Anything that runs on Vista will run on today's hardware/Win10 with at most minor tweaking.

XP and 2000 are basically the same, and run well in any x86 virtual machine, e.g. VirtualBox. However performance of 3D games from that era in VirtualBox will be poor or non-functional. Many games from that era will also simply run on a modern computer with a bit more tweaking, ad are easily available from Steam/GoG. But if you really want to play a game that only works under XP your best best is building a XP era retro PC, and probably dual-booting it with Win98 while you are at it, as there was a lot of cross-over in the early days of XP.

squiggly wrote:

Anything that runs on Vista will run on today's hardware/Win10 with at most minor tweaking.

XP and 2000 are basically the same, and run well in any x86 virtual machine, e.g. VirtualBox. However performance of 3D games from that era in VirtualBox will be poor or non-functional. Many games from that era will also simply run on a modern computer with a bit more tweaking, ad are easily available from Steam/GoG. But if you really want to play a game that only works under XP your best best is building a XP era retro PC, and probably dual-booting it with Win98 while you are at it, as there was a lot of cross-over in the early days of XP.

Thank you very much for the response. Basically, I’m trying to run ReShade (which requires Vista) with games that will not run on today’s hardware/Win10 even in compatibility modes. I’m also wanting XP as well as 2000 just in case I’m able to bump up to higher able resolution through 2000/XP officially supported GPU’s versus win 98 cards resolution limitations for some win 98 games without having to use tweaks/patches when using on Emulators as I’ve read about. I just want to be able to use official supported drivers. Although I’m thinking the compatibility of win 98 games working with 2000 and XP might be somewhat uncommon? However still very possible I’m sure.

Unfortunately a lot of games from my childhood are not available to purchase anymore. Yeah I know that would be the best possible way but for the amount of games I’m wanting to play with these OS’s I just don’t feel the need to put time/money into it. I am just trying to figure out if there are any distinguishable differences between DOSBox/QEMU/PCem/Other for 2000, XP, and Vista with my last go to of course being VirtualBox with not liking the extra bit of strain on my hardware in comparison to emulation as well as more poor performance with games.

IMeganElisabeth wrote:

squiggly wrote:

Anything that runs on Vista will run on today's hardware/Win10 with at most minor tweaking.

XP and 2000 are basically the same, and run well in any x86 virtual machine, e.g. VirtualBox. However performance of 3D games from that era in VirtualBox will be poor or non-functional. Many games from that era will also simply run on a modern computer with a bit more tweaking, ad are easily available from Steam/GoG. But if you really want to play a game that only works under XP your best best is building a XP era retro PC, and probably dual-booting it with Win98 while you are at it, as there was a lot of cross-over in the early days of XP.

Thank you very much for the response. Basically, I’m trying to run ReShade (which requires Vista) with games that will not run on today’s hardware/Win10 even in compatibility modes. I’m also wanting XP as well as 2000 just in case I’m able to bump up to higher able resolution through 2000/XP officially supported GPU’s versus win 98 cards resolution limitations for some win 98 games without having to use tweaks/patches when using on Emulators as I’ve read about. I just want to be able to use official supported drivers. Although I’m thinking the compatibility of win 98 games working with 2000 and XP might be somewhat uncommon? However still very possible I’m sure.

Unfortunately a lot of games from my childhood are not available to purchase anymore. Yeah I know that would be the best possible way but for the amount of games I’m wanting to play with these OS’s I just don’t feel the need to put time/money into it. I am just trying to figure out if there are any distinguishable differences between DOSBox/QEMU/PCem/Other for 2000, XP, and Vista with my last go to of course being VirtualBox with not liking the extra bit of strain on my hardware in comparison to emulation as well as more poor performance with games.

First, please try this for ReShade: https://reshade.me/forum/troubleshooting/1459 … with-windows-10. Basically Directx10 should be highly compatible with Windows10, the windows display model has not changed much since Vista, unlike the change from XP to Vista. I suspect installing Directx10 on vista will solve a lot of problems.

And you will not have much luck using DosBOX to emulate WinXP/2000/Vista 😉 The short answer is there is no good emulator/virtual machine for XP/Win98 era games. I have heard Wine (Windows api layer for Linux) is good for some games but haven't used it myself. I have used VirtualBox to play less demanding games like Diablo2 in WinXP, but now I use real hardware to play all games from this era. Good luck 😀

Out of curiosity, isn't Microsoft's own Windows XP Mode a good emulator for Windows XP because, well, it is actually Windows XP?

appiah4 wrote:

Out of curiosity, isn't Microsoft's own Windows XP Mode a good emulator for Windows XP because, well, it is actually Windows XP?

