download file corruption??

[brukner]

I love seeing all the games from my younger days on this site, and I would really enjoy to play a few, but every time I download a file and try to open it, I get a message saying that the "archive has been corrupted". What's wrong, and is it fixable?

[DOSGuy]

I don't have that problem. Some details about your computer would be helpful.

[brukner]

Sure,

Laptop computer running Windows XP Home SP3
(I don't know if tech specs would help, but here they are)
1.1 GHz processor
20Gb HD
256 Mb Ram
128 Mb Video Card running Direct X 9.0

It's an older computer (2005, I think). I don't know if that would have any effect.

[MrFlibble]

You could try using a download manager to make sure files remain intact, and you could also try the "Repair archive" option in WinRAR on the archives that are corrupt, as it works with ZIP files too.

[brukner]

I tried Winrar and a download manager. In both cases, the archive stayed intact, but after the files were extracted, they wouldn't open.

[DOSGuy]

Windows XP isn't always able to run DOS games. Are you using DOSBox? Use our DOSBox tutorial.

[MrFlibble]

Also don't forget that in many DOS games you need to run the setup programme prior to running the game (just in case ).

[brukner]

Yeah, I've used DOSbox for 3 years now to run old programs. There isn't any configuration or settings on the file. Even if I simply open up the file's "Properties" window, under type of file it just says "Corrupt or damaged". I'm not sure though, because I downloaded a couple of games from like 1986 and they worked fine. It might just be something with my internet connection.

[MrFlibble]

Have you tried re-downloading the archive(s) in question? Even if the archive itself is intact, you can still try running the "Test" option in WinRAR to test the files inside for integrity.