Newbie needs nurturing (help!)

[Hawthorn]

Simply put, I've downloaded some games I want. Now, how do I play them? I have recently purchased a gizmo that allows the transfer of data from my 800XL to my PC and vice versa. Can I simply unzip the files, use the gizmo to put the files onto a 5 1/4 diskette, and boot the Atari up?

But some of the extracted files say MS-DOS--what's up with that?

Thanks ahead of time for the help

[deathtrappomegranate]

If your gizmo is a SIO2PC device, you don't need to use floppies at all. You can use the APE software (which comes with SIO2PC equipment bought from atarimax.com, or can be downloaded from there) to boot the Atari right from your PC.

Executable files for Atari machines are sometimes named using the .com or .exe extensions, and the OS on your PC will interpret them as being DOS or Windows files. Don't worry about that, it doesn't matter at all.

[Hawthorn]

Thanks for the reply.

Indeed it is an SIO2PC and it works (I received it in the mail today). However, you say it doesn't matter if it says MS-DOS but I can't get the APE drive loader to recognize the file (a lot of my games from this site are either ROM or MS-DOS). I tried tricking it by changing the extension to .ATR from the Properties menu, but it didn't work.

Do you know how to get the drive loader to recognize the files (it only looks for ATR and PRO files).

[deathtrappomegranate]

You'll need to use the APELOADER app:

http://www.atarimax.com/ape/ape.htm#Pc_Mirror




<edit>I changed the spelling of the topic title - it looked like you wanted to be neutered </edit>

[Hawthorn]

Thanks for all the help including the topic title. I'll give PCMirror a shot when I get some free time tonight. This is really exciting for me, as there has always been a special fondness for the old games. From the looks of it, I should place all my .exe and .com files into one folder to make navigation easier. Eventually, I want to actually make 5 1/4 inch disks of everything since my 800XL will not always be 6 feet from my PC!

Thanks again
Wesley

[deathtrappomegranate]

Let us know how you get on.

Good luck!