Full Screen Mode for DOS Programs in Windows 7

[allanc]

A client is trying to run a 20 year old DOS program in Windows 7.
It used to run fine in XP PRO sp3.

According to my research, it won't run properly in Windows 7 XP Mode, Virtual Box or othe virtual machines.

It does run in a Window (as opposed to full screen) in XP Compatibility mode and 680 * 480 resolution but the window only fills about 1/3 of the screen.
This size is too small for the client.
EDIT: This video adapter's driver does not support 'Full Screen Mode' for XP applications. He always wants the other applications to run at a higher resolution when he minimies this specific DOS application.

As I adjust the 'font' setting of the .PIF file, the size of the resulting Window changes. The font setting for the 1/3 size screen is 13*22. Anything else and the screen becomes even smaller in one dimension or the other.

At this point, it seems to be that I should try to locate True Type fonts that are (much) larger in both dimensions and modify the .PIF properties to use this font.
Can anyone suggest where I can find this type of True Type font that would be easy to read and use in a DOS program?

Thank you very much in advance.

 

[ill13]

DOSBox

Try DOSBox, it was made for DOS games, but works well for applications too. It does support mapped drives too..

 

[allanc]

Try DOSBox, it was made for DOS games, but works well for applications too. It does support mapped drives too..

I was reading about it before I posted the start of the thread.
Apparently, some people say it is great and others that it is not stable (or causes stability issues with their computer).

 

[ill13]

Heh, it causes no stability issues in Windows that I've ever experienced.

It's an emulator, it's self contained, so it may crash itself, but it's not going to bring down Windows.

 

[allanc]

Heh, it causes no stability issues in Windows that I've ever experienced.

It's an emulator, it's self contained, so it may crash itself, but it's not going to bring down Windows.

Well, the DOS software that I am referring to is for a doctor's office and not for games.
If DosBox were to crash and corrupt the files the Dr. would be upset to say the least.
He will have a daily backup of course but his staff cannot afford the time to restore.
I think that I need a solution that is quite stable.

The 'DOS Window' does not have to literally be 'full screen'.
Any size from 75%+ would be fine.

I was playing around with the properties of the .PIF and a font of 13*22 seems to provide the best mix of size and aspect ratio.
Would you happen to know how to implement additional larger font sizes into the .PIF properties?

 

[ill13]

I'm not sure how to explain it any better than "it's an emulator".

If you are unfamiliar with emulators and by extension virtual pc's [VMWware, Parallels, Windows Virtual PC, etc.,] it's worth checking out for future knowledge. VPC's are extremely handy for custom apps and/or sandbox environments.

Outside of that, if "alt+enter" doesn't full screen the app [which it should], likely all you can do is fiddle with the fonts.

 

[allanc]

I'm not sure how to explain it any better than "it's an emulator".

If you are unfamiliar with emulators and by extension virtual pc's [VMWware, Parallels, Windows Virtual PC, etc.,] it's worth checking out for future knowledge. VPC's are extremely handy for custom apps and/or sandbox environments.

Outside of that, if "alt+enter" doesn't full screen the app [which it should], likely all you can do is fiddle with the fonts.

I have explored VirtualBox somewhat.
Alt+Enter does not work because there are no drivers for it.
Do you know how/where to obtain and then modify the PIF to accept larger fonts?

 

[ill13]

Right click on the application's icon
choose "create shortcut'

...and the shortcut is your PIF

Right click on the shortcut, and edit your options from there!

good luck