Old games and 64 bit compatibility

[Hosakawa Tito]

I have this old game from 1997, Civil War Generals 2 (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilwargenerals2gls/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review), that I can't play anymore because it isn't compatible with my new system that has 64 bit Windows OS. I'd be willing to buy a cheap laptop that has a 32 bit OS to play it. I gave a quick looked on Newegg & Amazon and the only laptops I found with 32 bit OS didn't have CD rom drives. Any suggestions?

[Crandaeolon]

Try running it through DOSBox (http://www.dosbox.com/) on your new system?

Otherwise, there are some tricks to get around the lack of an optical drive... most hassle-free option is to get an external USB drive for around 50-60 squid. Another option is to create an image file of the CD, transfer it to the laptop and then mount it on a virtual drive with Daemon Tools, Alcohol, PowerISO or something similar.

[Furunculus]

I have this old game from 1997, Civil War Generals 2 (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilwargenerals2gls/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review), that I can't play anymore because it isn't compatible with my new system that has 64 bit Windows OS. I'd be willing to buy a cheap laptop that has a 32 bit OS to play it. I gave a quick looked on Newegg & Amazon and the only laptops I found with 32 bit OS didn't have CD rom drives. Any suggestions?

hah, i bought my lenovo netbook for the same reason, to play MTW:VI, but i recieved the version with a screen res of only 1024x576, slightly to small in the vertical for the minimum MTW res of 800x600.

still, it runs opensuse these days so a happy ending was achieved.

could dual boot your laptop with XP.

[CrossLOPER]

If DOSBox (http://www.dosbox.com/) works, stay with that. Otherwise, download windows virtual machine (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/) and install XP. I have no idea how well the "xp mode" works as I used an older VM version and installed XP on that to run MS Office 2003. Worked great. Didn't set aside enough HD space, so its usefulness was limited.

[Furunculus]

virtualised XP environments cannot to my knowledge make DirectX hardware calls, so no use for games, though with a DOS based game that may not be a problem.

[CrossLOPER]

I'll see if I can make Starcraft work in an VM.

[Hosakawa Tito]

hah, i bought my lenovo netbook for the same reason, to play MTW:VI, but i recieved the version with a screen res of only 1024x576, slightly to small in the vertical for the minimum MTW res of 800x600.

still, it runs opensuse these days so a happy ending was achieved.

could dual boot your laptop with XP.

Here's a lenovo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146736) from newegg that might fit the bill. I've never had a laptop & don't know much about them. Thoughts anyone?

[Furunculus]

it'll be an ok laptop, but whether it'll do what you want.............. :help:

[Husar]

Is that a 16bit game or why does it not run on a 64bit OS?
You wouldn't want to find out that it doesn't run on 32bit Windows 7 either after buying a new laptop, would you?

[Hosakawa Tito]

I ran this game on my last system that I just replaced last year, which was a 32 bit windows xp os. The new one I have is a 64 bit with a vista hp os. When installing this old game I get a pop-up message stating that this program is incompatible with a 64 bit system.


it'll be an ok laptop, but whether it'll do what you want.............. :help:

:laugh4: My thoughts exactly. I know just enough about this stuff to royally screw things up, which is why I'm hesitant to try and dual boot with xp.

[Furunculus]

paragraph on WinXP virtualisation and games:
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/reviews/2010/01/windows-xp-mode.ars/4

[Beskar]

Have you tried compatibility mode? Right click then change it XP/etc through that.

[Tellos Athenaios]

16bit DOS apps will not run in a 64bit Windows environment; compatibility modes or not. Simple as that...

What you'd need is either a 32bit environment or a VM.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Thanks for all the replies & advice. After looking over the info and educating myself a bit, I ordered the lenovo thinkpad I referred to earlier. Onward and upward...:sweatdrop:

[Hosakawa Tito]

I received my lenovo thinkpad and it handles my older programs just as I hoped it would. Now if I can just get it away from junior...

[Aemilius Paulus]

So wait, did you seriously buy a computer just for an old game? :stare::dizzy2:

[Hosakawa Tito]

So wait, did you seriously buy a computer just for an old game? :stare::dizzy2:


Hehehe, you sound like the wife. I need the portability of a laptop & compatibilty of a 32 bit system for some older programs that I use in relation to my job. It's also a reasonably priced, $600, backup to our desktop when that eventually needs repair.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Hmm, I see. Well, yes, we all need laptops at times, and some of us need them very much. It was just that I am a person thrifty to the extreme myself, so your posts amazed me :shrug:

So, ah, you are not made of money by any chance, are you? :tongue::laugh4: