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# About this manual

Warning

This is the release candidate version of the DOSBox Staging 0.83.0 user manual. While the majority of content is accurate, not all sections have been fully proofread and polished. An updated version will be published with the final 0.83.0 release.

Welcome to the DOSBox Staging 0.83 user manual — your complete guide to getting the most out of the emulator. It covers everything from basic concepts to the detailed configuration of every emulated device. You don’t need to read it cover to cover — most people dip in when they need to configure something specific or understand how a feature works.

## Start with the Getting Started guide

If you’re new to DOSBox Staging — or even if you’ve used other DOSBox versions before — the Getting Started guide is the single best place to begin. It walks you through setting up several games from scratch, teaching the core concepts you’ll use every day: mounting drives, configuring sound and graphics, and tweaking settings per game.

The guide is hands-on and assumes no prior DOS knowledge. Later chapters build on earlier ones, so work through them in order rather than skipping ahead. Even experienced users tend to pick up useful techniques from it.

## What’s in this manual

### Introduction

The section you’re reading now. It gives you the foundation for everything else that follows.

- What is DOSBox Staging? — What DOSBox Staging is, how it differs from full PC emulators, and a brief history of the project.

- A short DOS primer — Key concepts about how DOS works: the command prompt, drive letters, configuration files. Read this if you’ve never used DOS before.

- The DOS eras — A timeline of PC hardware from 1981 to 1998, with recommended DOSBox settings for each period. Useful for matching the emulated hardware to a game’s era.

### Using DOSBox Staging

Practical information about operating the emulator day-to-day.

- Configuration files — How DOSBox Staging’s layered configuration system works: global settings, per-game configs, and the autoexec section.

- Command-line usage — Flags and options for launching DOSBox Staging from a terminal.

- DOS commands — Every command available at the DOS prompt, from MOUNT and CONFIG to standard DOS commands like DIR and COPY.

- Storage — How DOS uses drive letters, mounting directories and disk images, floppy/CD-ROM/hard disk handling.

- Hardware resources — I/O addresses, IRQs, and DMA channels — what they are and how to configure them when a game’s setup utility asks.

- Capture — Screenshots, audio recording, video recording, and MIDI capture.

- HTTP API — The built-in HTTP API for remote control.

- Running Windows 3.1 — Installing and configuring Windows 3.1 inside DOSBox Staging, including video, audio, MIDI, and mouse driver setup.

### System, graphics, sound, input, networking

These sections document the emulated hardware and its configuration in detail. Each typically opens with a conversational overview explaining the hardware and when you’d want to change the defaults, followed by the detailed configuration reference.

- System — Core emulator settings: machine type, CPU speed and type, memory, disk speed, and DOS shell options.

- Graphics — Video adapters (CGA through SVGA), display settings, CRT shaders, composite video, 3dfx Voodoo, and ReelMagic.

- Sound — All emulated audio devices from the PC speaker to the Roland MT-32 and Sound Canvas, plus the mixer, effects, and output filters.

- Input — Keyboard, mouse, joystick configuration, and the key mapper for remapping controls.

- Networking — Serial ports, IPX networking, and Ethernet emulation.

### Appendices

- Keyboard shortcuts — Quick reference for all default hotkeys.

- Keymapper reference — Table of every mappable action and its default binding.

## Getting help for specific commands

Every DOSBox command has built-in help.

Run `COMMAND /?` at the DOS prompt for detailed usage (for example, `MOUNT /?`).

You can also run `HELP` to see the most common commands, or `HELP /ALL` for the complete list.

## If you’re not sure where to look

The search bar in the top right corner of this page works well for finding specific settings or topics.

If you know the name of a configuration setting (like `cpu_cycles` or `sbtype`), searching for it will take you directly to its documentation.