Retro PC Games - will they play on XP?

[Debo]

Hi y'all,

I am getting these urges to dig out a few old games, like Red Alert and such for the PC. In particular, with the release of the buggy F1 2010, I have been looking at an old Microprose GP2 game... obviously we're talking of a game dating back to the mid-90's here, adn the computer specification is Windows 95 or DOS!!!

My question is, would a game like this, or indeed Red Alert (which is Windows 98) run on a modern PC using XP?

[Superman]

should do. XP isnt groundbreakingly different to 98 or 95...

You can just download a game for XP probably!

I have Red Alert on my iPhone!

[PuntoGt031087]

ive managed to get some old classics working on vista after downloading various missing DLL files. XP should be fine though

[mozovdarlo]

If it doesn't you can usually find a patch so it can be played on XP, failing that you can install it to xp then right click the start icon, then goto properties and then click the head compatibility. Once there tick the compatibility box and select the prefered OS. Win98 should load most.

[Debo]

Red Alert is epic. I'm gonna dig that out and give it a go!!

I fancy the new F1 2010 for my PS3, but it's very buggy apparently, and I've not got the internet enabled on it, so I wont be able to download the patches as and when they become availble. Then it just jogged my memory that I used to play GP2 as a kid! I preferred life when I was about 11/12, so fancied a go on that

[Debo]

Actually, just thought, I might have Vista! I don't know why I thought it was XP??

So I could just install the games as normal, then when they've installed, right click start menu, properties, compatibility, and then set it to Win '98? Then it should run?

[mozovdarlo]

It does on some but not all unfortunately

[PuntoGt031087]

as above, some will work on vista with no problems, others are a royal pain to get working

[silent_thunder89]

Try the above. If it doesnt work and you really need to play, use VMware or similar to install XP on a virtual machine.

[rixf666]

dont know about the start menu, but if you right click on the actual game icon on the desktop you can chose compatibility mode that way.