Should I keep my Windows 98 laptop for gaming?

[veronica_marsfan]

When playing older games like Baldurs Gate, Final Fantasy 7, or Battle Chess, does WIN98 offer better compatibility than running on Windows XP?

I'm planning to upgrade my laptop from 98 to XP but before I do I want to make sure I don't break older games

thanks :bigmac:

[debian4life]

I run Final Fantasy VII well under XP. Here is the link for an article that shows how to emulate older versions of Windows using the Windows XP Compatibility wizard: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/appcompat.mspx

Another option is to dual boot your system with both Windows 98 and Windows XP. Here is a link for that: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306559

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Brian

[josekortez]

Hey Veronicamarsfan,

Good to see you over from CAG.

In response to your question, I bought a laptop with Windows 98 at a yard sale from a woman for $30 last year just so I could run games that use 98. I noticed that my XP desktop wouldn't run them as well in certain cases. The laptop also had DOS as well, so I'm good to for most old PC games I might find (particularly I use it for Leisure Suit Larry IV and Bubble Bobble).

[Dreamcast]

If you do change to XP that means no DOS (download dosbox) and it plays old games not very well. Why don't you switch to Windows 2000? its the most stable of them all. And I think it still has dos (If it doesnt....use dosbox.)

[josekortez]

Dreamcast, I just saw your username and it reminded me that I need to try my PC version of Hundred Swords since it's the only way I'll ever get to play that game in English...

[Dreamc@sting]

You could dual boot which is one way to go, but if your on a 98' machine you need to take in context your system specs and how well it would perform under xp.

I kept my compaq intel 133 windows 95 machine for the sole reason for dos gaming. I do have emulators on my xp machine but there are still issues with certain games and whatnot and im a purist :P

[Daria]

What would be the point of upgrading an old laptop to XP? It's not like it's going to meet any of the system requirments for new games. You're only going to lose compatibility with older games and gain... well... squat.

[calthaer]

I will give you a very good reason not to upgrade your 98 laptop to XP that should end the discussion right here:

SYSTEM SHOCK 2

This game is a pain to get working under newer versions of Windows, and is worth the price of keeping an old PC around IMO.

That is all.

[Dreamc@sting]

I will give you a very good reason not to upgrade your 98 laptop to XP that should end the discussion right here:

SYSTEM SHOCK 2

This game is a pain to get working under newer versions of Windows, and is worth the price of keeping an old PC around IMO.

That is all.


Cal speaks with the wisdom of the gods!

[Trebuken]

I would leave it with Windows 98. Odds are it won't handle XP games well enough to be worthwhile. It almost certainly would not do well with DosBox; DosBox is fantastic but has a learning curve.

If it can handle XP well I would go for it though.

I have a laptop with Windows 98. I hardly ever touch it. Just use it for an occasional game of Starcraft.

[debian4life]

OK, I am far from a Microsoft junkie as you can tell by my screen name I prefer Debian based Linux distros. But I do use XP for my programming projects as needed and I feel the need to point out that XP has been around for over 5 years. It was designed to run on a 300Mhz processor and 64 to 128 Mb RAM. While I agree Veronica should keep at least one active partition on her laptop for Windows 98 gaming, unless she has a machine under 300Mhz and less than 64 Mb RAM she should be okay running XP as long as she is not doing anything processor intensive. Of course as with any machine the more horsepower it has the better.

Now everyone repeat after me, we will convert to Linux:cheers:

Regards,

Brian

[roushimsx]

There's very, very few reasons to waste a partition on Win98. The games you've listed work fine in WinXP and even games that previously were incompatible (Mechwarrior 2 3dfx version, for example) now function better than ever in Win2k/XP thanks to fan-made patches. For almost anything DOS-based, playing in DOSbox is preferable to playing in DOS on an older PC.


If you do change to XP that means no DOS (download dosbox) and it plays old games not very well. Why don't you switch to Windows 2000? its the most stable of them all. And I think it still has dos (If it doesnt....use dosbox.)

This is pretty inaccurate. DOSbox plays dos-based games awesomely, is a hell of a lot more flexible, and is easier to configure. Games that were a pain in the ass to run in DOS run with very little difficulty or configuration in DOSbox, you don't have to worry about sticking with antiquated hardware or fiddling with speed throttling software for games that might run too fast, etc. Hell, that's without taking into account the possibility of using screen filtering, custom resolutions, screen capturing, video recording, directinput controller support, etc in DOSbox. It even natively supports mounting disc images and native glide support at this point. Also, Win2k didn't have pure DOS either.

