Can I play old CD Rom (windows 95 or 3.1x) on Windows 7? Anyway of doing this?

sunni

Hello

I've just found an old CD Rom and I'd love to listen to it on my laptop which is Windows 7.

On the CD it says Version 6.01 for Windows and the cover says Windows 95 or Windows 3.1x

Is there anyway of watching this on Windows 7?

sunni

droopsnoot

It depends on what's on it - CD-Rom just refers to the type of disc itself, which might have many different content types on it. If it's just a movie, for example, you just need to have a suitable player on Win7 for that movie format. If it's a software package, then you may have more trouble, but maybe not. Win7 can have "Virtual PC" added to it (at no cost, I think) that would allow you to run a virtual installation of the older operating system if necessary.

What's the full title of the CD-ROM? Maybe someone will have more useful knowledge if we know what it is.

bod1467

I suspect it's one of those old music CDs that installed something on your computer to prevent copying/DRM protection.

sunni

It's a medical library CD which would be very useful for a course I'm studying, hope that helps.

bod1467

Put the CD in the drive.

Cancel any autostart that may come up. Open the CD folder to view the files.

Select the setup.exe (or whatever the application is called) then right-click on it. Select the Properties option.

Select the Compatibility tab.

Select the Run this program in compatibility mode option then choose Windows 95 from the list.

Select the Run this program as an administrator option.

Click OK.

Double-click setup.exe to run and install.

That's a general guideline on how to install an application that is not designed for the current Windows OS in use. It is not a guarantee of function and no liability is accepted should you follow this and your computer gets borked!

prowla

If it needs a program to run it which won't install under Windows 7, etc., then you could get VMware Player (free) and create a virtual machine and install an older version of Windows onto that, and then use it to run your CD. I've done that for a couple of older programs, including a scanner which is supported up to Windows XP and an older game on Windows ME. I've also tested Windows 98 and DOS; your biggest issue with DOS would be if your PC doesn't have a floppy drive.

sunni

bod1467 wrote: »

Put the CD in the drive.

Cancel any autostart that may come up. Open the CD folder to view the files.

Select the setup.exe (or whatever the application is called) then right-click on it. Select the Properties option.

Select the Compatibility tab.

Select the Run this program in compatibility mode option then choose Windows 95 from the list.

Select the Run this program as an administrator option.

Click OK.

Double-click setup.exe to run and install.

That's a general guideline on how to install an application that is not designed for the current Windows OS in use. It is not a guarantee of function and no liability is accepted should you follow this and your computer gets borked!

Have tried this but when I double click on setup.exe I still get the message 'The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows your running. Check your program's system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher'.

sunni

prowla wrote: »

If it needs a program to run it which won't install under Windows 7, etc., then you could get VMware Player (free) and create a virtual machine and install an older version of Windows onto that, and then use it to run your CD. I've done that for a couple of older programs, including a scanner which is supported up to Windows XP and an older game on Windows ME. I've also tested Windows 98 and DOS; your biggest issue with DOS would be if your PC doesn't have a floppy drive.

Sorry just not sure what I'm meant to do here, not a technie unfortunatly lol I just posted from the previous reply.

garynuman

With the dates you have specified, the software is probably old-school 16-bit. If your laptop is windows (64-bit) - you're stuffed as there is no longer an emulation layer for 16-bit software.

If you're desperate to run it, you may need to look into virtualisation whereby you run an earlier version of Windows in a window from within Windows 7.

So:

If your laptop has Windows 7 Professional installed, you can download and install 'Windows XP Mode' which will allow the software to run.

Or

Alternatively, check out VirtualBox (free), Virtual PC (free) or VMware (Paid). You'll also need the set-up media for installing something like Windows 95/98/XP.

Hope this helps.

Gaz