Simple Tomb Raider 1 Installation Guide for Windows XP, Vista and 7

The original 1996 Tomb Raider and the Unfinished Business bonus levels were designed for DOS and should install and play just fine under Windows 95/98/Me. However, a bit of effort is needed to make them work on newer computers. If you've never done anything like this before, the process can seem a little intimidating, but it's really not that hard.

The following is a step-by-step tutorial for installing Tomb Raider and/or Unfinished Business on a PC running Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. It covers both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of these operating systems.*

If you're running Windows NT or Windows 2000, please see the footnote below.

This page details two different methods for installing the game:

  • Glidos, created by Paul Gardiner, is shareware (free to try, $10 to unlock). Glidos installs the game and allows you to configure it with various sound and graphics enhancements.
  • The Tomb Raider Installer, created by Chris Ware and Gidierre, is a free installation utility based on the DOSBox DOS emulator.

In addition to the downloads listed below, you will also need your Tomb Raider or Tomb Raider Gold CD-ROM. If you don't have the Gold edition, which includes a second disk with the Unfinished Business bonus levels, don't worry; they are included in both downloads. However, you will still need the TR1 CD to install and play the game. If you want to purchase a CD, inexpensive copies are usually available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.


THE USUAL DISCLAIMERS: While I recommend all of the utilities presented here, I am not responsible for anything that happens to your computer as a result of downloading or installing them. I did not create these programs and cannot offer support for them. So if you have any questions or problems, please seek help through the links in the Troubleshooting & Support section below.


Installing Tomb Raider and/or Unfinished Business Using Glidos

  1. Insert your Tomb Raider CD. If your computer has more than one CD/DVD-ROM drive, be sure to use the one with the letter designation closest to A. For example, use D: rather than E:.
  2. Wait for the autorun window to appear. Then exit the program without installing the game but leave the CD in the drive.
  3. Download the latest version of Glidos here, save it to your hard drive and then double-click the Glidos_v1_XX.exe icon to start the installation process. Then just follow instructions on screen. The installer will put a Glidos shortcut on your desktop unless you tell it not to. Installation should only take a second or two, after which you'll see a message saying "Glidos Installed." Click OK to exit the program.

    (Note that you may have to install Glidos using an account with administrator privileges.* If you see an error message saying "This program might not have installed correctly. Reinstall using recommended settings?" click OK. It should then install correctly.)
  4. Download the preconfigured Tomb Raider and Unfinished Business installation here. This contains a set of files that will configure the game exactly as needed for playing under Glidos. After downloading it, double-click the TrAndUbForGlidos.exe icon to run it and follow the instructions on screen. This time there will be no confirmation when the program finishes, but as long as there's no error message, everything should be OK.
  5. If you have a 64-bit version of Windows*, you'll also need a special version of DOSBox, modified to work with Glidos. Download that here. Then double-click the DOSBoxForGlidos_1_2.exe icon to run it and follow the instructions on screen.

    (Again, you may need to install this using an account with administrator privileges.* If you see an error message saying "This program might not have installed correctly. Reinstall using recommended settings?" click OK to fix the installation.)

TO RUN THE GAME USING GLIDOS:

  1. Double-click the Glidos shortcut on your desktop to start Glidos.
  2. Select "Tomb Raider" or "Unfinished Business" from the list of games at the top of the Glidos window.
  3. The first time your run the game with Glidos, you'll probably want to click the "Adjust" button to open the Game Details window. Here you can change the screen resolution, check or un-check a box to choose Full-Screen or Windowed mode, and change various other settings. If you're not sure what any of these do, just leave them alone for now. Click "OK" to close the Game Details window.
  4. Now just click the "Start Game" button to begin playing.

When you run the game in the future, do not let the game autorun when you insert the CD; always start the game with the Glidos button. Also, you may need to run Glidos from an account that has administrator privileges.

The trial version of Glidos displays a spinning Glidos logo on screen as you play. If you like the way the program runs, visit the Glidos site and pay $10 to unlock Glidos and remove the logo from the game.


ADVANCED OPTIONS FOR USE WITH GLIDOS:

  • If you have the Sold Out Software version of the game and want to restore the missing background sounds and music, download and install the Tomb Raider Audio Pack, following the instructions on the Glidos site.
  • For enhanced full-motion video (FMV) sequences (optional), you can also download and install the Tomb Raider FMV pack, following the instructions on the Glidos site.
  • For enhanced graphics (optional), download and install texture packs from the Tomb Raider Xtra site. There you will also find details about each graphic pack and its creator, as well as download links and detailed installation instructions.

Installing Tomb Raider and/or Unfinished Business Using the Tomb Raider Installer

NOTE: This installer works with the 32-bit version of Windows XP, Vista or 7. I've also had mixed results with the 64-bit version of Windows 7, but I have not tried it with 64-bit XP or Vista.* If you experience problems, either use Glidos (above) or a later version of this installer, available elsewhere.

  1. Insert your Tomb Raider CD. If your computer has more than one CD/DVD-ROM drive, be sure to use the one with the letter designation closest to A. For example, use D: rather than E:.
  2. Wait for the autorun window to appear. Then exit the program without installing the game but leave the CD in the drive.
  3. Download the Tomb Raider Installer v1.2 at trld.mintrasystems.com.
  4. Run the Tomb Raider Installer program by double-clicking the setuptr1-1-2.exe icon and following the on-screen instructions. During the installation, you'll have the opportunity to check boxes so the program will create desktop shortcuts for Tomb Raider and/or Unfinished Business. I recommend doing so.
  5. Once the installation is complete, to run either game, just double-click the Tomb Raider or Unfinished Business desktop icon you created in step 4.

Troubleshooting & Support

* If you're running Windows XP, Vista or 7 and are not sure whether you have the 32-bit or 64-bit operating system, check these instructions on the Microsoft support site. The Tomb Raider installation differs slightly for each version.

If you're not sure whether your Windows user account has administrator privileges, open Windows Help and Support and search for "Administrator." This will display the relevant help topics.

If you're running Windows NT or Windows 2000, Glidos supports both but requires a few extra steps to install correctly. Please visit the Glidos site for details. The Tomb Raider Installer supports Windows 2000 but not NT. As far as I know, installation is the same as under Windows XP, Vista and 7.

For questions or issues related to Glidos, as well as an overview of its features, please visit Glidos.net.

For questions or issues related to the Tomb Raider Installer, as well as an overview of its features, please visit http://trld.mintrasystems.com/tr1setup/.

Additional support is available on the following sites:

For help running the original Tomb Raider and Unfinished Business on newer Macintosh operating systems, please visit MacRaider.


[ TR1 Downloads Page | Home Page | TR1 Walkthrough | Unfinished Business Walkthrough ]


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Glidos was created by Paul Gardiner. His site includes additional credits for the help he received in its development. Many thanks to Paul for the tireless help he's given the gaming community. The Tomb Raider Installer was created by Chris Ware and Gidierre. It incorporates the OpenSource DOS emulator DOSBox.

Walkthroughs, technical FAQs and related diagrams copyright © 1997- - Stellalune (email ). Feel free to print, quote and share the information on this site, but kindly include the copyright and contact info at the bottom of each page so people can send me their corrections, comments and suggestions. Also, if you'd like to offer my walkthroughs on your own website, please read and follow the instructions here.

Stella's Tomb Raider Site: http://tombraiders.net.