This varies between "functionally impossible" to "tricky but doable" depending on the game. Generally speaking getting old games to run via using the original media is very hard. The easiest way is to buy them again on GOG.com. Second easiest is to quasi-legaly (legal in my country, illegal in others) download a pirated copy of the GOG version. The other options I'd need to know which game before I promise anything.
I have to re-buy games I already own? 🫠
You own a version of the games, sure, but the version you own is effectively useless on a modern system.
Perhaps the taste is less sour if you consider what you are paying for here is someone else doing the hard work to get an old game to run on modern hardware, saving you all that frustration and effort and time.
Well not if you can dig up and get running the computer you bought the games for, or one say 5-10 years younger. Windows XP will do for anything on a CD, Windows 95 for anything on a 3.5 floppy. 5.25 floppy then most will run on 3.1.
It's just that it's a lot of work ensuring backwards compatibility and it's not always a good idea, I'd argue the software world, in general, strive to much for backwards compatibility but that's another discussion.
That work needs funding so it's either pay GOG for the work that has been done remaking parts or repacking to make it run on modern computers. Or look to the hobbyist side of things but since they aren't paid, they of course seldom package what they do in an easy to consume format leading to enormous guides with 20 steps that maybe works, but probably not if you don't have an exact setup like the guy who wrote its.
Unfortunately in the 2020s you don't even own the games you have the physical media for.
Edit: as a more serious answer, Linux might be a better bet than Windows for playing windows games (ironically), either through Proton or Wine.
Gog has some ways to claim drm-free digital versions of gsmes you bouhht elsewhere. May be worth a shot.
From GoG specifically, as they patch the older games on their store to "just run" on modern Windows
You're trying to get games built for a different OS (e.g., Win98) to run on your current OS. If it doesn't work out-of-the-box, you're going to need to seek a solution that either requires emulation or significant hoops to jump through. For example: if the game was built for a 16-bit machine, and you're running a 64-bit version of Windows, the game is just not going to work natively.
DOSBox may not work as it's an x86 emulator intended for MS-DOS. However, earlier versions of Windows (up to Win95) were just shells to MS-DOS. So, if the games in question were built for Win95 or earlier, DOSBox could be an option. I've also successfully installed Win98 on DOSBox but have run in to issues with drivers.
It may be best to simply list the games you're trying to get running and seeing if someone else has gotten them to run in Win10.
Consider installing a Linux distro and trying WINE.
Sounds incredibly stupid, I know, but WINE has far better backwards compatibility than modern Windows.
I used to use PlayOnLinux for exactly this thing. It's a front end/manager for WINE. Heroic and Lutris are similar, but have carried the concept further.
Download and Install Oracle VM VirtualBox from here
https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.0.12/VirtualBox-7.0.12-159484-Win.exe
Follow the steps here to create a Windows 98 Virtual Machine
https://i12bretro.github.io/tutorials/0070.html
After that (assuming you have a CD/DVD Drive), you'll need to do VirtualBox's Machine > Settings > Storage > Enable Passthrough for the DVD drive; them just plug in the game disk.
$5 to this person OP.
Linux isn't going to help, and why the hell would you want to buy or pirate (and run the risk of malware) something you already own.
Going to have to disagree on the second bit. Nearly every game that was released on XP or earlier has run better for me with WINE or DosBox in Linux than Windows. Proton and Lutris/Heroic have only made it better. I have the Might and Magic collection and Mass Effect Remastered on my deck and both run flawlessly with little setup.
Are you seriously suggesting that a game meant to run on Windows 98 runs better on wine than it does on Windows 98?
Indeed. Linux, with WINE is known to outperform Windows, sometimes by a wide margin, for older games for some time. Win98 hasn't seen any development in about two decades. Meanwhile, people who enjoy old software have been continually improving WINE, allowing modern hardware and OS advances to be leveraged and unpatched low-level issues to be fixed. Linux is very much a better Win98 than Win98.
Things have improved a lot since the 90s.
It would help to know specific games, as many games of that era require extra fan made patches to run on modern systems. You could buy them again from GOG with these already packaged with it, but depending on the game, there is probably a free option available to you if you have the original discs.
How old are these games? What OS did you play them in? Better question: which games specifically?
What are the contents of the CD? If every file has an uppercase name then it's likely to be a DOS game and DOSBox really is your best option.
If they are point-and-click adventure games, look into ScummVM, it may be easier than messing with DOSBox.
