how do i run executable programs from windows xp on windows 7

[lsimp1818]

I have several old executable programs that were compiled on turbo pascal. They work OK on windows XP but do not work in windows 7. Can they be adapted to work on windows 7 ?

 

[LMiller7]

Turbo pascal is 16 bit. Such programs can run under 32 bit XP but not under any 64 bit OS. The only hope of running these programs is in a virtualized environment

 

[lsimp1818]

Thanks for your reply re Turbo Pascal.
I still have the source code for several important programs I wrote in Turbo Pascal. Are there any compilers that can compile the source code into executable programs that will work on Windows 7 ?
Leo- [email protected]

 

[Alejandro85]

If they're DOS programs it's easy to run them under DosBox which works very well for most older programs. For Windows, a virtual machine is a reasonable option, but that needs a lot more maintenance. All of this allows to run the original binaries without any modification.

If you want to recompile them for current versions of Windows, you need a modern compiler. A quick search reveals an open source project with more modern compilers for current OSs, including 64 bits Windows, have a look here: Free Pascal - Advanced open source Pascal compiler for Pascal and Object Pascal - Home Page
Another, more generally known but commercial, option is to migrate to Delphi.

I've never tried those but both may allow to recompile everything for current OSs, however you may need to make some modifications to existing programs and adapt them for modern systems and languages.