Running Win 3.1 Program Under XP

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oldskool_guy

My girlfriend has always liked the old Sierra program "Kid's Typing"
for practicing. She likes it better and has found it more helpful than
adult-level programs. She had tossed it when she got her present
computer (running XP) because she couldn't get it to work. Then she met
me, and I found a copy for cheap, and we're back to the same basic
issue. It's a Windows 3.1 program, and while the Program Compatibility
box covers a lot of versions of Windows, it doesn't cover Windows 3.1.

I plan to try the Windows 95 setting, but if that fails, what do y'all
suggest as an alternative short of setting up an emulator or setting
her hard drive up for dual-boot? FYI, this program was released in
1994, which may or may not be relevant.

Thanks for your time and your help.
 
oldskool_guy said:
My girlfriend has always liked the old Sierra program "Kid's Typing"
for practicing. She likes it better and has found it more helpful than
adult-level programs. She had tossed it when she got her present
computer (running XP) because she couldn't get it to work. Then she met
me, and I found a copy for cheap, and we're back to the same basic
issue. It's a Windows 3.1 program, and while the Program Compatibility
box covers a lot of versions of Windows, it doesn't cover Windows 3.1.

I plan to try the Windows 95 setting, but if that fails, what do y'all
suggest as an alternative short of setting up an emulator or setting
her hard drive up for dual-boot? FYI, this program was released in
1994, which may or may not be relevant.

Thanks for your time and your help.
Click to expand...

Loading a DOS box under Virtual PC might be an easier
solution:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx
 
oldskool_guy said:
My girlfriend has always liked the old Sierra program "Kid's Typing"
for practicing. She likes it better and has found it more helpful than
adult-level programs. She had tossed it when she got her present
computer (running XP) because she couldn't get it to work. Then she met
me, and I found a copy for cheap, and we're back to the same basic
issue. It's a Windows 3.1 program, and while the Program Compatibility
box covers a lot of versions of Windows, it doesn't cover Windows 3.1.

I plan to try the Windows 95 setting, but if that fails, what do y'all
suggest as an alternative short of setting up an emulator or setting
her hard drive up for dual-boot? FYI, this program was released in
1994, which may or may not be relevant.

Thanks for your time and your help.
Click to expand...

I have run many 16 bit (Windows 3.x) applications under Windows XP.

The Windows 95 compatibility mode should work, if anything will.

What sometimes happened with older software is that the authors used
"cute programmers tricks" (undocumented function calls, direct access
to hardware) which they could get away with in Windows 3.x or Windows
9x environment but which cause the app to crash and burn under the
more stringent controls imposed by the NT based versions of Windows
such as XP.

As Sierra is primarily a producer of games it would not surprise me if
the program was writing directly to the video, bypassing the operating
system video functions, as this did give a slight performance boost.
But this type of programming is totally incompatible with XP.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
Ron said:
I have run many 16 bit (Windows 3.x) applications under Windows XP.

The Windows 95 compatibility mode should work, if anything will.

As Sierra is primarily a producer of games it would not surprise me if
the program was writing directly to the video, bypassing the operating
system video functions, as this did give a slight performance boost.
But this type of programming is totally incompatible with XP.
Click to expand...

Thanks to Ron and all for the help! The Win95 compatibility mode worked
like a champ. FYI, I found a page called "Windows XP and Sierra Games"
at http://users.snip.net/~besterp12/ which walked us quite painlessly
thru the process. We set it for Win95 compatibility, 256 colors, and I
guess we could go one step further and set it for 640x480 resolution if
need be, but it ran fine at that point.

I got a big smooch for my efforts. :)

Thanks again, y'all!
 
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