Windows 7 Compatibility?

Technology and Gaming Help and Support
#1

I’m going to be getting a new computer soon, and I’m thinking of moving up from XP to Windows 7, but I’m worried about the OS’s compatibility concerning older games. I understand that DOSbox will fix most of the issues with DOS based games, but sometimes, certain games won’t work on the new platform, when they worked just fine on XP. Is there a way to work around this?

Any information provided might also be helpful for trying to get even older games to work that wouldn’t on XP (such as MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries or Need for Speed SE).

#2

DOSbox works fine on Windows 7.

I can’t really answer your question, but I can tell you this:

I have Windows 7, and I was pissed that I couldn’t run Area 51. Good ol’ days…

#3

I’ve been using Win7 a long time, and have yet to run into incompatibilities. However, one thing to note is that Face Poser (Source SDK tool) can’t lipsynch in Vista/7. It does have a hack someone made that circumvents it, but I haven’t gotten it working yet.

#4

I just got my new computer. I got a Sony Vaio. . .

It’s awesome, but it cost me quite a bit. I’ll update you guys if I end up having any problems.

#5

if you have problems download windows xp mode for 7 ultimate

and if you don’t have windows 7 ultimate, wtf are you waiting for?

#6

I have dual boot, Both XP pro and 7 Pro x64. I install all my super old crap in XP, and then load it from the hard drive in 7. Works like a charm for me. Though, it might not work with every game.

#7

Since when are Sony Vaio’s “awesome”? I was under the impression that they’re generic “average person” computer that would be terrible for gaming.

Some things will have compatibility issues, like I can’t seem to get Sim City 2000 running, or Fury3, and I think a couple other things, even when running in Windows 98/95 compatibility mode, though that may have also been partially due to the games not being installed from discs, but rather copied over in an already-installed form.

For the most part, though, Windows 7 is pretty good. Spheres of Chaos definitely works, as well as some of the classic golden PC games from the 90’s.

#8

I have windows 7 and most games I have work normally with a few older ones needing compatability mode. I’m told that some older games will have problems with sound and video though.

#9

I’ve had trouble running Age of Empires II: the grass was red instead of green, the water was purple instead of blue, etc. The (strange) solution: leaving an instance of explorer open on any random folder and then running the game fixes it completely.

#10

I have had Windows 7 for like 8 months I believe and haven’t had a single compatibility problem.

#11

If you’re concerned about a specific game or program working, googling “game/program name windows 7” usually turns up some helpful responses about compatibility issues

#12

i have had a few with 7 myself on certain games, id do what the other guy said tho, dual boot xp for the games that do that, i have a old win 98 computer also set up in my room that i use for old games myself :stuck_out_tongue:

#13

Sony Vaios are too expensive as they have shit parts unless the price is about 1900$+

#14

Most games will work out of the box, just make sure you have the latest patches installed. For those few games that have some issues, there’s usually a simple solution.

I say go for it :slight_smile:

#15

There’s a few that I’m having problems with, but some of it might have something to do with the difference in screen resolution compatibility. Currently, my Sony Vaio has taken pretty much everything I’ve thrown at it, save for the following:

-Adobe Creative Suite 2 (Windows 7 compatibility – won’t read permissions even though the software was activated)
-Breed (? - Loads the prerendered logo animation for CDV, but without any sound, and then stops there – worked fine in XP)
-Chip’s Challenge (Windows 7 compatibility – want to know how this’ll work in Win7 as it’s not a DOS program)
-ChexQuest Legacy (ChexQuest port to the Doom Legacy engine. It’s colorful, and doesn’t quite run right. I think this may be a resolution issue)

I’ve been able to run all my Source engine based games (so I’ll be able to play BlackMesa just fine) on it, and Gold Source games (?) have some resolution upscaling issues. Don’t know why. Today, I’m gonna try out TrackMania and America’s Army, and see how they run.

#16

For not reading permissions, try right clicking it and running it as an Administrator. Windows 7 is weird that way sometimes.

#17

I had that, but I fixed the problem by killing explorer.exe entirely, and starting the process again after I was done playing. Alternatively, there’s a widescreen mod that fixes the problem for you, while even allowing for higher resolutions.

EDIT: Oh, right, Escape From Butcher Bay gave me trouble as well. Any other problems with my games were really just a hardware incompatability. Simcity 4, for example, is a pain in the ass to run if you have more than one processor core.

#18

Already tried that. Did the exact same thing as it did when I didn’t run it under Administrator.

#19

You can drop a batch file next to your “age2_x1.exe”:

taskkill /F /IM Explorer.exe
age2_x1.exe
Start explorer.exe

Name it “start.bat” or something and execute this scrupt each time you want to play, and the corrupted colors shoudl go away. What it does is that it kills the explorer then after the game quits it starts it again.

#20

Professional also has it but it’s no use for playing old games since you don’t have a real graphics card in xp mode. But it’s great if you want to use old hardware that has no drivers for 7.

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.