IT Advice for a computer cretin

[lurker]

Some time ago I "aquired" a proffessional copy of Autocad. Ran nice on windows 98 (or whatever!)

Upgraded computer to one running more recent windows. Autocad dics will of course not run on this.

Any way round??

 

[misterfish]

I know you can run older programs in compatibility mode with XP.

I think you may have to experiment a bit, but can you actually install the program? If so you then need to find the AutoCAD executab;e file to star the program (not the shortcut, if there is a shortcut).

All you then need to do once you have found the .exe file is to right click on it, select properties, click on the compatibility tab, and then 'play' with the compatibilty mode settings: click on the 'Run this program in compatibility mode for' box and then (maybe) try selecting 'Windows 98 / Windows Me' from the combo box. Click apply and see if you get any joy if you then try to run it. I believe it works for some things and not others.

MisterFish

 

[Chris Knight]

A good solution to many of these problems is to use a Virtual Machine. I am using Parallels on my Mac - you can also get it for Windows machines. Then you can run many different operating systems in that VM _ I currenly have Windows XP and Linux in VMs for a few programs I like and need that run under those OSs but not Mac OSX.

A side benefit is that a VM is just a file that can be copied and backed up anywhere - I have a couple on my iPod - so it's a good way of ensuring that if your PC goes down, you have what you need handy. You can also use them to play with stuff that you are not sure of and wish to insulate from your main system.