windows 8 and older programs???

[dac69er]

my laptop is getting on a bit, but it works perfectly fine, im just a bit worried that if it dies im left having to buy a windows 8 replacement.

my question is, what is its support like for older programs such as fc-edit for the power fc and logworks for the innovate wideband?

these work fine on windows 7, but i have no real knowledge about windows 8 other than its a faff to use if you want to do anything other than check your email and piss about with apps!!!!


any input would be appreciated. thanks

 

[GT-TD04]

I've stayed away from Win8 myself to be honest but there should be compatibility options in the properties for those programs.

Even if that doesn't work you can use an emulator to run Win7 or XP,dual boot win8+win7 or what I would do,wipe it and reinstall Win7 using the key from your old laptop. Take from 20 minutes to 2hours depending on the laptop and is really handy. Just keep the win8 key incase you ever have need of it.

 

[pig666eon]

right click on the exe that you want to run, then troubleshoot compatibility, you will be able to run that program from a list of older os's that will run the program in the same setting as like xp or vista or whatever under the windows 8 platform

by the way 8 is shite hate it 7 ultimate is where it is lol, and exe up the program you want to run short cut either let me know if your still not getting it

 

[5e colin]

i went from windows xp to windows 8 and o my god u can do what ever u want on it its so much easyer to work on

by the way theres always older updates u can upload so cant see any isseus there

 

[Rev]

XP to win 7 ultimate was a good experience too. A friend tells me Microsoft is hounding his corporate to change from 7 to win 8 there is a storm brewing he has closed off microsofts main door to the system for security reasons . His said a lot of his equipment running xp will not run with win8 so would be a very costly exercise.
I like GT tdo4 idea of upgrading to a faster processor and putting on win 7.
I suppose you could change the cmos battery in your old notebook and keep it as a back system but probably would have to turn it on occasionally and store it properly.

 

[dac69er]

My old laptop is vista!!!!!

not too fussed about the operating system as long as it can run the old programs i want for tuning my car

 

[GT-TD04]

My old laptop is vista!!!!!

not too fussed about the operating system as long as it can run the old programs i want for tuning my car

You can run this on your current laptop to see if its compatible, its not 100% accurate but its a good indication.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IE/windows-8/upgrade-assistant-advisor#1TC=t1

If you get stuck when looking for one I can have a look,just need budget,what you'll use it for and where you want to buy (online/retail)

 

[Paul_JJ]

I would stay away of Windows 8 for at least another 2 years. It's good for modern PC's with 8Gb or over of RAM, SSD drives and pretty much everything new. It has no driver support for some of the old hardware, it simply wouldn't run or crash some of the old applications, and I personally stay away from the Windows new edition unless they make Service Pack 1 for it, as they usually find loads of problems.

Personally I don't like Windows 8 - the metro interface is rubbish, it's a good idea if you have a touch screen, but even if my 28 inch monitor had a touch screen I can't imagine using it as I have to sit at least 1 metre away from the monitor and my hands are not that long, not to mention the finger prints all over the screen afterwards...

If you have windows Vista - then get rid of it and update to Windows 7 - which is so far one of the best Windows they ever made after the XP of course.
If you work with some kind of old hardware stay away from Vista, Windows 7 and especially Windows 8, also do NOT install 64 bit version!

 

[dac69er]

i have 64bit windows 7 on a laptop at work the engineers use. a lot of the older software doesnt like 64bit. the way i have got round it is to install xpmode, and run the older programs within that xp virtual machine.

its totally above board and free through microsoft.

i assume they do a similar thing with windows 8?

 

[Paul_JJ]

i have 64bit windows 7 on a laptop at work the engineers use. a lot of the older software doesnt like 64bit. the way i have got round it is to install xpmode, and run the older programs within that xp virtual machine.

its totally above board and free through microsoft.

i assume they do a similar thing with windows 8?

If you're looking for an adventure by all means install Windows 8 -)


If you work with old software the best way to do is to have 2 or even 3 different windows at the same time on your PC. It's pretty easy to do, 1st you install the older version and then go to the newer one. When the PC starts you can choose which one do you want - SO MUCH EASIER this way as you keep one just for work with no spam, antivirus, etc... One for games and the other one for everyday use.
You only benefit from 64 bit version if you have more than 3Gb RAM, but even then if you use older software then I doubt you'll ever need more than 2Gb of RAM.


