Old games do not run on Windows 7. How to run old games on modern PCs

Games and programs for Windows XP run without problems in new version OS. But not all old programs can work the first time. In this case, the recommendations described below will help you understand how to run old games on Windows 10 or other builds.

Running as administrator

Most games and programs for Windows XP were developed taking into account the fact that the user works with the computer under the Administrator account. Therefore, if the application does not start, right-click on. exe file and select "Run as administrator".

Debugging Compatibility Mode

Windows has a built-in utility that performs compatibility debugging for legacy programs.

RMB on .exe file→ Properties → Compatibility tab → Click the “Run Compatibility Troubleshooter” button.

If the application ran without problems in more than early version OS, but does not work in Windows 10, in the “Compatibility Mode” block, check the box “Run the program in compatibility mode for:” and select one of the operating systems that are in the list.

Another option is to install special settings launch the program. This can be done in the “Parameters” block by checking the box on one of the items:

• low color mode;
• use screen resolution 640 x 480;
• disable image scaling at high screen resolutions;
• run this program as an administrator.

Games with DRM protection installed

Games that have SafeDisc and SecuROM DRM protection do not run on Windows 10. In this case, the user has several options to solve the problem:

1. Use the “no CD” patch, which allows you to run the game without a disc. But this method is the most unsafe. Such patches are developed by third parties, so they often contain a virus that harms the OS.
2. Reorder the game from a digital distribution service.
3. An official patch that removes DRM protection may be available for download on the game manufacturer’s website.

Good to know! Complex option launch similar applications - install in parallel with Windows 10 more old version operating system and run such games on it, or open the application on a virtual machine.

DOS Applications

Old DOS applications can be launched in the desktop window Windows environment. DOSBox is used for this (learn how to run it in Windows android applications, can be found in the article “”). Compared to this application, it handles older DOS applications much more efficiently.

16-bit applications

Windows 10 64-bit does not support running 16-bit programs because it does not have the WOW16 compatibility layer. If the user launches such an application on a new OS, a warning appears indicating that it cannot work.

To open such applications, install 32-bit Windows 10 on your computer (read how to do this in the article “”) or launch a virtual machine with this version of the OS. Another option is to install Windows 3.1 in DOSBOX.

Sites requesting Java, Silverlight, ActiveX

Microsoft's new built-in browser does not support Edge Java technologies, Silverlight, ActiveX and others. To run applications that require the use of such technologies, you will need Internet browser Explorer. Also use the Mozilla Firefox Internet browser.

Internet Explorer can be found using the search bar by entering the name of the browser in it, or in the Edge menu, where there is an option “Open in Internet Explorer”.

Conclusion

There are several ways to open old applications or games in Windows 10. But best option- find similar application, which works with modern OS.

Oldfag gamers have ceased to be black sheep since games lost their zest and turned into disposable cliches. The extermination of hordes of zombies and firing high-tech weapons at monsters against the backdrop of gorgeous landscapes does not attract long: satiety sets in with the graphics and a desire appears to find something, albeit less spectacular, but more meaningful. And there are two options: try indie or launch a well-forgotten old one.

Indie or old school

Indie projects are also different: the same “Minecraft” with its large-pixel graphics won the hearts of millions, and among the rest (to be honest), some are too complex, others are not captivating. Find a worthy one and at the same time free game not so simple, because developers also need to eat something. Let’s take “Samorost” as an example: an extraordinary, original quest that takes about two hours to complete, but you don’t pay a penny. But the author made the continuation paid, and it is easy to understand. Many indie developers use the ideas of old games (however, A-class projects are not above this), embodying them in updated graphics and with different characters. Question: does it make sense to take them when the original exists? For example, turn-based strategies sea, but no one has surpassed “Heroes of Might and Magic III” yet. “Settlers”, “Caesar III”, “Warcraft I/II” are charming and unique, and “Diablo II: Lord of Destruction” is still played online 14 years later. And they will play, because worthy alternative it never showed up.

