Delphi 7 New Application crashes when Step Into (recently) with access violation

Question

I am running Delphi 7 on Windows 7 Professional. Recently the following error started happening:

I start Delphi, which comes up with a default new application. I then save this empty application with no code other than the default. If I run the application (f9) all is fine. However, if I use Trace Into (f7) the program crashes with an access violation error on the first line of code after begin. "Application.initialize.

I have added nothing! The program does run when I execute it with f9. It and other programs stop or crash whenever I try and use the Step Into f7.

The error is :

Project Project3.exe raised exception class EAccessViolation with message 'Access violation at address 0044C4C0 in module Project3.exe' Write of address 0044C4C0'

I have uninstalled Delphi and reinstalled it in its own directory off Root/Delphi7. Still the same error occurs.

Any help would be great!

Regards, Arnold

program Project3;

uses
  Forms,
  Unit3 in 'Unit3.pas' {Form1};

{$R *.res}

begin
  Application.Initialize; //This is where it crashes. 

  Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);
  Application.Run;
end.

Answer 1

I have successfully got Delphi 7 installed and working on Windows 8.1. This may not be relevant for Windows 7, but I tested a simple application as you suggest and I can trace into fine. I set the Delphi 7 application compatibility as follows:

• Windows XP (Service Pack 3) = ON

Settings as follows:

• Disable display scaling on high DPI settings = ON
• Run this program as an administrator = ON