# Running an old Win95 progran on XP?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-an-old-win95-progran-on-xp/396307>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 17, 2007, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-an-old-win95-progran-on-xp/396307 "2007-03-17T05:38:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-an-old-win95-progran-on-xp/396307/1 "2007-03-17T05:38:01Z")

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I have this disc w/ an interactive language learning program designed for Win95. It’s never been used before. Will I have any problems running it on an XP machine.  
I’m pretty much computer illiterate.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-an-old-win95-progran-on-xp/396307/2 "2007-03-17T05:41:54Z")

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I tried to run Blood (fun game) on a Win98 PC. Worked up to a point, but whenever I touched a certain object (necessary to continue the game) it crashed. Something about my computer being too fast for it.

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**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-an-old-win95-progran-on-xp/396307/3 "2007-03-17T06:34:58Z")

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[QUOTE=A.R. Cane]  
I have this disc w/ an interactive language learning program designed for Win95. It’s never been used before. Will I have any problems running it on an XP machine.  
[/QUOTE]

Non-useful answer: “It depends.”

But what you can try: Right -click on the program executable, select “Properties”, then click on the “Compatibility” tab. You’ll see a checkbox labeled “Run this program in compatibility mode” checkbox. Check this, then make sure the dropdown list beneath it shows “Windows 95”, then click OK. (Then start the program normally.)

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**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-an-old-win95-progran-on-xp/396307/4 "2007-03-17T07:58:47Z")

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[QUOTE=Hunter Hawk]  
But what you can try: Right -click on the program executable, select “Properties”, then click on the “Compatibility” tab. You’ll see a checkbox labeled “Run this program in compatibility mode” checkbox. Check this, then make sure the dropdown list beneath it shows “Windows 95”, then click OK. (Then start the program normally.)  
[/QUOTE]

And just to expand in this, make sure you do this for this installation program _before_ you install. This may require copying the entire installation CD to your hard drive temporarily. Installing a program as XP compatible and trying to run as Win95 compatible can cause problems.