How to run Retro programs in Windows 7 64bit

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D1023319

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#87195 22-Jul-2011 12:25

I am running windows 7 64bit. - Home Premium but I am having a difficult time getting some of my wifes geneology reference programs to work.

One program for example (WW1 Service records) was designed to run under Win 95 but has been happy running under XP on my old pc (no compatibility mode required).

The problem is
- I have tried alll the standard Win 7 compatibility mode settings to no avail.
- there is no XP mode option in Win 7 Home Premium.
- I dont want to have a duel boot PC

So I am now thinking about 32bit emulators such as "Dosbox" or looking at virtual PC.

Hence I was wondering if anyone else had alternative ideas or experience with these emulators?

Cheers

jbard

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#496634 22-Jul-2011 12:27

Install a virtual machine with XP on it and run it in that.

xpd

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#496640 22-Jul-2011 12:45

VirtualBox with XP installed will do the trick.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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D1023319

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#496649 22-Jul-2011 13:00

Pardon if I wasnt clear enough.

As I said I am already aware of these emulators - virtual pcs, etc.

What I was after was peoples hands on experience of using them?
do you have any issues / lessons learnt?

Cheers

xpd

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#496695 22-Jul-2011 13:52

I use VirtualBox at work with no issues, run Ubuntu, Win7, XP machines.
Straight forward to setup and use.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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henyobarker

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#498572 27-Jul-2011 16:42

Yea VirtualBox is nice, ive used it to run ms-dos, 3.1, 95, 2k, xp and even 7 it runs nicely on a 64bit 7 im running it right now actually, it has a good virtual network driver, so internet connection sharing has never been a problem, if your wifes software is on a cd, you can mount it as a virtual drive, here is the link for virtualbox :) http://www.virtualbox.org/

bener

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#501261 3-Aug-2011 12:07

VMWare Player is very easy to use and has a great quick install feature so you can get set up fast. I use an XP VM occasionally and have found that it runs well.