|
DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
March 15, 2009
Q.
I have an older game that doesn't run
correctly on XP or Vista. I have been told
that I can change my computer to allow it to
run this game correctly. How do I do that?
A.
First, XP and Vista are very good at
running may older programs with no special
modifications. In fact, Vista can run many
old DOS programs better than they ran under
DOS. However, there are some programs,
especially games that just do not work
properly when they are run in the higher
resolutions and color depth of the native XP
or Vista.
For these
special cases, there is something called
"Compatibility" mode built into XP and
Vista. This mode allows you to set your
computer to emulate earlier versions like
Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 etc. You can
also force it to run a program with lower
screen resolutions and color depth than
allowed in XP or Vista.
Many
older games require the screen resolution to
be 640 X 480, and may require the color
depth as low as 256. In most configurations,
the minimum resolution that XP or Vista can
be set to is 800 X 600 with a color depth of
16 bit. Therefore, any program requiring
something less will not display correctly
unless they are run in compatibility mode.
One
advantage of using the compatibility mode is
that it does allow these very low
resolutions and color depths. Another,
unlike setting these special conditions
manually, is that when the program exits,
the original settings are automatically
restored.
Any
program can be run in compatibility mode if
that program is started with an .exe
filename or shortcut. However, if the
program is used often, it is best to first
create a short cut to it. Then all the
compatibility mode settings can be set up in
the shortcut and will be retained for future
use. So let's start by creating the
shortcut.
For this
example I'll use a dummy file I'll call "donothing.exe".
Locate your file with the .exe extension
that starts the program, right click on it
and select Create Shortcut. This will create
another file called donothing.exe that will
have a shortcut icon, and be about 1 KB in
size.
Highlight
this new file and rename it to something
descriptive that you can remember. I'll call
mine MyGame. Note that the .exe extension is
not required in a shortcut and is best
avoided to prevent confusion.
Now,
right click on this new shortcut, select
Properties then the Compatibility tab. This
dialog will display. This is from Vista but
is similar to XP except that in XP you have
fewer choices.
Click the
box in front of "Run this program in
capability mode for". Click the down arrow,
and you will be given the choice to select
the various different versions of Windows.
Select the one the game was designed for or
that it ran correctly in if you know. If
not, start with the most recent version.
In the
middle section you can change the colors,
resolution and other settings. You may have
to experiment with these settings until you
obtain the desired results. In Vista only,
If when you tried to run the program you
were told that you didn't have the proper
privilege level, click the "Run this program
as an administrator" box. Click Apply then
OK and the settings will be saved.
Try to
run the program and see how it works. If you
are not satisfied, go back and try changing
some of the settings until you are. Once it
is working as you desire, you can now move
this shortcut to another location if you
want to. Possibly to your games folder or
even to the desktop if you plan to use it
frequently. Just copy or cut and paste it
wherever you wish. |
