Q.    I don't think the Demo likes to run on Windows XP.

I have been using it successfully in Windows XP on my three computers here at home (two desktops and a laptop) since July 2002 and it's working splendidly.  However, not all copies of Windows XP work the same in all computers. 

My laptop and my assistant's desktop computer have run the program flawlessly without a hitch. My main desktop computer, however, required me to use the "compatibility" option of WinXP.  This is a wonderful feature that I am glad Microsoft included in this version of Windows. It's also in Windows 2000.

The reason compatibility is offered is because Windows XP and 2000 contain so very many configuration options to allow Windows to be as powerful as you need it to be. The problem is that programs like mine, which were designed before Windows XP, don't know about all the many possible programs which could be running in the background of Windows, and which actually conflict with the DCMS - or try to use the same operating resources as my program does. Whenever you conflict with a Microsoft product, you lose.

Therefore Windows allows itself to be put in "compatibility" mode, where for all intents and purposes, it looks and feels exactly like a previous version of Windows to the program you are trying to run. As a user, you don't see any difference in Windows, but the DCMS sees a much less cluttered environment to run in.

To use this capability in Windows XP, I recommend that you make all of the "executable" files in the DCMS "compatible" with Windows 98. To do that, please follow these steps...  (please note that the instructions below assume you installed the program to the default directory (the DCMSWIN folder of Drive C:) If yours is installed differently, please adjust steps 2 and 3)

1.   Double Click on My Computer

2.   Log on to drive C:  (Local Disk C: - in most cases)

3.   Find the folder icon named  "DCMSWIN"   and double-click on it (to view the files in the folder)

4.   When you see the files (folders and icons) open the "View"  menu on the upper part of the My Computer Window and choose  the "Arrange Icons by..." option. Then, from the submenu which appears, choose the "Type" option.  (what this does is that it "groups" all of the executable files together, and does the same for graphics files, data files, etc)

5.   Once the icons are "grouped" scroll down until you see the icon labelled "BDECFG". (It might also have a ".EXE" behind it, depending how your copy of Windows XP is configured.) "BDECFG" is the first of the "executable" files. Look further down the list and you will see  "TROUBLE"  (with or without the .EXE behind it). That is the last of the executable files.

6.   For each of the files listed between (and including) "BDECFG" and "TROUBLE", do the following. Click on the file with the RIGHT mouse button (that's the button you don't usually click with). A pop-up menu will appear. Choose "Properties" from the menu. A Properties window will appear. Across the top, you will see several "tabs". One will be labelled "Compatibility". Click on the Compatibility tab. On the Compatibility page, you will see an option box labelled "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" Check that box, and the menu will activate below that option box. From the menu, choose "Windows 98/Windows Me". Leave all the other options on that page as they are. Finally, click the "Apply" button at the bottom of the box, and then click the "OK" button to close the box.

7.   Repeat the process for all of the files between (and including) "BDECFG" and "TROUBLE" and you should have no further problems with the complexities of Windows XP.

From there on, when you start the DCMS, WinXP first sets itself up to look like Windows 98 - which the DCMS works extremely well in. Like I said, I only have to do that in my desktop computer and it is the one with the more complicated configuration (three separate monitors and lots of toys attached) If you experience any problems running in WinXP just use the "Compatibility" option and they should disappear. 

This potential problem will also disappear when I introduce  DCMS Pro, later this year. It will have been designed with Windows XP in mind. I have been transforming the program into a full WinXP program for the last year and am close to releasing the new program, which will be available as an update - just like any other update you receive in the Update Subscription.

Hope that helps
 
 

Back