Run-time error '50003': Unexpected error

My old computer finally died (10 years old with WinME of which I had
very few problems, except for the PC's power supply which had to be
replaced 3 times!), so I bought a new computer and, foolishly, bought
Windows Vista Home Basic rather than XP. Naturally, I spent hours
just getting the right printer drivers. I got the computer to the
point where I can use it, fairly comfortably, but some of my games
don't work 100%. In one game, if I click on, say, the "show game
stats" button, a small window pops-up saying "Run-time error '50003':
Unexpected error", and then kills the program. The net and MS' online
support seems to think that it's either a GIF problem (i.e., 16-bit vs
32-bit) or a VB issue, but I tried all the reasonable-sounding
solutions, and, of course, none worked. I'm a computer programmer with
over 30 years of experience, and had a sideline job of fixing PC
hardware/software, but this has me baffled. Anyone having a
definitive fix (not a guess) would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi,

Are these software bits the same ones you installed under WinME? If so, they
are highly unlikely to be certified for use in Vista. Programming for
Windows has changed significantly in the past 10 years. In WinME, it was
common to write to or alter system files and folders on the fly during
program operation. This is no longer allowed, program have to run within the
user environment. To use older software like that, there are several
options: You can install a virtual machine and load a WinME installation,
you can run the software in compatibility mode, or you can contact the
distributor for an updated version that is designed to run in Vista
(software that old written for Win9x installations is unlikely to have
patches).

As to 16 vs 32 bit, as long as you are using the x86 version of Vista and
not x64, there is support for 16-bit routines. x64 does not support any
16-bit routines.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"skaizun" <> wrote in message
news:1623ef23-77f2-4fbe-9c30-...
> My old computer finally died (10 years old with WinME of which I had
> very few problems, except for the PC's power supply which had to be
> replaced 3 times!), so I bought a new computer and, foolishly, bought
> Windows Vista Home Basic rather than XP. Naturally, I spent hours
> just getting the right printer drivers. I got the computer to the
> point where I can use it, fairly comfortably, but some of my games
> don't work 100%. In one game, if I click on, say, the "show game
> stats" button, a small window pops-up saying "Run-time error '50003':
> Unexpected error", and then kills the program. The net and MS' online
> support seems to think that it's either a GIF problem (i.e., 16-bit vs
> 32-bit) or a VB issue, but I tried all the reasonable-sounding
> solutions, and, of course, none worked. I'm a computer programmer with
> over 30 years of experience, and had a sideline job of fixing PC
> hardware/software, but this has me baffled. Anyone having a
> definitive fix (not a guess) would be appreciated. Thanks.

Rick Rogers <> wrote:
>
> As to 16 vs 32 bit, as long as you are using the x86 version of Vista and
> not x64, there is support for 16-bit routines. x64 does not support any
> 16-bit routines.
>

More specifically, it's the CPU that does not support Virtual 8086 mode when
in x64 Long mode. You can emulate it in software with VirtualPC or DOSBox
though.

ss.