How do you get your old pc games to run on XP?

[thestain]

I really enjoyed some old Windows 95,98, etc.. games, but can't seem to get them to install and play on XP.. any ideas?

Recent example.. Links 1999

Links was neat golf game in its day.. Microsoft bought the company Access Software around 2000 and.. company has changed hands a couple times, but.. no real support.

Just trying to find way to get to install to XP.. yes.. I could do virtual machine.. but the goal here is to get this and other games i like from way back when to work on XP.

Thanks.

 

[shortylickens]

Not much advice I can give.
Compatibility mode doesnt seem to do much. I dont think I've ever had a game not working and then magically work just because I enabled compatibility mode. You usually need more than that.

Mostly I just keep trying whenever I move to a new service pack or get a new piece of hardware or new drivers.
Unfortunately Service Pack 2 has been out for a while (it did help me play a couple of games, but a couple others stopped working) and my 8800GT is even less compatible with old games than my 7900GTX.

When I was upgrading my system regularily I had enough leftover components for a whole computer. So I bought a case and threw them in it. My old system has a Radeon X800 in it and many older games seem to work just fine. If something wont play or wont play correctly on my top notch game machine, they often work in the older system.

Thats how I got Icewind Dale, Magic: The Gathering, Final Fantasy 7, and several others working.

If I ever feel like it, I may just make a Win98 system, probably with a Thunderbird and a GeForce 3. But right now I got too much crap in my little apartment.

 

[Skott]

DOSBox? I've heard its good although I haven't tried it yet myself.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: Skott
DOSBox? I've heard its good although I haven't tried it yet myself.

I have used DOSBox to play Raptor & old Commander Keen games. Works great.

 

[CP5670]

Dosbox works perfectly for just about any DOS game. Speed is no longer an issue in the latest versions either, as long as you use the dynamic core. (a few games need dos32a to work properly with it)

Older Windows games are a bit of a problem. If they aren't 3D accelerated, you can usually run them in Virtual PC, which is now free. I have encountered things that don't work in it though, and it doesn't support any 3D acceleration at all. VMWare is supposed to translate Direct3D calls up to DX8 and may be a better option, but it costs money and I've never tried it.

 

[Chapbass]

Master of orion 2 with dosbox works great! can even play over the net with it! snap!


edit: sorry after looking at the post, i just wanted to say im not tryin to hijack the thread. just stating that you should give dosbox a try. works great and easy as heck to setup.

 

[postmortemIA]

dos box is for dos games... game from 1999 surely isn't.

 

[thestain]

Thanks for replies! I did not even imagine I could go back and play old dos games..

 

[Dorkenstein]

There's a dutch site that has a gui and profiles for DOsBox, maybe I can find the link.

 

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: thestain
Thanks for replies! I did not even imagine I could go back and play old dos games..

Oh yeah, DOXBox is pretty awesome.

 

[The Bakery]

Commander Keen!!!!

I just replayed Crusaders of the Dark Savant using dosbox - good times.