Making/using wineprefixes

September 19, 2017

Running complicated Windows applications on Linux using WINE requires separate WINEPREFIX. Each WINEPREFIX has unique Windows configuration, without disturbing the setup of other Windows programs on Linux.

This example is for Irfanview, a highly-useful image Windows viewer/editor that runs well on Linux.

1. Make the new wineprefix. You would make any special configuration in the GUI that pops up.

   WINEPREFIX=~/.wine_irfanview winecfg

2. Install the winetricks prerequisites for your program. Here, Irfanview requires mfc42.

   WINEPREFIX=~/.wine_irfanview winetricks mfc42

3. Install the new Windows program

   WINEPREFIX=~/.wine_irfanview wine iview_setup.exe