Will Vista run DOS Programs?

If I can't use WordPerfect 5.0, I am out of business. Will Vista run
DOS programs as transparantly and as well as Win98?

"DavidB" <#davidb105#@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:. ..
> If I can't use WordPerfect 5.0, I am out of business. Will Vista run
> DOS programs as transparantly and as well as Win98?

No. Whether or not it will run what you want is a different question though
and the only way to find out is to try it or to get someone else to try it.

Try making a shortcut to the app and configure the shortcut to run in
compatibility mode. My guess is that you will still see issues. I
don't know of any other DOS emulators out there other than DOSBOX but
you can try that. My question to you is why on earth are you still
using DOS versions of an app? DOS is quite dead except for the
utilities. If you still need to use dos, setup a Virtual PC. But why
when Windows has such nice new versions? That's like saying you still
drive a horse and buggy around town instead of a Honda.

"DavidB" <#davidb105#@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:. ..
> If I can't use WordPerfect 5.0, I am out of business. Will Vista run
> DOS programs as transparantly and as well as Win98?

There is a freely available program called DOSBox which may run Word Perfect
5, under Vista.

"DavidB" <#davidb105#@sbcglobal.net> wrote...
> If I can't use WordPerfect 5.0, I am out of business. Will Vista run
> DOS programs as transparantly and as well as Win98?


Hi David,

I general terms, yes: 32-bit Vista can run DOS applications (64-bit Vista
cannot run DOS apps - this applies to all 64-bit versions of Windows: XP,
Server 2003, Vista & Server 2008).

However, specific DOS apps may encounter various compatibility issues, when
running on Vista.

According to Edward Mendelson's popular WordPerfect user site, WordPerfect
for DOS may hit several problems running on Vista:

http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/index.html

If you are using the Vista "Aero" interface (the fancy graphics they show in
all the advertisements) then you cannot run a DOS application full-screen;
DOS apps can only run in a window, under Aero. For WordPerfect, this might
result in an unacceptably small display, if you're used to running it
full-screen. In order to run DOS apps full-screen, you would need to use a
non-WDDM graphics driver, such as an XP driver; and you'd lose the fancy
graphics (if they matter, at all).

One possible workaround would be to use Virtual PC:

Virtual PC 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...c/default.mspx

This is a free download from Microsoft. You can create a "Virtual Machine"
to run Windows 98 or DOS, and your WordPerfect 5.0; and run the VM as an
application on your Vista desktop. Since the resource requirements for
Windows 98 or DOS are pretty light, this won't require large amounts of
extra memory etc, for performance to be good. This way, you can keep
WordPerfect running in the highly compatible environment of Windows 98, but
still take advantage of the new features in Vista.

Be aware also Corel have not released an iFilter for WordPerfect 5.x files,
so the Search facility in Vista won't be able to search your WordPerfect 5.0
files. The closest you could come would be to treat them as plain text
files, and index them that way.

I guess you're already aware but, Corel WordPerfect X3 runs fine on Vista,
as a native Windows application; and it offers a "WordPerfect Classic" mode
which very closely resembles WordPerfect 5.1 (keystrokes, white text on blue
screen, macros etc).

Hope it helps,

--
Andrew McLaren
amclar (at) optusnet dot com dot au

On Nov 23, 8:29 pm, "Andrew McLaren" <and...@fakeaddress.com> wrote:
> "DavidB" <#davidb1...@sbcglobal.net> wrote...
> > If I can't use WordPerfect 5.0, I am out of business. Will Vista run
> > DOS programs as transparantly and as well as Win98?
>
> Hi David,
>
> I general terms, yes: 32-bit Vista can run DOS applications (64-bit Vista
> cannot run DOS apps - this applies to all 64-bit versions of Windows: XP,
> Server 2003, Vista & Server 2008).
>
> However, specific DOS apps may encounter various compatibility issues, when
> running on Vista.
>
> According to Edward Mendelson's popular WordPerfect user site, WordPerfect
> for DOS may hit several problems running on Vista:
>
> http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/index.html
>
> If you are using the Vista "Aero" interface (the fancy graphics they show in
> all the advertisements) then you cannot run a DOS application full-screen;
> DOS apps can only run in a window, under Aero. For WordPerfect, this might
> result in an unacceptably small display, if you're used to running it
> full-screen. In order to run DOS apps full-screen, you would need to use a
> non-WDDM graphics driver, such as an XP driver; and you'd lose the fancy
> graphics (if they matter, at all).
>
> One possible workaround would be to use Virtual PC:
>
> Virtual PC 2007
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...tualpc/default...
>
> This is a free download from Microsoft. You can create a "Virtual Machine"
> to run Windows 98 or DOS, and your WordPerfect 5.0; and run the VM as an
> application on your Vista desktop. Since the resource requirements for
> Windows 98 or DOS are pretty light, this won't require large amounts of
> extra memory etc, for performance to be good. This way, you can keep
> WordPerfect running in the highly compatible environment of Windows 98, but
> still take advantage of the new features in Vista.

However VPC only supports running on Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate
host systems. Home Basic, and Home premium are not supported (same as
XP Home) for no apparent reason. Instead of upgrading to Ultimate,
save the money and buy a windows version of Word Perfect.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/dow...pc/sysreq.mspx


other options include

-Dosbox as mentioned by others. Probably the easiest.

