More facts about Using WINE

WINE Directory Structure

When you first run a windows application WINE will create a hidden directory on your home folder.

You can view it by doing an
$ ls -a

You will see that it created a .wine directory

Under .wine directory you have drive_c and dosdevices.

drive_c is of particular interest to us.

In the drive_c directory WINE emulates the Windows directory structure. Under this directory you have:

1. My Documents
2. Program Files
3. Windows

My Documents directory doesn't contain anything.
Program Files directory is where WINE stores your program after you installed them. The .exe files and the .dlls are all stored here.
Windows directory of course contains some system programs that our applications need to run properly.

When an Application won't run

Sometimes I do a winecfg and the windows program I would like to run gets added to the menu. But when I click the program in the menu - nothing happens.

What I do in these cases is go back to the Linux Console and type the command to run the program myself like:

$ wine "C:\\Program Files\\WinZip\\winzip.exe"

(Notice the double \. You need to do this in Linux when specifying the path of a program because \ has a special meaning. That is why you need to do \\ instead)

This method allows me to see what error was generated.

Compatibility Issues

Unfortunately, not every Windows application will run with WINE. There are many versions of Windows and the nuances of each version keeps changing with every patch and updates.

But to save yourself the trouble of looking for which program will run, there is a list at WINEs website.

You can find it at http://appdb.winehq.org/

If your program is not in the list, go ahead and try to run it. It may still work.

If it did not work, there are only two things you can do.

1. You can hack away and make it work.
2. If you are one of the mere mortals like me or you simply don't have the time to tinker with the codes, there is no other choice but to wait.

But as I have said in my previous post, we don't actually need every Windows program to run on Linux because most already have their opensource counterpart.

Personally, what I am really waiting for is stable gaming support to be able to play some of my favorite games like "The Battle for Middle Earth".


"A wizard arrives precisely when he means to. " :)