# Using old programs on Windows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940 "2011-12-21T12:38:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/1 "2011-12-21T12:38:41Z")
I am wondering why, I can’t play a lot of oler games I have on windows 7, I had them on XP, but they don’t even start up, and iwonder why, there doesn’t seem to be any explaination and I am baffled;can some one give me advice? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/2 "2011-12-21T12:41:48Z")
It might take some finagling, but you are going to need to use a mixture of compatibility mode and running (or not running, perhaps) the program as administrator. At least, that’s what I had to do when I wanted to play Sim City 3000 on my Vista machine. You get to compatibility mode by right clicking on the program, going to properties and hitting “Compatibility” in Vista. That may or may not be how its done in 7. ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/3 "2011-12-21T12:57:09Z")
If they’re really old you can try Dosbox, but some games are just hit and miss. I’d dearly love to play Knights of the Old Republic again, but the game stubbornly refuses to run on my Win7 system no matter what compatibility mode I try. And that game is not even all that old. ---
**Author:** ![emoticorpse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@emoticorpse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emoticorpse)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/4 "2011-12-21T13:09:52Z")
basically because it was made for Windows XP and is heavily based on Windows XP’s core components that maybe Windows 7 has done away with. Could you list the games? someone may be able to check the internet for known compatibility issues. I would also try compatibility mode in Windows 7, sometimes that will make it work and do you mean won’t install? setup wise? or an exe that won’t start? ---
**Author:** ![Terry\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Terry\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terry_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/5 "2011-12-21T13:15:52Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > I am wondering why, I can’t play a lot of oler games I have on windows 7, I had them on XP, but they don’t even start up, and iwonder why, there doesn’t seem to be any explaination and I am baffled;can some one give me advice? Thanks! Are you receiving the message “This version of \ is not compatible with the version of Windows you’re running. Check your computer’s system information to see whether you need a x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher.”? Windows generally provides compatibility (for user programs, things like device drivers are another story altogether) for one architectural version back. Thus, the 32-bit versions of Windows (95 and later) supported apps written for 16-bit DOS and 16-bit Windows. Once you get to 64-bit Windows Vista or Windows 7, you have compatibility with 32-bit applications, but not with 16-bit ones. For Windows 7, the suggested solution (if a native version of the application is not available) is Windows XP Mode. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/6 "2011-12-21T13:21:13Z")
And you get to XP mode how? The program I can’t run gets a message saying it is a 16 bit program and Win 7 cannot run it. It is really a DOS program (Ubasic). ---
**Author:** ![Terry\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Terry\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terry_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/7 "2011-12-21T13:23:43Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > And you get to XP mode how? Generally, a [free download](http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/windows-xp-mode) from Microsoft, unless you have a corporate PC where it was pre-installed. Note that this gives you a whole virtual XP system, which needs its own software updates, antivirus software, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![emoticorpse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@emoticorpse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emoticorpse)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/8 "2011-12-21T13:29:18Z")
so far the checking up i’ve done seems to be that 16 bit programs just won’t run in Windows 7 64-bit at all. Name of the program? maybe they have an updated version out? otherwise you may consider using a virutal machine to install Windows XP inside of Windows 7 and use it inside that. Try all the combinations of Compatibility mode, try right clicking on the file go to properties and check for a compatibility tab if it’s not in the first tab you see. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/9 "2011-12-21T14:46:13Z")
I use [VirtualBox](https://www.virtualbox.org/) for this. I install some other OS (dos or XP) under virtualbox and just run the games under the OS they want to see. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/10 "2011-12-21T15:27:16Z")
16-bit programs don’t run on 64-bit Windows because AMD removed the hardware support from the spec when they designed x86-64. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/11 "2011-12-21T15:55:00Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > And you get to XP mode how? > > The program I can’t run gets a message saying it is a 16 bit program and Win 7 cannot run it. It is really a DOS program (Ubasic). XP mode won’t run that one anyway. You either need a native DOS mode (such as that which came with Windows 98), or an emulator such as DOSBox. To run 16 bit Windows programs (and even a few 32 bit ones) on my Vista 64, I need to use Virtual PC with either XP or 98 installed. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/12 "2011-12-21T16:03:02Z")
