Old Windows Applications in Windows XP

[Tyler2000]

Why would an old program(designed for Windows 3.1) work with Windows XP, then a couple years later, give a 'win16 subsystem' error when you try to run it?

I thought if it was incompatible with XP, it should have never worked. I don't know what changed.

The program I'm trying to use is SoftKey MorphStudio.

Is Windows Vista going to be any more compatible with old applications?

[lumis]

it could be the service pack..

there are still a handful of programs i like to use that ran best on dos 6.22 or windows 3.1.. a good solution was using microsoft virtual pc and installing those o/s's on there along with the programs.. VPC uses very little resources when running an old o/s like that, and everything runs fine for me.. it also uses very little hdd space.

[guns1inger]

Have a read of this. I have seen this before and this fix usually works.

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/16bit.htm

[Tyler2000]

guns1inger, that fix worked. It must have been a virus.

Thanks

[guns1inger]

Not necessarily. Sometimes XP just drops the ball. I actually suspect rogue uninstallers.

[hech54]

I wish that fix would work with my old Audiocatalyst program..

[guns1inger]

Yeah. It's not actually a fix for old software, more a repair for XP's existing support. I assume you have tried the compatability mode tabs ?

[hech54]

I may try a little harder this week...now that I have completely removed my old, patched Roxio EZCD Creator 5...maybe Audiocatalyst will work now.

[smearbrick1]

I've found that the biggest hurdle to cross is actually getting the programs installed. Usually, once I can force it to install, I can get it to run either in compatibility mode or through an emulator. Thankfully, most of the older stuff I use is Win95/DOS compatible. If the install fails using compatibility mode, I use DOSBOX and just crank up the speed.

The PC game MDK is a perfect example (if you haven't played this game, it is amazing... it is still amazing after all this time.) I had to use the above-referenced fix to even get the install disc to run. When the install did run, it wouldn't let me install. So I used DOSBox to install the game. Once the game was installed through DOSBox, it actually allowed me to play it using the Win98 compatibility mode.