However, if one of your favourite hardware devices doesn't have an XP driver, don't bin it or abandon XP as an option just yet, since there may be another way to get it to work. Try an Internet search using the device name and 'XP drivers' to see if there's any other information available, particularly from user groups. For instance, I'm still using an old Agfa Snapscan P scanner, bought in , with a parallel port connection.
While Agfa claim that XP drivers will never be written for it, I discovered claims by users that the Windows Beta drivers will work under Windows XP, albeit with a few caveats. For the few times I use my scanner I'm happy to work around these, and it certainly beats throwing away a perfectly good piece of hardware!
The kernel is the first part of the operating system to load into memory. It contains the core routines that provide the basic services for all other parts of the operating system. Compatibility Mode is designed to help when running 'legacy' applications — those that were originally designed for a previous version of Windows. These can include bit applications designed for Windows 9x, NT, or , plus bit applications originally destined for operating systems as old as Windows 3.
Although many such legacy applications will run perfectly well under Windows XP without any tweaking at all, others check for the required version of Windows during their startup routines and abort if they don't find it, or check for the existence of specific system files that have long since been superseded, throwing up a cryptic error message when they are not found. Do note that utilities such as hard drive editors, defragmenters, some CD-burning programs, virus-detection utilities, backup and other system programs that require low-level access to previous versions of Windows should not be used with Compatibility mode.
You might scramble your drive contents if you do this. Vital system files are stored by Windows XP in its system folder, but may also exist as duplicates in the WinSxS folder see main text , and in individual application folders, so different versions can co-exist. As you can see, the different instances may also vary considerably in size.
Some problems with older applications can't be solved simply by using Compatibility Mode, including those caused because an 'over the top' Windows XP install has left old versions of system files in the shared system folder. Placing such commonly used system files into a single folder saved lots of drive space, but installing an elderly application could result in an older version of a shared system file overwriting the current one, causing other applications to fail or Windows itself to crash.
Windows and ME both had Windows File Protection to prevent the modification of core system DLLs, while allowing individual applications to use their own private versions of these files.
Windows XP goes further, by introducing 'shared assemblies' consisting of a group of resources, including DLLs, stored in the WinSxS Windows Side by Side folder, plus 'private assemblies' that are stored in the application's own folder. If an older application relies on an old DLL but a newer version already exists, Windows XP will spot this and divert calls to the older version, as necessary, while leaving the newer version in place for other applications. If you're upgrading to XP it's important that you completely un-install such programs, and then re-install them again after the changeover.
These applications will then still think they are installing any system file versions they need, but XP will be managing the process and will not let them overwrite vital system files. Reinstalling should also ensure that information stored in the old Win. Then, when the applications are run, they can either use their own private versions of system files, safely stored within the application's own folder, or the required shared version from the Windows SxS folder, without interfering with the newer system files used by most XP applications.
How will you know if the applications you want to run use bit DLL files? Some developers will tell you on their web sites, but if you can't find out, and in the case of large music apps, it might be wise to uninstall and reinstall as a matter of course, just to be sure. You can use XP's compatibility options with any application on your drive with the above caveats. It's also possible to choose an application on a CD-ROM or floppy disk to run in compatibility mode, which might be handy for a one-off session, although the settings will be forgotten as soon as you exit the application.
The safest way to proceed particularly on the first few occasions is via the Program Compatibility Wizard, whose shortcut you should find in the Accessories section of your Start Menu. This will guide you carefully through the process, helping you make the most suitable decisions by testing them on the target application to find out which emulation works best.
First you decide whether to choose from a list of programs currently installed on your hard drive, or one on the current disk in the CD-ROM drive, or to locate the program manually by browsing through your drive's folders. Sometimes a problem application may give the game away with a message like this, making the choice of compatibility mode easy, although in many cases you'll have to do the detective work yourself. Once you've chosen, clicking on the Next button takes you to a screen where you can choose the operating system under which the application was originally designed to run.
The subsequent page provides various display settings where you can choose to run your application in colours or in x pixel screen resolution, both of which can be useful with some older games and educational programs that will only run properly in x x mode. The lowest screen resolution offered by Windows XP is normally x with bit colour, so Compatibility Mode is the only way to force lower values to apply.
You can also 'Disable visual themes' on this page, a step that can overcome problems with some applications that insist on dealing wth graphics in a non-standard way.
Finally, you get to test your compatibility settings. Assuming you don't get an error message, the program you've chosen to check will be launched for you to try out.
As soon as you've confirmed whether or not it works properly, you can exit it and return to the Compatibility Wizard, either to confirm the settings, try again with different ones, or abandon the attempt. If you already know the most likely compatibility settings for a particular application, a rather quicker way to proceed in XP is to right-click either on the app's main EXE file if you know in which folder this can be found or more easily right-click on its shortcut in the Start menu or the desktop and select the Properties option.
The third tabbed page of Properties is 'Compatibility', and here you'll find all the settings in one place — there's a tick-box for Compatibility Mode, and once this is ticked a further drop-down menu becomes available, where you choose the operating system, and below this the display settings.
In many cases, if an application is Windows compatible it will also work under XP, although there are no guarantees. Elderly plug-ins and VST Instruments should also nearly always work fine; any problems relating to these are likely to be due to the host application, or possibly the version of DirectX that you're using, in the case of DX plug-ins.
The only plug-in related software that does apparently cause problems is early versions of Autotune. I intended to post an extensive list here of older versions of music applications that would run under Windows XP, but found it extremely difficult to get any definitive answers.
Most developers automatically recommend that users update to the latest version of their applications, and any information on the compatibility of older versions tends to disappear from their web site once a newer version appears that directly supports XP. Moreover, Microsoft's Windows Catalogue only covers newer applications that fully support XP, and although there are hundreds of posts on music related forums, featuring user queries and anecdotal advice on getting ancient music software to run under XP, very few can unfortunately be substantiated, particularly when issues such as the tightness of MIDI or audio timing are involved.
I shall attempt to mimic the dance of Microsoft executives unveiling Windows 95 to the world, as that was the magic dance of the 90s computer user.
And do you remember the Windows 95 commercials? They were played during Superbowl if I recall correctly. I remember them playing all the time on TV:. Name required. Mail will not be published required. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited.
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Many old games and programs written in 16bit will simply not run on XP which was designed with 32bit in mind. Good Luck Perhaps if you provide the name of the game, someone may have an alternative. That way, people with a similar situation in the future will be able to quickly see what ultimately helped. If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. Also please exercise your best judgment when posting in the forums--revealing personal information such as your e-mail address, telephone number, and address is not recommended.
Please note: Do not post advertisements, offensive material, profanity, or personal attacks. Please remember to be considerate of other members. All submitted content is subject to our Terms Of Use. I looked on the internet to see if their was any way to do this but I havent been able to find anything regarding this topic.
Please help me out so I can know whether or not their is anything I can do. Share Flag.
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