Do I need to buy something separate? Is it indeed possible? only there is some old games i'd like to play like "7th Guest" and "Sophies World", but I don't want to install them in case it damages my computer.
2006-12-17 21:32:12 · 9 answers · asked by Mason 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
What about DOS games/software?
2006-12-19 01:30:20 · update #1
:) nice one. A game can damage your computer only if he can "destroy" some info u have (or burn your monitor :D... but we are in windows and this cannot happen so faar as I know). Now talking seriously, XP was "build" to support most of the applications who run on the previous systems, but some of them who are using special system functions (like for ex. in you case accessing the video driver) could be changed, and than the game cannot run unless he has patch for it. You may install you games and the "worst" thing what can hapen is that they wont work...But most definetly they cannot damage your system...
2006-12-17 21:39:23 · answer #1 · answered by None A 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you can, and it's built into XP.
You right click on the .exe and choose the third tab - compatability mode. Choose to run the program as Windows 98 (my suggestion).
The old programs didn't have major copy protection, so if it's a CD that claims to need to check the disk - you may be able to copy the contents of the disk onto your computer.
Make sure you have your system to show hidden files first!
And don't worry about buggering up XP - that's what system restore is for (Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - System Restore) which, by the way, really should be called program restore - it restores your programs to how they were at an earlier date. Your personal files are safe (as safe as they can be on a slighly unstable system).
While I'm here... I strongly suggest you use Firefox - less spyware, no pop-ups, customizable to the nth degree - you're in control with Firefox.
http://getfirefox.com/
2006-12-17 21:41:18 · answer #2 · answered by AmandaKerik 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not 100% certain but I beleive each upgrade to windows is designed to run all previous versions of software and games. So you should be able to play those games without any damage and if anything they should run better and faster than you remember.
2006-12-17 21:41:52 · answer #3 · answered by Billy FZ1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Installing these programs wont 'damage' your computer. You need to run them in compatibility mode. WinXP can emulate the earlier operating systems. Good luck.
2006-12-17 22:30:54 · answer #4 · answered by Rowdy answers 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you right click on the file,then go to properties,then compatibility,you will see a box that says run this program in compatibility mode,you can then change to Windows 98,95,me and 2000..
Xp is the only one that has this,is really good for playing older games.
it wont break your computer
2006-12-17 21:43:12 · answer #5 · answered by manchester_babe_30 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you can install games from windows 95 or 98 with no problem but if for some reazon some goes wrong because one of the games just unistall the game and it shoul be fine.
2006-12-17 21:42:57 · answer #6 · answered by what is the good word? 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you can try getting a DOS emulator program and running the games thru there... I haven't tried one myself, but I've seen people advocate them for that purpose of running older games on current systems.
2006-12-17 21:41:31 · answer #7 · answered by Cruel Angel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should be able to. New versions usually support things made for older versions because they are an improvement on the original.
2006-12-17 21:41:17 · answer #8 · answered by vampire_kitti 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
well first of all it's your operating system that's windows xp and not your computer....and yes you can run older software/applications on it...
2006-12-17 21:40:58 · answer #9 · answered by zoli_zly 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