How to Play Windows Minesweeper in Ubuntu Linux

One reason users refuse to give up Microsoft Windows are those little games that come packaged with the installation. Minesweeper, Solitaire, Freecell-those little addictive games we know and love. There is a way to play Minesweeper in Ubuntu Linux. A few minutes of time and you can have that game and Linux too!

Things Needed:

Computer configured to dual-boot Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux

Wine (WINdows Emulator) installed in Ubuntu.

Step One

If you do not have Wine installed on Ubuntu, install it using Synaptic. Go to System, Administration, Synaptic Package Manager to install.

Step Two

Go to Places, (Your Windows Partition). Each computer has a different name here, it could vary from letters and numbers to a word like "HP." This will open the contents of your Windows partition (also known as your C:\ drive) in Nautilus.

Step Three

Double-click the WINDOWS folder, then drill down to the System32 folder by double-clicking on it as well. This will put you in the folder where the Minesweeper *.exe file is located.

Step Four

Look at the location bar. The location should read similar to this now:

/media/SQ004191P03/WINDOWS/system32

We are going to use the location area to modify this line into the exact command needed to run the Minesweeper program. Add "wine " (wine and a single space) to the very beginning of the location bar. It should now look like this:

wine /media/SQ004191P03/WINDOWS/system32

Step Five

Add "/winmine.exe" to the end of the line on the location bar. It should now look like this:

wine /media/SQ004191P03/WINDOWS/system32/winmine.exe

Step Six

Highlight this completed command and copy it by right-clicking and selecting "Copy."

Step Seven

Right-click on an empty area of your top taskbar and select "Add to Panel."

Step Eight

Click "Custom Application Launcher" then click the button. The Create Launcher dialog will appear.

Step Nine

Give your launcher a name like "Windows Minesweeper," paste that command you copied out of the location bar into the Command section and click . Your new launcher will appear in thetaskbar.

Step Ten

Click to exit the Add to Panel dialog box and click on your new launcher to enjoy a game or Minesweeper!

Note:

You can change the icon from the springboard while creating the launcher. Just click on the springboard icon during the creation process to see a selection of icons to choose from.

Do not copy the files from the Windows installation. This is illegal in some countries, so just play them with Wine from where they are located on your Windows partition.

Your Windows partition must be mounted for the launcher to work. If you click on the launcher and nothing happens mount your Windows partition by going to Places, (Windows Partition).

Sources:

Faqs Archive: WINE (WINdows Emulator) Frequently Asked Questions

Ubuntu Documentation: Launchers