How can I mount a BIN/CUE and run a program in Windows 3.x?

[PoulpSquad]

Hello,

I was wondering if it is possible to have a shortcut in Windows 3.x that would point to a batch file, so that the process of mounting/running/un-mounting becomes automatic.

I want it to:

• Mount a bin/cue,
• Run a Windows game,
• Un-mount the BIN/CUE when I close the game.

All my attempts so far have failed with a "Cannot start application" message.

Maybe you can help, please?

[rderooy]

You need to mount the CD before starting win 3.x.

You can however, start the game directory as such:

WIN \path\to\game.exe

And Windows will automatically start the game on startup. But when you close the game you remain in Windows. This can be fixed with a program called "RUNEXIT. Run it as such:

WIN RUNEXIT \path\to\game.exe

And you will return to DOS.

[PoulpSquad]

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it.

Mounting a BIN/CUE in a batch before running Windows is how I am doing it now, along with RUNEXIT to quit Windows and un-mount the image.

I was hoping somebody would know about a Windows program that could do what I'm looking for.

Thank you for your time.

[rderooy]

You can use DBGL to launch Windows 3.x games using the RUNEXIT method.

[johnnovak]

A better question, why do you want to do this differently, what are you trying to achieve? Maybe if you explain the end goal we can help.

Btw, this is how I'm setting up my Win3.x games which I consider to be the best method:

1. I have a base Win3.11 installation with SB16 and S3 drivers set up, some other common stuff required by games preinstalled (e.g. WinG, Video for Windows, etc.), and configured just how I like it.
2. Whenever I set up a new game, I make a copy of this directory, then copy my game ISOs into it, mount them via the config, and install the game.
3. As the last step, I adjust the config so the game auto starts, as explained above.

This way the game installations are kept completely separate so there's zero chance of dependency clashes (e.g. a particular game needing an older version of some library). The extra disk space required is negligible, and disk is cheap :)

I just don't see what are you hoping to achieve by "automounting" as you'd need to install the games anyway. Plus you can always just use a bunch of different batch files to mount different ISOs if you want to use a single Win3.1 installation for multiple games. Launching DOSBox and Win3.1 is very quick, so mounting/unmounting ISOs from within Win3.1 sounds like an academic exercise (and not possible, as pointed out; I need to exit and restart Win3.1 on real hardware too when I want to mount another ISO via DOS commands, that's the only way).

[rderooy]

Instead of copying the windows instance, you should be able to use the overlay feature.

[PoulpSquad]

Hello and thanks you for your reply,

I just don't see what are you hoping to achieve by "automounting"...

I'd like to make the process of mounting ISOs, running a game, quitting Windows when I'm done, and un-mounting automatic, if at all possible without resorting to external GUIs, loaders or profiles.

...sounds like an academic exercise (and not possible, as pointed out;...

Indeed, that is exactly what it is.

I have batches to do multiple operations if necessary before (and after) running games. Everything works fine, but I've always been curious about about running DOS apps from a batch in Windows 3.x.

[kcgen]

transferred to: #9