(c) Paul Gardiner 2002-2008
These are the Tomb Raider installation instructions for Windows XP.  If you have Windows 98 or ME, you should read the original installation instructions, which cover those versions of Windows.

Initial use of Glidos requires a number of steps.  Click on the list items below in turn to see detailed instructions.  You will save yourself a lot of problems if you read through these instructions thoroughly.  If you run into any problems try the support page.

Install VDMSound

Most modern sound card drivers don't adequately support DOS games.  I strongly recommend you download VDMSound.  It is free, can be installed with a single click and seems to work with all DOS games and all sound cards.  The instructions from here on assume that you have downloaded and installed VDMSound.

Download and install Glidos

Just go to the download page and click the link to the latest Glidos_vXX.exe file, save it to disc and double-click it to start the install process.  The installer will put a shortcut on your desktop, unless you tell it not to.  You may have to install Glidos using an account with administrator privileges.

Install Tombraider

The easiest way is to use the archive of a preconfigured Tomb Raider and Unfinished Business installation, ready for use with Glidos.  Download and install this archive, and you will be all ready to go.  Note the archive does not contain the game content, and hence cannot be used without the CD.

If you prefer, there is an installer wizard.  The wizard does a similar job to the archive, but is smaller because it copies the files from your Tomb Raider CD, except for the voodoo version of the executable, which it downloads from the internet.  You can download the wizard from here.

Lastly, there is the direct method, which is a two-stage process, and a little more fiddley. 

  1. Install the VESA version of Tomb Rainder Place the Tomb Raider CD in your CD drive.  It may try to AutoPlay.  Stop it if you can, by closing the window that pops up.  If the window goes full screen before you get a chance to close it then press CTRL-ESC, and close it from the taskbar. 

    When you are sure that your computer isn't going to try to install Tomb Raider on its own, go to "My Computer", right-click on the CD drive, and from the menu select "Open".  Find the file "install.exe", right click on it and select "Run with VDMS".  You must allow Tombraider to install in its default location, which is "C:\Tombraid".

    During installation, you will be asked to set up your sound card.  Use the option to "Auto Detect" the card.  The likely result is the list of settings below:

    Soundcard: SoundBlaster 16/AWE32
    Port: 220
    DMA: 1
    IRQ: 7
    When first using VDMSound, you may find a "hints" box pops up.  You must disable that before running Glidos, otherwise it will pop up behind the Glidos window and make it look as though your computer has crashed.

  2. Update the executable to the voodoo version: Glidos works only with programs that use Glide, and the version of tomb.exe that you get when you first install Tombraider doesn't use Glide.  You need to obtain the voodoo version.  If you bought "Unfinished business" or "Tombraider Gold" then the voodoo version is on one of your CDs.  For "Tombraider Gold" its in the "\3dPatch\VOORUSH" folder, and for "Unfinished Business" its on the second CD in the "\original\voodoo" folder.  Open that folder and "C:\Tombraider" and drag the new tomb.exe across.  Hold down the <CTRL> key while you do this, so that you copy the actual file not just a shortcut.  Also, don't drop the file on an icon; find a bit of blank space in the folder.

    If you can't find the voodoo version of tomb.exe, there are lots of places you can download it.  Here are three.

Run Glidos and play Tombraider with high-quality graphics

We're there!  Just double-click the Glidos shortcut on your Desktop, select Tomb Raider and click the "Start game" button.  Be careful not to let the game autostart when you insert the CD; always start the game with the Glidos button.  You can use the "Adjust" button to select full-screen mode and change the resolution.

You may need to run Glidos from an account that has administartor privileges. 

Some people find that the movie sequences get cut short.  This can happen if your computer can't keep up with the data generated by Glidos's VESA support.  If you find this happens to you, try editing the file called Glidos.ini which you can find in the folder C:\Program Files\Glidos, and removing the line

VESASupport: Yes
Without VESA Support, there is a risk that your graphics card will play up during the movie sequences, so you may have to replace the line, and go back to having the movies cut short.

Buy Glidos to get rid of the spinning logo

You shouldn't run into any problems with Glidos when playing the first two levels of Tombraider, but as you start the third an annoying, spinning logo will appear.  If you are unlucky enough to have a very early verson of Tomb Raider then you may find the the logo appears even in the first levels.  In any case, the hope is that you like Glidos enough that you would like to contribute $10 to its further development, and that the spinning logo is sufficiently annoying to make you get around to doing so.  For details of how to get rid of the logo, take a look at the purchasing page.
Acknowledgements