.
XP mode in Win7 is basically an integrated Virtual PC 2007 (+ XP image file) with absolutely no 3D video hardware emulation (it emulates an S3 Trio like VGA card). So as far as 3D games are concerned the answer is no. XP mode is mainly for business application compatibility.

@IMeganElisabeth:
I feel you have a misconception that virtualization software such as VirtualBox,Virtual PC, VMWare are optimal for games. Unfortunately no (although VMWare is better than VirtualBox or Virtual PC). The weakest part of all virtualization software is 3D accelerated video emulation. Actually none of them emulates a real 3D video hardware so compatibility with older games is not better than modern Windows versions with an AMD/Nvidia GPU + dgVoodoo2 + other compatibility hacks.
DOSBox is for DOS emulation (unofficially for Win3.1/95). QEMU and PCem are emulators that emulate real older hardware and for these hardware even Windows XP gaming is overkill not to mention Vista/Reshade.

Falcosoft wrote:

. XP mode in Win7 is basically an integrated Virtual PC 2007 (+ XP image file) with absolutely no 3D video hardware emulation (i […]
Show full quote

appiah4 wrote:

Out of curiosity, isn't Microsoft's own Windows XP Mode a good emulator for Windows XP because, well, it is actually Windows XP?

.
XP mode in Win7 is basically an integrated Virtual PC 2007 (+ XP image file) with absolutely no 3D video hardware emulation (it emulates an S3 Trio like VGA card). So as far as 3D games are concerned the answer is no. XP mode is mainly for business application compatibility.

@IMeganElisabeth:
I feel you have a misconception that virtualization software such as VirtualBox,Virtual PC, VMWare are optimal for games. Unfortunately no (although VMWare is better than VirtualBox or Virtual PC). The weakest part of all virtualization software is 3D accelerated video emulation. Actually none of them emulates a real 3D video hardware so compatibility with older games is not better than modern Windows versions with an AMD/Nvidia GPU + dgVoodoo2 + other compatibility hacks.
DOSBox is for DOS emulation (unofficially for Win3.1/95). QEMU and PCem are emulators that emulate real older hardware and for these hardware even Windows XP gaming is overkill not to mention Vista/Reshade.

Thanks very much for responding. Yep I know it’s not ideal for optimal old gaming but I’m hoping I’ll get lucky with the handful I’m wanting to play from my childhood. The first one is 2D which is probably why it’s workinf quite well in VirtualBox. I’m hoping for just playability of the older 3D childhood games if they aren’t able to work in compatibility modes and DgVoodoo/DgVoodoo2 hacks. Thank you for clarifying what the different Emulators are mainly used for. If you were me would you try the handful of games as a last resort in VirtualBox, QEMU, or PCem for Windows 2000/XP games? If the latter two are overkill for Windows XP even though it’s slower than would VirtualBox potentially be better? I know none of them are good. I’m just looking for best possible functionality/playability.

Without knowing what games and on what hardware you would like to play it's hard to give recommendations.
The best option usually depends on the specific game itself.

Generally for XP gaming real emulators (that also emulates CPU) like PCem and Bochs are too slow. When XP was released CPU's had already passed the 1GHz barrier. PCem as one of the fastest emulators realistically can emulate Pentium I/Pentium II class hardware at most. So your only options are software using CPU virtualization instead of emulation (VirtualBox, VMWare, QEmu). Which one is best mostly depends on the game.

But I do think there are better options:
1. Make a dedicated retro PC for WinXP gaming with period correct hardware.
2. Even on fairly new hardware (your primary PC) Windows XP could still be installed next to your primary OS. The most important is a supported GPU. Nvidia supports XP up to GTX TITAN/960 and AMD up to R9 200/R7 200/HD 7000 series.
3. Use a modern Windows with dgVoodoo/2/other community hacks.

You have not mentioned a single 3D game so far so I cannot be sure but I think you have a higher chance to make it work even on a modern OS (option 3) than make it work e.g. on VirtualBox.

Falcosoft wrote:

Without knowing what games and on what hardware you would like to play it's hard to give recommendations. The best option usual […]
Show full quote

Without knowing what games and on what hardware you would like to play it's hard to give recommendations.
The best option usually depends on the specific game itself.

Generally for XP gaming real emulators (that also emulates CPU) like PCem and Bochs are too slow. When XP was released CPU's had already passed the 1GHz barrier. PCem as one of the fastest emulators realistically can emulate Pentium I/Pentium II class hardware at most. So your only options are software using CPU virtualization instead of emulation (VirtualBox, VMWare, QEmu). Which one is best mostly depends on the game.

