What Windows operating systems will a 16Bit video game run on?

Question

I'm trying to run childhood games on my Windows 7 Ultimate computer. First I tried to run it in compatibility mode and I got an error message stating that the version of the file is not compatible and that I should check for a new version of the program. Next I tried the DOSBox emulator and after I got through the code and told it to install the .exe file, I got a problem saying "this program requires Microsoft Windows". Now I tried to install Windows XP on a separate partition and run it from their, but I got the same problem as before. Finally, I attempted to install Windows 95 on another partition but I'm getting an error saying "Device driver not found" and stopping the installation. The drive is named MSCD001 but I don't know the relevance of it...HELP PLEASE!

Answer 1

You're going through a heavily over-complicated process, been there - done that.



What you think You need is a dual-boot system with multiple OS'es installed.



What you REALLY need is to download "MSVirtual PC2007" free from MS and install it.



The program basically automates a pretend system within Your current system that emulates the actual Windows verified hardware combinations (HCL Certified hardware configs complete with operating chip codes, etc) required to run several versions of Windows at a decently smooth speed and performance.



The program basically sections off a file to create a virtual harddrive and You then use that virtual machine and it's hard drive space like a dual-booted brand new hard drive for each OS. You can also minimize the Virtual PC and be instantly back to all the hardware and performance of the actual new system with Win7 in Your case.



The program is tiny and not impressively pretty when You start it, very unlike MS ... But it will give you the ability to run several computer platforms and OS'es while not working around harddrive bootblock edits, memory overruns, or unsupported USB ports, etc ...



Best guess I can give is that this was developed for old days support desks that had to support multiple OS'es and be instantly in them for callers on hold to give accurate keypress series of reference.



The new name for the technology is "Cloud computing" for marketing purposes meaning a cloud of simulated older hardware running over a server-class system.



Sorry - original question was a 16-bit game. There are only 2 versions of useful Windows before Yours. XP Pro and WinME. Run a virtual machine for ME and it will run Your Windows 3.1 game fine, because Your game is looking for underlying DOS6.22 code outside of Windows 3.1 or 95, and WinME used DOS7 which was still standalone enough fro Windows to run them.



Good Luck! - and ENJOY THE NEW TOY!!!

Answer 2

WHY DOS EMULATOR WHEN YOU CAN RUN DOS IF GAMES ARE FOR DOS ?

Just install FreeDOS on partition.

FreeDOS | The FreeDOS Project

FreeDOS is a complete, free, 100% MS-DOS compatible operating system. Works on old hardware, in DOS emulators, and in embedded systems.

http://www.freedos.org

Here is about FreeDOS from Wikipedia:

FreeDOS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FreeDOS (formerly Free-DOS and PD-DOS) is an operating system for IBM PC compatible computers. FreeDOS is made up of many different, separate programs that ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeDOS

Still my favorite operating system - if there is no command line it just does not look right way to do the job.

Answer 3

as you are running windows 7 ultimate you can download windows xp mode from microsoft which allows you to run a virtual version of xp inside your host operating system, sometimes program compattiblity within windows does not work so xp mode genrally is a last resort and userlly works for software and games which are older.

Answer 4

Im not sure about costs but in general Windows xp. Vista has its good points but still has major flaws and requires almost daily updates to fix known problems. XP is, for the moment, still the best PC OS around.