Will Windows XP games work in Windows 7?

[yairhol]

Hi,
I want to buy an ION netbook like the Asus eee PC 1201N but it comes with Windows 7.
My questions are these:
1. Will my older games that work on XP work also in Windows 7?
2. Can I Uninstall Windows 7 and install my XP on a netbook? In other words, do the operating systems of netbooks differ in anyway from those of PCs?

Thank you.

[MikeMangum]

I've only run across one game that would run in XP but not in Win7 (total annihilation) and that wouldn't run on XP 64 bit either. Windows 7 comes with (well, it's a free download) a Windows XP virtual machine. I think it's called "XP Mode" or something like that.

[Alan]

I've only run across one game that would run in XP but not in Win7 (total annihilation) and that wouldn't run on XP 64 bit either. Windows 7 comes with (well, it's a free download) a Windows XP virtual machine. I think it's called "XP Mode" or something like that.
That's for Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/default.aspx

[Darat]

I've only run across one game that would run in XP but not in Win7 (total annihilation) and that wouldn't run on XP 64 bit either. Windows 7 comes with (well, it's a free download) a Windows XP virtual machine. I think it's called "XP Mode" or something like that.

That's no good for running the likes of games.

[Darat]

Hi,
I want to buy an ION netbook like the Asus eee PC 1201N but it comes with Windows 7.
My questions are these:
1. Will my older games that work on XP work also in Windows 7?
2. Can I Uninstall Windows 7 and install my XP on a netbook? In other words, do the operating systems of netbooks differ in anyway from those of PCs?

Thank you.

I had a a bit of an issue with getting Civ to run but that's the only problem I've encountered so far (Win7 64bit).

[GreenLines]

Netbooks are simply lower powered laptops, and laptops are generally lower powered desktops.

1) It depends on which games you are attempting to use. I can be reasonably certain that without emulation if you attempt to run a 16-bit program and you are using a 64-bit operating system, the program will not be able to run.

2a)Generally you cannot "uninstall" an operating system, it's more of an erasure and overwrite. The operating system doesn't vary between a netbook, laptop, or desktop, generally. They may be limited by the hardware involved. Other then hardware and peripheral differences, if you were to install an operating system on two different machines, it will behave similarly.

2b) Being able to install your XP operating system over the Win7 install depends on your license. If you have an OEM version most likely it would be against the terms of use.

ETA:
That's no good for running the likes of games.

It depends on the type of game. Castle of the Winds, an old RPG, for example, won't run in Win7, but it runs just fine in the XP emulation. The game SimTower I didn't attempt to run in Win7, but other then some error pop-ups and a message about the "sound card" (since I'm not using sound for the emulator, no problem), game ran fine. Any game or program utilizing 3D elements, from somewhere on Microsoft's it was mentioned, will not run.

[yairhol]

I would like to play:
1. Far Cry.
2. Half Life 2.
3. Brothers in Arms (If I have the name correctly...it's a WWII game).
4. GTA 2.

My Windows XP is not OEM. I bought it seperately from any hardware. I assume I will be able to install it in the netbook right?

How about my office 97 which is for XP? Will that load on Windows 7?
I'm having a hard time switching to W7 because of all the softwares I have which were made for XP but I have no idea how they will behave on W7.
:(

[GreenLines]

I would like to play:
1. Far Cry.
2. Half Life 2.
3. Brothers in Arms (If I have the name correctly...it's a WWII game).
4. GTA 2.

I haven't tried Half Life 2 in Win7, but it worked well enough in Vista.

Though I keep noticing you're saying you want to play these on a netbook. Depending on the graphics processor, this may be a measure in futility.

My Windows XP is not OEM. I bought it seperately from any hardware. I assume I will be able to install it in the netbook right?

Installing and having it be a legal copy are two different matters. You may be able to get it to boot, but if you agreed to only use it to one computer, it may not be legal to install it to a netbook.

How about my office 97 which is for XP? Will that load on Windows 7?
I'm having a hard time switching to W7 because of all the softwares I have which were made for XP but I have no idea how they will behave on W7.
:(

I'm going to recommend skipping Office 97 and switch to Open Office unless you want to purchase a newer version of Office. I'm going to guess that Open Office can do everything that Office 97 can do, and much more. Not entirely sure, though, as I only use Office software maybe twice a year.

[Darat]

I would like to play:
1. Far Cry.
2. Half Life 2.
3. Brothers in Arms (If I have the name correctly...it's a WWII game).
4. GTA 2.

My Windows XP is not OEM. I bought it seperately from any hardware. I assume I will be able to install it in the netbook right?

How about my office 97 which is for XP? Will that load on Windows 7?
I'm having a hard time switching to W7 because of all the softwares I have which were made for XP but I have no idea how they will behave on W7.
:(


Have you run: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1B544E90-7659-4BD9-9E51-2497C146AF15&displaylang=en

[a_unique_person]

Netbook won't have a snowballs chance in hell of running those games, XP or 7. Also, you will probably have trouble even getting XP to install on the netbook.

