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First post, by Malik

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Thought this might be more relevant here - regarding older Win9x games on newer multicore systems :

I started playing Divine Divinity in my i7 core notebook with XP and faced this vey irritating noise when a digital sound effect is played. It happens randomly and not always. Searching through the net, I found out the multi-core is the problem, and setting the core usage to a single CPU solved this problem.

For those who are not familiar, games that are unaware of multicore CPUs (most of the games that we like 😁), may pose a multitude of problems like :

1.) Game not starting

2.) Game starts but crashes on loading the core engine.

3.) Sound or Speech Stuttering

4.) Noises in games, especially digital voices corruption.

5.) Persistent crashes.

Some common examples are

* - System Shock 2 / Thief II Engine - crash on loading core engine

* - Need For Speed (can't remember which one),

* - Shogo - Stuttering Speech

* - System Shock 2 sometimes won't even load

* - I think Heavy Metal 2 F.A.K.K.2 crashes on loading, though alternate workaround is available without using this utility.

....and so on...

These symptoms usually appear when playing certain Win9x games on XP/Vista/7 with a multicore system (almost every single machne being sold nowadays).

A common method of testing if the multicore is the problem, is to Alt-TAB while in-game to Task Manager-->Set Affinity command and select only a single core. This can be also be made to rectify the problem, but must be made at each game session.

Another workaround is to enter the command "c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe /affinity 1" in front of the target file. This works in Vista/7 but not in XP.

But this nice utility by Active+ Software does the thing on XP easily. To make the command permanent, place the RunFirst.exe file in C:\Windows\System32\ (for easier input later - doesn't need to type the full path), then choose the shortcut of the game, ricght click-->properties. In the Target line, put this RunFirst.exe or c:\windows\system32\runfirst.exe before the intended target.

For example, for the game Divine Divinity, on my desktop, I add c:\windows\system32\RunFirst.exe in front of the normal Target statement, and it reads as :

C:\Windows\System32\RunFirst.exe "C:\Program Files\GOG.com\Divine Divinity\Div.exe".

RunFirst is a FREEWARE by Active+ Software.

This may solve many unforeseen and inexplicable problems with older Windows 9x based games on newer systems.

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5476332566_7480a12517_t.jpgSB Dos Drivers

Reply 5 of 7, by doomer

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You can also download Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit from Microsoft and create an application fix that includes SingleProcAffinity. Then install that fix in its database and then it becomes permanent until fix uninstallation.

That toolkit is really nifty, and includes lots of additional compatibility fixes that can be applied. Works great for old games. 😀

Reply 6 of 7, by filipetolhuizen

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I'm sure gonna try this out, as Win9x Compatibility mode and SingleProcAffinity have side effects in some games, such as mouse and keyboard lags. Hope this works better.
Edit: Unfortunately it has the same side-effects.