But I do think there are better options:
1. Make a dedicated retro PC for WinXP gaming with period correct hardware.
2. Even on fairly new hardware (your primary PC) Windows XP could still be installed next to your primary OS. The most important is a supported GPU. Nvidia supports XP up to GTX TITAN/960 and AMD up to R9 200/R7 200/HD 7000 series.
3. Use a modern Windows with dgVoodoo/2/other community hacks.

You have not mentioned a single 3D game so far so I cannot be sure but I think you have a higher chance to make it work even on a modern OS (option 3) than make it work e.g. on VirtualBox.

All of that information is so extremely valuable to me and I know will come in handy to me in the future so thank you SO much for taking the time. For the handful amount of games I just don’t find it necessary to build a retro PC with the time and money that would take. Although that would for sure be the best option. Unfortunately option 2 isn’t possible for me since the only GPU I have is a 1080 Ti. I’m hoping I get lucky and DgVoodoo2 will end up working for the majority of the games I’m wanting to play! What other community hacks are there? Are there others I could possibly try in case DgVoodoo2 doesn’t work before resorting to VM’s?

These are a list of the ones I’m wanting to start with.. the very first games I ever played:

Madeline: European Adventures (Working on PCem/VirtualBox)
Detective Barbie In the Mystery of the Carnival Caper!
Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery
Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise
Barbie: Magic Genie Adventure
Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Brat Attack

What other community hacks are there? Are there others I could possibly try in case DgVoodoo2 doesn’t work before resorting to VM’s?

There can be 'fixes' for individual games e.g. to circumvent outdated/not supported DRM/copy protection software or unpackers for not supported 16 bit installers and so on.
You can also try other utilities for older Windows games such as WineD3D and dxWnd:
https://fdossena.com/index.php?p=wined3d/index.frag
https://sourceforge.net/projects/dxwnd/
Unfortunately I do not know the games you listed but a quick search on google revealed that Madeline: European Adventures probably can run natively, the problem is the 16 bit installer that cannot run on a 64bit OS (so you can try to copy the installed game from VirtualBox to your host PC and run it).

Falcosoft wrote:

There can be 'fixes' for individual games e.g. to circumvent outdated/not supported DRM/copy protection software or unpackers fo […]
Show full quote

What other community hacks are there? Are there others I could possibly try in case DgVoodoo2 doesn’t work before resorting to VM’s?

There can be 'fixes' for individual games e.g. to circumvent outdated/not supported DRM/copy protection software or unpackers for not supported 16 bit installers and so on.
You can also try other utilities for older Windows games such as WineD3D and dxWnd:
https://fdossena.com/index.php?p=wined3d/index.frag
https://sourceforge.net/projects/dxwnd/
Unfortunately I do not know the games you listed but a quick search on google revealed that Madeline: European Adventures probably can run natively, the problem is the 16 bit installer that cannot run on a 64bit OS (so you can try to copy the installed game from VirtualBox to your host PC and run it).

Oh yeah I’ve heard of the place for game fixes which is really great! Thank you very very much for listing those utilities as other options! This would be fantastic. I definitely want to try that. Would be great if it would work natively! However, I have noticed when I start the game the same installer pops up to either select play or install and other options as well.. so this probably means it still won’t work natively since it starts the game from that same setup as the installer. I wonder if there’s any way to bypass that somehow and start the game .exe after having all of the properly installed files?

I wish VB allowed you to install guest additions with Windows 98 to create shared folders. I don’t have a usb and I’m doubtful I could figure out networking sharing so going to try the ISO route first and then hoping if I separate enough I’ll be able to email or upload them. Will the copy/paste functions still work between host and VM?

IMeganElisabeth wrote:

I wish VB allowed you to install guest additions with Windows 98 to create shared folders. I don’t have a usb and I’m doubtful I could figure out networking sharing so going to try the ISO route first and then hoping if I separate enough I’ll be able to email or upload them. Will the copy/paste functions still work between host and VM?

Only VMWare and Virtual PC 2004 support Win9x guests, VirtualBox unfortunately not. Copy/Paste between host and guest cannot work without guest additions. But for copying files the easiest way is a 'local' network between the host and the guest OS and it's supported in VirtualBox. You only have to enable a network adapter in the configuration of the Win98 guest VM. Accessing folders shared on the guest Win98 from Win10 should be easier than the other way around since you do not have to set file system permissions and you do not have to create accounts (use share level access without password. The difference between authentication methods of Win10 and Win98 otherwise can cause problems).
http://support-th.canon-asia.com/contents/TH/ … 8201431000.html
https://techingiteasy.wordpress.com/2010/11/1 … and-windows-98/

Falcosoft wrote:

appiah4 wrote:

Out of curiosity, isn't Microsoft's own Windows XP Mode a good emulator for Windows XP because, well, it is actually Windows XP?

