Solved Running Old Games

[Winuser]

I came across a box of old computer games I played years ago. Games such as Space Quest ,Kings Quest to name a few. I doubt they will run in Windows 8 Pro 64 bit. I do have an old copy of Windows 98 SE. Can I run these games using Windows 98 in a VM. If so; What Vm do you recommend I use? TIA

 

[maxknux]

Hello I think you might have to run it in VM or emulator. The first thing is to try the compatibility wizard to see if that works then proceed to VM.

If you have Windows 8 Pro then you can try installing it in built-in Hyer-V but there can be limitations to it.

Previous OS that worked with game with the Key then you can use Hyper-V
Here is Link on how to get started:
Run virtual machines on Windows 8 with Client Hyper-V - Microsoft Windows

One you get your virtual System of Windows 98 (or vista, win7) then you just install the game on it.

The problem is that virtual system probably can't do the graphics really well so the game might fail.

Here blog post on why Hyper V has problems with 3-D games:
Understanding High-End Video Performance Issues with Hyper-V - Ben Armstrong - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

You can do a search on how to run a game in a virtualized box system whether through a virtual OS or some type of emulator that some person develop for games. I am sure you can spend time and find some solution.

Other People Recommend VM player so give that a try.

 

[Winuser]

Hi maxknux! Thanks for the info. I'm going to try to install in Windows 8 first. If they won't install or run correctly I'll give a VM a try. Being older games should I install a 32 bit VM or doesn't it matter?

 

[alphanumeric]

If its 98 in a VM I would think it will have to be 32 bit, there was no 64 bit version of 98. That's my guess anyway I've never messed with VM's. Keep in mind it will be virtual, emulated hardware, not your actual physical hardware. That might impact the graphics quality available.

 

[Winuser]

I decided to go with VMWare player as my VM. Windows 98 SE installed without a problem. Trying to find a sound driver for my sound card was a pain. Nothing in windows 98 SE would work. None of the drivers I tried from the Sound Blaster archives would work. All the suggestions I found on Google didn't help. I finally found a link in the Virtualization forum posted by stollin that said what driver to google that would work in Widows 98. Here's the link to the howto if anyone wants to try and run windows 98 in a VM. Windows 98 on VMWare Player | DisCONNECT! Now when I have some free time I'll try some of my old games.