Windows 7: Older Games and Programs

Hi All, good to be here. I have two pcs - an older Compaq CQ5123f which is a Vista machine with a Windows 7 upgrade, and a new Compaq CQ5720f with Windows 7. Both machines are Home Premium 64 bit. I have several games and older programs in the old PC that ran well in the older machine (they were bought before Windows 7 came out) but will not run in the new PC, and if I were to buy and install a Windows Pro upgrade DVD from a local retailer, would these games and other programs on the old machine work in the "XP Mode" that is part of the Pro version?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

popadave5

A free solution may be DoxBox or VirtualBox. You can get help in the Virtualization forum if you get stuck setting them up. Also if you have a copy of XP not being used you could most likely partition the drive and install it on the older PC.

Have you tried installing using compatibility mode? That would be the first thing to try. If the old programs are 16 bit apps they won't run on native 64 bit system. In that case I'd try DoxBox.

Those on this forum would know more:
http://www.sevenforums.com/virtualization/

Can you list some of the games you are trying to play? If you want to play DOS games, use DOSbox. You can't play 3D games in a Virtual Machine, it lacks Direct3D.

Slasher

Hi MilesAhead, SlasherIT,
I bought the four Ricochet Games from Reflexive.com and tried moving them by flash drive to the new PC but even though they work well on the old pc, they will not run on the new one because the activation codes are now absent. I will be getting a Windows 7 Pro upgrade DVD (that has a XP Mode program on it) on Friday, from a local reseller but at this time, any solution would be great.

popadave5

I believe you answered your question...

Activation codes absent? It says on the website you bought the game that you have unlimited installations for this game. And this game will not run under XP Mode, its a 3D game.

Slasher

Hi, SlasherIT,
I really want to play these games (well, the Ricochet Infinity anyway) on my Win 7 pc, so what are my options?

Well, what do you mean exactly by your activation codes are absent?

First get the activation codes. Without them the game(s) won't do anything!

BTW if these games are Vista compatible you could try running them under Vista Compatibility Mode under Windows 7 - See this tutorial on running in Compatibility Mode.

No matter which way you go though you'll still need the activation codes.