Can't run 16-bit Windows program

[phalkon30]

This is really pissing me off, I got a program, and now I get this error every time I double click the program to install

I use XP, and I know it works on 98 (just installed it), this is the original .exe, there is not shortcut to it

I had this problem with other apps a few months back, but never got a response, I really would like to run this program though

I think its something I may have tweaked in my registry, like changing how file names are dealt with, because I remember dissabling some stuff while "tweaking" NTFS, any idea what I could have dissabled?

I'm hoping krell can help me here :), I would have PM'd you about it, but wanted to include the screenshot

EDIT: the other weird thing is, I have themes enabled, but this window doesn't have them

And I've tried compatability modes by right clicking, no help

[MoonMan]

That is weird.. maybe a missing dll or two? I know you probably have.. but I need to ask the question, have you tried reinstalling this particular program?

And why can't you tell us what the program is? How can we help if we do not know what we are trying to help with?

Maybe it has to do with the way 16 bit programs deal with winsocks? I dunno but I am *bumping* the thread for others to see.

[overdo]

have u tried running the compatibility wizard on the program?

[PiRaNeTuS]

To run the Program Compatibility Wizard

Start the Program Compatibility Wizard. (Click Start, click Help and Support, click Fixing a problem, click Application and software problems, under Fix a problem click Getting older programs to run on Windows XP, and then click the Program Compatibility Wizard link in the instructions.)

Follow the instructions in the wizard.
The wizard prompts you to test your program in different modes and with various settings. For example, if the program was originally designed to run on Windows 95, set the compatibility mode to Windows 95, and try running your program again. The wizard also allows you to try different settings, such as switching the display to 256 colors and the screen resolution to 640 x 480 pixels. The wizard will launch your program with the selected settings, and allow you to test how the program works. The final page of the wizard enables you to select whether to permanently apply the compatibility settings, abandon the changes, or save them and run the wizard again to apply different settings. It is likely that you will need to repeat this process until you find the correct compatibility mode.


As an alternative to running the Program Compatibility Wizard, you can set the compatibility properties for a program manually.

To set the compatibility properties for a program manually

Right-click the program icon on your desktop or the shortcut on the Start menu for the program you want to run, and then click Properties.

Click the Compatibility tab, and change the compatibility settings for your program.
The Compatibility tab is only available for programs installed on your hard drive. Although you can run the Program Compatibility Wizard on programs or setup files on a CD-ROM or floppy disk, your changes will not remain in effect after you close the program.

[nasrules]

Originally posted by overdo
have u tried running the compatibility wizard on the program?

yeh thats the first port of call. right click on it, go to Properties, then the Compatability tab.

[phalkon30]

Yeah, last part of my post, I said I tried compatability, trust me, I wish it were that easy, my first move was to try every freakin mode

I would tell you that this program is an antivirus program, I might even be able to tell you what brand it is, but unfortunately we have rules here about this type of software ;)

About reinstalling, this IS the installer, so thats not much of a help....

This also isn't the only file doing it now, I downloaded the latest XP printer drivers for my epson, it unpacked them fine, but wouldn't run the setup util, it gave the same error

I have a feeling its something with NTFS, I remember tweaking it out a while ago according to a website, something about dissable support for dos 8.3 file names...anybody know what I'm looking for? I can't find it now, but I'm looking on google

I'm thinking about reloading windows this weekend, so if its not fixed by then....oh well, but for future refference, if this comes back, I'd like to know what the hell I did!

[overdo]

yes i know what u mean. its in tweakXP or tweakUI. one of the two has that option in it.

[phalkon30]

Well, I found it, and it didn't help

I tried another version of this product, a newer version, its an msi installer, and now that doesn't work either! it starts the installer, opens the msi installer, then goes away, completely

[overdo]

have u tried installing any other programs? i've heard of some1 having a corrupt windows installer before so they redownloaded it from MS.

[PiRaNeTuS]

You may just have to reinstall the OS. I know that there were a few drivers that I tried to install for a printer that just would not install. XP just won't install some programs. But these are rare and few, and they have to be quite ancient. Practically anything new should work fine. I know that everything I've installed, with the exception of that one printer program, worked flawlessly. For those that didn't, the compatibility worked. I have my XP tweaked like hell and it doesn't cause any conflict with me. I have that Dos tweak you mentioned and no effect here. So maybe a reinstall will do the trick. Or maybe it is just one of those few that just will not work with XP.

[gorphon]

did you back up the registry before tweaking it phalkon? last known safe point or whatevertheheck winXP calls it, I dont know. if you did then you could reinstall the backup and slowly go through tweak by tweak to see which one caused the problem....time consuming as all hell though and only useful if you just HAVE to know. me, I think Id reformat cause Im lazy like that.

[phalkon30]

Originally posted by gorphon
reformat cause Im lazy like that.

To most people that sounds insane, to me that sounds about right :)

The drivers used to install fine, and I used to use 16bit apps all the time

I found some stuff on the MS KB, but it starts to get really advanced, and I don't feel like doing that much work, it involved editing some deep system files, like explorer.exe, some command.com, etc, I would also have to find a bunch of dll files, copy them from the cd, back to the hd, and I'm too lazy

This weekend I'll reformat, the only reason I'm putting it off, is because I borrowed a hd to my friend, and I want it back, but he hasn't been able to get another one, I want to install windows on it

[Grayfox]

I have the same problem, but I cant format!! too much data I still need
and evrything worked fine for me to, before I turned my FAT32 to NTFS ...
I did not tweak NTFS or something though :devil

btw I tried evrything they said could solve the problem on microsoft website... nothing helped
(I even expanded those dll's etc..)

I found this on google though, gonna try it in a sec

This seems to be an InstallShield problem with certain systems (normally those with the NtfsDisable8dot3 registry item set to 1). If you copy all the files to "c:\" (the top of drive C:), the install should run without any problems.

haha, it does the trick for me, putting all the install files loose on c: :fire :fire

[Grayfox]

haha, just fucking great, now I get another error, cant use the default folder to install the program plz specifie another folder, then when I specify another one he says again the same error!
This keeps going on untill i press cancel

(microsoft visual c++ btw :/ )

[Elistas]

Sometimes when I get that error, just running a standard COMMAND.COM window will get it working. Try clicking Start -> RUN and type COMMAND in the run box and click OK. (CMD.EXE, the standard "DOS" box in XP won't do it.) Then set the command.com window to full screen (ALT-ENTER) and try running the program you wish to run from there.

It may not work still, but I've gotten many programs that otherwise would give me that error to work using this method.