Question re: an old game and XP

I have an old game "Star Trek TNG: A Final Unity." It was made in the days of <gasp!> DOS!!
Here's my problem: It requires a "buffers=40" Now in the days of DOS, this would be an easy problem to solve. However, with WinXP it's not so simple. How can I 'trick' the program into thinking the files and buffers are set appropriately without messing with XP's initialization files? Is there a way to do this for this specific program without changing the settings for the whole system?
Thanks in advance!!

-Don

 

Program Compatibility Wizard

From your Start menu, Open Help and support.
Search for and run the Program Compatibility Wizard - it will let you tweak the settings used for only that program.

Beware of drunk Klignons...

 

The Program Compatability Wizard was tried and didn't work. It lets you change certain settings, but there is no way (via that route) to change the files / buffers settings... If the game doesn't detect the proper settings, it won't even install...

 

Take a look at This Page which deals with nothing except running DOS games on an XP system. Good information - and especially the part about putting values you need in autoexec.nt or autoexec.bat AND THEN pointing your shortcut to the appropriate autoexec file.

 

Play STTNG A Final Unity In XP

First search for Star Trek The Next Generation A Final Unity Install Patch. I don't remember where I got the patch, but one of those sites probably has what is called the patch for NexGen or OS/2 systems. All it does is allow the game to install when the installer detects that the system is incompatible with the game. It was actually an official patch by Spectrum HolyByte! It's strange that the official support site doesn't have it. I use the patch to install the game (instructions in the readme, but simply: extract the new Install.exe to the root dir, go to run and type C:\install -DD, assuming D is your cdrom, and hit ok). I also use vdmsound to setup and play the game. It wouldn't run without the vdmsound launchpad addon installed. Just reopen setup from the STTNG dir. with vdmsound and the game will detect the soundcard and video fine. BUT!... Don't use the SB16 the installer detects. Switch it to Soundblaster 8, as this removes the pops and static from the sound. You can leave the vdmsound setting for soundblaster at the default SB16, though. Make sure you customize to include the cdrom dos support (just check the box in vdmsound). The buffer setting doesn't matter. You will come to points in the game where it will crash to desktop or freeze. If several attempts to get past those points fail, you can sneak by them by entering setup without vdmsound, and the game will now detect the crappy Windows XP legacy driver at IRQ 5 (instead of the vdmsound's 7). Play the section of the game (with all that static), and you'll now get past the point it crashed. Make a save, and then get out and run setup with vdmsound again to restore acceptable sound to the game.