Vista is shite...

[louisg]

Dragged this game out again and searched Google for solution. Nothing doing. Downloaded dosbox but cuoldn't get that to work. Has there been any software that will help me play this game again?

Thanks.

Hmm I could try to help with specific DOSBox problems. I know it can be a pain to set up. I think that's probably your best bet short of going to Goodwill or somewhere and buying an old discarded PC.

[Tigershark]

Thanks.

The CD Rom is in my D: drive so I mount D: drive in Dos and try to run the exe but it won't allow me to. It says "this program cannot be run in DOS mode". The exe is "setup95". What am I doing wrong?

[Stormwatch]

Perhaps you could install VirtualBox, then install some old Windows inside it.

[Tigershark]

Thanks but looks too technical for me and I don't have an old Windows programme I can use.

[Mortificator]

[

It says "this program cannot be run in DOS mode". The exe is "setup95".

That's because...

The Reap which need to be windows 95 compliant?

You can't run a Windows 95 game in DOSBox any more than you can run an SNES game in a Genesis emulator.

I've never played The Reap, but if there's absolutely no fix for it in Vista, you could use Virtual PC to set up a Windows 95 environment and run the game within that. Or you could dig up an old machine with Windows 95 or 98.

[Stormwatch]

Thanks but looks too technical for me and I don't have an old Windows programme I can use.

Turn off your computer, sell it, and give up on trying to use modern technology.

[neorichieb1971]

I tried vista for 2 years. It thrashed my HDD to pieces and destroyed it. Something to do with prefetch and Windows search. Since going W7 never had a problem.

[Skykid]

I tried vista for 2 years. It thrashed my HDD to pieces and destroyed it. Something to do with prefetch and Windows search. Since going W7 never had a problem.

My little bro had a similar thing. He'd free disk space and vista just ate away at it until there was no memory left again.

Fuck windows, life's too short. Buy a Mac and live easy.

[Stormwatch]

Fuck windows, life's too short. Buy a Mac and live easy.

That, or give Linux a try. It may have some rough edges here and there, but it's never retarded like Windows.

[Elixir]

I agree with the topic title.

How do you even downgrade from Vista to XP? My mother hates Vista but the laptop I bought her for Christmas came with a legit copy. All the methods we've tried haven't worked, including making a partition (Partition Magic only work on XP, lol).

[Stormwatch]

Tell her to give Linux a try (good thing about live CDs, you can try the system without installing it). If that fails, upgrade to 7, it's somewhat less awful than Vista.

[Ex-Cyber]

7 is basically what Vista SP3 would be if they were allowed to change a bit more stuff in SPs. If you truly loathe Vista to its core, 7 won't make you happy. If you're just frustrated with some of the rough edges, it's definitely worth a shot.

[Elixir]

Tell her to give Linux a try (good thing about live CDs, you can try the system without installing it). If that fails, upgrade to 7, it's somewhat less awful than Vista.

No, she really hates anything that isn't XP, and I understand.

[Warp_Rattler]

I'm not sure why anyone would be running Vista now that 7 has been out for a year, unless you flat out can't afford the upgrade (and it's pretty reasonably priced compared to the last few versions of Windows). I loved post-SP1 Vista (after I tweaked it for performance and killed UAC and other horrible services, etc.), but Windows 7 does everything automatically or with a simple dialog box that in most cases required registry hacking or third party utilities in Vista. On top of that, it's much faster and lighter on resources (OS memory usage on my desktop is almost halved). I can't even imagine going back to XP; I have no nostalgia for a product that is exceeded in every way by the current incarnation.

Ravings aside, for the OP I think your best bet--assuming you've got a somewhat modern PC--is using VMWare or VirtualBox (I prefer the latter) and setting up a virtual Windows 95/98 environment for your games. If you've ever installed an OS before then you know everything you need, and the Web has plenty of simple tutorials for setting up the VM itself. You probably know somebody with an ancient Dell rotting in their garage; it'll definitely have a valid Product Key on the case sticker, and they may even have an install disc they could give/lend you. If nothing else, lack of online product activation in those versions of Windows means you should have no trouble tracking down the software in shadier channels.

You could also try dual-booting 95/98 with your current installation (you probably have an old 10-20GB hard drive lying around somewhere, can pull one from an old machine, or get one from a friend), though I'm not sure how that will go with the Vista bootloader. It's probably only worth the effort if you imagine you'll find yourself in this situation often, and certainly not worth the hassle if you don't want to mess with a virtual machine.

