I just started playing daggerfall and I've come across a couple of issues. If I do not run dosbox as an administrator then my saves get corrupted the second or third time i save. It just comes up with a message about me falling to the ground and waking up an hour later and then freezes. If i do run dosbox as an administrator however, it has terrible framerate issues even though my settings are the same. Can anyone please help me.

What are your z.cfg and dosbox.conf settings? Post both of them here using the [codebox ] tag (without the space in it, end with [/ codebox], also without the space).

Also, you might want to try disabling the UAC.
To do that you must open msconfig (windows button + R, type msconfig in the window that pops up, and click enter), go to the tools tab (on the far right, any language version), scroll down until you find "Deactivate UAC (UAC - User Account Control), mark it, click launch, and reboot. Personally I find that, that piece of crap should be the first thing to be disabled in Vista.

type dfall_hugepath c:\dagger\arena2\pathcd c:\dagger\arena2\fadecolor 0mapfile drendergame 1user 1startMap 179region 17helmet 0maxSpeed 200controls betaplyr.datmaps mapsave.sav

that is my z.cfg and my dosbox.conf is

# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.72.# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.[sdl]# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw.# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).#             Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.fullscreen=falsefulldouble=falsefullresolution=originalwindowresolution=originaloutput=surfaceautolock=truesensitivity=100waitonerror=truepriority=higher,normalmapperfile=mapper.txtusescancodes=true[dosbox]# language -- Select another language file.# memsize -- Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga.# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.language=machine=vgacaptures=capturememsize=16[render]# frameskip -- How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.# aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.# scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.#           Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,#                         2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,#                         tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.#           If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used#           even if the result might not be desired.frameskip=0aspect=falsescaler=normal2x[cpu]# core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.#         auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.# cycles -- Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.#           Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.#           You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.#           The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.# cycleup   -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.# cycledown    Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.core=autocycles=autocycleup=500cycledown=20[mixer]# nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.# rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will#         probably lower their sound quality.# blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering#              but sound will also be more lagged.# prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.nosound=falserate=22050blocksize=2048prebuffer=10[midi]# mpu401      -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.# device      -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.#                This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,none.# config      -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put#                the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.mpu401=intelligentdevice=defaultconfig=[sblaster]# sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.# mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.# oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.#            On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.#            All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS.# oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation.sbtype=sb16sbbase=220irq=7dma=1hdma=5mixer=trueoplmode=autooplrate=22050[gus]# gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the #            Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.)# gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.# ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory.  In this directory#             there should be a MIDI directory that contains#             the patch files for GUS playback.  Patch sets used#             with Timidity should work fine.gus=truegusrate=22050gusbase=240irq1=5irq2=5dma1=3dma2=3ultradir=C:\ULTRASND[speaker]# pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation.# pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.# tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).#          For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.# tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.# disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible.pcspeaker=truepcrate=22050tandy=autotandyrate=22050disney=true[joystick]# joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,#                 2axis (supports two joysticks,#                 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),#                 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),#                 fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).#                 none disables joystick emulation.#                 auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).# timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).# autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.# swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.# buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.joysticktype=autotimed=trueautofire=falseswap34=falsebuttonwrap=true[serial]# serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port.#              Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.#              Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of#              parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.#              for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).#              for modem: listenport (optional).#              for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,#                             transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).#              Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000serial1=dummyserial2=dummyserial3=disabledserial4=disabled[dos]# xms -- Enable XMS support.# ems -- Enable EMS support.# umb -- Enable UMB support.# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).xms=trueems=trueumb=truekeyboardlayout=none[ipx]# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.ipx=false[autoexec]# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

In your dosbox.conf change your memsize= from 16 to 63. The minimum recommended is actually 32. You could also change your cycles from auto to max.
Otherwise it looks good.

The save issues might also be fixed with the patch.

Patch 213 is the latest. You can find it over at UESP.

I've already patched to 213 and I've made the changes suggested above. The saves work fine now but I'm still experiencing some speed issues, anymore suggestions on how to make daggerfall run at optimal speed?

frameskip=1
scaler=none
That'll make things easier.

All hail frameskip.