS such as Win 95.  I have VMs of DOS, Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, WinXP as well as quite a few different Linux distros all running on my Win 7 machine.  You don't need drivers for the actual hardware in your machine in a VM so if the guy actually told you that he was wrong.


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## Imissthe90s

strollin said:


> A VM emulates, in software, very common hardware for video, sound, networking, etc... to the point that the drivers are part of the OS such as Win 95.  I have VMs of DOS, Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, WinXP as well as quite a few different Linux distros all running on my Win 7 machine.  You don't need drivers for the actual hardware in your machine in a VM so if the guy actually told you that he was wrong.



So explain to me what I need to do again. The part that confused me was "fdisk" are you referring to a flash drive or a section of the HDD?

Oh and its Oracle VM Virtual Box, not Microsoft Virtual PC.
I am using an Acer Apsire 5253 series laptop. Is DOS the same as BIOS?


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## John Buchanan

I am currently playing the 1991 MS-DOS Version of *Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego* both in *Oracle VirtualBox* and in *DOSBox*. I prefer to play using *XP* running in *VirtualBox* because of the very nice GUI and smooth operation, but I cannot get any sound.
I do get sound in *DOSBox* (using the attached configuration file), but the operation is jagged and hangs up for 20 seconds between missions. I also get a fluttering prompt before switching to full screen (Alt + Enter).
Can anyone get this version of Carmen to play with sound in VirtualBox?


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## Cromewell

Does other sound work? i.e. do you have a virtual sound card added?


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## strollin

I tried and I wasn't able to get sound working in VirtualBox either.  Not sure what you tried but I tried all 3 soundcard options in VB, none worked.  However, I was able to get sound to work using VMWare Workstation Player.  http://www.vmware.com/products/player/playerpro-evaluation.html

Sound worked there without any fiddling.


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## John Buchanan

Cromewell said:


> Does other sound work? i.e. do you have a virtual sound card added?


Yes, the XP startup sound works, as does sound for several of the more recent Carmen games, eg., Where in America's Past, Where in Space and Where in the USA Deluxe.


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