That, or give Linux a try. It may have some rough edges here and there, but it's never retarded like Windows.

I love the power and flexibility of open-source operating systems but I think a lot of veteran Linux users underestimate the learning curve of the OS or overestimate the abilities or desire of the general Windows user. "Just use Linux" always bugged me because it always seemed so flippant and out-of-touch, and not at all a useful solution to whatever problem is at hand.

[Stormwatch]

I love the power and flexibility of open-source operating systems but I think a lot of veteran Linux users underestimate the learning curve of the OS or overestimate the abilities or desire of the general Windows user. "Just use Linux" always bugged me because it always seemed so flippant and out-of-touch, and not at all a useful solution to whatever problem is at hand.

True, but in contrast, I am utterly baffled at the typical non-geek's steadfast unwillingness to even try a "non-mainstream" system. I mean, a live CD lets you test it without installing anything, so why not? People drastically overestimate the learning curve, and understate the headaches they get from their current setup -- mind you, I usually suggest Linux when people tell me they are having Windows problems, and still... it's like they're afraid to try anything new.

[null1024]

Might be slow as hell, but emulate a DOS system with Bochs [warning, like I said, slow]

[ED-057]

At one point, my main desktop was able to boot win98, 2k, xp, 7 (64-bit), or Ubuntu, with two harddisks. I`ve since deleted Ubuntu, xp, and most of 98 (leaving the ability to boot to a DOS prompt). Ubuntu can be installed inside a disk image and launched from the Windows boot menu if desired. Vista and 7 insist on being installed onto an NTFS partition, so it is not possible to install 98 on the same partition. 2k and xp can be installed on NTFS or FAT32 so they can share a partition along with 98 (all three, that is) since 2k defaults to a WINNT directory and one of the others can be installed with a directory name other than WINDOWS. Note that the xp version of NTLDR can start both 2k and xp, but the 2k version can`t start xp. Some conflicts can occur in Program Files, for instance if you have the xp version of wordpad in there it won`t run under 2k. 7 has a bug in the setup program which prevents it from installing to an existing NTFS partition from 2k or xp.

So it`s possible to keep multiple OS on one drive, or in some cases on the same partition. It`s a pain to get setup though because one mistake can result in a situation where you can`t boot anymore and need to hunt down a CD/floppy or you need to change some setting or copy files but you can`t do it (chicken vs. egg type problem). I usually have to use the old Norton Diskedit for DOS or Roadkil`s sector editor to edit boot sectors and set the stupid "active" bit in the partition table.

One minor problem with adding another disk to run an additional OS is that it is then using electricity for no reason when you`re not using it. I believe it is possible to selectively power down harddisks, but I could not find a utility to do it from with Windows.

I`ve never tried virtualization since I have plenty of actual hardware available to run the really old stuff if I need it.

I got win7 64-bit when it was on sale just in case I needed it to run some new-fangled stuff, but I really haven`t used it at all. It can`t run 16-bit programs natively and most of the tools I use to get actual work done are 16-bit.

[Tigershark]

Thanks to all.

I do actually have an old disc drive but would need to find an old copy of Windows 95 which I think would be problematic. Not sure trawling around e-bay etc for an old OS for a £5 game is going to be worth it.

Amazing that no-one has cme up with a programe to sort this.

I will be getting Windows 7 in any event. Fed up with the bloated fatster that is Vista.

[neorichieb1971]

I have the same setup on several PC's in the house.

W7 / Microsoft security essentials / Firefox

Thats it. Never had a problem with any PC in the house since I used this setup. Never had a virus, never had awful scans going on, w7 home premium has all the video codecs built in so you don't really need to install anything else.

I will admit I don't do retro stuff on any PC in the house, but as a bunch of content that "just works" I am happy. This setup is about 50% better than my vista setup brand new, and 2000% better than what I was left with after 2 years of using it. The HDD just did not stop thrashing, it was beyond ridiculous. My friends Vista setup is now doing the same, he boots and it takes 30 minutes before he can watch a movie on it because its thrashing/scanning so hard. The HDD light doesn't even blink, its FULL on.

[Warp_Rattler]

I do actually have an old disc drive but would need to find an old copy of Windows 95 which I think would be problematic. Not sure trawling around e-bay etc for an old OS for a £5 game is going to be worth it.

