QBasic Tutorials: QBasic with DOSBox - Part 4

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QBasic Tutorials: QBasic with DOSBox: BASIC 2 DOSBox is a handy tool which copies the selected versions of BASIC to your hard drive with just a few clicks and creates configuration files and shortcuts.

Author: Crossroads

Created: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2022-05-24

QBasic with DOSBox

Other Parts on this Tutorial:

Part 4 - A useful Tool

In previous parts of this tutorial I explained how to configure DOSBox with little effort so launching QuickBASIC on Windows 7 and higher is a breeze. But it can get even easier: BASIC 2 DOSBox! This little program does all the work for you. BASIC 2 DOSBox is available after downloading/unzipping and can be launched by double clicking the basic2dos.exe file.

The following information will be needed: 1. 3. 5. (Fig. 10.1), 2. 4. are optional:

BASIC 2 DOSBox - Fig. 10.1 BASIC 2 DOSBox - Fig. 10.2
  1. Path to BASIC Destination Folder: Full path to a folder of your choice, e.g:  C:\oldDOS\  
  2. Path to DOSBox Executable: only needed, if Install DOSBox 0.74-3 in Options is unchecked. In this case, please provide the full path to DOSBox.exe; e.g: C:\oldDOS\DOSBox\DOSBox.exe
  3. Installation: Select at least one BASIC version
  4. Options:
    • Install DOSBox 0.74-3: Check this, if you don't have or won't use a manually installed copy of DOSBox
    • Copy Example Files: This will copy seven sample programs to _source\EXAMPLES:
      1. GORILLA.BAS
      2. MONEY.BAS
      3. NIBBLES.BAS
      4. QBLOCKS.BAS
      5. REMLINE.BAS
      6. REVERSI.BAS
      7. SORTDEMO.BAS
    • Shut down DOSBox when exiting: If selected, DOSBox will be terminated after exiting QuickBASIC or any other application respectively
    • Full-Screen Mode: If checked, DOSBox will be launched in full-screen mode
  5. Click Next. Once the installation is complete, confirm with "Yes" to quit (Fig. 10.2).

Open the subfolder _shortcuts in the folder you have selected in step 2.
By double-clicking a shortcut, DOSBox will be launched with the chosen configurations.
In order to have access to all your BASIC source code, you should move these files to the subdirectory named _source.
This folder will always be mounted as drive D.
Additionally, another subdirectory named _floppy will always be mounted as Floppy Drive A.

It's as simple as that! Have fun!