I have an ancient copy of AutoCAD that I like to use to create dimensioned drawings on occasion. I learned to use it nearly 30 years ago, and the version I have was released in 1997.
It's a 32 bit program so it flat will NOT run on a 64 bit machine. I had an old XP box that it ran fine on, but it finally croaked. After rummaging around for alternatives, including fixing or replacing a 32 bit machine, I decided to try installing a Virtual PC and XP Mode on my 64 bit WIN7 machine.
I've been at it all freakin' day, overcoming various glitches. I FINALLY got Virtual PC to work and started installing XP Mode and it looked good right up to 98% complete, then it crashed. Twice. Turns out, I have the ONE processor, an AMD A8 "Bulldozer" that is incompatible with XP Mode software.
Thought I was screwed and was more than a little pissed after spending hours getting that far.
Then my other brain cell woke up for a minute. I'd bought a licensed copy of XP to install on a new drive (which is what I thought was wrong with my old box...it wasn't, or at least not the only thing...) and I could fire up the Virtual PC and install the full version of XP on it! Doh!
Worked too, and AutoCAD is installed and working.
Oh well, it ain't like I had anything else to do today...
It's a 32 bit program so it flat will NOT run on a 64 bit machine. I had an old XP box that it ran fine on, but it finally croaked. After rummaging around for alternatives, including fixing or replacing a 32 bit machine, I decided to try installing a Virtual PC and XP Mode on my 64 bit WIN7 machine.
I've been at it all freakin' day, overcoming various glitches. I FINALLY got Virtual PC to work and started installing XP Mode and it looked good right up to 98% complete, then it crashed. Twice. Turns out, I have the ONE processor, an AMD A8 "Bulldozer" that is incompatible with XP Mode software.
Thought I was screwed and was more than a little pissed after spending hours getting that far.
Then my other brain cell woke up for a minute. I'd bought a licensed copy of XP to install on a new drive (which is what I thought was wrong with my old box...it wasn't, or at least not the only thing...) and I could fire up the Virtual PC and install the full version of XP on it! Doh!
Worked too, and AutoCAD is installed and working.
Oh well, it ain't like I had anything else to do today...