Windows XP

I keep hearing the same thing EVERY day from all directions.

"Is this program compatible with Windows XP?"
"Will this program run on Windows XP?"
"Do you have a patch for this software to get it to run on Windows XP?"

Here is the answer:

"Programs that do not specifically state "Windows XP" as part of the program requirements
were not designed for or tested with this operating system."

Programs designed for Windows NT or 2000 seem to stand a better chance of running
out of the box on Windows XP than most for Windows 98 (or 95 or ME).

As always, your mileage may vary.

If anyone has to make a patch for these programs, it should be Microsoft.
They are the ones who wrote XP long after these other programs came out,
they are the ones who designed XP so it wouldn't run a lot of older software.

Programs that came out before 2001, or which do not specifically state "Windows XP"
on their packaging, were not designed for Windows XP.
Microsoft made a lot of changes to the operating system. In many ways it is more like Windows 2000
and its predecessor, Windows NT, which in turn were completely different from Windows 95, 98 and ME.
A lot of programs made for Windows 95, 98, and ME won't run under Windows 2000 or NT.
The same applies with Windows XP.

Most of these older programs will need a complete rewrite, rather than some simple patch,
to make them work in Windows XP.

========================================

What to do to get some of the Windows 95, 98 or ME software working on XP.
It works for many programs but not all of them.

I advised you to get the latest Service Pack and Microsoft Signed 32bit Windows XP drivers
for all hardware devices in the computer before doing anything else.
This alone may just fix your problem.

Make sure that you are logged into the computer with administrator privileges.

To verify that the user account under which the program is being used is a 'Computer Administrator' account:

·	Click the Start menu and obtain the account name in use.
·	Select the Control Panel.
·	Double-click on the User Accounts icon.
·	Verify that the words 'Computer administrator' appear below the account name currently in use.

Consult your Windows documentation for information on creating user accounts.  

Windows XP Compatibility mode

Programs that do not specifically state "Windows XP" as part of the program requirements
were not designed for or tested with this operating system.
If you encounter functionality problems in running an older program designed for Windows 95 or 98,
I recommend that you enable the program to utilize Windows XP's compatibility mode.

·	Uninstall the program and reinstall it using the Windows Compatibility mode
·	Uninstall the program using Add Remove Programs or using the programs uninstall icon
·	With the CD inserted in the drive double click on My Computer.
·	Right click on the icon for your CD-ROM drive and click open.
·	Right click on the file setup.exe (If there is not setup.exe then right click on install.exe) and select Properties.
·	Click on the Compatibility tab.
·	Click on the check box for 'Run this program in compatibility mode for:'
·	Select Windows 98 / Windows Me in the pull down options and click OK
·	Double click on setup.exe to install the program

If problems persist after installation, enable application compatibility mode for the program itself.

To enable application compatibility mode: 

·	Right-click the program's desktop shortcut icon (if created). Or, right- click the program's icon at the Start menu. (click Start and select Start\All Programs\[program folder]\[program name].

·	Release the left mouse button and right-click on '[program name]'. Choose Properties
.
·	Click on the Compatibility tab.

·	Click on the check box for 'Run this program in compatibility mode for:'

·	Select 'Windows 98 / Windows Me' in the pull down options.

 	Note: Sometimes, the executable or Start menu shortcut may not be installed
       	onto the hard drive and reside as an uncompressed file on the CD 
       	partition only. In such as case, the user can still adjust the 
       	compatibility settings on the executable file on the CD. You must provide 
       	information here on where the unhidden file exists on CD.>

Support for 640x480 resolution, 256 colors

Some programs may require system settings which are not the default setup for Windows XP.
Such adjustments enable some programs to print or use full screen resolution.
To enable printing or proper game functionality, the program must have
256-color and/or 640x480 resolution support enabled.

To enable 256-color or 640x480 resolution support: 

·	Right-click the program's desktop shortcut icon (if created). Or, right-click the program's icon at the Start menu. (Click and hold down the left-mouse button and select Start\Programs\[program folder]\[program name].

·	Release the left mouse button and right-click on '[program name]'. Choose Properties.

·	Click on the Compatibility tab.

·	In the Display Settings options, click on the check box for 'Run in 256 colors'.

·	In the Display Settings options, click on the check box for 'Run in 640x480 resolution'.


Determine whether any programs running in the background are interfering with the program. 
·	Press the CTRL, ALT, and DEL keys on the keyboard at the same time and then release them. 
·	Click on Task Manager. 
·	If necessary click on the tab at the top that says Applications. 
·	Click on anything that might be in this list to highlight it. 
·	Click on End Task. 
·	Repeat steps #1 and #2 until the list is empty. 
·	Click on the File at the top of the box. 
·	Click on Exit Task Manager. 
·	Run the program. 
Determine if drivers in the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS are causing conflicts with the program.
Most systems do not need to load these two files and they can cause conflicts if they are loading drivers.
Use the following procedure to disable these files: 
·	Click on the Start button, then click on Run. 
·	Then type COMMAND in the Open box and click on the OK button. 
·	From the DOS prompt, type REN C:AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTOEXEC.XXX and press the Enter key on the keyboard. 
·	From the DOS prompt, type REN C:CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.XXX and press the Enter key on the keyboard. 
·	Type EXIT and press the Enter key on the keyboard. 
·	Click on the Start button, then click on ShutDown. 
·	Place the dot in Restart the computer. 
·	Click on the Yes button. 
·	Once Windows NT/2000/XP has restarted, try to run the program. 
If the program works, something in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS is causing a conflict.
You may or may not need the line that is causing the conflict. You should contact your computer manufacturer
to help determine whether or not the line is needed in your system. 
If you are still experiencing the same problem, use the following procedure to rename
the AUTOEXEC.XXX and CONFIG.XXX back to AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS: 
·	Click on the Start button, then click on Run. 
·	Then type COMMAND in the Open box and click on the OK button. 
·	From the DOS prompt, type REN C:AUTOEXEC.XXX AUTOEXEC.BAT and press the Enter key on the keyboard. 
·	From the DOS prompt, type REN C:CONFIG.XXX CONFIG.SYS and press the Enter key on the keyboard. 
·	Type EXIT and press the Enter key on the keyboard. 
·	Click on the Start button, then click on Shut Down. 
·	Place the dot in Restart the computer. 
·	Click on the Yes button. 

If you are experiencing sound problems, or errors that appear to be related to the sound card:
Click on Start. Click on Control Panel.
Get to the Sound and Audio Devices icon.
Click on the Hardware tab at the top.
You will see a list of audio drivers. Click on the primary one for your system.
It will probably mention "16-bit" or other words that will let you know which driver is the main one.
Now click on the Troubleshoot button below it.
Follow all of the suggestions listed there. You will see that it is very detailed
and covers a lot of possible causes better than any document I could write.


[end]