.
XP mode in Win7 is basically an integrated Virtual PC 2007 (+ XP image file) with absolutely no 3D video hardware emulation (it emulates an S3 Trio like VGA card). So as far as 3D games are concerned the answer is no. XP mode is mainly for business application compatibility.

And, I take it, no support for GPU virtualization passthrough to the actual video hardware?

dr_st wrote:

And, I take it, no support for GPU virtualization passthrough to the actual video hardware?

Of course no 😀. Even VMWare added such feature much later. The emulated S3 Trio VGA reports no hardware acceleration at all to the guest WinXP. And XPMode/VPC emulates fixed hardware, you have no options at all.

And without 'Integration features' enabled (this way it supports emulated DirectDraw acceleration, but still no 3D).

appiah4 wrote:

Out of curiosity, isn't Microsoft's own Windows XP Mode a good emulator for Windows XP because, well, it is actually Windows XP?

Tried that a couple years ago and it's complete garbage. It uses Remote Desktop to interact with the VM, which is completely unsuitable for gaming.

Falcosoft wrote:

Only VMWare and Virtual PC 2004 support Win9x guests, VirtualBox unfortunately not.

This is officially true, although I did successfully run Win98SE in VirtualBox a year or two ago in order to run some old telnet BBS software (modern Windows is unsuitable for this because a lot of BBS door games are 16-bit DOS programs).

HunterZ wrote:

This is officially true, although I did successfully run Win98SE in VirtualBox a year or two ago in order to run some old telnet BBS software (modern Windows is unsuitable for this because a lot of BBS door games are 16-bit DOS programs).

By not supporting Win9x I mean VirtualBox has no guest installable integration features so you are stuck with VGA driver, no shared folders, no seamless mouse integration etc. Of course Win9x can be installed but without these features performance/user experience is not so good. But e.g. VPC up to VPC 2004 has supported quest additions for Win9x furthermore for DOS(!).
Interesting factoid that VPC 2007 can use VPC 2004's guest additions for both Win9x and DOS without problems. They are simply not in the VPC 2007 installer package anymore.

Tried that a couple years ago and it's complete garbage. It uses Remote Desktop to interact with the VM, which is completely unsuitable for gaming.

XP Mode only uses remote desktop when 'Integration features' are enabled. Otherwise the emulated S3 Trio and Soundblaster 16 and their 'feature sets' are freely available. But it does not change the fact that it's unsuitable for (3D) gaming. (Otherwise within an installed DOS/Win3.1 VM the emulated S3 Trio (and SB16) can be more useful than VirtualBox's own VGA.)

Falcosoft wrote:

Only VMWare and Virtual PC 2004 support Win9x guests, VirtualBox unfortunately not. Copy/Paste between host and guest cannot wor […]
Show full quote

IMeganElisabeth wrote:

I wish VB allowed you to install guest additions with Windows 98 to create shared folders. I don’t have a usb and I’m doubtful I could figure out networking sharing so going to try the ISO route first and then hoping if I separate enough I’ll be able to email or upload them. Will the copy/paste functions still work between host and VM?

Only VMWare and Virtual PC 2004 support Win9x guests, VirtualBox unfortunately not. Copy/Paste between host and guest cannot work without guest additions. But for copying files the easiest way is a 'local' network between the host and the guest OS and it's supported in VirtualBox. You only have to enable a network adapter in the configuration of the Win98 guest VM. Accessing folders shared on the guest Win98 from Win10 should be easier than the other way around since you do not have to set file system permissions and you do not have to create accounts (use share level access without password. The difference between authentication methods of Win10 and Win98 otherwise can cause problems).
http://support-th.canon-asia.com/contents/TH/ … 8201431000.html
https://techingiteasy.wordpress.com/2010/11/1 … and-windows-98/

Thank you very very very much for all of your help! Am hoping this works for me as it will make things super easy for file transfers. As far as 16 but installers go... If the menu that pops up is the same to play as it is to install that game would that likely mean that menu option to play is 16 bit as well or is that because the game wasn’t installed yet?

No, not necessarily. 16 bit problem on 64 bit Windows OS manifests itself in the form of an error message (e.g. when you press the install button of the menu or when you start the installer's executable manually):

Falcosoft wrote:

No, not necessarily. 16 bit problem on 64 bit Windows OS manifests itself in the form of an error message (e.g. when you press t […]
Show full quote

No, not necessarily. 16 bit problem on 64 bit Windows OS manifests itself in the form of an error message (e.g. when you press the install button of the menu or when you start the installer's executable manually):

Ah that makes sense and hopefully it’s only the installer that’s 16 bit even thought though menu is in the same exact window. I’m hoping I get lucky and therefore the installed version will be able to be shared and played on Windows 10 from VirtualBox. Thank you SO much for so much of your time and help!