Recently I had to upgrade to win7 64-bit and now I'm a very unhappy gamer.
Not one of my to-be-played games works, apart from dos games that run fine with dosbox.
I tried different compatibility settings and run as administrator but beyond that I have no idea what I could try.

In the locked win7 and games thread it says something about installing from the cd (for dracula last sanctuary) but how would you install anything not from a cd?

I don't have the option of installing anything in c:\program files because C is too small (D: is the main drive).
I think I have to find an xp computer somewhere, but as a last resort, is there anything I can try? Like where it says 'runs with tweaks', what kind of tweaking are we talking about?

The games I tried:
Arthur's Knights
Blown Away
Crystal Key
Dark Eye
Dark Side of the Moon
Fox Hunt
Quest for Karma
Robot City
Victor Vector
Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth

thanks

You should be able to install to the D: drive. The listing in the thread says

Did you try changing the installer file (usually called either Setup or Install) on the CD to XP SP2 compatibility mode before installing?


That one is a known problem. It works in Windows 98 or XP -- at least in XP SP1 and earlier.


That's a Windows 3.1 game according to Mobygames. Windows 3.1 is a 16-bit operating system, like DOS 6.2 and earlier. Windows 7 (64-bit) will not be able to run 16-bit games natively. However you may be able to run the game in DOSBox if you install Windows 3.1 in DOSBox.


Probably an issue with your QuickTime version. I think Dark Eye has both 32-bit and 16-bit installs. If so, make sure you install the right version.


Not sure what the problem is there.


A Windows 3.1 game (16-bit).


I think that one even had problems on XP. It works fine in Windows 95 or 98.


Might be a QuickTime issue -- if it uses QuickTime.


Windows 3.1 games.

You might try to either get a very old computer with Windows 98 or earlier. Or you might try buying a copy of Windows 3.1 off of eBay or somewhere and installing it in DOSBox.

Most of these games would work in Virtual PC as well, since none of them require a 3D video card.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.
I used the compatibility settings on the setup.exe, because none of these games even get installed.
I don't have quicktime (don't like it, so I always delete it after finishing a game that needs it), so I don't think that can be the problem.

Dark Eye has only one setup.exe and it doesn't launch. There is a _inst16.ex_ and a _inst32.ex_ but I assume you can only use them once the setup has lanched.

I rarely had this problems on my xp laptop and Foxhunt and Dark Side of the Moon already worked properly on that machine. So if getting a new computer is the solution I think xp would be ok (and xp does everything I need anyway, don't need win7 at all).

In never heard about using windows within dosbox though, that's possible?
Not that I have win31, but it could be worth a try...

I've run Windows 3.1 in DOSBox before and it is indeed possible. There is also a thread on the DOSBox (VOGONS) forum now that gives explicit instructions on how to install Windows 95 on DOSBox.

DOSBox works equally well under Virtual PC. Assuming you don't have Windows Virtual PC installed (which is a different product than VPC 2007) you could go that route as well.

Dark Side of the Moon has a 3rd party installer that can be used to play the game in XP and above. Did you use it?

Finally - Everyone can now play Dark Side of the Moon in XP

Why would I want to run dosbox under vpc? It already works with win7.

I can't find an installer for DOTM. That really exists? The thread you linked to is about problems with the dialog display. I indeed used that fix in xp. But in win7 the game won't even install.

thanks

You don't want to run DOSBox under Virtual PC, you want to install the game in a Windows 9x or XP VM.



It does exist - however I see you're running a 64 bit OS. The installer isn't supported in those environments. Your best bet is to use a Virtual environment like VPC or VMware Player, both emulate 32 bit platforms.

Windows 7 Pro and above provide native support for Windows Virtual PC. All you have to do is download the VHD (Virtual Hard Drive) from Microsoft. The OS is a 32 bit version of XP.

You mean if I download VHD I don't need a windows cd?

Yes, the VHD is included in the XP Mode download as I recall.

Sorry for being slow here.
Turns out vpc was already installed but I had to download xp mode.
The setups now at least start but when the installation start it says it has no access to the specified folders.

When I check winexplorer I see only C: is available (and D: for the dvd drive).
But C: is only for tyhe windows installation.
I want to use D: or E: but they show as:
'D on NLCNU0331N51'
'E on NLCNU0331N51'

Apparently all the drives but C: aren't recognized.

Any idea what I should do?

thanks

If you've started VPC, then all you will see is the virtual HD (which will be your C drive). The optical drives can be attached, but you have to specifically tell VPC to use them.

Are you running Windows Virtual PC Or Virtual PC 2007?

It says Windows Virtual PC and then Windows XP mode. How can I tell vpc to use D and/or E?

The instructions I found just say install any programs normally. Nothing on attaching drives.

thanks

See if the link below helps -

How to Change Virtual Machine Settings in Windows Virtual PC

Ok, now I know how to change the settings, but I have no idea what it is that I should change.

In the settings it says:
virtual had disk file D:\...\Windows XP Mode.vhd
Parent Disk: C:\Program Files\Windows XP Mode\Windows XP Mode base.vhd

If I go to the virtual pc I can only install something in what it calls C: (although I can see the other drives and their files).
So if I install anything, will it go to my D drive (virtual hadrdisk file) or my C drive (Parent Disk)?
In the settings I can create a new harddisk file, but if it already uses D: that won't be necessary.

thanks

There's a suggestion by Ravijot Singh at the bottom of ***this page*** at the Microsoft Answers forum:



If you still have problems, there's a thread at ***Sevenforums*** that has pictures and links that may help.

It will install to the virtual drive, not the physical drive.

Yes, the games will now install properly. Unfortunately most of them still give errors. It seems the option for running in 256 colors doesn't work in xp-mode.

But at least Crystal Key and Foxhunt work now.
thanks for the help.

I've never used XP Mode, only Virtual PC.
Running in 256 colors works fine in Virtual PC.