How to run a game written for Windows

Before turning to older games, keep in mind that not all of them run without problems in a modern operating environment. However, if you are sure that the game runs on Windows, start with this: in the properties of the executable file, set the compatibility mode for Windows 95 or Windows XP and add run as administrator. If the game is not too old, DirectX 9 libraries may be required - they can be downloaded from the official Microsoft website. This is how “Quake”, “Dungeon Siege”, “Diablo”, “Sacred” and many others are launched. If you still have problems with the graphics, say, color distortion (a well-known problem with “Fallout” and “Diablo”), a patch called DirectDraw Compatibility Tool will help. Remember that many older games do not work correctly with modes AMD CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI, and also have problems with dual-processor video cards.

DOS games require a specific environment

Games written for MS-DOS simply cannot be launched, since they preferred to work directly with hardware that no longer exists in nature (AdLib, Covox, Sound Blaster Pro, etc.). Therefore, a specific layer is needed, which is ideally served by DOSBox, which emulates the parameters of the DOS system both in the window and in full screen mode. To begin, create a separate directory in the root of the disk without Russian letters and no more than eight characters in the name (for example: D:/Games/dos/), install DOSBox (you can Russify it if you wish) and select a frontend for it (for example, DOSShell). Of course, games can be launched from the command line (without a frontend), but this is the way for those who yearn for the commands of this OS and are not looking for easy solutions. For example, it was more pleasant for me to configure the shell so that when the shortcut starts, Volkov Commander is launched.

The second option is to use a virtual machine. Not the most trivial path, requiring certain skills and careful reading of the instructions. But if you have such a desire and it is caused by necessity, install a virtual machine (for example, Oracle VM VirtualBox) and, under its control, deploy an image of the operating system (FreeDOS) - in this case, you will get an almost natural copy of the computer of the past.

Platforms and emulators

Emulators, of which there are a great many on the market, will help you recall games for Atari, Sega, ZX-Spectrum. Unfortunately, no one has bothered to create yet universal program at least for several popular platforms; on the contrary, several types of emulators are offered for each. It’s hard to say which one to choose; as a rule, all work correctly. The installation procedure is limited to launching the installer through a minimum of user actions. Once the process is complete, the required game is loaded from the menu.

Of course, you can completely recreate the atmosphere of nostalgia only by purchasing the appropriate gamepad - fiddling with the keyboard is not so interesting when it comes to consoles.

Observer, analyst, systems engineer. Full member of the Intel Experts Club, certified specialist (Munich) in networking and server technologies since 1993. Has been involved in computers and related solutions since 1985, has participated in numerous exhibitions, and has won awards for original circuit design and software development. He received his first diploma in 1984 from the Patent Bureau of the Young Technician magazine. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and water-motor sports. “Tired of the bustle of civilization, I prefer a solitary life away from it. All free time I give it to my family and children.”

In this blog, I described in detail how, using additional software on modern computer you can run old game\application using 16-bit architecture. There are no problems running such applications written under DOS, since there is DOSBox and several other, less well-known emulators. But with 16-bit programs for Windows, you will have to tinker...

First there was DOS, and all applications for it were 16-bit. In the 1990s, 32-bit operating systems were added to them, but 16-bit ones continued to be produced until the beginning of 2000. Users of the systems Windows family, they did not cause problems, since up until XP, Windows worked perfectly with both 16 and 32-bit applications (except for programs written under DOS). Released in 2006 Windows Vista, which became the first OS in the family to be released in both 32-bit and the new 64-bit version. Everything would be fine, but 16-bit applications no longer ran on it. And if you can use the DOSBox emulator to run DOS programs, then for later programs released for Windows, full-fledged emulator just no... Well, of course, not really no, there are still several decent examples that emulate the old ones Windows versions from 95 to XP, but they work on Android OS. There is also an online service where you can fully enjoy any old OS, of any family, in your browser, but you cannot launch applications located on your computer from it...

