Run Windows Installers on Android: Install Non-Steam Games with GameNative

All I wanted was to run a setup.exe on my phone. GameNative boots a Windows container on Android, so this should be double-click installer, pick exe, play.

I installed to C: twice before I saw it: the launcher only scans A:.

Once that clicks, the rest is bookkeeping. Here is the map, then the 5 steps.

TL;DR — the 5 steps Link to heading

Add Custom Game → pick a folder. That folder becomes A:.
Open container → boots wfm.exe file manager.
Run setup.exe from D: (Downloads) → install to A:\GameName.
Edit container → General → Executable Path → pick the exe.
Play. If it installed to C:, use Custom path… instead.

Needs v1.2.1+ for custom paths, v1.3.0+ for WMV codecs. Current is v1.4.0.

The drive map Link to heading

Drive	What it is	In exe dropdown?
`A:`	Your game folder, symlinked in	Yes — only this
`C:`	Container’s own Wine prefix	No
`D:`	Android Downloads	No
`E:`	GameNative storage	No
`Z:`	ImageFS root	No

A: is a symlink, not a copy into the container. On modern Android, Add Custom Game first imports a copy into GameNative storage (SAF copy + verify, optional delete-source), then symlinks that. Check the real target in Edit container → Drives.

C: is per game. Two custom games get two separate C: drives.

1. Add the game first Link to heading

Add Custom Game → pick a folder.

Pick the folder you want the game to live in if you install to A:. Pick an empty folder if you plan to use C: — it just gives the container an A: drive.

First launch creates the container and prefix. It is slow once. Later boots are fast.

If the picker shows a copy progress dialog, let it finish. A 20 GB folder is a 20 GB copy.

2. Open the container Link to heading

Game menu → Open container.

This boots the same container with wfm.exe instead of the game. Browse drives, double-click the installer. That is all it does, and that is enough.

3. Run the installer Link to heading

Put setup.exe where the container sees it:

Android Downloads → shows as D:\ — least friction
Game folder → shows as A:\
Or add a drive in Edit container → Drives

Run it from wfm.exe. Accept C:\Program Files (x86)\... or change it to A:\GameName.

My default is A:\GameName. The dropdown finds it. The working directory is correct. Removing a broken container does not delete the game.

C: works too. It just needs manual exe selection, and the game dies with the container.

Installers needing VC++ are covered — vcrun2005 through vcrun2022 are Win Components. .NET is not bundled. Install it inside the container if the game needs it.

DRM or launcher-based installers may fail. That is Wine, not your path.

4. Point GameNative at the exe Link to heading

Edit container → General → Executable Path.

Game in A: → pick it from the dropdown. Recursive scan, ignores unins*. One exe in folder = auto-selected.
Game in C: → Custom path… → paste exact path:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Whatever\game.exe

No file picker. No validation. Trimmed and saved as-is. Empty + no unique exe in A: = boots wfm.exe. That is the fallback, not a bug.

Spaces are fine. Launch is winhandler.exe "$executablePath" — quoted.

5. The working-directory trap Link to heading

Relative A: path → working dir = exe folder. Correct.

Absolute C:\... path → no working dir set. Launcher leaves it at default.

Games loading assets relative to CWD fail on C: even with the right exe. Fix: install under A:, use the relative path.

Reset vs Remove vs Uninstall Link to heading

Pick the wrong one and you lose an evening.

Reset Container → resets settings to defaults, keeps drives. Deletes executablePath. Does not wipe drive_c.
Remove container → deletes container root including drive_c. Game folder in A: survives. This is the real wipe.
Uninstall game → removes game files + container.

Broken prefix? Use Remove container, not Reset.

Codecs in 3 steps Link to heading

Cutscenes go black = WMV9. Fix:

Edit container → Win Components → Windows Media Decoder = Native (Windows). Default. Needs v1.3.0+. 32-bit = all four DLLs native. 64-bit = only wmadmod/wmvdecod native, wmvcore + wmasf stay builtin (DRM libs).
Still black → toggle DirectShow to Native, relaunch. Or try Decoder = Builtin. No reset needed, re-extracts automatically.
Still black → install WMF 11 Runtime (wmfdist11.exe) in container. Or LAV Filters portable ZIP — syswow64\regsvr32 for 32-bit, system32\regsvr32 for 64-bit. Last resort: transcode to H.264.

Skip K-Lite (admin checks, half-registers, breaks prefix).

Stuck? Settings → Debug → Save logcat. Or game menu → Diagnostic Run / Share diagnostics.

What fails Link to heading

Symptom	Fix
Installer done, not in dropdown	Installed to `C:`. Use Custom path….
Launch opens file manager	No exe selected or path typo. Re-paste.
Game can’t find data	`C:` path = no working dir. Reinstall to `A:`.
Black cutscenes	Win Components, step above. Check MediaInfo: WMV7/8 often hopeless.
Prefix feels broken	Remove container, not Reset.

What I’d tell myself at the start Link to heading

Install under A: unless the installer refuses. Dropdown, working dir, and survival all line up.

Reset is settings. Remove is wipe. Learn it before you “reset” a broken prefix for an hour.

Custom path is a promise, not a picker. Paste exact path. Prefer relative A: path when you can.

The installer was never hard. The drive letters were the tutorial.