General

The General tab tells you about a program, such as its location and size. At the bottom of the page are attributes that can be changed

Attribute	Function or Purpose
Read-only	When this is ticked, the file can be read, moved or copies. It can not be altered or erased. If you save games to this location - don't check it. If you don't want this program to be altered or accidentally deleted - then check it.
Archive	Windows 95 tracks archived files and marks those that have been changed since their last backup.
Hidden	Microsoft hides a number of system files to protect you against yourself. These files are not subject to the usual commands such as copy and delete. Marking this box hides the files and protects them from you and others. They will not show up in the directory listings.
System	Checking this box marks the file as belonging to the operating system and will not show up in the directory listings either.

 

Program

The program properties  specifies important characteristics that determine the environment in which the application runs. DOS games must run in a DOS environment, either DOS session or DOS mode. The program properties page lets you customize that environment for individual games.

The Properties Tab
Title	This is the name of the DOS application. This name appears in the title bar if the application is run in a window with the title of the icon on the task bar. If the application runs in full screen mode, the name is not displayed.
Cmd line	This is the command required to run this DOS program. This includes the drive, directory path, command and any switches or special parameters.
Working	This is the working directory for this DOS program. The working directory contains files meant to work in conjunction with the program.
Batch file	This is the name of a batch file that is run before the DOS program is started. You may use batch files to set environmental variables before a program loads ( a joystick driver for example)
Shortcut key	This is the key combination that can be used to start this DOS application. This works with shortcuts in the Start menu, not on the Desktop.
Run	This line lets you choose the type of window in which the DOS program is run. Choose normal, maximised or minimised.
Close on exit	Check this box to close the DOS window after the application has ended. If you want to view any screen output from the DOS program - do not check this box, the window will automatically close as soon as the program is finished preventing you from seeing any display.

When you click on the Advance button, a second Program properties dialog box opens titles Advanced Program Settings.

The Program Information File (PIF) contains a variety of information regarding this file. The information that you enter into property sheets is stored here. See following illustration!

Advanced Program Settings
Prevent MS-DOS-based programs from detecting Windows	Check this box and Windows 95 will not let the DOS application know that it is running.
Suggest MS-DOS mode as necessary	When this box is checked, Windows will automatically detect if a DOS application runs better in MS-DOS mode rather than a MS-DOS session. If it does, Windows will execute a wizard to set up a custom icon to run the program. This is not enabled if MS-DOS mode is selected.
MS-DOS mode	Check this box to run a single MS-DOS application in DOS mode.
Warn before entering MS-DOS mode	Check this box if you want Windows to display a warning that it will close all programs before entering DOS mode.
Specify a now MS-DOS configuration	Check this box to edit  or create a new CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file that will be used exclusively for this program.
CONFIG.SYS for MS-DOS mode	The configurations that are to execute upon entering MS-DOS. Changes and inclusions here will allow a troublesome application to run properly.
AUTOEXEC.BAT for MS-DOS mode	The commands that are to execute upon entering MS-DOS. Changes and inclusions here will allow an application to run smoothly.
Use current MS-DOS configuration	This orders Widows to use the default, or existing AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files when it enters MS-DOS.
Configuration	Instead of typing in CONFIG and AUTOEXEC commands, Windows will help you create custom configuration files.

The Program Properties and the Advanced Program Settings are important for setting up DOS games to run smoothly. Some games aren't designed to work with Windows, and even when configured properly they won't run properly, although this is pretty rare.

Some games will run fine in a Win 95 DOS session but won't run well under a Windows 3.x. In order to avoid conflicts with Windows 3.x. some programmers put a subroutine into their programs that looks for Windows, which means that some games will refuse to play when they see Windows. For these cases the Advanced Program Settings lets you configure Windows around your game. By checking the Prevent MS-DOS - based programs from detecting Windows you can keep the game from realising that it is really operating on a Windows system.

If you check the  Suggest MS-DOS made as necessary  box, Windows will look for incompatibilities that would prevent the program from running smoothly in a Windows DOS session. If everything works correctly then the program will run in the DOS session. If conflicts are suspected, Windows will prompt you to run the program in DOS mode.

If you already know that a particular game needs to be run in DOS mode, or you prefer having your computer in DOS mode when playing games, then mark the

MS-DOS mode  box. This lets you run the game in DOS mode without having you - restart the computer in DOS mode, load drivers and type in the DOS command line. Windows will do all this for you according to the instructions you give it in the Advanced Program Settings  tab sheet. You run the program as if it were a Windows program: running it from the START menu or double clicking its name or icon. Windows will automatically shut itself down and load up your game.

When the game ends:

Once you select MS-DOS mode you may use either the current DOS configuration (whatever you have in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT when your computer starts up) or a custom configuration. If you choose to Specify a new MS-DOS configuration those settings will be used with this program ( and only this program) each time it is run. This is a good idea if you need to load drivers or adjust memory. If you want any help selecting configuration lines, press the Configuration button, to let Widows make suggestions.