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Hello,
I've been wondering what causes a Windows 95 program (I've not heard of it being needed for Win98-based programs) to require the use of the compatibility layer under Windows 2000/XP. Is it purely the use of ancient versions of DirectX (Which is supposedly backwards-compatible), or were people using weird memory hacks and stuff for performance? :confused:
Greater memory protection, greater security enhancements, etc.
windows 2000/NT/XP are different operating systems than windows 9x, which is completely different from DOS... windows 3.x isn't an OS, it's a glorified GUI...
windows ME isn't anything... it never existed...
So what are you saying, that because of these enhancements some Win95 programs won't work? I've made programs in Visual C++ that can be run on any version of Win32. Do the ones that don't work have fudged code?Quote:
Originally Posted by golfinguy4
You can download the Application Compatibility Toolkit to browse the list of fixes available and view the "hall of shame", a list of a couple of hundred applications that have fixes pre-applied. Unfortunately, the download is 23MB(which includes 6MB of Word and Excel viewers, just in case!) but that also includes the useful Application Verifier utility that checks your application for such things as security lapses, memory corruption and compatibility issues.
Here are a few of the more common fixes:
Quote:
Win95VersionLie
Hooks the GetVersion and GetVersionEx APIs so that they return Windows 95 version credentials. Applications often check to ensure that they are running on a Win9x system, even though they will run OK on an NT based system.
ProfilesRegQueryValueEx
Some applications attempt to directly read the "Shell Folders" values in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER, which would return the folders for the user performing the install. This compatibility fix returns the common path so that the application will be available for all users of the computer after install. Applies to: Windows 95, Windows 98
LUARedirectReg
Applications may incorrectly attempt to write to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE portion of the registry. This compatibility fix redirects the registry keys to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive when the application doesn't have the necessary permissions.
EmulateDrawText
In Windows 9x, the DrawText API would accept out of range values and then convert them to acceptable values. This compatibility fix mimics that behavior for Windows XP. Applies to: Windows 95, Windows 98
CorrectFilePaths
This compatibility fix corrects file paths that were changed between Windows 9x and Windows XP. It works by hooking the file APIs and converting the file paths to the correct location for Windows XP. For example, a Windows 9x path of C:\Windows\Write.exe would be converted to C:\Windows\System32\Write.exe. Applies to: Windows 95, Windows 98