16bit software on win2kpro pc?

one of my favorite programs is a 16bit. i have it installed on a win95b pc and it runs fine. can i run a 16bit program on my win2kpro sp2 pc?
tia,
bg

 

Maybe.

- it may run fine after you install it.

- it may require you to set up to run it in compabitility mode and pick 9X.

- if it makes illegal hardware calls (and many of the older programs did), the NT HAL (hardware abstraction layer) may prevent it's ever running.

Older software often used programming tricks to get hardware to do things it wasn't originally designed to do. Manipulating registers or a variety of other stunts. Since 9X/ME allows programs to talk directly to hardware, they might run the program fine.

But NT (NT/2K/XP) don't allow any applications to deal directly with hardware. The HAL applet traps all hardware calls and only it makes hardware do stuff. It understands many of the coding tricks and sends a proper command to the hardware. But others are seen as illegal or just plain not understood. Those won't work.

The HAL is one of many things Microsoft did to try to crash-proof NT systems. And it does just that. But as a result, older apps and especially games and graphics apps may well not work.

 

W2K DOS emulator handles DOS programs pretty well. Sometimes the memory settings need tweaking, depending on the program's needs. Biggest problem is that w2k will not allow DOS programs to directly control hardware, such as sound cards. There is a program that will enable DOS sound in W2K - called SoundFX as I recall. Sometimes it's simply easier to put the DOS program in a FAT32 partition, so it can be accessed by DOS, and boot with a DOS floppy.

 

thanks for the info folks.

i'm glad i kept my old 486 and win95 pc's.
thanks,
bg