Compatability

[Guest]

Is there any way to tell if some older computer software i have is compatably
with vista? They worked with xp but some of it barely worked because it was
old.

 

[Mac]

In Vista you can set compatibility mode for any old program all the way back
to Windows 95

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-windows-vista-compatibility-mode/

 

[Richard Urban]

And in running a ancient program in compatibility mode, you will find that
the old program may work or that it is broken (not at all compliant with
current programming standards) and will not function at all.

To the O/P. Unless you are willing to list each program and it's release
version (and upgrade status) for people to see you will not get much
assistance. Others may have gotten the program to work. Or, they may have
found out that it is impossible to do so. But without further effort on your
part, you will never know these facts.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Eastercla

Your best strategy for determining if these programs are compatible with
Vista is to visit the website of the maker of these programs and ask them.

This is a better way for 2 reasons.

1. They made the software and they may or may not have released
compatibility updates for the software.
2. If they say that it is compatible and you have problems running the
software on Vista, then you have somewhere to go for support.

 

[Guest]

Well, what I want to install is Power Chute Personal Edition. I also want to
instal a couple of computer games which are Mahjongg (a different version
that I like better than the one that came with vista), Pro Bass Fishing, and
Pirates of the Caribbean. Power Chute required xp and all the games required
at least windows 98 or higher

 

[Richard Urban]

I have not been able to get PowerChute software to work with Vista and my
serial connection. The UPS works. I just can not monitor or change any of
the default, hard wired settings. I can't see getting a new UPS system just
to have a USB connection.

I have Pro Bass Fishing but I have never tried it on Vista. I have my old
version of Mahjongg (developed by Steve Moraff) from 10 years ago working
fine on Vista. I play it every night for about an hour.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

 

[Guest]

Thanks Richard. Good news though on Power Chute. I emailed apc and they
said there is a downloadable version of Power Chute that works on vista.
Here is the link.
http://apc.com/tools/download/software_comp.cfm?sw_sku=SFPCPE210&id=129&swfam=129 It is free which is nice.

 

[Rock]

Thanks Richard. Good news though on Power Chute. I emailed apc and they
said there is a downloadable version of Power Chute that works on vista.
Here is the link.
http://apc.com/tools/download/software_comp.cfm?sw_sku=SFPCPE210&id=129&swfam=129
It is free > which is nice.

<snip>

I originally installed the XP version of Powerchute Personal Edition, for an
APC UPS connected by USB, in Vista Ultimate. It worked fine. I did then
upgrade to the Vista version and am having problems. It goes into
hibernation ok, but on resuming from hibernation, when it gets to the login
screen, the system shuts off suddenly as if the power was cut off.

I have tested hibernation directly, without the intervention of Powerchute,
and it enters/resumes from hibernation just fine. So the issue is with the
driver installed with Powerchute.

Other users of the Vista version report on the APC user forum other problems
such as mainserve.exe using 50% CPU, mainserve.exe having a memory leak
resulting in large amounts of memory usage, and the settings in Powerchute
on how long to run on battery when the power is cut before shutting down
being ignored with the system entering hibernation after 5 minutes instead
of waiting until there is only 5 minutes battery life remaining.

I haven't experienced these three issues, but it doesn't want to resume
nicely from hibernation induced by Powerchute. In fact the first time I
tested it right after it was installed, when it shut down at the login
screen, on restart it again attempted to resume from hibernation, went to
the login screen, allowed a login, then hung at loading the desktop
requiring a hard reboot. On the next restart it started as from a cold
start and logged in ok. Checkdisk showed some problems on the system
volume, but not the boot volume and, strangely enough, on only one of
several data partitions. I turned off hibernation to delete the
hiberfil.sys file, re-enabled it, did a couple of reboots and tested twice
again.

On both subsequent tests when resuming from hibernation it shut the computer
down while typing at the login screen, then on a restart it started as from
a cold start, not from a hibernation resume, and allowed a normal login to a
normal desktop. Chkdsk showed no disk corruption from the abnormal
shutdowns.

So if you go with the Vista version make sure you test it and be aware of
these potential problems.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the warning.

<snip>

I originally installed the XP version of Powerchute Personal Edition, for an
APC UPS connected by USB, in Vista Ultimate. It worked fine. I did then
upgrade to the Vista version and am having problems. It goes into
hibernation ok, but on resuming from hibernation, when it gets to the login
screen, the system shuts off suddenly as if the power was cut off.

I have tested hibernation directly, without the intervention of Powerchute,
and it enters/resumes from hibernation just fine. So the issue is with the
driver installed with Powerchute.

Other users of the Vista version report on the APC user forum other problems
such as mainserve.exe using 50% CPU, mainserve.exe having a memory leak
resulting in large amounts of memory usage, and the settings in Powerchute
on how long to run on battery when the power is cut before shutting down
being ignored with the system entering hibernation after 5 minutes instead
of waiting until there is only 5 minutes battery life remaining.

I haven't experienced these three issues, but it doesn't want to resume
nicely from hibernation induced by Powerchute. In fact the first time I
tested it right after it was installed, when it shut down at the login
screen, on restart it again attempted to resume from hibernation, went to
the login screen, allowed a login, then hung at loading the desktop
requiring a hard reboot. On the next restart it started as from a cold
start and logged in ok. Checkdisk showed some problems on the system
volume, but not the boot volume and, strangely enough, on only one of
several data partitions. I turned off hibernation to delete the
hiberfil.sys file, re-enabled it, did a couple of reboots and tested twice
again.

On both subsequent tests when resuming from hibernation it shut the computer
down while typing at the login screen, then on a restart it started as from
a cold start, not from a hibernation resume, and allowed a normal login to a
normal desktop. Chkdsk showed no disk corruption from the abnormal
shutdowns.

So if you go with the Vista version make sure you test it and be aware of
these potential problems.

 

[Rock]

"Eastercla" wrote

Thanks for the warning.

You're welcome.

<snip>

 

[Guest]

I've got a problem, and I hope you can all help me solve it. I got Vista
because I was building my new computer and wanted something new. Now I'm
trying to run Thief 2: The Metal Age on Vista and it won't work. I have tried
all the compatibility modes several times, and nothing works.

What can I do?

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

J Patrick

The first thing to do is check the website of the maker of that game. There
may be some known issues with Vista or they may have a compatibility update
for Vista.

 

[Guest]

That's going to be hard, as Through the Looking Glass studios dissolved
several years ago...

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

J Patrick

Sorry, but it sounds like you don't have a lot of options if the maker is
out of business?

Have you tried the Run As Administrator option?

 

[Guest]

Yes I have. I am running as administrator. Besides, shouldn't Windows be
compatable with older software? That is the point of the compatability
program, correct?