Need to Install Access 97 on Windows 7 Home Premium

I am trying to install Access 97 on Win 7 Home Premium without running a VM to do so. The only error message I get says CTL3D32.dll wasn't installed properly. The porblem is that CTL3D32.dll can't install in the system32 folder. The CTL3D32.dll is needed for the WRKGADM.EXE to work properly. It appears that both file are put into the sysWOW64 folder upon installation. When opening WRKGADM.EXE an error message say it could not find CTL3D32.dll in system32 folder. WRKGADM.EXE will open, but it will not function correctly.

What I have tried so far is running the install in Troubleshooter Compatibility in previous versions of windows and running the install as admin. No difference in any of the cases.

I found one post online of someone claiming to have solved the problem as quoted:

"I ran the troubleshooter on the Workgroup Administrator which allowed me to create the system.mdw that wasn't created on initial install.

What fixed it was allowing permission changes to the /Windows/System32 folder."

I tried following this and using the troubleshooter compatibility to open the WRKGADM.EXE but in all cases the same error of not having CTL3D32.dll came up.

Any suggestions, besides getting a newer version of access or running a VM?

 

That program is approx 13 years old. Why would it work on software that is not even 1 year old? The only alternative is to run it on a virtual. Does running the exe in Compatibility Mode work?

 

I don't know if it will work. I'm just trying to make it work without a VM.

The WRKGADM.EXE does not work in compatibility mode, but Access seems to come up just fine even without compatibility. I haven't been able to test the program because the custom programing I have in Access is tied to having the WRKGADM.EXE work properly.