Load XP video driver in Vista

[geoffl]

Hi,
I run dos software which runs ok under XP.
If I run this software under Vista it will not run full screen.
In Vista I inadvertantly deleted the video driver and loaded a basic one.
Now my stuff runs full screen but will not clear the screen before it paints the next one.
My program can send a up to 8 characters  to clear the screen. Any idea what those characters are?
Can I load an XP video driver?
Regards
Geoffl

[DaveLembke]

My program can send a up to 8 characters  to clear the screen. Any idea what those characters are?

CLS will clear screen in DOS from DOS command line, but I doubt it will work within the program this way. You can give it a try and see what happens. Worst that can happen is it to respond with invalid function etc. Whats the program called if it is not a custom program, but one that was sold as a package?

Have you tried using XP compatability mode in Vista to have this program run under reverse compatability?

Also there is a setting in Vista to where you can launch command prompt via CMD and when the window pops up, right-click on the top of the dos shell window frame and select properties and then select Full Screen under display options, and then you can then select Save Properties for Future Windows with the same title. If the program is launched from command prompt by going to CMD first, the title will start off as the same in full screen and your program should remain in full screen. ( *I haven't worked with Vista in a while, but this should be the method )

[geoffl]

Hi,
My program was written in 1986. It sends 1A hex to dos to clear the screen. it can send any 8 char sequense.
What is cls in hex?
Compatability mode only goes back to win 95
Dont have the old driver now but the command prompt said similar to 'cannot use fullscreen mode for this 16 bit subsystem'
Thanks for your interest
Geoffl

[BC_Programmer]

It sends 1A hex to dos to clear the screen.

1A doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Best I can guess is it's either a DOS interrupt call (1A is "Set disk transfer address", which obviously has nothing to do with video), or, it could be interrupt 10, which, which Register AH set to 1A, can either get or set VGA video colour information. Setting VGA mode in a DOS application in Vista and later does not work for 16-bit applications. Thus the error message. Older Video drivers would not fix this issue, since it's not a Video Driver problem.


If you are running applications that old, you ought to be running them directly on a DOS machine or in a Virtualized Environment (beyond that given by windows itself)

[geoffl]

Thank you for your help
Geoffl

[patio]

Does that mean it's solved ? ?

[geoffl]

Hi,
I would still like to know if I can load an XP video driver in  Vista so I can use full screen.
Regards
Geoffl

[DaveLembke]

Just saw that this might still be open...

BC_Programmer stated:

Setting VGA mode in a DOS application in Vista and later does not work for 16-bit applications.

But you can try reverse compatability mode like I did below on a old system to run XP drivers for 7.

I recently tested a motherboard with an Intel 845 GL chipset with Windows 7 and Intel has no support past Windows XP for my chipset with integrated graphics. I was able to use my XP driver from Intel only by telling Windows 7 to run this driver installer which was an EXE as XP SP3 compatability mode and also select the checkbox to runas administrator. While there are differences between Vista and 7 and you might have a totally different chipset or GPU, its worth a try.

My issue with Windows 7 and this motherboard from 2002 running a Trigem Imperial motherboard out of an old eMachine, (originally socket 478 Celeron 2Ghz upgraded 4 years ago to Pentium 4 2Ghz) was that it would only run 640x480 resolution with generic microsoft drivers with my Intel 845 GL chipset. If I went to a higher resolution such as 800x600 or 1024x768 it would drop to 256 colors. By forcing the installation in reverse compatability mode I was able to get 1024x768 with better than 256 colors.

If this wasnt going to work out for me, I was going to install a GeForce 4 video card into a PCI slot since I am pretty sure that nVidia has legacy drivers that support 7. But this was also just a test to see if this 10 year old computer could run Windows 7 32-bit and to see how well or unwell it ran it.

At some point I want to test Windows 8 on this system, but to do that I will have to remember where I put my Windows 8 beta disc and once I find it, if it will run like Windows 7 does for a short period of time without activation right away or not. Windows 7 32-bit allowed 3 days of use before having to activate the key.