Software to run Win7 compatible program in Win10

[Purply]

I have a piece of work software that unfortunately doesn't work on Windows 10 and I've tried pretty much everything imaginable to make it work.

It also doesn't like Windows 8, but runs nicely on Windows XP and 7

More annoyingly, my new work laptop only supports Windows 10, it's impossible finding drivers for Windows 8 or earlier.

So my question is, what is the easiest way to get this program working while running Windows 10.

Some sort of software that emulates Windows 7 or whatever would be nice.

Suggestions?

 

[LazyLion]

Dumb question, but have you tried "Compatibility Mode"?

 

[Purply]

Dumb question, but have you tried "Compatibility Mode"?

There is no such thing as a dumb question

Yes, I certainly have.

Maybe I should add in that I'm not a complete computer novice.

If I had to venture I guess, I think the installation is 16bit, which is impossible to run on Windows 10

 

[LazyLion]

There is no such thing as a dumb question

Yes, I certainly have.

Maybe I should add in that I'm not a complete computer novice.

If I had to venture I guess, I think the installation is 16bit, which is impossible to run on Windows 10

OK, so then... next Question...

Can you install a Virtual Machine inside Windows 10 - install Windows 7 inside the Virtual machine - and install the software there?

 

[nemisiz]

Hyper-V with a windows 7 install.

 

[DanDango]

There is no such thing as a dumb question

Yes, I certainly have.

Maybe I should add in that I'm not a complete computer novice.

If I had to venture I guess, I think the installation is 16bit, which is impossible to run on Windows 10

Use VM VirtualBox with win xp/7

 

[Purply]

Thank you for your suggestions regarding virtual machine software.

I'll need a bit more input on these as I've never tinkered with any.

Which software would be considered the best?

Is there perhaps a free option available, if yes, how much slower will it be than the "best" option?

 

[Genisys]

Assuming you have Windows 10 Pro, you can enable Hyper-V in the control panel. That is probably the best option. If you have Windows 10 (not pro) rather go with Virtual Box.

 

[biometrics]

Thank you for your suggestions regarding virtual machine software.

I'll need a bit more input on these as I've never tinkered with any.

Which software would be considered the best?

Is there perhaps a free option available, if yes, how much slower will it be than the "best" option?

VirtualBox is free: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

I use VMware Workstation but it's not free. VirtualBox is fine though.

 

[LazyLion]

http://www.howtogeek.com/196060/beginner-geek-how-to-create-and-use-virtual-machines/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2487074,00.asp

 

[Ho3n3r]

What is the name of the software?

 

[Purply]

Assuming you have Windows 10 Pro, you can enable Hyper-V in the control panel. That is probably the best option. If you have Windows 10 (not pro) rather go with Virtual Box.

That is very interesting, thank you for pointing that out. Hopefully we have Pro , otherwise it seems Virtual Box will have to do.

 

[Purply]

What is the name of the software?

It's called Vision Numeric Type 3

We running version 4.2 which is ancient, newer versions are available, but are extremely expensive. Plus the older version does everything we need

 

[Purply]

I went with the Windows 10 + Hyper-V option, which is working for Windows 7 VM

However due to Windows 7 not supporting "Enhanced Sessions" via Hyper-V, it's impossible to get fullscreen viewing.

Apparently one can do this via Remote desktop (RDP) into your VM, but I'm struggling to do this as my rdp session doesn't recognise my credentials.

I've enabled remote access on the Win7 VM and added the user Administrator. According to ipconfig my VM ip is 10.0.0.10.

I open rdp on my host machine, enter 10.0.0.10, user administrator and password , but not luck.

Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong?

I'm also unable to ping the VM

 

[Genisys]

I went with the Windows 10 + Hyper-V option, which is working for Windows 7 VM

However due to Windows 7 not supporting "Enhanced Sessions" via Hyper-V, it's impossible to get fullscreen viewing.

Apparently one can do this via Remote desktop (RDP) into your VM, but I'm struggling to do this as my rdp session doesn't recognise my credentials.

I've enabled remote access on the Win7 VM and added the user Administrator. According to ipconfig my VM ip is 10.0.0.10.

I open rdp on my host machine, enter 10.0.0.10, user administrator and password , but not luck.

Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong?

I'm also unable to ping the VM

The username won't be Administrator unless you are joined to a domain. In most instances it is anyway not suggested to use the local Built in administrator account anyway.

 

[Purply]

Yes you are right, is see now it's actually the PC name

I can now ping the machine, but still can't rdp into it.

 

[Purply]

Ok nevermind, turns out you can't leave your username password blank.......

Everything working now