16 bit program to 32 bit?

Anyone here who knows a thing or 2 about PC programming I need assistance. I have an older program that is apparently a 16 bit program. I need to somehow get it converted to 32 bit to run on Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Any ideas? The program in question is called Sonic Screen Saver. It came packaged in the PC game Sonic and Knuckles for Win 95. I get a message saying it is incompatible with my OS on both my Desktop and laptop. Both run Home Premium 64 bit. I also have an older desktop from the Pentium 4 days running 7 Starter which is 32 bit. (Custom install with modified installer ISO.) The program installed on it and runs flawlessly. This tells me the program is therefore a 16 bit one and is not corrupted. Reason I say this is because 64 bit OS lost support for 16 bit programs but the 32 bit version still supports them. I'm ready to supply the files in question and offer payment for anyone wanting to try this. I know a 32 bit version will work with my 64 bit OS. Any takers? Or anyone able to point me to the proper compilers to make this so?

Alternately, if there is a way to make Win 7 64 bit support a 16 bit program, I'll take that too. Just remember that this is a screen saver.

EDIT: Not sure if the actual screen saver itself is 16 bit or if it just the installer that's 16 bit. The control panel for adjusting settings seems to have that 16 bit window look to it so I'm not sure...

 

How are you going to recompile it without sourcecode?

You dont just take an exe and recompile it...


and its probably just the installer thats 16 bit. Install it on another 32 bit machine and copy the files over.

 

I did that and... nothing. Think I need to find some registry keys and get them moved and modified for this to work. Any ideas?

 

This may or may not help you but Its a shame you Have win 7 HP instead of Pro or Ultimate as they have windows XP Mode which may help your problem but Have you tried running it on Windows 7 Compatibility Mode (right click on exe, properties the compatibility)? If that fails I would assume there are programs that would make the game act like it was running under a older version of window (like Dos Box)


EDIT - sorry read that you wanted the screensaver not the game lol silly me but there may be virtual programs to allow for it though.

 

There are programs to take a snap shot of the registry before installation and after, then gives you the differences.

 

How about differences between 32 and 64 bit OS?

 

You're correct the Sonic and Knuckles game is 32 bit. I've got no idea about that screensaver included in it. (until I was informed by this topic obviously)

 

You cant add the 16 bit subsystem back into x64 Windows 7.

 

Short answer: it isn't going to happen.

Long answer: it won't happen with an x64 OS.

 

That is if the whole program itself is 16 bit. If it is 32 bit it will work. Assuming it is 32 bit, I should be able to find the registry keys, copy, move, modify, and incorporate into 64 bit OS in right area. Already have the installed file folder moved over to my "program files (x86)" folder. Wrong spot?

EDIT: Almost forgot. Up through 1997 lotsa programs were 32 bit but had a 16 bit installer. Replacing the installer aint gonna happen here since it is custom Sega screen.

 

Yeah that's pretty weird to me. Whether it was a compatibility issue, intentional block out, or what. Clearly major enough to last this long nonetheless.

 

All this over a legacy program I really like and have not seen a suitable replacement for since...

 

easiest thing to do in these situations is use an old laptop or desktop that actually has a pre-NT OS running
you may be able to get older programs running using various tips and tricks but 16-bit has been abandoned as such so, support is lacking

 

If its a screensaver he wants to use on his current PC - running it on another machine is pointless lol

 

A little update. The machines in question have been upgraded to 64 bit Ultimate edition and both have Microsoft Virtual Machine with XP 32 bit SP3. Any way to port the installed files from them over to the 7 environment? Or even make the 2 work in tandem so my screen saver from XP pops up instead of the one in 7? If not, then I must admit defeat in this matter...

 

if it's a windows 3.xx program (16 bits), it doesn't have registry keys. registry did not existed in win 3.xx

Also, it's a very complicated trouble for a very simple program (it's just an old screensaver). Maybe you can ask to someone to write a screensaver similar to that one...

 

If I remember right, when a Intel CPU, or AMD CPU is put into 64-bit long mode, it can't execute 16-bit software unless reset..

 

Plus those old sonic screensavers (I had them on my Pentium PC like 10+ years ago) must be like 640x480. Good luck with it.

 

There is also a set of same pictures in program that are 1024x768.

 

Can't you rip the pictures from a Windows 95 installation in VMware into a format like BMP or similar?