-Virtual Box which worked fine on my Celeron under XP, but my Turion
BSODs under Vista whenever I tried to run it. Never figured out what
the problem was.
http://www.virtualbox.org/

King of virtualization remains VMWare.
Their free products are:
-VMWare server:
http://www.vmware.com/products/server/

-VMWare Player:
http://www.vmware.com/products/player/

"throwitout" <> wrote in message
news:f0093aff-55ef-465d-b36b-...
>
> However VPC only supports running on Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate
> host systems. Home Basic, and Home premium are not supported (same as
> XP Home) for no apparent reason. Instead of upgrading to Ultimate,
> save the money and buy a windows version of Word Perfect.
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/dow...pc/sysreq.mspx
>
>
> other options include
>
> -Dosbox as mentioned by others. Probably the easiest.
>
> -Virtual Box which worked fine on my Celeron under XP, but my Turion
> BSODs under Vista whenever I tried to run it. Never figured out what
> the problem was.
> http://www.virtualbox.org/
>
> King of virtualization remains VMWare.
> Their free products are:
> -VMWare server:
> http://www.vmware.com/products/server/
>
> -VMWare Player:
> http://www.vmware.com/products/player/
>

I have seen posters in other NG(s) state that they have gotten VPC to run on
the non business classed versions on the Vista O/S.

"throwitout" <> wrote in message
news:f0093aff-55ef-465d-b36b-...
> On Nov 23, 8:29 pm, "Andrew McLaren" <and...@fakeaddress.com> wrote:
>> "DavidB" <#davidb1...@sbcglobal.net> wrote...
>> > If I can't use WordPerfect 5.0, I am out of business. Will Vista run
>> > DOS programs as transparantly and as well as Win98?
>>
>> Hi David,
>>
>> I general terms, yes: 32-bit Vista can run DOS applications (64-bit Vista
>> cannot run DOS apps - this applies to all 64-bit versions of Windows: XP,
>> Server 2003, Vista & Server 2008).
>>
>> However, specific DOS apps may encounter various compatibility issues, when
>> running on Vista.
>>
>> According to Edward Mendelson's popular WordPerfect user site, WordPerfect
>> for DOS may hit several problems running on Vista:
>>
>> http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/index.html
>>
>> If you are using the Vista "Aero" interface (the fancy graphics they show in
>> all the advertisements) then you cannot run a DOS application full-screen;
>> DOS apps can only run in a window, under Aero. For WordPerfect, this might
>> result in an unacceptably small display, if you're used to running it
>> full-screen. In order to run DOS apps full-screen, you would need to use a
>> non-WDDM graphics driver, such as an XP driver; and you'd lose the fancy
>> graphics (if they matter, at all).
>>
>> One possible workaround would be to use Virtual PC:
>>
>> Virtual PC 2007
>> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...tualpc/default...
>>
>> This is a free download from Microsoft. You can create a "Virtual Machine"
>> to run Windows 98 or DOS, and your WordPerfect 5.0; and run the VM as an
>> application on your Vista desktop. Since the resource requirements for
>> Windows 98 or DOS are pretty light, this won't require large amounts of
>> extra memory etc, for performance to be good. This way, you can keep
>> WordPerfect running in the highly compatible environment of Windows 98, but
>> still take advantage of the new features in Vista.
>
> However VPC only supports running on Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate
> host systems. Home Basic, and Home premium are not supported (same as
> XP Home) for no apparent reason. Instead of upgrading to Ultimate,
> save the money and buy a windows version of Word Perfect.
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/dow...pc/sysreq.mspx

VPC 2007 is not "supported" on Home, but it *will* run just fine.


-Michael

> other options include
>
> -Dosbox as mentioned by others. Probably the easiest.
>
> -Virtual Box which worked fine on my Celeron under XP, but my Turion
> BSODs under Vista whenever I tried to run it. Never figured out what
> the problem was.
> http://www.virtualbox.org/
>
> King of virtualization remains VMWare.
> Their free products are:
> -VMWare server:
> http://www.vmware.com/products/server/
>
> -VMWare Player:
> http://www.vmware.com/products/player/
>

In article <FF0782F6-CBA5-4CB3-B02F->,
says...
> "DavidB" <#davidb105#@sbcglobal.net> wrote...
> If you are using the Vista "Aero" interface (the fancy graphics they show in
> all the advertisements) then you cannot run a DOS application full-screen;
> DOS apps can only run in a window, under Aero. For WordPerfect, this might
> result in an unacceptably small display, if you're used to running it
> full-screen. In order to run DOS apps full-screen, you would need to use a
> non-WDDM graphics driver, such as an XP driver; and you'd lose the fancy
> graphics (if they matter, at all).

This is not always true. It appears to be driver dependent. The stock
Vista drivers supposedly support full-screen DOS or console-mode program
with Aero, but the ATI/AMD and nVidia drivers don't.

--
If there is a no_junk in my address, please REMOVE it before replying!
All junk mail senders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law!!
http://home.att.net/~andyross

On 24-Nov-2007, "Andrew McLaren" <> wrote:

> One possible workaround would be to use Virtual PC:

Does VPC run continually, consuming resources, or does it
only run when specific programs run. I've got some XP
32bit programs that won't install under Vista Ultimate 64bit.
The program vendors say they don't support 64bit Vista.