Need help to run 1980's game book programs

L

Lizard-Prince

New Member
Hi folks: I need help please to run some very special old game programs in a compatible gwbasic modern Vista home premium labtop. It would be ashame for these funny and entertaining programs to be lost for ever. The book is called computer monsters by Stephen Manes and Paul Somerson.By scholastic inc I typed one of the books program on a cd a person instaled the old GWbasic and I was sad to see it wouldn't run. It was frooze completely. I beleave these book game authors are out of buisness. Where do I go from here? Thanks anticipated for any help Lizard-Prince (Ralph)
 

My Computer

System One

Lizard-Prince said:
Hi folks: I need help please to run some very special old game programs in a compatible gwbasic modern Vista home premium labtop. It would be ashame for these funny and entertaining programs to be lost for ever. The book is called computer monsters by Stephen Manes and Paul Somerson.By scholastic inc I typed one of the books program on a cd a person instaled the old GWbasic and I was sad to see it wouldn't run. It was frooze completely. I beleave these book game authors are out of buisness. Where do I go from here? Thanks anticipated for any help Lizard-Prince (Ralph)
Click to expand...

There are several options available to you, other than quit using these ANCIENT programs:
  1. Download and install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. From there, create a virtual PC that runs MSDOS 6.22 or Windows 98. You can then run these games in their "natural" environment. If any of your friends have it, you can get the MSDOS Virtual PC Additions from MS Virtual PC 2004 in order for MSDOS VPCs to run better.
  2. Try downloading and installing DOSBOX (a freeware open source program). Note that in your case, this may or may not work correctly
  3. Try finding updated versions of the games you want to run.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad
    Motherboard
    ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi
    Memory
    2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SAHARA 21"
    Screen Resolution
    1600x1200
    Hard Drives
    2 x 80GB Seagate (I)
    2 x 120GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 200GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 250GB Seagate (I/S)
    PSU
    800W
    Case
    Thermaltake Tai-Chi
    Cooling
    Tai-Chi Water Cooler
    Keyboard
    Genius
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    384kbps
    Other Info
    Currently dual booting between Vista x64 Ultimate Windows 7 BETA x64
Dzomlija said:
  1. Download and install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. From there, create a virtual PC that runs MSDOS 6.22 or Windows 98. You can then run these games in their "natural" environment. If any of your friends have it, you can get the MSDOS Virtual PC Additions from MS Virtual PC 2004 in order for MSDOS VPCs to run better.
Click to expand...

From the MS download site;

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86); Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition; Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Business 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Ultimate; Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition; Windows XP Professional Edition ; Windows XP Professional x64 Edition ; Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Click to expand...

Soooo, windows vista home, no can do....
 

My Computer

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  • Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
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    AMD Athlon X2 6000+
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    ASRock ALiveXfire-eSATA2
    Memory
    2x2GiB DDR2 PC2-6400
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    GeCube ATI Radeon HD3870 512MiB GDDR4
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    Built in HD Audio, digital output
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    Samsung SyncMaster 206BW, SyncMaster 940B
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 + 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    WDC 250GB SATA + lots of externals. :)
    PSU
    Antec Earthwatts 500W
    Case
    Antec Sonata III
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (1st edition w blue lightning)
    Mouse
    Logitech G9
    Internet Speed
    DL/UL: 50/10Mbit
You can use Comparison of virtual machines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia to see many different virtual machines software. Personally, VMWare is pretty much accepted as the top notch, but for your purposes it will probably be way too complicated and unless you try the latest beta, it is not going to be worth it for you in the long run.

I'd look into VirtualBox - that sounds like it might be a winner for you in the long run.
 

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System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
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    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
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    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
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    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
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    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
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    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
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    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
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    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
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    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
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    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
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    8 GB
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    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
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    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
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    Lenovo
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    Lenovo
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    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
mike-cow said:
Dzomlija said:
  1. Download and install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. From there, create a virtual PC that runs MSDOS 6.22 or Windows 98. You can then run these games in their "natural" environment. If any of your friends have it, you can get the MSDOS Virtual PC Additions from MS Virtual PC 2004 in order for MSDOS VPCs to run better.
Click to expand...

From the MS download site;

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86); Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition; Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Business 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Ultimate; Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition; Windows XP Professional Edition ; Windows XP Professional x64 Edition ; Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Click to expand...

Soooo, windows vista home, no can do....
Click to expand...

Actually, Virtual PC will work on Vista Home, just you won't get any technical support for it if something goes wrong.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad
    Motherboard
    ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi
    Memory
    2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SAHARA 21"
    Screen Resolution
    1600x1200
    Hard Drives
    2 x 80GB Seagate (I)
    2 x 120GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 200GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 250GB Seagate (I/S)
    PSU
    800W
    Case
    Thermaltake Tai-Chi
    Cooling
    Tai-Chi Water Cooler
    Keyboard
    Genius
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    384kbps
    Other Info
    Currently dual booting between Vista x64 Ultimate Windows 7 BETA x64
Thanks for the prompt answer to my issue I will be in contact with my computer profesor at my local university so he can give me that push in the right dirrection using the information you have provided. The computer game book specifys Commodore 64, VIC 20, Apple ll, ll plus, lle, IBM pc, PC jr, Atari 400, 800, XL series Radio Shack color computer, and TI 99/4A this will be a run down on a short program on the book.
Sample run: Revenge of the bats
Those bats are getting awfully bold!now they're staring at you from all over the screen! hit the enter key to see? Brake
Program listing
10 rem Revenge of the bats
100 print CHR$(12)
110 print "Those bats are getting awfully bold!"
120 print "Now they're staring at you from all
130 print "Over the screen!"
140 print
150 print "Hit the enter key to see";
160 Input x$
170 print CHR$(12)
180 print CHR$(92);"00/";
190 print CHR$(7);
200 for I=1 to 200
210 next I
220 goto 180
Hope this gives you an idea of why am anxious to get this going. Ralph
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9450 @3.4Ghz
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    Asus P5Q Deluxe
    Memory
    8GB Corsair Dominator @ 1066
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    Asus AH4850
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 2235BW
    Hard Drives
    2x Seagate 750GB
    1x Seagate 160GB (IDE)
    PSU
    Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850
    Case
    Cooler Master Cosmos
    Cooling
    Cooler Master V8
    Keyboard
    Logitech WAVE Cordless

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
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    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
    Motherboard
    XFX MB-750I-72P9 NF750i
    Memory
    4096MB Corsair XMS2 PC-5400
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    ASUS Nvidia Geforce GTX470
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    ASUS Xonar DX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 24" S2409W & Dell 20" E207WFP
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    1920x1080 & 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    750GB Western Digital Caviar Black & 500GB Samsung
    PSU
    750 watt Thermaltake Toughpower
    Case
    Coolermaster Dominator 690 Nvidia Edition
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    Zalman CNPS9700-NT Cooler, 6x 120mm Chassis Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11 Keyboard
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    Logitech G5 Laser Mouse (2007 edition)
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
    Other Info
    abit airpace 54mbps wireless PCI-E x1 card
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