Can't get game to play in XP Mode

Hello, I am trying to play an Infinity Engine game I recently purchased, Icewind Dale, in XP Mode. I decided to go with XP Mode over forcing it to run under Windows 7 with patches because the multiplayer client doesn't work on a 64 bit operating system, but installed and worked fine under XP Mode.

But I can't get the game to start, and I'm not sure why. The errors I get are all involved with the movies, I actually haven't managed to get as far as the actual game menu. These are the errors I get -

Win95 Interplay MVE File PLayer said:

DirectDraw Init FAILED

Click to expand...

An Assertion failed in ChVideo.cpp at line number 5683 said:

Programmer says: No valid video modes supported

Click to expand...

I upgraded to the most recent Direct X (June 2010), and even used the Direct X that came with the program. I don't know what I'm missing in this case to get the game to even work properly. I can testify that I had an older laptop that ran on Windows XP, and was able to play Infinity games (is it possible to virtualize that computer onto my current? I still have it) but I only just recieved this one yesterday.

Any suggestions would be most welcome. I have no idea where to start, or where to look.

A virtual machine isn't a real computer. XP Mode here was meant to be used with legacy softwares and not games. Even if you take another virtualisation software, I doubt your game will run or if it runs, the gameplay will lag to a point where it's unplayable.

In other words, virtual machines only have basic graphical capabilities. Heck, I even tried running an audio editing software on XP Mode during the Release Candidate stage of Windows 7 and the results were extremely... deceiving. If I can't run an audio software correctly, I doubt you can run a game.

EDIT

Lack of graphical units within the virtual machine is the reason you get those errors.

I read about the lack of 3D support capability in XP Mode prior to downloading it, however Infinity games do not involve 3D acceleration and were intended for Windows 95/98. I've also read reports of the later Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn successfully functioning under XP Mode.

Can something be done to amend that "lack of graphical units"?

Malin,
How to make old games work on Windows 7 | News | TechRadar UK

10 ways to make old software run on Windows 7 | News | TechRadar UK

I read both pages, but neither provided a satisfactory solution to my problem.

The major issue at hand is that while Icewind Dale is hypothetically compatible with Windows 7, under given conditions, the multiplayer application that goes with it is not. And while the multiplayer component works under XP Mode, IWD doesn't. This isn't to say that I've successfully gotten IWD to run under Windows 7, but it's a Catch 22 I'm going to dead end at.

The Infinity Engine games are Windows-based, so I wouldn't be able to use DosBox to emulate them. At the same time, my hardware does not support any operating system less than Windows 7. I was quite frustrated by this several years ago when I purchased a Dell PC that supported Vista, and 7, but not XP and the much preferred Windows Y2K. Dual boot, downgrading, and older hardware are not an option.

I'm looking into VirtualBox, but I'm having other difficulties dealing with that as well.

partition your hdd and install XP or you could add another HDD, (thats what i did to be able to play scarface)

have you tried it on windows 7 32 bit because it has better comaptibility with old software? (in your specs i see only 4GB ram so there is not much difference)
that would be much better than donwgrading to XP.
by the way you can get (real cheap) Ice wind dale and other good old games from gog.com that should be made more win7 friendly. I played Baldur's gate from gog.com no problems on windows 7 32 bit. although not tried multiplayer.

concerning virtual pc with xp
did you install virtual pc extensions on windows xp?
you can try vmware player free (but you need xp license i think) its a more powerful virtualization software that has some 3d support.