LOVE old chess programs!

[rightrook]

Yes, I still have CM 2100 on my old computer...lots of fun...!!

Rex and WChess were also pretty good...

regards......Robert

[Nimzovik]

Thanks for the replys..... Hmmmm I think ultimaely an old computer from E-bay would be best.....but what the hey! I will tinker with the emulators and simulators....It will bring back tortuous but fond masochistic memories of working around work arounds!!

[Nimzovik]

dos box et al will it work for xp pro 64 bit machine?

[Carey]

dos box et al will it work for xp pro 64 bit machine?

Both VirtualBox & VirtualPC have 64 bit versions. However, I have no idea how well they would handle 16 bit code due to the way they virtualize. (64 bit cpu's don't like 16 bit code that well, and the way the programs virtualize makes it worse.) You'd have to check their docs. My guess is they'd switch to their backup method which would be a little slower but otherwise you wouldn't know the difference.

For DosBox, it's mainly a 32 bit program, but it has a 64 bit module. So it should do okay. And since it virtualizes / emulates differently than either VirtualBox or VirtualPC, I wouldn't expect any 64 vs 16 bit issues.


Since you don't have to mess with virtual disks, I'd suggest first trying DosBox with a GUI. (I used to like D.O.G. but that's been a while. There may be better ones.)

If that doesn't work (due to bugs or limitations in DosBox), then try VirtualBox. You'll need disk images for Dr. Dos or FreeDos, and set up a virtual machine and install DOS, then find & install any needed drivers for the video or sound, then install the games from either a disk image or a floppy or cd.

(Virtual machines such as VirtualBox, VirtualPC, VMWare, etc. make it difficult to move data to/from the virtual disks and the real world. That's why I'm suggesting DosBox first.)

[Bill Rogers]

I have one old chess program that was written in GWBasic and I found that by copying the GWBasic files onto my Win XT I could run that program without any problems. I also run MyChess by Kittinger, Zarkov by Stanback. I also run CM2000, CM2100, CM3000,Cyrus and a dozen more old chess programs on my XT with no problems, However, using Partician Magic and creating a dos operating system also works.
Bill

[Tony]

dos box et al will it work for xp pro 64 bit machine?

Check out microsofts "virtual machines"

I haven't been using them a lot for chessengines, but for other legacy software and until now, they have been working like a charm.

Tony

[Arash Rouhani]

I'm no expert in virtualization. But I think it's very unlikely that if you have to modern cards for the current dos programs, that they will work 'as older' just because they are in a virtual machine.

Moving files forth and back to a virtual machine works easy as pie with Virtualbox with XP as guest, but I think it will be more of a pain with older guest systems.


I agree with you, DOSBox with a GUI can be a method to try before purchasing old hardware.


Btw. William H. Rogers; Do you mean Windows XP :p ? And what you say is correct. Absolute first thing to try should be compatibility mode, after all it only takes half a minute to try!

[Nimzovik]

indeed I tried compatability mode....Interesting Win 98 gave one more options in terms of memory allocation than my 64 bit xp pro (that is by just using the dialogue box) Moving files etc and sound card drivers is IMHO tenuous as some prgrams ---ultrabots etc--used only really old cards (files as well)-doubt I could by pass the menu of sound options without being a progammer my self..... what the hey -- maybe I find old dx4 on ebay! I smell a lot of hidden headaches here..........thanks tho!