So what to do if you have a modern 64-bit on your computer? operating system, and you suddenly want to replay an old toy from the late 1990s?

To begin with, you should try to run it through the good old DOSBox; many programs of the late 1990s were still written under DOS, since Windows 95\98 easily coped with launching DOS programs, and some had 2 executable file, under DOS and under Windows. But this is not the case with all programs, and in this case, Windows will show us a message that it cannot run the application because it is 16-bit, and DOSBox will display a message that it cannot run Windows programs...

Since there is no direct way to run such programs in modern operating systems, just as there is no way to run them through any emulator (by at least, there is not a single known emulator, maybe there is a Chinese programmer sitting now and writing us a Windows 95 emulator), we will have to use the long way. To do this, you will need as many as 4 programs: a virtual machine (for us this will be VirtualBox), a program for working with disk images (we will use Daemon Tools), a build of some old OS (Windows 98 will be) and, in fact, the program itself that we want to run (for example, the game book “Dungeons of the Black Castle” will be used). Of course, you can use any other similar tools. All links to the programs used will be written in the comments.

To begin with, download the listed programs (links in the comments). Then install VirtualBox and Daemon Tools (of course, if you already have any of these or similar ones on your computer, you don’t need to install them again). When the installation is complete, open VirtualBox and see this window:

The next step is to create a virtual machine. To do this, click the “Create” button. In the window that opens, enter the name of the machine and select the OS version (for us it will be Windows 98). Click next. The RAM selection window opens, by default it is 64 MB, but it is better to increase it, I chose 1 GB (you can install more, but the main thing is not to install more than half of what is installed on your computer and do not install more than 4GB, since 32-bit systems cannot use more). Then we are asked to create virtual disk or select an existing one, choose to create a new one, select VHD (Virtual Hard Disc) in the disk type, set the disk size to any size, but not less than the recommended one, it is better to choose the dynamic type, since in this case it will be more rational to use the real one disk space. Click “Create” and move on to the next step.

Click the "Configure" button. VirtualBox might think a bit. Go to the “System” tab, look for “Boot Order” there, select “Optical Disk” and use the arrow buttons located to the right to move it to the very top. From point " floppy disk"You can uncheck the box, since we won’t need it. Everything should look like this:

Next to the CD icon it says "Empty". To fix this, click the button circled in red on the screen and click “Select image optical disk". Select the pre-downloaded distribution image of the old OS. Click OK. Proceed to the next stage of our quest.

Press big green button“Launch” and be patient. If everything is done correctly, the installation will begin. Follow the installer's instructions to complete the job. The installation speed depends on how much RAM you have allocated. With a dedicated gigabyte it took me 15-20 minutes to install, but with 128 MB it took an hour and a half. If the window closes with an error while installing the OS, restart the machine. If the error repeats in the same installation location and with the same message, find another image and try with it.

When everything is installed, close the virtual machine (this must be done through the "Start" button), and proceed to the next step. Again go to the "Settings" tab and in System->Move boot order hard drive to the very top. Click OK.

In the main window of the program you can see the "Media" item

Click on the name of the disk you created (highlighted in blue on the screen) and click “Select disk image.” Explorer will open with a folder containing the image with the installed OS. Double-click on the image, the image will be mounted (if you have not installed Daemon Tools or another disk emulator before, do so). Open the mounted disk (Windows will mistake it for a “flash drive”) and copy the installer for the program you need to run. Close the disk. Now launch Daemon Tools, hover over the drive you mounted (Mine is drive H) and click on the red cross. This action will unmount the drive.

Then run again Virtual machine and install the program that you just added to the disk image. Launch it and that's it! You can play\use the program!

If the screen of the emulated system seems too small to you, you can increase it in the VirtualBox settings (and you can do this without interrupting the emulation). Go to settings->display and set the scaling parameter to a value that suits you.

This method of launching old programs is suitable not only for Windows, but also for MacOS and Linux; you just need to download the version of VirtualBOX for your OS and a suitable disk emulator or program for working with images.