How to run Zork Nemesis on newer systems

Written by Daniel Marschall in December 2009. Last revision June 2020

Zork Nemesis, one of the best games of its time does not run under Windows NT systems... This manual shows how to run the version of Activision on your Windows XP system.

There are three Problems:

Problem 1: Installation cannot complete...

The version of InstallShield isn't supported by Windows XP. After the welcome screen, you'll see a error message and the proram will be terminated. On a 64-Bit Windows, the Setup does not work at all, because it is a 16 Bit application. So we install Zork Nemesis by hand.
Note: When setup works, then you can overjump this step and continue with step 2.

We copy the directory „Nemesis“ from CD 1 to the hard-disk as C:\Program files\Activision\Zork Nemesis
If you want the help-file, copy the file ZNEMHELP.HLP into the Zork-directory. (Attention: HLP files cannot be opened with Windows 7 and later! You can download WinHlp32.exe here)
The folder ZNEMMX is for the music of the game. Delete all files in the directory ZNEMMX, because they have no contents – the game would not have music. Then you copy all SRC-Files except NULLFILE.SRC from the directory ZASSETS of the 1. CD into the folder With this method you have no uninstallation-routine. So you have to uninstall it by hand by deleting the game-directory. ZNEMMX on your hard-disk and change the file-extensions from SRC to RAW.

Problem 2: The game cannot detect the CD-ROM-Drive and cannot run

To prevent this, you have to copy all contents from the CDs to the hard-disk.

Delete the file C:\Program files\Activision\Zork Nemesis\ZNEMSCR\Small.zix
Rename the file C:\Program files\Activision\Zork Nemesis\ZNEMSCR\Medium.zix to Nemesis.zix and then move it to C:\Program files\Activision\Zork Nemesis .
Create 3 directorys in the directory C:\Program files\Activision\Zork Nemesis: „CD1“, „CD2“ and „CD3“
Copy the folders „ZASSETS“ of the 3 CDs to the folders
Remove the write-protection from Nemesis.zix (right click, properties).
Now we open Nemesis.zix and execute following replacings:
1. Replace „CD0: “ (Space after colon) with „DIR: .\CD1\“
2. Replace „CD1: “ (Space after colon) with „DIR: .\CD2\“
3. Replace „CD2: “ (Space after colon) with „DIR: .\CD3\“
You can also directly download the modified Nemesis.zix.

You can delete the following lines (which should be line 2, 3 and 4):

0 g:\disc1 zorknem_i 'I
1 h:\disc2 zorknem_ii 'II
2 h:\disc3 zorknem_iii 'III

After this steps you can run „ZNEMESIS.EXE“ (you can put a shortcut on your desktop or in the start menu). You should set the compatibility-modus to „Windows 95“ because then the game reacts better when a key is pressed. You cannot copy the folder C:\Program files\Activision\Zork Nemesis which needs 1.51 GB space on a DVD because the game need write-rights to save the configuration and the game-saves. With the manual installation you do not need the 3 game CDs anymore.

Problem 3: Scrolling is too fast

With fast computers the game is hard to play because the scrolling is too fast. You need a tool to slow down the CPU. Download the tool SlowDown.exe, unzip the file and run „SlowDown.exe“. Set „Speed“ and „Reaction“ to „slow“. Let the window open when you run Zork Nemesis. If the scrolling is still too fast, then start the program a second time and set and repeat the configuration. With my AMD 3200+ MHz Prozessor (hat 2002 MHz) I had to run SlowDown two times and I set the regulators of both windows to the minimum. After the game you should set the regulators to „fast“ und close the windows. Then your CPU works fast again.

You can also make a batch script with another tool, if you want.

At some systems, the game just don't work. In this case you should use a virtual machine like "Microsoft Virtual PC 2007" (free).

I hope I could help you with this manual.

Overview of all files and settings (in German)

Download Version 1.0 (retail, 27 Jul 1996)

Download Version 1.1 (Subtitles patch, 4 May 1997)