> [@Terry\_Kennedy](#): > > Generally, a [free download](http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/windows-xp-mode) from Microsoft, unless you have a corporate PC where it was pre-installed. > > Note that this gives you a whole virtual XP system, which needs its own software updates, antivirus software, and so on. It appears however that you can’t use it with all variants of Windows 7: > [@Microsoft web page](#): > > Windows XP Mode comes as a separate download and works only with Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/13 "2011-12-21T16:03:40Z")
Some games have copy protection schemes which do not work in W7. TOCA 3 I’m looking at you. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/14 "2011-12-21T20:04:09Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > It appears however that you can’t use it with all variants of Windows 7: While this is true, you can still download it, and then use [VMLite XP mode](http://www.vmlite.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=143), at least on Windows 7 Home Premium or greater. Or, if you want better features, you can look up how to use the Windows XP Mode disk image with Virtual Box–just use seemless mode and hide the second taskbar to get it to feel like Windows XP Mode. And, yes, if they are DOS games, definitely use [DOSBox](http://www.dosbox.com/). (And if you remember how to [install Windows 3.1](http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=9405), you can use that in DOSBox, too so you can run 16-bit Windows apps.) ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/15 "2011-12-22T13:34:39Z")
> [@emoticorpse](#): > > basically because it was made for Windows XP and is heavily based on Windows XP’s core components that maybe Windows 7 has done away with. > Could you list the games? someone may be able to check the internet for known compatibility issues. I would also try compatibility mode in Windows 7, sometimes that will make it work and do you mean won’t install? setup wise? or an exe that won’t start? Yes, it doesn’t install,start, or give any reason the desk top just stays clear.. There are so many It would take a long time to list them. I liked my old Version of Mahjong, it was far more interesting and there were more games on that disc, the version that came with Windows 7 just has 8 and they are boring! Some were Scrabble, Puzzle Master,Hoyle Word Games,Myst,Jepordy, and about 17 others. I did solve Myst, but wanted to see if i could remember it and solve it faster. When one is in their 80’s they need all the brain stimulation they can get :-). ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/16 "2011-12-22T13:38:13Z")
Thanks people for your help and advice, I will try the different things, If not, I still have my old 98 PC that works and my daughter will give me an old monitor, then maubr i can play them on that? ---
**Author:** ![emoticorpse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@emoticorpse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emoticorpse)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/17 "2011-12-22T13:52:47Z")
If there are a lot it would be worth the investment of setting up a virtual machine in Windows 7. If I were you I would install vmware (that’s what I use) or you can try the microsoft I’m not sure what it’s called but install windows xp or any version you like and after that setting up you will always know how to play them again. I still have copies of windows 95, 98, and even ME just whenever I like to remenisce. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/18 "2011-12-23T01:09:26Z")
Have you tried installing the problem programs to the “Program Files (x86)” directory? That’s where 32-bit programs are happiest, although running them may repaint your desktop oddly. ---
**Author:** ![winoutreach5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@winoutreach5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/winoutreach5)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-old-programs-on-windows/606940/19 "2011-12-23T02:18:23Z")
Hi, As a precursor, Microsoft does have a [Compatibility Center](http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx) available for those who wish to verify compatibility for both hardware and software in relation to Microsoft Windows 7. If you are experiencing application compatibility for some older applications there are a few steps you can take to help resolve your issue. The first would be to attempt to run the application in “Compatibility Mode.” To do this, you would right click on the application in question, and select “Properties.” From there, you would click on the “Compatibility” Tab at the top of the window. Next, you would want to check the box “Run this program in compatibility mode for “Microsoft Windows XP (Service Pack 3)” (or a last known good operating system when the application worked.) Also, ensure the box at the bottom is checked as well: “Run this program as an Administrator.” Click Apply. Click OK. Does the application work now? If not, you may want to consider using [Windows XP Mode / Windows Virtual PC.](http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/default.aspx) Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC allows many older Windows XP productivity programs and that are not natively compatible with Windows 7 to function. Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC are available on Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate editions. To download Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC, please click [here.](http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx) Jessica Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro