Windows 7 compatibility with games from the XP era and before?

[Gamerlord]

So, around Christmas I am getting a new computer, it will have windows 7 on it, I was just worried about something, because the overwhelming majority of my gaming collection isn't even vista compatibility (Well, in theory it might be, it just isn't officially.) The last time I tried to install something from the XP era and before (Warcraft 3 on a friend's computer) it automatically uninstalled it a few hours later for reasons unknown.

So, what in your experience is the windows 7 compatibility with XP games?

[Zovc]

Warcraft III, specifically, worked fine for me.

It's generally hit or miss, but a lot of games can be made to work even if they don't initially.

[Starscream]

I play a lot of old school games, and they work fine for me on 7.

For the REALLY old school ones, you can't beat DosBox.

[ForzaFiori]

When I try to play Sims 2 on my new laptop, it said that it wasn't compatible, but it plays fine. It's weird. But it didn't tell me that with other older games, and they've also worked fine.

The only thing I can't get to work on my computer is Limewire. The installation wizard doesn't start.

[Kiren]

But can you play....Spy Fox? I doubt anyone has heard of that game around here, very old children's point and click game. Ah nostalgia.

Edit: Hooray, I stand corrected, people have played it.

[Gamerlord]

But can you play....Spy Fox? I seriously doubt anyone has heard of that game around here, very old children's point and click game. Ah nostalgia.

I loved that game as a kid!

[SpiderMew]

Go to the web sites or offical fourms for the games you want, i had to go to the interplay fourms to get patches for fallout 1 and 2

[Vaille]

Well, I can safely say that Dragon Age: Origins, Civilization IV, The Witcher, and TES IV: Oblivion work on Windows 7. Those are the games I have installed, and I can't speak for the adaptability of any others.

I think I once installed my old Warcraft III on my PC, and I'm nearly positive that it worked.

Hope I helped, if even a little. :smallsmile:

[Anuan]

Win 7 has an XP mode.

That is all.
Except for this line of whitetext explaining it seems to work with older games anyways.

[Cealocanth]

Having Windows 7 Home Premium for almost 6 months now, I can tell you that there are a lot of games that are incompatible. Many newer ones like Batman: Arkham Asylum cannot run, as well as age old games like Worms: Armageddon. Almost anything that came before Vista will not run under any circumstances, and many after Vista will also be buggy.

So, if you're going to get Windows 7, go with Ultimate. A true gamer would throw one of these laptops into the ocean after the first month.

On the other hand, it runs very fast, is very user-friendly, and has a whole bunch of newfangled features like Face Recognition.

[Edit: Most MMO's run.]

[Voldecanter]

Well if you like Heroes of might and magic II and Diablo II , both those games are unplayable on windows 7 :smallyuk:

[Zeb The Troll]

Almost anything that came before Vista will not run under any circumstances, and many after Vista will also be buggy.This has not been my experience. Or the experience of anyone I personally know.

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Well if you like Heroes of might and magic II and Diablo II , both those games are unplayable on windows 7 :smallyuk:

I don't know about "Heroes..." but I know for a fact that Diablo II does work. You need to install the program into a directory that you have Full Access to, and also run the game as an administrator. Also, set the program Compatibility Mode to Windows XP SP2.

Edit: Also make sure that you have the lastest version of the game available. I recommend signing up for Battle.net and entering your keycode into that system. This will allow you to download the latest versions of D2 and D2:LOD.

[Dispozition]

The only games I've had real problems with are 95/98 era games, even 2k games are fine if you use a few fixes. Civ III and KotoR are such, requiring a few sneaky changes in code that are easy enough to do. Compatibility mode is the first fix that generally works, after that windowed mode will fix most problems

Most of the problems I've come across come down to colour modes and my hardware being physically too good to run the game so it goes into 'what are you doing get worse computer' mode. So yeah, try to get Win7 Premium or Ultimate since they have compatibility more, but that isn't essential for most games in my experience.

[Klose_the_Sith]

Having Windows 7 Home Premium for almost 6 months now, I can tell you that there are a lot of games that are incompatible. Many newer ones like Batman: Arkham Asylum cannot run, as well as age old games like Worms: Armageddon. Almost anything that came before Vista will not run under any circumstances, and many after Vista will also be buggy.

So, if you're going to get Windows 7, go with Ultimate. A true gamer would throw one of these laptops into the ocean after the first month.

On the other hand, it runs very fast, is very user-friendly, and has a whole bunch of newfangled features like Face Recognition.

[Edit: Most MMO's run.]

Wait, what?

I too, have 7 home premium.

I am, however, yet to have any game not run on it ... and it's not like I'm talking solely new games either. A few were, admittedly, DOSbox assisted, but the vast majority just ran. New games also ran.

[Erloas]

I haven't found anything that won't run under Win7 64-bit so far. I'll try to remember what I have installed... Might and Magic 5, Rainbow Six: Vegas2, Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2, Dawn of War 1&2, The Witcher, L4D 1&2, Borderlands, Crysis, Civ4, Fallout 3, MechWarrior 4. I'm thinking there are a few others I have forgot about.

I know I had Fallout 1&2 running on Vista, though I don't think I have reinstalled them since changing to 7. As for having to get patches for those games... they need a lot of patching no matter what OS you are running them on.

While most of those are newer, a few are fairly old and from the XP era or earlier. If I had to do anything special to get any of them running I don't remember at this point.

And I don't think compatibility has gotten worse since Vista for any games, and I know my brother has been running Warcraft 3, Diablo 2, and some of the Command&Conquer games, though I think some of the oldest weren't working.

[SpiderMew]

I haven't found anything that won't run under Win7 64-bit so far. I'll try to remember what I have installed... Might and Magic 5, Rainbow Six: Vegas2, Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2, Dawn of War 1&2, The Witcher, L4D 1&2, Borderlands, Crysis, Civ4, Fallout 3, MechWarrior 4. I'm thinking there are a few others I have forgot about.

I know I had Fallout 1&2 running on Vista, though I don't think I have reinstalled them since changing to 7. As for having to get patches for those games... they need a lot of patching no matter what OS you are running them on.

While most of those are newer, a few are fairly old and from the XP era or earlier. If I had to do anything special to get any of them running I don't remember at this point.

And I don't think compatibility has gotten worse since Vista for any games, and I know my brother has been running Warcraft 3, Diablo 2, and some of the Command&Conquer games, though I think some of the oldest weren't working.


Go to the web sites or offical fourms for the games you want, i had to go to the interplay fourms to get patches for fallout 1 and 2

Im using windows 7, so yeah you do need patches for fallout, but its an easy to do patch.

[Toastkart]

I haven't found anything that won't run under Win7 64-bit so far.

I haven't been able to get Mech Commander gold to even install on win7 64-bit, but that's because it's 64-bit. I bet it would run fine on 32-bit. I tried looking for patches/ workarounds for a while with no luck.

[Flame of Anor]

But can you play....Spy Fox? I doubt anyone has heard of that game around here, very old children's point and click game. Ah nostalgia.

Edit: Hooray, I stand corrected, people have played it.

SPY FOX RULES!! I always wondered how the Spy Corps Mobile Command center was so much bigger on the inside in the first one. Also, wasn't it awesome how you had to work to get the good ending? Like clicking the ramp in the truck before you pass it (and hitting the eject button in the truck, and Chase A-Go-Go comes out...good times).

Oh, and Asti Spumoni for the win!

[Zeb The Troll]

I haven't been able to get Mech Commander gold to even install on win7 64-bit, but that's because it's 64-bit. I bet it would run fine on 32-bit. I tried looking for patches/ workarounds for a while with no luck.It doesn't work that way. 64-bit runs 32-bit flawlessly. 32-bit cannot run 64-bit.

[Dispozition]

It doesn't work that way. 64-bit runs 32-bit flawlessly. 32-bit cannot run 64-bit.

This. No reason why it wouldn't install.

[Toastkart]

This. No reason why it wouldn't install.

Well, this is the error message I keep getting.

"The program or feature setup.exe cannot start or run due to incompatibility with 64-bit versions of windows. Please contact the software vendor to ask if a 64-bit windows compatible version is available."

The only workaround that I've been able to find suggests copying all of the cd's files into a directory and running certain files in win95/98 compatibility mode. I haven't actually tried to do it this way because they also said they experienced a drop in performance and the editor can't be used.

[Dispozition]

Well, this is the error message I keep getting.

"The program or feature setup.exe cannot start or run due to incompatibility with 64-bit versions of windows. Please contact the software vendor to ask if a 64-bit windows compatible version is available."

The only workaround that I've been able to find suggests copying all of the cd's files into a directory and running certain files in win95/98 compatibility mode. I haven't actually tried to do it this way because they also said they experienced a drop in performance and the editor can't be used.

Try going into the disc (with explore/open/whatever) and running the setup.exe as administrator. Failing that, do the same but in Win XP SP3 mode.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Most thins seem to work, but a small number of games "have problems" under W7 - Diablo 2 being one.

The main problem I have had with the games of that vintage is a windows bug whereby rundll32 goes bezerk and starts taking up ~90% of the CPU. The workaround is to restart the game in question, then kill the rundll32 process. If you time it right the second instance of the game will start properly. Amazingly, Microsoft have documented the bug.

I will try the fix for Diablo that Quirinus_Obsidian suggests as the above is a distinct hassle.

For the older stuff, there is indeed DOSBOX.

[factotum]

This. No reason why it wouldn't install.

That's not true, actually. Certain copy protection schemes that install a driver (Starforce, SecuROM etc) require a compatible version of the driver, and W7 itself will prevent the game installing if it detects it trying to install an old version that doesn't work on the new Windows. If the game is recent enough there may be a patch to fix this, but that's not guaranteed.

[Dispozition]

That's not true, actually. Certain copy protection schemes that install a driver (Starforce, SecuROM etc) require a compatible version of the driver, and W7 itself will prevent the game installing if it detects it trying to install an old version that doesn't work on the new Windows. If the game is recent enough there may be a patch to fix this, but that's not guaranteed.

I've had games that have tried to install drivers, had said drivers fail, but still work.

[Bacon Barbarian]

Going off the before part, Age of Mythology doesnt work

[Cealocanth]

I have 32 bit, so that might be my problem. I should consider upgrading to Ultimate some time soon. Oh, and a lot of things before Vista run. I meant anything before XP.

[Klose_the_Sith]

Going off the before part, Age of Mythology doesnt work

Really? It worked on mine until I tried to mod the files, then it crashed.

Just running off of the disc ran fine.

[Castaras]

From what I've read, it all depends on the version of the games, the type of Windows 7 you have, your particular computer's personality, the time of day, and the alignment of the planets.

[Flame of Anor]

Going off the before part, Age of Mythology doesnt work

DA DOO DA DA DADADA! DAAA DA DA DAAAA!!


love love love that game! :smallbiggrin: