Running Moo1 on Win2k

[Tubbay]

I am trying to run Moo1 on Windows 2000 and am getting an error message saying that i don't have enough expanded memory. How do I get around this??

Thanks

[vmxa1]

Well, I never ran on W2k, but I have gotten it to work in OS/2 Win95/98, NT40, and now XP. The kernel is not much different from NT and XP. You should be able to run the Install program from Explorer or Run. It will copy the files to the HD and then you can , make a shortcut to Orion.exe. Check the properties for the shortcut and see that Auto is chosen for EMS, or 2048K either will do. I like to open the Start menu and drag the shortcut into the Program icon list, so it shows up when I look at my programs. Now when you DB click on the orion sort cut it should open a Window and let you run Orion. Oh, you will need to run the Configure for sound. If you do not get enoughConventional memory, do not select music, or if you do not have a compatible sound cardto SB. In Xp mine finally got sound again. I would say, if this is your computer to dump W2K and get XP PRO, it is the best Microsoft OS so far. I just built a new box last week and put it up and wish I had done so a lot sooner, no more lame crashes and hangups from Win98SE and all of my games work.

[Tubbay]

First off, let me say thanks for your reply.

However, I still am getting the message. Do I need to put anything in my config.nt file?

Thanks.

[moomin]

I run both Moo and Mom off a boot disk. Makes life much easier than trying to squeeze it in a XP session. Try it!

[vmxa1]

I can not recall if I had to make any changes for NT. In XP I did not have to do anything, except make a shortcut for the Installer. Can you make a Dos window and get a command prompt? If so do Mem and see if it shows any EMS. I would do a search for the command.com and make a short cut for it. Make the properties auto. Now open a window and type in emm386. This will tell you if you have any services. Like I said I have never run on that OS, but it should be doable.
I can say that NT did not support many games that I tried, both Dos ones and win9x ones. All of those games work in XP. It may require adding ems support in the default config, but I do not recall, I did it years ago.

[catullus]

(An almost-copy also emailed to Tubbay)

NT and Win2K sort of got rid of ems/xms, but old DOS programs may still search for it. There are two ways to fool DOS programs into believing they run under the old DOS/xms/ems regime:

1) The Microsoft approach
Delete whatever pif-files you have in the MOO directory.
Right-click on the install.exe file, choose "properties".
Memory tag: Choose EMS and XMS to be 4096K (A good setting for most games. I think Moo only needs ems, but it never hurts to add both. Too large values may make some games behave strange.) Other memory settings should be OK. Do the same for orion.exe.
To remember for most DOS games:
Diverse-tag: Choose idle sensitivity to minimum. Does not do anything for MOO, but some old DOS games run very slow under NT/W2K, this may make them speed up.
Program-tag - Advanced: Be sure that "Compatible timer emulation" is disabled (it usually is). Will also help against unnaturally slow DOS games.
You will now have new pifs (or shortcuts) to the executables.

2) The cool approach
DOS games simply can not do sound under W2K.
So you won't get the nice MOO music. Unless.
Look at http://www.ece.mcgill.ca/~vromas/vdmsound/
vdmsound lets you emulate almost any kind of sound card under DOS, playing the sound through the default windows sound system. It's mighty cool. It even gives joystick support for old games.
Download the installer file (VDMSound-2.0.4-WinNT-i386.msi) from sourceforge. Install it. I can't guarantee it won't break your system, but I've used it on several W2K systems without flaw, and I've seen no feedback on the forum pages warning about lethal results. And it's open source, so deadly bugs should have been squashed.
There's also a patch for v2.0.4 to be found (update1), but I haven't installed it myself yet.
I'd recommend downloading the vdmsound launchpad beta, too. Works for me, and is way better for tweaking sound card emulation (usually no such tweaking is needed, though).


C.
And boys, this also will work on XP!

[Tubbay]

I still cannot fix the problem. I think I have an idea as to what is wrong, however.

In the Command Prompt, if I type "mem", the report shows no listing for expanded memory. Obviously this is a problem. Even if I run vdmsound I get no entry for EMS. If this is the problem, what can I do to fix it??

Thanks.

[moomin]

Tub: if you want to I could mail you my DOS boot disk with a generic mouse driver... I have yet to fail to run a DOS game with this.

[vmxa1]

The command prompt is probably a part of W2K, if so it wil not allow properties and will have no EMS (that is how it is in XP). The only way for 32bit Windows OS to emulate EMS is via the properties settings for the pif for that app.
So you created a short cut for the install? DB clicked on it and ran the installer? It completed? Did sound get set and detected or set off? If it installed, then you made a short cut to the Orion.exe and right clicked on it to get to properties. The tab for Memory allows you to set 4 drop downs, one is for EMS and can be auto or anything over 2048. If so, db- clk it and it should have EMS and run. If not what happens? Do you get the a msg about EMS? If not run install and reconfig to turn off sound and try again. If you had seen a msg saying you need to reconfig, it is usually due to not having enough conventional memory. I have had this with Win98 as well. Some mem managers do not create enough. The MEM command shows the amount, if it is under about 570K, you will not be able to support sound. Removing sound from the game lets it run with about 530k, even Windows can make that level. The sound is of no use anyway, the lamest I can remember. I played for three years before I ever heard it.