Like I said, ask around to friends and family, or take a look at thrift stores or even on Craiglist (or similar local want-ads if your area isn't served by it). You really should be able to find a Product Key for next to nothing, and if nothing else getting the CD just takes a bit of savvy Internet searching

Amazing that no-one has cme up with a programe to sort this.

People have--the virtualization programs a few of us have suggested. You're trying to run a really old program on machines that aren't really designed or intended to support it. Sure, they completely exceed the game's system requirements by several orders of magnitude, but you're trying to run it on an entirely different OS. There's not a whole lot of support for simple answers to what you're trying to do, even in the business world (which is known for holding on to moldy old versions of accounting software as long as they can, or because they built their entire system around a program whose manufacturer is now bankrupt and they have no alternative), and the solutions to getting by with a program that has absolutely no modern equivalent have either been A) dedicate a machine to running an OS that supports it or B) recently, set up some sort of virtualization solution. There's no silver bullet, magic fix to your problem because nobody has really wanted or needed one badly enough. In any case, both of the above options will cost you at most an afternoon of work; I think from there you just need to decide how badly you want to play the game.

True, but in contrast, I am utterly baffled at the typical non-geek's steadfast unwillingness to even try a "non-mainstream" system. I mean, a live CD lets you test it without installing anything, so why not? People drastically overestimate the learning curve, and understate the headaches they get from their current setup -- mind you, I usually suggest Linux when people tell me they are having Windows problems, and still... it's like they're afraid to try anything new.

I think the non-geek probably doesn't really understand what a live CD actually does. If someone's not at all familiar with the concept of booting from multiple drives, they're going to be scared as hell when Windows as they know it doesn't show up. Plus, you tell a non-technical person to get the image and burn it to CD, they might have just gotten irrevocably lost right there (or they did it right but are trying to boot the x64 version on their x86 machine, or their BIOS isn't set to check disc drives for bootable media before the hard drive, etc.)

In my general experience, people grouse about using Windows all the time (and 90% of the time, the gripes are of a PEBKAC nature wherein the user's expectations of the OS were not met, rather than the user attempting to understand the way it works) but aren't actually dissatisfied enough to want to do anything about it. I've offered to loan live CDs to friends before, and they all greet me with the same bland facial expression, like I just suggested we undertake an activity which they suspect is some odd and unheard-of sexual kink but they're not entirely sure and so don't want to respond with COMPLETE revulsion. Something like that. In any case, people complain, but most of the people I've talked to aren't bothered enough to really want a change. It may be the familiarity, it may be games, or in many case, I think they just don't care that much. I'm not a car person--if someone suggested to me that I could replace my interrociter with a much more efficient retro-encambulator for an enhanced driving experience (with a slight learning curve), I'd probably shrug, thank them, and make some noncommittal noises about looking into it, because I just don't care that much. I imagine it's a similar thing in these cases.

[spl]

Yeah - Upgrade to Win XP and use DOSBox.

[Warp_Rattler]

You can't run a Windows 95 game in DOSBox any more than you can run an SNES game in a Genesis emulator.

[Kaiser]

You can't run a Windows 95 game in DOSBox any more than you can run an SNES game in a Genesis emulator.

So the only real option to solve this, is to install Windows 95 on a virtual machine which isn't exactly that hard to do today. I have 3 virtual machines myself (DOS 6.22, WinXP SP3 for messing with computer networks virtuallly and an another XP SP3 for casual use). I'm on the windows 7 64-bit btw. Virtualization is the future.

[Tigershark]

So if I do this will I be able to use my USB joypad?

[Asherdude]

"Like being watched by God (tm)."

But God uses a Mac.

It's true!

[Warp_Rattler]

Actually, God uses a Thinkpad, but nice try though.

Pansy-ass key travel and island keyboard just don't cut it for Him. And no internal rollcage? Amen, I say unto you, get behind me Satan.

[Stormwatch]

Of course God uses a Mac.



WOZ IS GOD

[Asherdude]

Even pagan gods use a Mac.

http://macenstein.com/default/2011/01/s ... -in-india/

[TrevHead (TVR)]

As others have pointed out Win7 is better then Vista for gaming, its still no XP though. (and while M$ is in the console business there never will be another XP)

However I hear that Virtual XP great, shame I cant use it with the standard Home Prem version I have