Getting Star Wars: Jedi Knight Dark Forces 2 to run on Windows 7?

[Freman]

Anyone know? I need help. I keep getting this when I hit the install button:

The Jedi Knight setup program was unable to launch. You can install Jedi Knight by running SETUP.EXE
directly from CD #1.

When I try to do that, I get a warning saying it can't run due to an incompatibilty with the 64-bit version of Windows I'm using, and that I should ask the vendor if they sell a 64 bit version of the game.

So, how the heck do I get this to work?

And don't even get me started on Dark Forces.

 

[TheBrew]

Try running it in compatibility mode. Haven't worked with Windows 7, but it should be an option when you right-click on setup and go to properties.

 

[Lindley]

And don't even get me started on Dark Forces.

There's a partially-completed project porting Dark Forces to the Jedi Academy engine out there.

Also, it would be kind of funny if you managed to get Dark Forces running on Win7 by using a MacOS 9 emulator like Basilisk 2 and the Mac version of DF....

 

[Freman]

Try running it in compatibility mode. Haven't worked with Windows 7, but it should be an option when you right-click on setup and go to properties.

That doesn't work. Compatibility is locked on Windows XP (Service Pack 3) for some reason. Won't let me change it.

 

[Hermiod]

This might be of help.

 

[Capt. Vulcan]

Have you tried right clicking on the setup file and selecting "run as administrator"? That helped me install some old games on windows 7.

 

[USS Triumphant]

My guess is that, like me, DF and DF2 are far from being the only games from that era that you still have and might want to play. You'd probably better check out DosBox. There's a little configuration to learn, but I find it to be worth it. Or, there's always installing Windows 95/98 in a VirtualBox....

 

[Freman]

I have VirtualBox installed but for the life of me can't figure out how to install Dark Forces or Jedi KNight on there. Any help would be great. I have it configured for Windows 98.

 

[pux]

you just need the update patch
irc.gamesurge.net #jediknight for more info and games

 

[ALF]

I once had this problem with installing an old Lucasarts game... disabling autoplay helped.

 

[CrYoG]

FREMAN, ever get DF/DF II working? I am also trying to get DF II installed on my 7 Pro 64Bit system, but I do have DF installed & working just fine. You'll need DosBox for this. Since I cannot post attachments, here's what I did...

DOSBox for Windows in 60 seconds:​

1. Create a folder for the game, e.g. in the Documents folder – usually>
C:\Users\user-name\Documents\DOSBox stuff\MyGame. (DF in this case)
2. Insert the game’s CD into the CD/DVD drive.
3. Start DOSBox.
4. Tell DOSBox which of the real folders & drives to use as the emulated DOS drives C: & D:
Z:\>mount C "C:\Users\user-name\Documents\DOSBox stuff\MyGame"
Drive C is mounted as local dir C:\Users\user-name\Documents\DOSBox stuff\MyGame

Z:\>mount D "D:\" -t cdrom
MSCDEX installed.
Drive D is mounted as CDRom D:\.

Z:\>C:
C:\> (assuming D:\ is the real CD/DVD drive).

Note 0:Please remember to use the double-quotes (") around path names. They are important
if path contains spaces.

Note 1:It is highly recommended to always use C & D for the emulated drives. It doesn't matter what the real drives are.

If "DOSBox stuff\MyGame" folder is located on say the real F-drive, then do a mountC "F:\DOSBox stuff\MyGame".
If the real CD-ROM drive is E:, then do a mountD "E:\" -t cdrom.

Note 2:Unless prepared to re-install & re-configure the game, DO NOT CHANGE the way to mountC & D drives for this particular game.

Note 3:The 1st time assigning (mounting) a CD/DVD/diskette, DOSBox will scan the media & remember which files that are on the CD. This means that whenever swapping CD's, press CTRL-F4 to force DOSBox to re-scan media & re-build its CD view.

5. Switch to the D: drive & install game (to C:
C:\>D:

Have a look at the files w/the dir command & see if there is an install/& a setup program/whatever the command to start the installation is called. Check the game’s Manual/Installation Guide for exact command to use.

D:\>dir /w
D:\>install
6. Configure sound & graphics:
A safe bet when configuring sound is to select General MIDI/SoundBlaster. Don't try stuff like Gravis Ultrasound (GUS)/Adlib. If asked about details on IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA addresses when configuring game to use SoundBlaster, use IO=220, IRQ=7, DMA=1/High DMA=5).

7. Start the game.
Again, the installation program &/manual will tell how to do this. Typically locate a file called Game.Exe, Game.Bat/something similar.

If no clue how to start game, try to locate file yourself. If not already seeing the C:\> prompt in DOSBox, switch from emulated D-drive to emulated C-drive with:

D:\>C:
C:\>

Then have a look at the files w/dir command:

C:\>dir /w

Use the cd name-of-folder command to move into a folder/dir & cd .. to move out again. In each folder, do a dir /w until you see the Game.Exe/ Game.Bat file. Now start it:

C:\>Game
_______________

Have some time to spare? Go to Start>Programs>DOSBox-0.73>Edit Configuration. That should start Notepad on the (semi-hidden) configuration file.

Add the mount commands to the section named autoexec (at bottom of file):
Code:
[autoexec]
mount C "C:\Users\user-name\Documents\DOSBox stuff\Game"
mount D "D:\" -t cdrom
C:
That way, the mount commands will automatically be executed by DOSBox.
Have a lot of games; a single configuration file will often not be enough, there are 2 solutions:


1. Copy dosbox-0.73.conf file to somewhere in the Documents folder & name it according to which game/configuration wanted, e.g. Game-0.73.conf.

Next, edit DOSBox shortcut/make new one, call it Run Game & change target; e.g.:
%ProgramFiles%\DOSBox-0.73\dosbox.exe -conf "C:\path to Game-0.73.conf"
2. Install a DOSBox frontend that makes it easy to edit & create game-specific configurations.

I hope this helps.