Can old computer games operate on Windows XP?

Question

The games I am thinking of inparticular are QUAKE 3 ARENA, DUKE NUKEM & BLOOD.

I've tried to load up these retro games on my PC (Operating system Windows XP) and they do not seem to work.

Will they only work on an older style PC (Windows 2000 or less)?
Is there a way round so they can be played on my PC?
Or am I totally wrong and is it a problem with the games rather than windows?

Thanks

Answer 1

Quake 3 arena runs perfectly - I have been playing the last couple of weeks =)

Duke and Blood don't run under xp. You can try a program called Dosbox to run these older programs. I haven't tested thos games on it however.

I do NOT recommend win2000 for any gaming.

I use win98 on a psyco upgraded computer I put together. I play all the good old games on there =)

Answer 2

Anything that works on Windows 2000 wiil usually work on Windows XP. Games that were made for DOS, Windows 95, or Windows 98 have a lot of trouble working in Windows 2000, but seem to work better in XP. (Grand Theft Auto 1, and Lords of the Realm II come to mind.)

There is a couple of things you can try to get older games to work.

Option A.

1) Install the game

2) Find the Shortcut it creates on your desktop or in your start menu. (If it didn't create a shortcut, find the game executable instead)

3) Right click on the shortcut or executable and go to properties.

4) Click the compatibility Tab

5) Check the "run this program in compatibility mode for:" checkbox.

6) Choose the OS that the game was designed for.

Option B.

1) Run a program such as DOSBox to play your older games in. DOSBox is designed to run DOS/Win 3.X games, but I'm sure there are apps out there to run Windows 9X stuff as well.

http://dosbox.sourceforge.net

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

No, you are able to likely get a modifacation for the game that could make it run on XP yet to thoroughly replace your operating equipment could advise a clean CPU. So rather a lot get a clean pc to run the game because once you're going decrease then XP it gained't fee a lot, one hundred or 2 hundred for a living house windows classic computing device, if no longer more good value.

Answer 4

Depends, most old games work on Xp. Some programmes may install but not play. The compatability settings on the pc are rubbish!

Answer 5

Yes, but you have to set them up to. Right click on the application and bring up the properties, then click on the tab labeled "Compatability." There you can change a number of compatability options, such as run in Windows 95 mode or run in 256 colors.

Answer 6

Hi,
If you need to download QUAKE III Arena you can get it here for free: http://bit.ly/1p0CaNs

There are different combat scenarios to play. The player can choose from all-on-all or team-based mode.