dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
1501
mike31mets1
join:2004-10-30
Bronx, NY

mike31mets1

Member

[Vista] Can still play some archaic games

My uncle recently got a computer from Dell running Vista Home Premium 64-bit. It's a pretty damn good machine for $800 as far as the hardware goes. However he didn't know much about the difference between 64-bit and 32-bit. This caused a bit of a problem when it came to installing some programs. He got these educational programs for his kids. They're really games though. I had a bit of a problem installing them at first because I kept getting an error message when the CD tried to do auto-run about the machine being 64-bit. Anyways, I found the way around that by simply going to the setup file. And I managed to install all the games. When I installed these games, I was very impressed at Vista 64-bit. Why? These games are so damn old. Most of them were at least 10yrs old. I know this because when I was a kid I used to play these games at home and school machines. I thought my uncle for a second lost his money because he had a 64-bit OS, but it somehow managed to run all those games.

I think it's great that a lot of companies are pushing 64-bit OSes on machines now because it forces software companies to start making that transition to 64-bit. And at the same time, I think it's great that Vista, despite the complaints of it not being able to run older software (aka breaking backwards compatibility), can run programs that are 10 yrs old on a 64-bit OS.

Is there any software out there that you ran on Vista that's really old, but still works on it?

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

1 edit

maartena

Premium Member

DOS-based games run fine using DOS-box, which is a DOS emulator. I have played Dune 2, Pinball Dreams, Pinball Fantasy and Whacky Wheels without much hassle on my Vista x64 box. I have found that DOS-box runs about 95% of DOS based programs without a hitch.... well actually, for me personally it is 100% as I have not encountered a program yet that did NOT work.

Check here: »www.dosbox.com/

As far as Windows programs go, 16-bit Windows programs (and old installers) will no longer run. For non-gaming based software, you can download the free Virtual PC from Microsoft, and install a 32-bit version of Windows XP in it, or maybe even an old Windows 98, Me, or 2000 you have laying around. That will allow you to run 16 bit Windows programs just fine.

See here for VirtualPC: »www.microsoft.com/downlo ··· ylang=en

There are a few programs that will require a 64bit version, and those that do require them have 64bit versions available.

Anti-Virus is one example, but even the free ones such as AVG and Avast offer 64bit versions. AutoCAD is another, and again offers a 64bit version, it already comes with the AutoCAD 2008 and 2009 DVD's.

The one game I had an issue with is Monkey Island 4: Escape From Monkey Island. This game from 2000 has a 16bit installer. However, someone on the web made a installer/launcher that works perfectly, as the game is 32bit. Same thing for the original StarCraft, it has a 16bit installer, but fans provide a workaround installer to install it on Vista x64.

As for games, since most of them do NOT REQUIRE registry entries, you can work around a 16bit installer problem by installing them within the VirtualPC session of a 32bit Windows, then copying them through a mapped drive to your 64bit Vista, and then play them. As long as the game itself is 32bit, it should run.