FYI: DOS runs fine under WinXP

Del · Post by **Del** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 8:31 am

Alot of people are under the impression that DOS programs will not run with Windows XP. This is totally untrue. In fact the DOS programs I've tried have been more stable with XP. This is only my opinion but I would suggest upgrading to XP because of it's stability. I've had one Windows program lock up and the system did a great job recovering without requiring a reboot.

Sorry if this is a bit off topic.

Les_the_Sarge_9_1 · Post by **Les_the_Sarge_9_1** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 9:03 am

Without wanting to sound techy (cause I aint) XP was designed intentionally to be DOS friendly (so I am told). So its no wonder my XP platform is causing me no trouble with DOS applications.

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 9:43 am

It's funny how we can get DOS things to run farely well under XP but many older windows based programs (Win 95&98) don't work very well in XP even in emulation mode and many companies claim it's not worth it to create patches to make them compatible.

[ January 20, 2002: Message edited by: gmenfan ]</p>

skukko · Post by **skukko** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 10:50 am

I did get ***ked up hard when I first saw that XP is causing troubles if C&C is On. Is this correct information ?? I ask of you as it seems you have played with XP/spwaw.

mosh

Lars Remmen · Post by **Lars Remmen** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 1:07 pm

Originally posted by skukko:
I did get ***ked up hard when I first saw that XP is causing troubles if C&C is On. Is this correct information ?? I ask of you as it seems you have played with XP/spwaw.

mosh

Hi,

There are only problems withC&C when playing a Mega Campaign IIRC. Playing under Win2000 and NT should give you similar problems.

Regards,

Lars

Jackk · Post by **Jackk** » Thu Jan 24, 2002 9:45 pm

Originally posted by Del:
Alot of people are under the impression that DOS programs will not run with Windows XP. This is totally untrue. In fact the DOS programs I've tried have been more stable with XP. This is only my opinion but I would suggest upgrading to XP because of it's stability. I've had one Windows program lock up and the system did a great job recovering without requiring a reboot.

Sorry if this is a bit off topic.

Del,
Have you or anyone else had any luck running Age of Rifles in XP? I have a friend who just got a new machine with XP and cannot get it to run.

Just wondering if someone may have some clues on this.

Bing · Post by **Bing** » Thu Jan 24, 2002 9:55 pm

Are the comments regarding running DOS programs under Win XP pertaining to the Professional Version, or the lower priced one? I"ve heard XP Pro is very good, but I"ll be darned if I think it would be worth $200. for their "upgrade".

Plus, what happens when I want to add a periperal - or transfer to a different computer - I have to call Microsoft to be able to go to the bathroom? I don't like their "authentication" garbage and know a lot of other people don't. Anyone have experience with this nonsense? I have computer professional friends who won't go to XP for this very reason.

Bing

Jackk · Post by **Jackk** » Thu Jan 24, 2002 10:23 pm

Originally posted by Bing:
Plus, what happens when I want to add a periperal - or transfer to a different computer - I have to call Microsoft to be able to go to the bathroom? I don't like their "authentication" garbage and know a lot of other people don't. Anyone have experience with this nonsense? I have computer professional friends who won't go to XP for this very reason.

Bing

I have some knowledge on this part of it.
The product activation uses numbers generated from your hardware configuration to create another number for your machine. When you activate your copy of XP, this number is tied to your product key. That way, if you try to install the same copy of XP on your 2nd machine, it will create a new number and then find out that it doesn't match up with the product key.
There is a limit to what you can add/change in your system before it asks you to re-activate your OS. As I understand it, you can change/add 6 pieces of hardware without having to reactivate as long as you don't change your NIC. If you do change your NIC, it's limited to 4 pieces of hardware. I haven't pushed the limit yet, but I have changed my NIC and a SCSI card without a problem. And keep in mind that this is internal stuff. Adding a printer or scanner or some other external device will not foul you up. Can you imagine the corporate headaches if that were so?
Also, if your machine came with XP pre-installed, the number is generated using part of your motherboard's BIOS identifier, so on OEM boxes you can upgrade all the hardware you want until you change the motherboard.
I also read somewhere that after 120 days the slate gets wiped clean and you can upgrade at will....however, I've only seen that once so I don't know if it's true or not.
Unless you're a power freak who is always swapping parts and trying new equipment, I wouldn't worry about it. Most "normal" users will never have to worry about it.