How do I get a 32 bit game to run on 64 bit machine?!

[scrobie]

Friends!

I have bought a new computer that runs the 64bit version of Windows 7. I want to run Elite Force on it, which is a 32 bit program. I have read where others have had success with this, but I cannot get past this error message:

"The version of this file is not compatible with the versioin of Windows you are running. Check your computers system info for whether you need a 32 bit or 64 bit version of the program, contact the software vendor..."

I have set the compatibility to win 2000 and XP, also run as administrator, I have also copied the CD to my hard drive...still no luck.
Any suggestions??

Thanks!

 

[Pseudo]

If you've got Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate you might want to try Windows Virtual PC/XP Mode.

Alternatively you could give Virtual Box a try.

I've only ever used Windows Virtual PC and it's worked pretty well for me. I've been able to get KOTOR and many other games to run with it. Unfortunately I've had no experience with Virtual Box, but I've heard glowing reports.

Hope this helps.

 

[scrobie]

Virtual PC won't work since I am running Home Premium version....Rats!

 

[ATimson]

Virtual XP Mode wouldn't help for a game, I'm afraid - there's no 3D support.

Is the game successfully installed, or does it die during the install? (Some 32-bit programs have 16-bit installers, unfortunately.)

 

[Deks]

Windows Virtual XP mode requires of you to have a cpu capable of running virtual environment.
Some cpu's aren't capable to do that, so it depends really.

As for Elite Force 1 ... I have Win7 x64 Ultimate and I was able to play Elite Force 1 just fine.
After running the installer, the screen for it did not appear until about 20 or 30 mins later (probably because of the x64 environment and all).
But it worked fine once it appeared.
Installation was fast, and running the game went without a hitch (the long appearance of installer is only if you want to install the game ... running the installed game is done immediately for the most part).

As for virtual Windows (or running previous versions of the OS in a virtual environment) ... I don't think they support 3d graphics as of yet.
They just simulate very old S3 graphics for businesses.

 

[scrobie]

So I run the installer...when that error message pops up, just leave it and wait?

 

[Deks]

Uhm ... I actually never got that particular error message really.
If that file has a 16bit code, then it might be very hard to install the thing.
What you might try is to Autorun the CD/DVD/image file (whatever) and run the setup like that.

Alternatively, you can also try waiting for a while (say up to an hour - go do something else) and see if it pops up ... if not, then you won't be able to run it like that.

Perhaps, you could run the setup file in compatibility mode with XP SP3 and as an administrator.