Let’s say you want to run an old program, like a video game for Windows 95, on a new PC.
More often than not, upon installation, you end up with an error that reads, “The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you’re running. Check your computer’s system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher.”
The reason for this is because you might be trying to run a 16-bit program in a 64-bit environment, which isn’t possible.
Programs that are 16-bit can only run in both 16-bit and 32-bit environments while those that are 32-bit can run in both 32-bit and 64-bit environments.
So, the first thing that you’ll have to do is to check System Information, which can be accessed in Windows 7 by hitting Start, right-click Computer and select Properties. In Windows 8, you will have to type ‘system’ in the Search charm, click Settings and System.
If your computer is 32-bit, you could possibly run that program but if it’s 64-bit then it would be difficult to do so. For this, you should download and install Microsoft’s free Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode, only if you use Windows 7.
Simply put, it is a copy of Windows XP in a 32-bit virtual machine. If of course, your operating system is 64-bit as in Windows 8, then the only option you have is to download VMWare Player and an older version of Windows too.
You can also use the Hyper-V provided with Windows 8 Pro or Ultimate to run a virtual machine as well.