Site and Abandonware related questions
- What's the matter with this download script?
I don't want other people to steal my bandwidth because that costs money.
- Clicking on the download link only takes me to an ugly page saying I should donate! Is this a pay site?
Of course not. Donations are exactly what the definition of the word says: voluntarily. You can download all the files we offer for free. Look a bit further down and you should see a download button.
- Why are some games for download and some not?
This website supports the 'Abandonware' ideal. That means that only games which are either legal to distribute or which have been abandoned by their copyright holders will be offered for download. Read on to learn more about that.
There are several more criteria, though. Some games are simply too huge to be spread over the Internet. Another chunk of downloads have been disabled, because of other legal issues. We received a cease & desist letter from an organisation called 'IDSA' (now known as 'ESA') in 2001. That means they threatened us with legal action unless we stop offering 'their' copyrighted material. The ESA represents several well-known software companies, and so we can't offer games copyrighted by them anymore.
If you want to learn more about the ESA, their purpose and their motives, check out their homepage. If you have more questions concerning this, feel free to post in the forum.
- Could you send me game x?
No.
- How should I get game x then?
If it's not on this site, search for it. ebay is where we get most of our old games. Alternatively, you can ask in our forum.
- Why are all the good games on this shitty server which is never up?
Because that is the only way we can finance such huge downloads. If you're not satisfied with the 'download quality', you're welcome not to use this offer.
- Can I take <insert whatever you want> from your site and put it on mine?
That depends what it is. You're welcome to take any games and offer them yourself. We don't own most of the games ourselves (and those we do are free) and our goal is to spread them. If you want screenshots, boxscans, reviews or anything else we made, you're welcome to contact us and ask for permission, but the answer will most likely be no. Most of our effort goes into these contents and we think this is what 'makes' our site. If you think you have an offer we might be interested in, we'll listen of course.
- .rar? What kind of file is that?
It's a compressed archive like zip. The only difference is that it's far more effective: the files are smaller and the downloads therefore faster! We're currently in the process of replacing RAR files on the site with 7-Zip (see below).
- How do I extract these rar-files?
Download the latest version of the rar-archiver for your OS from the official site.
- .7z? What kind of file is that?
7-Zip probably is the most effective compression format these days. It easily surpasses even RAR (see above). Another advantage is that it's released under the LGPL licence and thus freely available as Open Source, i.e. you won't be nagged by Cripppleware.
- How do I extract these 7-Zip files?
- Microsoft Windows: Official 7-Zip Website
- POSIX (Unix, Linux, BSD, OSX, BeOS): P7ZIP (most Linux distributions will deliver P7ZIP directly through their package manager)
- OSX (GUI): 7zX
- Amiga: Amiga.sf
- I downloaded a game/app from your site but RAR / 7-Zip tells me the file is corrupted!
It can of course happen that an archive is corrupted. But in 99% of the cases, the problem is on the visitors side! Please try downloading the file with a download manager again. And make sure you have the most current version of the extractor. If it's still broken after that, let me know about it in the forum.
- I don't know which OS I have!
It's Windows, otherwise you wouldn't ask...
- I have Windows ME which doesn't run DOS programs!
Windows ME still has a DOS mode. Microsoft only disabled it. See this guide to reactivate it.
- I have Windows 2000/XP which doesn't run DOS programs!
Well, I guess you're screwed then. Why did you install that crap anyway? Seriously, though: Nobody from our crew uses those operating systems, so we can't help you there. Consider asking in the forum, there are always people who made the same fatal choice of following Microsoft's exploits than you around there.
- I have a problem with Dosbox/VDMS/Abandonloader.
See above answer, try the forum.
- I've extracted the game now, but how do I install the game?
All the games from this site are already installed! All you have to do is run them.
- I don't know how to run this game: there isn't a program group in my start menu!
Most of these games run in DOS. They don't create program groups! You'll have to run the respective .bat, .exe or .com file manually.
- Where can I find these files?
They are in the directory you extracted the game to.
- What is a 'directory'?
Maybe you've heard of 'folders'? It's the same, Microsoft only changed the name in Windows 95.
- The game didn't tell me in which directory it is!
Well, you extracted it, so you should know where it is! In most cases it should be enough to check the directory you're putting your downloaded files in.
- I only get an error message saying something with sound! / I don't hear any sound!
You have to tell the game which sound card you have. Usually you have to run install.exe, setup.exe or setsound.exe or something similar and set it there.
- I don't know which sound card I have!
How should I know?
- My sound card isn't in the list of supported ones!
But it's certainly compatible to some older one. Most are to Soundblaster. Try that.
- I get an error about memory!
Read the MS-DOS FAQ.
- Why are you such an idiot?
Huh?
- Why did game x get a higher rating than game y?
Personal taste. The reviewer of a game decides about its rating all on his own, nobody else (not even the other webmasters) has any influence on that. If two games have been reviewed by different persons, the ratings are bound to be uncomparable. Two games reviewed by the same person should have consistent ratings, of course. But you'll still have to live with the fact that taste differs. There simply aren't any objective ratings. We advise you to check out the bios in the crew profiles, that'll probably help to understand the ratings better.
- 'Abandonware' - what's that?
Abandonware is any pieces of software (e.g. games or apps) which have been discontinued by the copyright holders. That means they are no longer widely sold. They would be forgotten if sites like this one wouldn't preserve them! At the same time, 'we' (the Abandonware webmasters) want to support the original makers of these masterpieces.
- Wait a minute! I've seen game x (which is on this site) in the Yahoo Store! You're a cheater!
Calm down! Then read the above answer again more carefully. Aha: "discontinued by the copyright holder"! Yahoo (and all the similar 'bargin bins') don't hold any copyright. They only have a license to sell a certain amount of this game. Most likely their supplies won't last long. That's why it's still Abandonware.
- But you said you wanted to support the makers. Aren't you ripping them off?
No, because they already got a fixed amount of money from the bargin bin in advance.
- So why should it be right to rip off bargin bins and not the original publishers? I don't see any difference there!
Because 'we' want the copyright holders to make more games of this kind. By supporting them we try that. But stores like Yahoo or Soldout.co.uk will never produce any game! So it wouldn't help to achieve our goal!
- Is it legal then?
No, not at all! Technically it's just as illegal as '0-dayz' sites!
- Why bother then? It's illegal anyway, so put up this recent title!
I won't. It's about morality. That's something very consercative people normally don't understand. And you seem to belong to those...
- Yes, the Abandonware-idea convinced me. To support it I won't buy any re-released games older than 5 years!
Argh! You obviously didn't understand what it's really about! We're happy if a company decides to re-release its old games!
- Why? Wouldn't it be better to get all the games for free?
Sure, the perfect state would be if the companies would release their classics as freeware. But if they don't, selling them is the next best solution because their shops cover a broader audience than these few Abandonware sites.
- Bullshit! These crappy old games aren't worth a dollar anymore because there are so many newer (=better) ones!
That's a question of personal taste. I don't think new games are better than the classics. Most recent games are just trash in fact! So the classics are still the best value you can get for your money.
- I've read a completely different definition of the term Abandonware on site x. Yours is wrong!
Why are you so sure I am the one who is wrong? Just because this 'other' definition suits you better? There are many warez sites which want to hide behind the cover of Abandonware!
- You suck!
If that's what you think why are you here? I don't want visitors like you!
