# Windows display properties **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722 "2003-06-27T07:52:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/1 "2003-06-27T07:52:08Z")
I want to try to play an old game called “The Incredible Machine.” However, this game is almost 10 years old. And it needs 16 colors to play–that’s 16 COLORS, not 16 BIT COLOR. I am wondering if there is anyway for W2k to display just 16 colors? The options for display are 256, High Color 16 bit and True color 32 bit. How do I get 16 Colors to appear? ---
**Author:** ![Tarantula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e274bd/32.png) [@Tarantula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarantula)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/2 "2003-06-27T08:01:44Z")
256 etc. is the max number of colours that those particular settings will support. The game you want to play probably only _has_ 16 colours, but could probably be run at 256… it would just have 240 extra options that can’t be utilised. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/3 "2003-06-27T09:46:08Z")
Not at all bud. When I try to play the game it gives me a warning saying it may not be displayed correctly without 16 colors. Ignoring the warning and playing anyway reveals a black screen with outlines of the game objects (bombs, magnifying glasses, candles, trampolines, etc). It needs 16 colors but i’m wondering if the video card (NVidia Vanta) can even do _just_ 16 colors? ---
**Author:** ![Tarantula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e274bd/32.png) [@Tarantula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarantula)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/4 "2003-06-27T09:50:25Z")
Sorry dude. Are you using an emulator or is it a PC game ? ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/5 "2003-06-27T09:57:06Z")
Is it a DOS game ? Try booting in DOS (not the windows command prompt) and running it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/6 "2003-06-27T10:06:42Z")
**Muldoon** , since _The Incredible Machine_ was designed to run under MS-DOS, the easiest way for you to get it running is probably to use a boot disk with an older flavour of DOS on it. Use the [DOS 6.0 boot-disk available here](http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm), and as far as _The Incredible Machine_ is concerned, it’s 1993 all over again. You may want to modify the autoexec.bat file on the floppy so that it’ll just start the game right away if you boot from it. (I’ll assume you know your way around DOS, since you’ve got a copy of the Incredible Machine lying around… if not, let us know. I would expect that the game would work straight out of the box with the boot disk at the link, but there’s a slight possibility we may need to tweak the config.sys to provide the memory settings it likes.) **xash** , Windows 2000 doesn’t have a plain-vanilla DOS mode-- just DOS-within-Windows, with all its attendant problems. ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/7 "2003-06-27T10:12:13Z")
I remember that game. It was incredible! (Especially given the technology of the era, and the fact that I had a genius 1 year old to enjoy it with) It’s a classic, and I predict you will enjoy it, whatever your age. Now the exact answer depends on your specific version. The two easiest general solutions are to run the program after either: 1. go into DOS or Win9x Dos mode (you may need to boot from a floppy. A Win98 will almost certainly let you run the game directly from CD, because it has CD drivers built in) I don’t know if the WinNT/2K CLI will work. I rather doubt it for TIM1 and probably 2) 2. switch your desktop over to VGA (it’s on your system, guaranteed, because that’s the default/emergency boot mode, and all the cards support it) Based on what you’ve said, you’ll actually have to choose the VGA driver, instead of just setting the X/SVGA drivers to 640x480 and 16colors #1 will definitely work, probably if you open an embedded DOS prompt window [convenient] but without fail if you boot from, say, a standard Win98SE boot floppy (you can download one from the Web, if you don’t have one - check google) #2 might be more convenient. It also might be a pain, depending on your video card, driver, and OS ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/8 "2003-06-27T10:21:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > \*\ ***xash** , Windows 2000 doesn’t have a plain-vanilla DOS mode-- just DOS-within-Windows, with all its attendant problems. \*\* I assumed the OP would use a DOS boot disk to boot to DOS. Sorry 'bout the ambiguity. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/9 "2003-06-27T10:24:53Z")
:smack: My fault-- It’s about four hours past the time I should really have passed out and my synapses are firing pretty sporadically. My apologies, and… g’night kids! ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/10 "2003-06-27T10:29:28Z")
Next week when I get back I will try the boot disk option first b/c i’m a DOS fan and I don’t get to use it much anymore. I’ll let you know what happens. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/11 "2003-07-02T11:05:38Z")
Booting to DOS did the trick. Neato ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-display-properties/184722/12 "2003-07-02T21:17:32Z")
Yay- have fun-- I remember getting stuck on that game fairly early on, back in the day.