[GreenLines]

Netbook won't have a snowballs chance in hell of running those games, XP or 7. Also, you will probably have trouble even getting XP to install on the netbook.

GTA2 would probably do all right. The others on the lowest settings would probably run, but not all that well.

[negativ]

Trying to run those games on a netbook, any netbook, is going to be extremely disappointing.

[yairhol]

Trying to run those games on a netbook, any netbook, is going to be extremely disappointing.

On regular netbooks you're right. That's why there are the ION netbooks.
From the HP mini forum (The HP mini 311 is very similar although a bit slower than the Asus 1201N):


List of games that are compatible with the HP Mini 311:


Half-Life 2 - perfect at high settings. 1280 x 720 not a problem at all. So far I haven't had anything bad yet except that the game can't run faster than 30fps thanks to CPU bottleneck. Note: not ep 1 or ep 2. Runs kind of like Counter Strike Source but since it doesn't usually have that many enemies on the screen at once, it runs relatively smooth.

Call of Duty 2 - perfect at low settings. 1280 x 720 not a problem at all at any stage. Reduce resolution and you can start putting in shadows and the other stuffs.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Perfect on lowest settings

Far Cry - Runs in native resolution very well, no lag.

GTR 2 - Runs in native resolution, no lag.



The ION chip is an Nvidia graphics chip designed to work in netbooks and deliver much much better graphic performance.
My initial question was will these games work in W7 and I assumed that they do run well on ION netbooks.

[yairhol]

Have you run: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1B544E90-7659-4BD9-9E51-2497C146AF15&displaylang=en

Thanks for this but before I run this I need to install my XP, install all the games and then run the application right?

[NobleXenon54]

I installed a few Windows XP games onto Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. It will most likely ask you to install a few DirectX9c files. It didn't seem to mess up my system, since Windows 7 has DirectX11.

[negativ]

Well, I'm still skeptical about the performance of those games on the hardware in question, BUT I can assure you from first-hand experience that HL2, CoD4, and FC run flawlessly (meaning, no compatibility problems) on my desktop running 64-bit Win7.

I'm not running anything approaching cutting-edge hardware, either.
Athlon 64 x2 7750 Kuma
GeForce 9800GTx
4GB PC2-6400 RAM


Side note: I bought that RAM in Feb of 09 for $39.99 *not on sale*, and today the price for the exact same sku# is $94.99

Whyyyyyy didn't I buy 8GB? Whyyyyy???

Not that I'm suffering with merely 4GB, but:

http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/toons/justin_purchasetimeline.gif

[WildCat]

On regular netbooks you're right. That's why there are the ION netbooks.
From the HP mini forum (The HP mini 311 is very similar although a bit slower than the Asus 1201N):



The ION chip is an Nvidia graphics chip designed to work in netbooks and deliver much much better graphic performance.
My initial question was will these games work in W7 and I assumed that they do run well on ION netbooks.
So you can run them on a netbook, but why would you want to? Tiny keyboard, tiny screen... doesn't sound like much fun.

[WildCat]

Side note: I bought that RAM in Feb of 09 for $39.99 *not on sale*, and today the price for the exact same sku# is $94.99

Whyyyyyy didn't I buy 8GB? Whyyyyy???
I'm going through the same thing you are... what the hell happened to the price of RAM? I'm hoping it goes back down soon.

I only bought 4GB when I was running XP, now I have W7-64 and I could really use more.

[Darat]

Thanks for this but before I run this I need to install my XP, install all the games and then run the application right?


No you can run it on your current system to see what games and other software it flags, just ignore it's comments about your hardware.

[SkepticScott]

I'm going to recommend skipping Office 97 and switch to Open Office unless you want to purchase a newer version of Office. I'm going to guess that Open Office can do everything that Office 97 can do, and much more. Not entirely sure, though, as I only use Office software maybe twice a year.I tried OpenOffice but found that its word processor couldn't do the very first moderately-complicated thing I tried: dictionary-style headings. It seems that this has been an open issue for several years.

[a_unique_person]

I'm going through the same thing you are... what the hell happened to the price of RAM? I'm hoping it goes back down soon.

I only bought 4GB when I was running XP, now I have W7-64 and I could really use more.

Those plants are all being changed over to DDR3 now, they aren't making DDR2 like they used to, just when 64 bit windows is taking off.

[dudalb]

I tried OpenOffice but found that its word processor couldn't do the very first moderately-complicated thing I tried: dictionary-style headings. It seems that this has been an open issue for several years.



OT:I KNEW there were other ASL devotees here at JREF!

As for the original topic: I understand that the 32 bit version of Windows 7 actually runs XP games better then Vista did, but there are some issues with the 64 bit version. It all depends on the game.
And then, of course, people tend to blame the OS when other things are to blame. Video Card Drivers can be very picky about older games..Nivdia in particular.