Compability and Memory TAB for old windows/DOS games

[OsirisMP]

Hey i was just wondering if there were any "optimum" settings for usin
the MEMORY TAB and COMPATIBILITY TAB under properties of old window
games.

Im trying to play Theme hospital on Windows XP (P3 533Mhz; 370Mb Ram
and i have put compatibility to windows 95 but it still runs reall
slow during the game, and sometimes the computer crashes and it dump
the memory.

So my question, please, is what should i set the memory allocation t
for auto, environment, XMS, EMS, etc (on the memory tab), and should
use the compatibility mode TAB at all?

Or is there a good program i can use to increase its memory access o
something? (Ive already tried DosBOX and it doesnt help)

Thanks heaps for the help, and i hope you understand what im saying..
;

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Unless someone who has Theme hospital posts with their settings, you're
going to have to experiment.

Looks like the game had problems even running on the old Windows 95.
Theme Hospital FAQ
http://www.alt-tab.net/games/theme-hospital/faq/

Getting Older Games to Run on Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/games/expert/durham_og.mspx

Troubleshooting MS-DOS-based programs in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314106

How to Troubleshoot 16-Bit Windows Programs in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314495

Here's some info about the Memory tab.

Conventional memory

Total
[[Specifies the amount of conventional memory that is required (in
kilobytes). ]]

Initial environment
[[Specifies the number of bytes of memory reserved for the MS-DOS Command
Interpreter (Command.com). This setting also applies to batch files having
the extension .bat.
If set to Auto, the initial size of the environment is determined by the
SHELL= line in your Config.nt file.
This feature is only in effect when the program is run under the Windows 95
operating system.]]

Protected
[[Specifies whether to protect system memory from inappropriate
modifications by this program. ]]

Expanded (EMS) memory
[[Specifies the maximum amount of expanded memory to allocate to this
program (in kilobytes).]]

Extended (XMS) memory
[[Specifies the maximum amount of extended memory to allocate to the program
(in kilobytes).]]

Uses HMA
[[Specifies whether this program can use the high-memory area (HMA).
This option has no effect if the HMA is already being used by the system
(for example, if MS-DOS is loaded or if an MS-DOS device driver is using the
HMA).]]

MS-DOS protected-mode (DPMI) memory
[[Specifies the maximum amount of MS-DOS protected-mode (DPMI) memory to
allocate to this program (in kilobytes).
This feature is only in effect when the program is run under the Windows 95
operating system.]]

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

You could also get the trial version of Virtual PC (from Microsoft) and see
if your game runs OK under that. If so, then buy the whole version and game
away. I have it, It works just great.

 

[Guest]

I also just noticed your system specifications. They are barely enough to
run XP, let alone something under Virtual PC. At the least, you could use
more RAM.