You can also run a Virtual machine, and have a separate PC with Xp in your LAN and use it remotely for example with TeamViewer.

 

[dac69er]

at work we use a combination of old and new software. a lot of the software is for plant automation so i tend to run multiple virtual machines to separate the programs out

only problem with running different versions of windows is to do it legitimately you need 3 legal copies with licences, that gets expensive!

 

[dark_knight]

as has already been mentioned, you can still have the latest windows os and still run older programs in simulation/compatibility mode..
works for me at least..

 

[Rev]

To be 100% sure I guess you could borrow a win 8 notebook and instal software as a test in the past I have asked shops can I do this and they have been ok with it.

One way I find is have 2 computers and one screen . The screen I use has a button on the front that instantly changes from one computer to the other. I have dual boot xp and a super fast drive by cant stand waiting for it to reboot. This way i have a main system for email location, phone , auto fax etc.
If i am working in the old sytem and the phone rings I can quickly flick screens to answer the call and computer logging etc gets done properly on the newer system.

 

[Paul_JJ]

at work we use a combination of old and new software. a lot of the software is for plant automation so i tend to run multiple virtual machines to separate the programs out

only problem with running different versions of windows is to do it legitimately you need 3 legal copies with licences, that gets expensive!

Well if you have windows 7 already and want to purchase the windows 8, I can get you a couple of laptops (cheap) with Windows XP serial and Windows Vista serial - if you're interested!

 

[Paul_JJ]

my laptop is getting on a bit, but it works perfectly fine, im just a bit worried that if it dies im left having to buy a windows 8 replacement.

my question is, what is its support like for older programs such as fc-edit for the power fc and logworks for the innovate wideband?

these work fine on windows 7, but i have no real knowledge about windows 8 other than its a faff to use if you want to do anything other than check your email and piss about with apps!!!!


any input would be appreciated. thanks

Also I don't quite get your original post? if it dies???

Well if you want to be secure then make a copy of the whole drive/partition includes the windows and all your files with it - if it dies you have a copy all you have to do is recover your partition on a new hard drive or a laptop....... Acronis...

 

[dac69er]

what i mean is if my computer dies tomorrow (i already have files backed up), i go into pc world and ask for a new laptop and will be presented with windows 8 pc.

i didnt know how quickly windows 7 is being phased out etc, im not as in touch with the pc scene as i used to be. i just wanted o know what the compatibility side of things is like if i was to get stuck with a windows 8 laptop as my only option at the time.

 

[GT-TD04]

Windows 8 ended up being another Vista,no one wants it,so Win7 will stick around for a long time yet. XP updates only stopped last year IIRC.

As for the older programs, you can do as Paul says and dual boot,it really is very easy, or you can install something like VMware and run another OS inside your current one at 32bit. I think windows licenses allow you to install either the 32bit or 64bit so if you use the same key essentially you still only have 1 licenses per computer.

 

[moony187]

Windows 8 is no good when it comes to using car related programs. A friend of mine was left pretty much useless with his laptop which was running windows 8 as he couldn't run let alone install autodata. I'd stay well away from it and just stick to either vista,7 or even XP.

 

[Paul_JJ]

what i mean is if my computer dies tomorrow (i already have files backed up), i go into pc world and ask for a new laptop and will be presented with windows 8 pc.

i didnt know how quickly windows 7 is being phased out etc, im not as in touch with the pc scene as i used to be. i just wanted o know what the compatibility side of things is like if i was to get stuck with a windows 8 laptop as my only option at the time.

As far as I know you can always downgrade to Windows 7 even if the laptop has windows 8 installed already!

Windows 7 will outlast Windows 8 - trust me, just like XP outlasted Vista... They plan to make a windows 8.1 soon, which will have some minor improvements and sell it as a new version of windows instead of making SP1 - so I heard - so the Microsoft has gone down the drain. Let's all home that Linux will improve over the next 10 years, as every new Windows is just a big disappointment. It is a tradition for the Microsoft to make a crap windows after the good one - examples - Win 95 was successfull - 98 was rubbish, win 2000 was good, Win ME was rubbish, Win Xp good, Vista - Rubbish, 7 - good, 8 rubbish, well lets hope that Win 9 will be good -))))

 

[dark_knight]

under the skin, win7 is basically win8..