windows xp & dos oddity

  • Thread starter Thread starter penrod
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penrod

I have an old dos program (file express) which my client insists on
using.
It has run without issue on win98 and win2k. I have had lots of grief
trying to get
it to run on win xp home. Finally I downloaded the program to my
machine ( windows xp pro + amd 64 processor) It ran straight away, no
issues. So I thought perhaps some weird issue with win xp home vs pro.
Loaded the program on a win xp pro machine ( amd 32 bit processor) no
go, same issue as win xp home ( pentium processor), the program seems
to load up and then hangs the machine. I have repeated and edited all
the settings I can find for the program, still same results. It works
on win xp pro + amd 64 bit processor. I am now stuck, does anybody have
an idea as to why ? or perhaps a solution.
also the manual indicates at least 512 conventional memory which all
machines have.
 
penrod said:
I have an old dos program (file express) which my client insists on
using.
It has run without issue on win98 and win2k. I have had lots of grief
trying to get
it to run on win xp home. Finally I downloaded the program to my
machine ( windows xp pro + amd 64 processor) It ran straight away, no
issues. So I thought perhaps some weird issue with win xp home vs pro.
Loaded the program on a win xp pro machine ( amd 32 bit processor) no
go, same issue as win xp home ( pentium processor), the program seems
to load up and then hangs the machine. I have repeated and edited all
the settings I can find for the program, still same results. It works
on win xp pro + amd 64 bit processor. I am now stuck, does anybody have
an idea as to why ? or perhaps a solution.
also the manual indicates at least 512 conventional memory which all
machines have.
Click to expand...

The oddity probably lies with the DOS program. If it is a
"dirty" program (e.g. if it attempts to talk directly to the
hardware) then it may never run properly under WinXP.

Did you try the Win98 Compatibility mode under WinXP?
Click Start / Help and search for "Compatibility".

As an alternative your customer may have to consider
a multi-booting solution or a virtual DOS machine
running under WinXP.
 
Yes, I tried win95 win98, win2k, same results each time, the machine
freezes/hangs. I am curious as to why it runs well on win xp with amd
64 bit processor , but not any of the 32 bit processors. Also why would
it run well on win2k , hmmmm
 
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