Remember how awesome Wing Commander 2, Aces Over Europe and Tie Fighter were? Imagine playing them with a Saitek X52 instead of your a Gravis Gamepad. :)


I will give you a very good reason not to upgrade your 98 laptop to XP that should end the discussion right here:

SYSTEM SHOCK 2

Installs and runs fine with a single command line switch.

[calthaer]

Installs and runs fine with a single command line switch.

YMMV. Given the 51-page thread over at TTLG.com on the very topic, it doesn't appear to be that simple for everyone.

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69958

[veronica_marsfan]

System Shock 2 sounds cool. Is SS1 worth buying too?

I've never played Wing Commander and would like to someday. Having a DOS-based windows would probably help.



What would be the point of upgrading an old laptop to XP? .

I didn't word that right. It would be a whole new machine (with XP installed). The old machine would go away.

But now it sounds I should keep the old machine for gaming.

[roushimsx]

System Shock 2 sounds cool. Is SS1 worth buying too?

I've never played Wing Commander and would like to someday. Having a DOS-based windows would probably help.

I didn't word that right. It would be a whole new machine (with XP installed). The old machine would go away.

System Shock 1 is fairly difficult for newcomers to get into. The control scheme is unintuitive (especially considering how FPS controls evolved) and the graphics are primitive, but if you're willing to invest the time to get used to it all, it's a pretty god damn good game. Make sure you play the CD version, because as snazzy as the disk version was, the additions from the CD version really make it feel complete. I'd strongly recommend checking out the CD demo of the game and playing around with it for a while to see if it'd be worth the buy (it's not too pricey on ebay now a days).

Wing Commander is still fun, but it was totally eclipsed in awesomeness by Wing Commander 2 and Privateer. I recommend starting with the first one anyway just because the series is the bee's knees all the same :). Plus, there were two double packs (Wing Commander I+II+all addons for both and Strike Commander + Privateer + voicepacks for both) that should be considered essential buying. Running them properly in a dos-based windows/true DOS is a motherfucker, btw. DOSbox is the way to go.

With a new machine, it's all the more reason to go the DOSbox route. It's funny that one of the reasons I upgraded my PC back in '06 was so that I could play all of my DOS games better, but now I'm able to play games like Blood, Terra Nova, Wing Commander 2, Strike Commander, Privateer, and both Crusader games...all of which could be a pain even back then to get running in DOS. Plus, if you've never played them before, you quite simply MUST play Under a Killing Moon and Pandora Directive.

edit - I want to recommend Realms of the Haunting, too....but that might just be nostalgia talking. I'm going to play through it again in the near future so that I can give a more firm recommendation on that one. :)

[aaron7]

It was designed to run on a 300Mhz processor and 64 to 128 Mb RAM.

Right, 7 years ago. With SP2 and all the updates they recommend at LEAST 800MHz and 256mb RAM. 512mb is recommended though.

[Dreamc@sting]

Seriously - not saying it CAN'T run...but for games? no way - unless you like moving at the speed of snail. I don't see any perk in upgrading to xp - I'd just buy a new one since they are cheap enough, and then keep the 98 machine for some classic dos gaming

[aaron7]

Yah XP and 2000 are no fun for dos games... it's just so hard to get them to work right.

[veronica_marsfan]

My
laptop has a strange folder called System_save (D:\).

Any clue what that's supposed to be? Can I erase the data inside? It appears to be just a copy of the Restore CD.

[aaron7]

My
laptop has a strange folder called System_save (D:\).

Any clue what that's supposed to be? Can I erase the data inside? It appears to be just a copy of the Restore CD.

You have Windows ME? That's usually what that's from and you can't delete it per se.

[Jorpho]

Why don't you switch to Windows 2000? its the most stable of them all. And I think it still has dos (If it doesnt....use dosbox.)

Definitely no DOS in Windows 2000. It really isn't too different from XP.

I once would have agreed that Win2K might be superior to Windows XP, but Win2K appears to be getting increasingly outdated - even if there's certain updates and such that could be installed under Win2K without any problems, it might insist on being installable in WinXP only - the latest official Catalyst drivers, for example. It seems most of the worst bugs have been worked out of XP at this point anyway.

[veronica_marsfan]

You have Windows ME? That's usually what that's from and you can't delete it per se.

The start menu says 98.

I'll just delete it. I need the space.