re-installing ancient software

TerryinNC · 23 Mar 2010

I have an automobile service manual on CD that uses an old version (2001) of Stirling Technologies installSHIELD that worked fine on Windows XP. Now that I have "upgraded" to Windows 7 I cannot load the program into the new system, even changing the "compatibility" to WindowsXP or Windows2000. Can you suggest some other trick - I need to fix my car.

There are several "install".exe files on the disk. I can't get any of them to run, and the compatibility troubleshooter can't figure them out either.
Is there a way to identify and run the program directly from the disk without installing it?

Darryl Licht · 24 Mar 2010

Hmmmm come to think of it I havent installed my service manual for my 1998 F150 since I upgraded to 64 bit from 32 bit Win7.

If it were to happen to me I would copy the CD over to a folder on HDD and try using Compatability Checker again. If that doesn't work try installing the manual in Windows XP Mode.

MadMaxData · 24 Mar 2010

Has this been resolved, TerryinNC?

TerryinNC · 24 Mar 2010

Darryl Licht said:

Hmmmm come to think of it I havent installed my service manual for my 1998 F150 since I upgraded to 64 bit from 32 bit Win7.

Let me know if you get it to work.
Thanks

Terry

Darryl Licht · 24 Mar 2010

TerryinNC said:

Darryl Licht said:

Hmmmm come to think of it I havent installed my service manual for my 1998 F150 since I upgraded to 64 bit from 32 bit Win7.

Let me know if you get it to work.
Thanks

Terry

Yep.... I tried installing my service manual and mine wont install either! I have tried XP SP2 compatability and I still get the following error with mine...

re-installing ancient software-service-manual.png

Not sure if mine is from stirling, but I'll try a few things with mine and report back. I'm probably going to just use XP Mode as it is intended for apps that just flat out wont run in win7.

Also, since I had it working on Vista 32, and it worked after I upgraded from Vista 32 to Win7 32 bit... I am now running a clean install of Win7 64bit. I am guessing my issue may be that I am now running a 64 bit OS.

Darryl Licht · 24 Mar 2010

Update... I tried copying entire CD contents to HDD and still no success.

So I fired up XP mode and tried the installation in the virtual machine... naturally it works fine in XP Mode (Using Virtual PC).

re-installing ancient software-service-manual_2.png

TerryinNC · 24 Mar 2010

Thanks very much for checking and reporting. Unfortunately I do not have Virtual PC. I hope I can find another way.

But your behavior is very much what I found. And your program screen is the same, so I suspect Ford (or Helms?) used the same software through the early 2000's. I need a Windows 7 guru to tell me how to fool 7 or how to get it to run in XP configuration. Is the problem simply that it is just not signed, or something like that?

Interesting that I couldn't even open the help file - it needed a patch to read the old 32 bit(?) help.

Darryl Licht · 24 Mar 2010

Virtual PC is FREE!!! <--- but you must have Pro version win7 or higher!
Windows Virtual PC: Home Page

Also run the freeware utility Securable from grc.com to determine if your CPU is capable of running virtual machines...Most Popular Freeware on GRC.COM

More on the issue... It also runs fine in my Win7 32 bit virtual machine.

re-installing ancient software-service-manual_3.png

So, in my case I have concluded that the issue must be this app has no idea what to do in a 64 bit environment.

Is your win7 32 or 64 bit???

bobkn · 24 Mar 2010

TerryinNC said:

I have an automobile service manual on CD that uses an old version (2001) of Stirling Technologies installSHIELD that worked fine on Windows XP. Now that I have "upgraded" to Windows 7 I cannot load the program into the new system, even changing the "compatibility" to WindowsXP or Windows2000. Can you suggest some other trick - I need to fix my car.

There are several "install".exe files on the disk. I can't get any of them to run, and the compatibility troubleshooter can't figure them out either.
Is there a way to identify and run the program directly from the disk without installing it?

As you say that you have 6GB of RAM, I suppose that you're running Win7 X64.

That is supposed to not run 16 bit code. I have read that some 32 bit software uses 16 bit installation code, which gives a problem. I wonder whether either of these caused your difficulties.

TerryinNC · 24 Mar 2010

I think you may have put your finger on it - I'm running 64 bit Home Premium. You think this thing may have some native code in it that is 32 bit only? bummer.

It just occurred to me that my wife's MacBook has XP and Bootcamp - I'll try it over there.

Update: It runs fine over on the Mac, so I'm back in business. The question now is which I will get rid of first - my LS or the Mac.
Thanks for your help. But if anyone finds out how to make 16 bit installers work I'd like to hear.