Anyone got old install disks for Windows 3.1 knocking about?

Poststructural Pub
1

I want to run some old PC games from the early 90s and they’re not quite compatible with my Vista machine. I am looking to buy/trade for a working set of Windows 3.1 install disks or equivalent (to run under Virtual PC or Dosbox) …anyone out there got some they don’t want?

2

According to my son you should be able to run them in a separate window which will emulate the previous version. It’s my experience this does not always (if ever) work.

Try running them from the DOS command line.

The limiting factor in my experience is the graphics emulation, although some games are linked to the system clock. This means that old games like tetris, which worked fine on 3.1, do still run on 2000, Xp, Vista etc, but run so fast the screen is full of blocks before you have time to blink.

3

I did, but this particular game (Castle of the Winds) requires Windows to run. I have gotten Loom (from Lucasarts) to work in Dosbox but Castle gives back a message saying windows is required.

4

Hi!
I think I have a copy of the installations disks on a HD somewhere, I will look for it when I get back from work.

Du you have an old 2-386 to install it on?

The down side when you install it under MS Virtual PC is that most of your hardware isn’t supportet by win 3.1, so you might ending up with a bit of work to find drivers and get them to work before your game will run properly.

You might find some useful information here:
http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=windows+3.1+microsoft+virtual+PC&search_type=&aq=f


/MarcusR

5

Thanks, I’ll check this out. No, I’ve only got a vista laptop (and am new at this level of multi-OS complexity) but I was talking with a friend of mine from microsoft yesterday and he didn’t see any problems installing an old version of windows under virtual pc or similar.

6

Found it!
I’ll try to find somewhere to host the files so you can download them, as 9 Mb might be a bit to much for your mail box.

I’ll drop you a PM.


Seems like the game you want to play is a windows 16 bit application so it might work fine with Virtual PC under Vista.

If not, just boot up your computer with the Ubuntu CD and run the game with wine. Should work like a charm :smiley:
Far better support for 16 bit applications under Linux compared to XP/Vista, even if it is a windows program :smiling_imp:

/MarcusR

7

Thanks Marcus! I think I’ll be doing a whole lot of reading up on the how-to’s before running anything but it’s great to have the software ready.