[Matis]

It's not my problem, so I can only provide limited information, but here goes:

A friend has 64 bit Vista in his PC and tried to install Megaman X4. Upon opening the setup, the program gives a warning, saying something along the lines of:

16 bit application not compatible
The program "E:/Setup.exe" cannot be started or ran because it's not compatible with 64 bit versions of Windows.

Isn't there any way to run said application, other than installing a 32 bit version of Vista(probably XP. It might not be 64 bit Vista, but rather Vista itself that can't run the program) or a beta of Windows 7(which I've heard can run the game flawlessly)?

I'm not well versed when it comes to the differences between 32 bit and 64 bit OS.

Thanks(regardless of the answer).

 

[Ahielia]

Try running the setup in comptibility mode.

 

[Xtreme2damax]

Yep 16-bit applications and installers aren't compatible with 64-bit Vista and Windows 7, I don't know about XP 64-bit.

There is no way around that other than using something like Dosbox or installing Vista/7 32-bit or XP on an accelerated virtual machine.

 

[aceloop]

i dont think 16-Bit is compatible with 64-bit or 32-Bit Vista and Windows 7. its kinda old so i think m$ just removed it.

 

[Matis]

I've read somewhere that apparently it worked fine in 7, both 32 and 64 bit versions. Oh well. Thanks anyway, guys.

 

[bkwegoharder]

16 bit programs are supposed to work in windows 7 because of XP mode. so in the end, Windows 7 emulates Windows XP which emulates a 16bit environment.

 

[Matis]

An emulator of an emulator? Interesting. But how would that work on 64 bit Seven? I mean, if it can be done that way, I don't see why 64 bit Vista doesn't have the option(other than simple laziness on MicroSoft's behalf).

 

[Xtreme2damax]

XP mode isn't hardware accelerated so it would be slow as hell, not sure if any games are playable in XP mode.

While 16-bit applications may be possible, 16-bit games are likely not due to no hardware acceleration. My point was that neither stock Windows Vista or 7 x64 is capable of 16-bit games, installers or applications. You could also install a Virtual machine in Vista and achieve the same without the integration feature of XP mode in Windows 7. XP mode is also only available for for Ultimate and professional editions of Windows 7, not sure about the business versions.

 

[raksmey1309]

Lemonade Tycoon works fine with Vista 32bit but not 64 bit.So you are out of luck running 16bin on x64 machine wait for i7! :]

 

[Matis]

i7? XD

Anyway, thanks again, guys. I'll tell him to do a virtual XP install, then(he still has his XP disc, hopefully).

 

[imspecial]

i7? XD

Anyway, thanks again, guys. I'll tell him to do a virtual XP install, then(he still has his XP disc, hopefully).

he meant windows 7. Also chances are a 16bit game would run fine without hardware acceleration so it should run fine in XP compatibility mode in Windows 7

 

[Matis]

Oh, I know he meant that. I was just making fun of it.

And that's what I figured. I'd tell my friend to get 7, but he says he'd rather wait for the final release.

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

the game is 32bit
the installer is 16bit

Theres no real reason Microsoft does not have a WoW32 in x64 os's other then that they are lazy ****s who couldn't be bothered doing so.

 

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

Just to clarify the confusion here, it's not any specific OSs fault. It's simply that 64bit OSs can't run 16bit applications. I am amazed at the the lack of people knowing that in this thread.

 

[gamefreak94]

One word: VirtualBox

 

[VT-Vincent]

I would second the VirtualBox solution, the performance is quite good and it's one of the only free solutions that provides hardware acceleration. I used to run Vista x64 (and I'm currently on 7 x64) and just for this reason I always kept an XP installation on a small partition. I don't encounter compatibility issues too frequently, but when I do it's very useful to have around.