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I'm trying to run an old game, and oddly the expansion packs to the game only install on 32-bit Windows. I have 64-bit Windows 7, and it won't even let me attempt to install them. If I install a 32-bit Windows operating system on a virtual machine (e.g. XP), should this solve the problem?

Alternatively, is there any way I can trick the installer on the DVD into believing it is on a 32-bit system? I've tried running the game under compatibility mode for XP SP3.

Thanks in advance.

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  • You could run a 32-bit windows 7 if you're going the VM route, though the games performance may suffer. I don't know how the installer checks the current version of windows, so it's difficult to know whether you'd be able to fool it or whether the game would work even if you could fool it. You may also look into "Windows XP Mode in Windows 7" though it's no longer supported.
    – ThatOneDude
    Jul 20, 2015 at 19:20
  • copy the CD to your hard drive so the files are not read-only. Find the setup.exe or whatever it is called and set that to XP compatibility.
    – cybernard
    Jul 21, 2015 at 4:38
  • You could try to install the game in the VM and copy the files afterwards or you might be able to extract them otherwise. Which specific game are you having issues with?
    – Seth
    Dec 1, 2016 at 8:56

1 Answer 1

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Yes you can install a 32 bit OS as a virtual machine. Please note however, that most VM applications do not support graphical cards, and as such you have no GPU in your VM. If it's a really old application, you might want to try installing dosBox on your own system and running the application from there.

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  • I'm using a laptop with Intel Integrated HD graphics. Is that likely to be a problem? I have a powerful CPU if it makes any difference.
    – NXW
    Jul 20, 2015 at 19:23
  • CPU doesnt make a difference for the graphics. Integrated HD graphics will not be HD for the virtual machine. Unfortunately there is no VM host application that supports GPU's
    – Master-Guy
    Jul 20, 2015 at 19:25
  • I didn't think it did. Thanks, I'll try running a VM and Windows XP Mode. Hopefully one of those will work.
    – NXW
    Jul 20, 2015 at 19:26
  • As a note, virtualbox has experimental support for hardware graphics acceleration. See virtualbox.org/manual/ch04.html#idp96537744
    – ThatOneDude
    Jul 20, 2015 at 21:57

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