http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=69.245.98.21DOSBoxWiki - User contributions [en]2026-04-08T18:25:57ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.35.14http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/index.php?title=Drives&diff=381Drives2008-02-01T05:02:09Z<p>69.245.98.21: /* Mounting a C: drive */</p>
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<div>DOSBox, in an effort to emulate a DOS environment, needs some location to emulate a virtual Hard Drive. Commonly MS-DOS users would be greeted with a <code><pre>C:\></pre></code> prompt once a computer is done booting. The hard drives currently in your system are most likely many times larger than the kinds of hard drives that existed back when MS-DOS was commercially available. Also, they contain software that is not suited for DOSBox. In order to create a realistic (and safe) environment to run your DOS software you should define a path somewhere on your hard disk that will be treated as a virtual hard disk.<br />
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Note that upon starting DOSBox the prompt instead reads <code><pre>Z:\></pre></code> which is a virtual drive in memory (RAMDrive) where the OS Tools are stored. Users cannot write data to the Z:\ and it exists only for DOSBox purposes. See the [[ZDrive]] section for more information<br />
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Navigation between different drives is done by typing <tt>C:</tt> where C is the letter of the drive you wish to go to. By default DOSBox, like Windows, will detect [[Floppy|Floppy Drives]] connected via floppy cables as the A:\ and B:\ respectively.<br />
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==Mounting a C: drive==<br />
It bears repeating that it's '''unsafe''' to mount one's entire drive into DOSBox, particularly if another OS is already installed on it. For that reason, it's recommended only to mount a subdirectory (subfolder) of the drive where DOS files will be stored and have DOSBox fool its games/applications into thinking that is the [[CDrive|C: drive]]. Ideal locations for a virtual hard disk are<br />
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=== Windows ===<br />
<code><pre>C:\DOSROOT<br />
MOUNT C C:\DOSROOT</pre></code><br />
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=== Linux ===<br />
<code><pre>~/DOSROOT<br />
MOUNT C ~/DOSROOT</pre></code><br />
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=== Mac OSX ===<br />
<code><pre>~/DOSROOT<br />
MOUNT C ~/DOSROOT</pre></code><br />
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=== BeOS ===<br />
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=== OS/2 ===<br />
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Note that you can have more than one Drive defined if you want to recreate complex configurations, but it is generally easier to have a single drive that will be [[MOUNT|mounted]] as your C: drive.</div>69.245.98.21