Running 16-bit programs on 32/64-bit Windows
One way or another, you can almost always get older software — even ancient Windows 3.0–era apps — to run on the newest 32- and 64-bit systems.
Plus: Saved Web favorites suddenly vanish, a USB flash drive becomes permanently formatted as a CD, and a free way to view and control your PC from a phone or tablet.
App’s 16-bit installer won’t run on Win7/8
Reader Del Suggs wants help with setting up antiquated software on his newer PCs.
“I need to install an old program on my Win7 and Win8.1 machines. Although the program is 32-bit, it uses a 16-bit installer that no longer runs on current Windows. Can I install the program without using the installer? Are there other options?
Wow! Most 16-bit software was written for either pre-Windows DOS or Windows 3.0/3.1.
Fortunately, there are various ways to get apps of almost any age to run on today’s Windows. Here are four possible solutions:
Option 1: Run the software directly. For some software — especially early Windows applications — the installer is a convenience; it’s not really needed to run the program.
But to know whether this is the case, you have to experiment. Use Windows Explorer to examine the files that make up the software package. Ignore any files labeled install.exe, setup.exe, or anything similar. Try launching any other .exe files included with the software. With luck, you’ll find that the main program file runs fine without the installer.
Option 2: Use Windows’ built-in Compatibility Troubleshooter. Windows 7 and 8 have an automated troubleshooter that can often detect and correct problems that prevent older software from running. Here’s how to access it:
Open Control Panel, enter “troubleshooting” into the Control Panel search box, and then click theTroubleshooting listing.
In the Troubleshoot computer problems dialog box, click Run programs made for previous versions of Windows. (Figure 1 shows the Win7 troubleshooter; Win8′s is nearly identical.) Follow the on-screen instructions as they appear.
Figure 1. Win7/8's automatic compatibility troubleshooter can often get balky older software running properly.
Option 3: Try Windows’ compatibility-mode settings. Here’s how. (Win7′s is shown; Vista’s and Win8′s work much the same.)
Right-click on the software’s installation or setup file and select Properties. In the Properties dialog box, select the Compatibility tab.
Tick the checkbox labeled Run this program in compatibility mode for: (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. The manual Compatibility mode option in Vista, Win7, and Win8 might succeed when automated tools fail.
With the checkbox selected, a pull-down menu appears. Select the appropriate older Windows version to emulate. For 16-bit software, you’ll usually want the oldest-possible Windows version offered — for example, Windows 95, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Use Vista's, Win7's, and Win8's Compatibility modeoption to emulate older versions of the OS — all the way back to Windows 95.
If the software still won’t install correctly, try selecting some or all of the additional manual compatibility Settingsoffered toward the bottom of the Compatibility dialog box (see Figure 4). It’s best to try them one by one, because it’s difficult to predict which settings will work with old software and which might not.
Figure 4. Additional compatibility-mode settings let you fine-tune the way Windows handles older software.
Option 4: Run an older version of Windows on a virtual machine. Windows XP, for example, can natively run many 16-bit, Win3/3.1 programs.
If you’re running Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise, you can download and install Microsoft’s freeWindows XP Mode (more info/download page). This package includes a complete working copy of XP Pro SP3.
With XP Mode installed, try running your old software directly. Or, if necessary, use XP’s compatibility mode — it works in much the same way as described in Option 2. If you still have trouble, see the MS Support page, “How to troubleshoot 16-bit Windows programs in Windows XP.”
Windows XP Mode is not available for Win7′s Home and Basic editions or for Win8. Instead, you’ll have to use a third-party virtual machine such as Oracle’s VirtualBox (free; site). VirtualBox emulates a PC’s hardware, but it doesn’t include an operating system. You’ll have to dig up an old Windows installation disk to install the OS on the virtual machine. Officially, VirtualBox runs versions of Windows dating back to XP, but I’ve gotten it to run versions as old as Win3.0 — and even some ancient DOS tools, too.
