Running the Computer Homework

Windows Vista and Windows 7

  1. Download DOSBoxat . If you don’t want to navigate the site, the latest version is on our server at
  1. Install DOSBox by following the onscreen instructions.
  1. Create a folder directly off of the C: drive and name it physics. This folder will hold the computer programs and your score file. Drag the DOSBoxicon from the desktop into the physics folder.
  1. Download your computer program (pv#.exe) and place it in the physicsfolder.
  1. Simply drag the computer homework program icon so that it is on top of the DOSBox icon and release the mouse button. The program should open up in a DOSBox window and run fine.* When asked where you want to store the answers, just hit the enter key. The stres.dat file will be created in the physics folder. E-mail the stres.dat file to your teacher as an attachment.

* If the program doesn’t run using the “drag and drop” method, then try the following.

  1. Open DOSBox by clicking the icon. A DOSBox window should open up.
  1. Type the following in the DOSBox window, pressing the return key (enter) after each line:
    mount C C:\physics
    C:\
    pv0 (or pv1, etc. depending on what volume you wish to run)

The program should run fine. Submit your file as described above.

MAC OS

  1. You can download a MAC version of DOSBoxat If you don’t want to navigate the site, the latest version is on our server at
  2. Install DOSBox by following the onscreen instructions. A program icon should be created.
  3. Create a folder. This folder will hold the computer programs and your score file. Drag the DOSBox icon into this folder.
  4. Download your physics computer program (pv#.exe) and place it in this folder.
  1. Open DOSBox by clicking its icon. A DOSBox window should open up.
  1. Type the following in the DOSBox window, pressing the return key (enter) after each line:

mount c~

c:

pv0 (or pv1, etc. depending on what volume you wish to run)

The program should run fine. When asked where you want to store the answers, just hit the enter key. The stres.dat file will be directly in this same folder. E-mail the stres.dat file to your teacher as an attachment.