How To Make 16 Bit Application Run On 64 Bit Windows

It seems absurd to be talking about sixteen-bit applications in the twelvemonth 2018. Even so, I have worked in IT for long enough to know that it occasionally becomes necessary to burn up an aboriginal application, fifty-fifty if but for the purpose of converting an archived file to a more than modern format. In fact, I institute myself having to do exactly that before this week. So with that in mind, I idea it might be fun to talk about whether or non it is possible to run 16-bit code on Windows ten.

Earlier I go too far into this word, I desire to give you a quick spoiler alert. If yous are running a 64-fleck edition of Windows ten, in that location does non seem to be a way to run 16-bit applications. When you actually end and remember almost information technology, this seems completely logical, as it would hateful that a single operating system would take to simultaneously be able to run 16-, 32-, and 64-bit lawmaking. If you are running a 64-scrap edition of Windows 10, then the only fashion that I know of to run 16-bit applications is to install an alternating operating system into a Hyper-V virtual machine.

Running 16-bit applications? Let's experiment

But what if you have a 32-fleck edition of Windows 10? In an effort to observe out, I installed a 32-bit edition of Windows x onto a Hyper-V virtual machine. You can see the particulars of the operating system in the figure beneath.

One time I got a 32-bit edition of Windows x up and running, I went into the attic and dug out the oldest awarding that I could find that wasn't on a floppy disk. The application of choice is called MGI Photosuite. It is a lightweight graphical editor that I used to use oft back in the day. As you can run across in the adjacent figure, the application files are about 22 years old. This was one of the oldest applications that I could notice.

If I attempt to run the awarding on a 64-scrap version of Windows 10, I am presented with a message that simply says that the app tin't run on the PC.

NTVDM to the rescue

If I endeavour to run the app on a 32-bit re-create of Windows 10 however, I get a message indicating that I need to install NTVDM. In this instance, the dialog box really gave me the pick of installing NTVDM, which kind of surprised me, because in the past I have had to install this characteristic manually.

In instance you are non familiar with NTVDM, it is the NT Virtual DOS Machine. This is a fancy way of saying that the NTVDM component provisions Windows 10 with a 16-flake subsystem through the use of virtualization. You can easily install this component yourself by using the Windows Control Panel. Only open the Control Panel, get to Programs, and click Turn Windows Features on or off. You can find NTVDM listed in the Legacy Components section, as shown in the image below.

Incidentally, NTVDM does non exist in 64-scrap editions of Windows ten, as illustrated in the side by side prototype. That'southward why y'all tin't run a xvi-flake application in a 64-bit Windows x Os.

After installing the NTVDM component, yous should exist able to execute the 16-bit code. As y'all can see beneath, I was able to run the Setup wizard for MGI Photosuite on Windows 10.

If you lot look back at the previous paragraph, you will notice that I used the phrase "you lot should be able to execute 16-bit code" non "you should exist able to run the 16-bit application." There is a big difference between the two.

Miracles can happen

In this example, the application ran without issue. That in itself is a chip of a phenomenon. Subsequently all, this detail application was created at a time when Windows 95 reigned supreme. Ordinarily an application that is that sometime volition put upwardly a bit of a fight when you lot attempt to run it on a modern Bone. Even if you are able to execute the application lawmaking, the awarding is likely to produce errors because it was never designed to run on Windows 10.

So what happens if your legacy application does not desire to play prissy with Windows 10? Microsoft actually provides a way for you lot to shim the application to brand information technology (hopefully) run correctly. The basic idea backside this technique is to make the awarding think that information technology is running on an older operating arrangement. On a side note, the technique that I am about to show you can be used regardless of whether the application is 16-bit or something a scrap newer.

If you are experiencing application compatibility problems, right click on the executable file, and cull the Troubleshoot Compatibility command from the shortcut menu, equally shown below.

The Program Compatibility Troubleshooter can be used to adjust the application's permissions, color set, or even to trick the application into thinking that information technology is running in a unlike version of Windows. With a petty flake of tinkering, almost applications can exist made to run.

Yep, you lot tin can!

Running ancient software probably isn't the sort of thing that you lot would practise on a regular ground. Notwithstanding, information technology is overnice to know that Windows 10 is able to run extremely old applications if the demand arises. The trick is to make certain that y'all are using a 32-fleck edition of Windows 10 because 64-chip editions lack the NT Virtual DOS Car feature that allows legacy 16-scrap applications and to run.

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