(Note: If you install and use unsupported versions of Windows — including XP Mode — they’ll not receive recent patches via Windows Updates. Use older editions of Windows with caution; they’re vulnerable to newer cyber threats and malware. Ideally, don’t connect to the Internet with any unsupported version of Windows.)
No matter how ancient your Windows-based program might be, there’s a good chance that one of the preceding methods will get it running again!
Reader Norseman106′s browsers seem to be misbehaving — they’ve lost his Favorites entries on two different PCs.
“I don’t know how it happened, but I have lost all my saved favorites on both my laptop and my desktop computer. The named folders are still there, but they’re empty. I could understand that happening on one computer, but not on two. Any info on this? I’m running Win8.1.”
The most common reason for this problem is accidental deletion by a clean-up or privacy-enhancing tool. These applications could erase your stored favorites if they’re configured with overly aggressive settings.
No matter what caused your favorites to disappear, the fix should be easy — assuming you’re using Win8′s File History. Open File History, browse back to a date and time when Favorites still contained the missing items, and then restore them.
(If you need help using File History, see the July 11, 2013, Top Story, “Understanding Windows 8′s File History.” Scroll down to the section labeled “Recovering files and folders with File History.”)
If you’re using some other form of backup, you should be able to perform a similar restore. But the exact steps will depend on the tool you use.
If you’re not using any form of backup, all I can offer is sympathy. Sooner or later, everyone — repeat, everyone — will lose one or more important files or folders because of accident or malfunction. Backups are the only certain method of recovery. That’s why I harp on the subject so often!
If you don’t have any backups, you’ll have to manually recreate your Favorites list from memory as best you can. Once that’s done, back up your system so you’ll be protected from future losses. Also, check the settings on any cleanup or security-enhancing tools you’re using to make sure that Favorites is not included in the list of items flagged for deletion.
Windows 7 note: Win7 makes recovery of deleted files and folders somewhat easier via the built-in, automatic,Restore Previous Versions function. For more information, see the June 16, 2011, Top Story, “RPV: Win7′s least-known data-protection system.”
Peter Wehner has a flash drive containing presentation materials. He’d now like to reuse that drive — but can’t.
“I attended a computer conference where I purchased the session videos and presentation slides. The content was delivered on a USB flash drive.
“The content was primarily instructional videos, which I copied to my local computer so I wouldn’t have to always plug in the USB stick (and to better preserve the videos, since they were fairly expensive). I was able to copy the material to my local machine just fine.
“However, Windows sees the USB drive as a CD-ROM. Windows’ Disk Management screen even displays the drive as a CD-ROM, formatted as CDFS.
“I’d like to recycle the USB stick, configured as a regular FAT32/NTFS drive. But I’m unable to reformat it. It’s a 32GB USB 3.0 drive, so it seems a shame to simply discard it. I’ve searched many online forums, but I can’t find a way to reformat the drive from CDFS to FAT32/NTFS. I even tried the Apacer LFormat Utility Fred mentioned in the May 9, 2013, LangaList column.
“Any thoughts?”
Some flash drives — especially those used to deliver software or other content — are specifically designed not to be reused. They’re permanently set as read-only at the factory. The setting can’t be changed afterward.
Other flash drives may suffer a malfunction due to wear (flash memory cells have a finite life), accident, or other problem. If key memory cells become locked in a given state, they can’t be changed.
I can only suggest trying all the techniques described in that May 9, 2013, LangaList Plus article, “Unlocking a read-only USB flash drive.”
If none of those options works, your drive is likely to remain permanently read-only — either by design or accident. Sorry!
In the Jan. 23 Best Practices, Patrick Marshall described how to use TeamViewer to “Reach into your desktop PC remotely.”
I agree with everything Patrick said about TeamViewer. But there’s more! I’m now using TeamViewer to access and control my PC from my Android phone and tablets — and to control the phone and tablets from my PC.
TeamViewer is free for personal use (site) and supports Android, iOS, Linux, OS X, and Windows devices. Check the website for full information on each version’s specific capabilities.
If you’re looking for a way to view or control your PC from your phone or tablet — or vice-versa — TeamViewer is about as good as it currently gets.
And again: it’s free for personal use!
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