games-old computer too slow-new computer too fast!!! what to do????

[bulletbugs]

Hi...

my old 486 DX 66 was toooooo slow for my adventure games that needed 250mhz and better speed or the video was no good.

so...about 8 months ago..i bought a brand new....WIN XP 1.9 -512 RAM...5.1 sound card....cd rom and dvd.

now...I can't play any of my old games.

some of the games play on DOS or....WIN 98 or Win 95.

I tried the Windows Compatibility but still no good. Some games will start this the Win Compat...but then it locks up.

Now..what do I do?

I was thinking of buying an old 400 mhz system.... I think that should work.

Any other ideas? My older games are just sittiing here doing nothing.

Want to play 11th Hour desperately and can't do a thing.

HELP!!!!!

Bulletbugs

 

[Slogun]

I had to look at this post to see how a computer could be too fast.

Actually speed is not the issue. It's just that WinXP is not built aroundDOS base like the win9x operating systems were and hence it doesn't play DOS games.

An alternative to buying a second computer, (though thats not a bad idea, it will get you into the world of networking and even LAN gaming) would be to make your comp a dual-boot with WinXP and Win98.

 

[DJSnairdA]

I've had this happen to me, and usually the game plays ultra fast because the game wasn't build around the speeds of my computer.

WinXP and NT systems only have DOS emulators, so most DOS games are incompatible with them, like Slogun said

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Slogun
I had to look at this post to see how a computer could be too fast.

Actually speed is not the issue. It's just that WinXP is not built aroundDOS base like the win9x operating systems were and hence it doesn't play DOS games.

An alternative to buying a second computer, (though thats not a bad idea, it will get you into the world of networking and even LAN gaming) would be to make your comp a dual-boot with WinXP and Win98.

Dual booting would probably be a PITA, since Windows XP is already installed, and he might not be able to access his Windows XP after installing Windows 98. Not to mention that he'd have to either uninstall Windows XP and repartition, or get some program like Partition Magic to do it.

The second machine would probably work best, and if you network them, you have many new possibilities.

 

[CTho9305]

make a bootable DOS CD... make a few hundred MB ramdisk, and put anything that needs to be written to in the ramdisk

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: CTho9305
make a bootable DOS CD... make a few hundred MB ramdisk, and put anything that needs to be written to in the ramdisk

I know it would be very easy to do this with Linux (just have it boot and copy a minimal root filesystem into a ramdisk - I know a guy who even ran X Window System and a few basic apps this way for a specialized setup where they needed a very secure environment), but running Windows 95 or similar (which I assume he needs for said game) might be kind of tricky. I'd love to see a howto if there is one that explains how it can be done.

 

[capodeloscapos]

I downloaded a conversion of a Commodore 64`s Game called "The Great escape" built in DOS, but, i can´t play it, it goes too fast, and it´s not the O.S., BECAUSE I USE WIN 98 Se.

 

[apoppin]

If you don't want to mess with partitions (although the latest issue of Partition Magic easily handles XP), get another Hard Drive. They are really (really) cheap now and can be set up with Win98SE to play all the old games (cheaper than buying another - even used - computer).

 

[Slogun]

Off topic, but I never noticed the thumbs up/down like on the last two posts above before. What's up with that?

 

[bcterps]

There is a program out there, I think it's called Slo-Mo or something like that. It basically allows you to slow down your cpu to play a game. You can configure the percentage (ie. play a game at 20% of your cpu speed). I remember using it to play some of the old Ultima games a while back. I've since upgraded from Win98 to XP Pro so I'm not sure if it works in XP or not. It worked fine in Win98.

 

[thedan]

Originally posted by: benchiu
There is a program out there, I think it's called Slo-Mo or something like that. It basically allows you to slow down your cpu to play a game. You can configure the percentage (ie. play a game at 20% of your cpu speed). I remember using it to play some of the old Ultima games a while back. I've since upgraded from Win98 to XP Pro so I'm not sure if it works in XP or not. It worked fine in Win98.

Its called MoSlo.