1994 - 1996 and beyond. Originally played on Win98, currently on Win10. Trying out several different CDROMS, but I've been testing out an old "Learning in Toyland" CD, but I also have an old "Yukon Trail" CD I'm trying to boot up.
I've tried DOSBOX, but I keep getting messages like "requires Windows" or whatnot. Like HOE, I HAVE WINDOWS AND IT DON'T EVEN WORK
Dosbox is for dos games ;) If they ran on Win98 then try them on Win98 again. Get something like Virtualbox and make yourself a Win98 machine to play with.
Seconding the recommendation for Virtualbox. Wanted to play my old Lego Island CD a few years ago and I just booted it up in an old Windows VM. Worked like a charm.
Great comment, exactly right.
Hilarious to imagine from the perspective of a non tech savy person though: your virtual machine program "something box" is for the other old windows, not the old windows you want. Get this "other box" windows thing to make the right old windows so you can play windows games on your windows pc.
Have you tried installing a copy of Windows in Dosbox, then install the game from there? I remember doing something like that to play the original SimTower.
Very likely the game is 16 bit mode, which is why nothing in Windows 10's compatibility mode is working, as it doesn't support 16 bit programs.
Ahhh....you're trying to play Windows 3.1 games...that's why you're having issues...yeah emulation for Windows 3.1's random differences from Windows 95 and DOS are surprisingly rare still.
There's no dedicated emulator for Windows 3.1 yet. I personally installed a copy onto Doxbox, but it's not a very easy solution.
But I can tell it's 3.1 cause one of those is The Learning Company and the later versions of the Super Solver games have the same issues.
Ditch Windows and install Linux and Steam, then add your game to the library as a non-Steam app and use the compatibility tab in the properties menu to force the use of the Proton compatibility layer. You should then be able to run the game through steam as normal. This has worked for me with almost all my old games and will probably work for you too.
How does that work if you haven't installed the game already? Also, what about copy protection?
Add the setup/installer executable as a non-steam game, run it to do the install, then modify the non-steam game's settings to point at the installed executable so it can run from the directory where it is installed.
I'm positively surprised that this works.
That will make installing old games so much easier on my Steam Deck. Thanks!
No problem! I've used this trick to run non-game Windows apps on the Steam Deck too, though support can vary wildly.
As an alternative, you might also check Lutris, which employs user scripts for installing and running Windows software in Linux. You can even add them to Steam so they'll work in the Steam Deck's gaming mode:
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/6s0pt7/launch_wine_games_from_lutris_on_steam/
He has to install them first, and how would he do that with an original CDROM for a Windows program?
As others have said, you're in that pocket of time where the game wants more than DOS, but less than modern windows, which isn't well catered to. Your best option is a windows 98 or 95 virtual machine, which is doable, but not trivial or quick to set up.
Check each game's entry on PCGamingWiki. They're a good resource for finding what it takes to get old games running well on modern PCs. A lot of times, the answer is either "buy it on Steam and use a community-made patch" or "buy it on GOG".
I'm curious, what games are you trying to get working?
sourcing an older computer that can run xp isn't terribly difficult, or expensive. don't need internets for them, don't need massive video card, or a big high-res monitor. in the end, finding one, and a little space to set it up, is a lot easier and with far fewer headaches than getting many of the old games to run on 'modern' windows or linux.
i have systems from an old celeron 300a to dual core am2 to play the really old games on.. even have crt and white kb/mouse for the full 'experience'.
I tried to get some JumpStart games to run with DOSBOX a few years ago on Windows 7. Iirc I managed to install but not run the game.
I recently tried a bit to try and get another 16bit game run on Arch Linux with WINE in win98 or 95 mode but that still didn't pan out.
Honestly it's probably doable in some way without one but next time I try I'll probably use a VM (Virtual Machine).
Windows 10 really isn't meant for gaming. Buy a console and the corresponding game copy for that console, and play it like that.
I've gone through this song and dance before with my old games and the most success I've had is with wine on Linux. It's not foolproof unfortunately, and takes a bit of tinkering. It likely won't work for every game either. You'll probably want to find tutorials for each specific game you're trying to run. Another option I've had some success with is running a windows xp VM. But again this isn't foolproof and requires some technical literacy
I haven't personally tried using the tools in this video, but they may be an easier way to set up virtual machines for specific older hardware/ windows machines for gaming.
try using pcem or other kinds of virtualisation
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