Win 7 will not run older BASIC and FAT 16 files

[lelpeezee]

I have been running BASIC and FAT16  files from MS DOS 3.3 through Win XP without experiencing any problems.  Each time I have purchased a new computer or upgraded to a larger hard drive I have simply hooked up the hard drive from my old computer as the slave drive and copied the files to my new machine.  Now that I have  a Windows 7 machine  with a 2.8 Gig, 64 bit processor, 3.0 gig of ram and a Western Digital  1 terrabite SCSI hard drive it will not run any of those files.  At the the present time I am running 2 machines,  one with XP and one with Win 7 switching between them with a KVM switch.

Anybody know of an application to load into my Win 7 so that it win run these older files?

[patio]

What version of 7 ? ?
The XP compatibility mode app only qualifies with certain versions,,,but it would solve your issues...

[soybean]

You might try using a VM (Virtual Machine) software such as VMware Player or virtualbox in Windows 7 and install DOS as a VM and then try running those old "BASIC and FAT16  files".

[Salmon Trout]

There is no such thing as a "FAT16 file". I guess the OP means 16-bit MS-DOS executable files (programs). 64-bit Windows has dropped native support (or compatibility modes) for running these; One very common workaround is to use an emulator such as DOSBox, or to install MS-DOS or FreeDOS in a virtual machine.

[BC_Programmer]

DOS 3.3 came with, if memory serves, the BASICA.COM basic interpreter. This is a 16-bit program and will not run on 64-bit Windows 7. You will need to either use Virtualization Software such as what Soybean suggested or XP Mode, which to my understanding is just a XP virtual machine as well.

(On another note, The problem has nothing to do with FAT16)

Either way, I would strongly encourage you to make sure any necessary BASIC source files are saved as ASCII text, rather than the native binary format the interpreter normally saves.

[Linux711]

DOSBox would probably be the easiest way. It is also better even on XP because it doesn't use 100% CPU like the default windows XP ntvdm does. You mention BASIC source files. If it is only BASIC that you are interested in using, then check QB64. It's a 32-bit version of QBASIC that runs on windows 7. No idea why it has 64 in the name (it's not 64-bit only).

[BC_Programmer]

If it is only BASIC that you are interested in using, then check QB64. It's a 32-bit version of QBASIC that runs on windows 7. No idea why it has 64 in the name (it's not 64-bit only).

QBASIC is/was not 100% compatible with BASIC.COM (Disk BASIC) and BASICA source- and it certainly cannot open the encoded binary versions of it's source files, which was the default format. Though we actually don't know what interpreter they are talking about. BASICA was what came with DOS 3.3, but it will not run unless there is a BASIC interpreter in ROM, so if they were using... something... with a later computer as they imply it probably wasn't BASICA.

[Geek-9pm]

Here is the link for QB64
http://www.qb64.net/

[Computer_Commando]

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 will run on Win7 Home Premium (64-bit), despite warnings to the contrary when you attempt the installation.  The earliest version of MS-DOS I have attempted to run is DOS 6.22.

[patio]

Did that run for you CC ? ?....haven't tried it myself.

[Salmon Trout]

I have Windows 7 64 bit and I have run MS-DOS 6.22 on VMWare Player successfully.
 

[Squashman]

I have Windows 7 64 bit and I have run MS-DOS 6.22 on VMWare Player successfully.

I can confirm that setup also works with Windows Virtual PC.

[Computer_Commando]

Did that run for you CC ? ?....haven't tried it myself.

Yes, DOS6.22 & Windows 3.1.  Runs faster than it ever did natively on any machines of that era.  Also ran the same on a WinXP system with no problem.  Win95 & Win98SE were a bit slow on the WinXP box.  Never tried those builds on the Win7 laptop.  I have no need to run older versions of Windows on a Windows box.  I can very old DOS games on the DOS6.22.  You can put the DOS build on a flash drive & move it from machine to machine.

[lelpeezee]

I am grateful for all of the helpful replies to my inquiry.  After due consideration I have come to the conclusion that at my adanced age of 83 I better stick with what I have, however unwieldly it is,  and continue using my switch.