Master of Orion was designed to work on the MS-DOS operating system. To get the game to run under Windows XP, you need to configure XP to provide a DOS-like environment. Compatibility mode should do the trick.

Open Windows Explorer and browse to the directory where you installed MOO. Right click on Orion.exe and select Properties.

A new window will open with several tabs at the top. Click the Compatibility tab. Check the box that says "Run this program in compatibility mode". A menu box will un-gray. Click on it and select Windows 95 from the dropdown menu. Click the apply button in the bottom right part of the window.

Click on the Memory tab. You will see a new screen with several memory types and various settings. Set EMS memory to 2048 or higher. Set conventional memory to 600 or higher. Set initial environment to Auto and uncheck the protected box. Set XMS and DMPI memory settings to auto. Click the apply button.

You should now be set. Try to run the game.

If the game doesn't run, another compatibility setting may work. Try setting compatibility mode to Windows 98 or to other options and see if that helps.

If you get a memory error message, double check the Memory tab under properties. Master of Orion needs at least 2MB of EMS memory (more may be better) and at least 600k of conventional memory.

If you get an error message saying, "Reconfigure hardware options", this means a problem with your sound settings. Run install.exe and disable sound temporarily, then see if the game will run. Better to run with no sound than not to run at all. Refer to Sirian's Configuring Sound section for help getting sound to work.

If you cannot get the game to run through compatibility mode, or you cannot get the sound to work (and you really want sound) you can give DOSbox a try. DOSbox is a program that will run under Windows XP that will more accurately simulate a DOS environment, including an ability to emulate the old Soundblaster sound cards (which may be necessary to get the music working in MOO).

| Learn About DOSbox | Back to Windows XP | Email Isit |

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