hexxehguide: Installing XP-only games in 64 bit XP

[directhex]

Some people might suggest I'm a 1-trick pony, with "Debian this" or "Tux Racer that". They're wrong, of course. I'm a tinkerer, a dabbler, an enthusiast. I like playing with new things, because they're new. And yes, that includes Microsoft stuff.

Others who feel this way may have installed Windows XP x64 Edition to their computers:



It's shiny. It has a free demo. It's new. However, it has one big problem (and some other ones like drivers): Some games may refuse to install.



Windows XP x64 Edition is based on Windows Server 2003 (NT 5.2), not on XP (NT 5.1) - and this can throw a lot of installers into a strop. Fortunately, there's a way to hack around this, which works for some (but not all) games.

First of all, you need the Windows Installer SDK 1.1 for x86:



With the SDK downloaded, install it by double-clicking on it. Next, make a temporary folder to store the contents of the first CD of your problematic game:

[directhex]

Now, you need to install a magical Microsoft tool called Orca. It can be found in the Tools folder of wherever you put the MSI SDK (probably C:\MsiIntel.x86\Tools\):



With Orca installed, go to the .msi file from your game backup, right click, and edit with Orca:



In Orca, scroll down the left-hand list to "LaunchCondition", right click all entries in this window, and click "Drop Row":



Click save, and burn a new CD with the modified installer on it. Now, try installing from your new CD. Voila!



You'll need to use the original pressed CD to pass any copy protection procedures. This method also only works on MSI-based installers (most recent ones).

Enjoy!

[SilentDeath]

bah I thoguht you were going to show us a cleaver hack to change the windows version! wouldnt it be quite simple? but probably mess up the internal workings of windows, so not a good idea..

WHY would any games company limit their games to a particular version of windows? I dont see the point???????!??

Not using win64 yet myself but this method could be used for many other stubborn games that for some reson refuse to install

[Jonny]

Wow, cheers man! I run x64 (build 3790, it's a Beta that was free and has yet to crash, so I'm keeping it! Lol.)
Handy little guide there.