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    run 16bit program in Vista x64

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by 123456, Jul 23, 2007.

  1. 123456

    123456 Notebook Consultant

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    I'm taking Differential Equations this fall and the required book is "Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, with ODE Architect CD, 8th Edition". The problem is that ODE Architect uses a 16 bit installer. However, from what I've read, 64 bit Vista will not be able to run 16 bit programs. Will it be able to run if I tried installing using compatibility with XP or even older? I'm going to need 4gb of ram for my machine so I have to use 64bit Vista.

    The only solution I can think of right now is to run a virtual machine. Do you think that will work?
     
    123456, Jul 23, 2007
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  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    That is true...it will not work, and not even in compatibility mode will it work.

    Virtual machine would probably be your best option IMHO, just allocate about 1GB of RAM to the XP-VM for best effect. I'd recommend you look into VMWare.
     
    Greg, Jul 23, 2007
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  3. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

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    Don't you just love proprietary software that sees little to no competition and refuses to update?
     
    taelrak, Jul 23, 2007
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  4. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Hey now...let us not bash Vista :p Too much.

    Actually, if you do not need the VM to access any USB devices...you might want to check out Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. It runs similarly to VMWare (minus USB-passthough) but you can customize your VM-OS parameters yourself. The free version of VMWare does not allow that.
     
    Greg, Jul 23, 2007
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  5. Pitabred

    Pitabred Linux geek con rat flail!

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    Depending on what the installer does (and if the executable and libraries themselves are actually 32bit), you may be able to just copy the files over to your drive and run the application directly. I've had varying success with that in the past, but it typically works better with applications designed for Win98 and earlier.
     
    Pitabred, Jul 23, 2007
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  6. 123456

    123456 Notebook Consultant

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    That's a good point Pitabred. I'll give that a shot. I think the software was make back in 1998.
     
    123456, Jul 23, 2007
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  7. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

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    The CPU itself disables 16-bit support when running in 64-bit mode IIRC, so not much you can do there. Can't even blame Vista for it. ;)

    So if you can't get hold of the files directly (maybe even get the installed files from someone else taking the same class?), you'll have to run it in a virtual machine or something...
     
    Jalf, Jul 23, 2007
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  8. 123456

    123456 Notebook Consultant

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    It turns out the entire program runs in 16bit, not just the installer. I guess my only option left is a VM. Now if only I can find those Windows 3.1 floppies, I'll be all set.
     
    123456, Jul 24, 2007
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