Zork 1 and Windows XP

Dusted off Zork 1 from Infocom. Text didn't work right in WinXP after double clicking on ZORK1.BAT. The cursor just stayed at the top and the text just kept overlaying itself.



Tried setting compatibility mode on ZORK1.BAT to Win95. Didn't make a difference. Finally got it to work by opening a command prompt (cmd.exe) and opening ZORK1.BAT from there. Then the window looked right.



For convenience, I then created a shortcut to run it.

Create Shortcut

1. In Windows Explorer, browse to the folder that contains ZORK1.BAT
2. Click File/New/Shortcut
   
3. Enter "cmd.exe"
4. Click Next
   
5. Give it a name (Ex: "Run Zork 1")
6. Click Finish

Modify New Shortcut

1. Right-click/Properties
2. Add " /C ZORK1.BAT" to end of target
3. Put the folder that contains ZORK1.BAT in the "Start in:" box. (Ex: "C:\Games\Infocom\Zork1")
4. Click OK

For even more convenience, drag the shortcut over to the Start button!