PoE and Windows XP

[TCJ]

So...

 

For awhile everything I read abour PoE said it will run on XP.  It will run on XP.  It will run on XP.   Quite naturally, I'm happy because I have an old computer that uses XP and I would have to do a major overhaul to get a newer operating system running.  Namely, I'd have to get a new cpu which means getting a new motherboard (they don't make the old stuff anymore!).   Now today I'm browsing PoE on GoG reading a little about it again in anticipation of playing it in the near future -- but what should be looming there except the system requirements:  Windows Vista, 7, or 8.  What happened to XP?

 

Does anyone have experience running games meant for newer operating systems on older ones?   Is it possible?   I'm a little miffed and if I can't run it I'd probably be wanting my money back because I'm not really in a position to purchase a new computer right now or in the near future.

[Sanquiz]

Sure you will not have problem, i use my commodore 64 on the Beta and work perfect.

[TCJ]

Thank you for your most helpful reply.  I shall have to nominate you as poster of the year. 

 

 

In case anyone is actually interested in providing a helpful reply, aside from XP my computer is sufficient to run the game based on the requirements.   XP is the ONLY issue.

Edited March 24, 2015 by TCJ

[ManifestedISO]

He is entirely serious. The government over there took away all the fun computers. Gazpacho vendors were granted a sub-license to sell and maintain Commodores, however. 

[Luckmann]

Alright, please excuse my hilarious colleagues.

I would not get my hopes up for official Windows XP support. Windows XP is no longer supported even by Microsoft, so it is doubtful it's going to be recognized.

Also, I know that there's been some issues with 32-bit Windows during the beta, I'm not sure how dependable it is right now, although I think they ironed most of the problems out.

At the end of the day, I would be surprised if it didn't run on XP, if it can run dependably on say, Windows 7 32bit, but it is a bit of a leap of faith.

 

Why are you still running XP, anyway? Honest question.

[JeanGordini]

I'm a bit confused now. On Paradox's site, it still says it should run on XP. On Steam, however, it says you need a 64-bit OS to run the game. That would neatly explain the lack of Windows XP support since for all intents and purposes, there never was a 64-bit Windows XP.

 

Actually, there was a Windows XP 64 bits, derived from Server 2003, but it was never released for the mainstream.

 

Anyway, if your computer can run Eternity, it surely can run a proper, modern, version of Windows such as Windows 7 or 8.1, and you should update your computer, if only for Microsoft's software support.

[Vardia]

Thank you for your most helpful reply.  I shall have to nominate you as poster of the year. 

 

 

In case anyone is actually interested in providing a helpful reply, aside from XP my computer is sufficient to run the game based on the requirements.   XP is the ONLY issue.

If it can run XP then it should be able to run Windows 8 or 10 too, you could install the Windows 10 beta version as a second OS if nothing else helps.

[Flow]

More to the point, PoE system requirements are much higher than Windows 7/8 requirements. If you can run the game you use a newer OS.

[Tamerlane]

It's the ultimate in nostalgia, guys. Playing PoE with the same OS you played Baldur's Gate 2.

[TCJ]

Why are you still running XP, anyway? Honest question.

 

I was about to update my computer a little over a year ago, but the CPU won't support Windows 7.  Since it wouldn't I gave my copy to a relative who wanted to update his computer.   If I want to run Windows 7, I have to update the CPU.  If want to do that, I have to upgrade the MB because there's only one chip, I believe, that I could find that would fit the current MB and be Windows 7 compatible, and that wasn't exactly an improvement over the old chip.   If I'm going to update a computer, I might as well update it.  But it takes time (to research and build) and money (whether purchasing from someone else or building it).   I'm rather lacking both, but particularly the latter since I just bought a house.   Living in a place is a little more important to me than buying a new computer right now.

 

It's rather funny (in my opinion) that I built my current computer so I could play another Obsidian game, NWN2.

Edited March 24, 2015 by TCJ

[Ark Evensong]

For a point of reference, the Backer Beta does run in Windows XP 32 bit. Haven't tested enough to know whether it's unstable or buggy or whatever because of it, though. (I did run into a zoom bug, being able to zoom in much further than normally, but might've been a one time goof.)

 

Have you considered a Linux partition? Would be cumbersome for a single game, but might be an option. Still, holding on to Windows XP is going to cause more and more problems the longer you keep putting off upgrading.

[Flow]

 

Why are you still running XP, anyway? Honest question.

 

I was about to update my computer a little over a year ago, but the CPU won't support Windows 7. 

 

 

That doesn't make a ton of sense. The CPU requirments for Windows 7 are basically any x86-compatible CPU capable of at least 1GHz. As noted earlier, if you can't run Win 7 you definitely won't be able to run PoE.

 

Do you happen to have the CPU model number handy?

[TCJ]

 

 

Why are you still running XP, anyway? Honest question.

 

I was about to update my computer a little over a year ago, but the CPU won't support Windows 7. 

 

 

That doesn't make a ton of sense. The CPU requirments for Windows 7 are basically any x86-compatible CPU capable of at least 1GHz. As noted earlier, if you can't run Win 7 you definitely won't be able to run PoE.

 

Do you happen to have the CPU model number handy?

 

 

Maybe it doesn't make a ton of sense, but that's what happened when I tried to install Windows 7.   I checked all the system requirements on Windows 7 and my computer meeets them but 7 won't accept the chip (or that type of chip).  I don't remember why since it was over a year ago.  Again, the MB needs to be upgraded to fit a different chip.

 

Sorry, I don't know the CPU model offhand.

Edited March 24, 2015 by TCJ

[middydj]

try http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html and dl their cpu z program. It will tell you information on your system mb,ram, and cpu.

Edited March 24, 2015 by middydj

[Ineth]

It's the ultimate in nostalgia, guys. Playing PoE with the same OS you played Baldur's Gate 2.

 

Ah yes, good old Windows 2000.

 

From a time when Microsoft still focused on pragmatically refining and extending its products with every release, rather than throwing away what worked and (badly) reinventing the wheel on every release to cater to the latest UI design fads.

 

Also the last time when Windows was superior to the contemporary versions of Mac and Linux.

[TCJ]

For those who were asking about some system specs:

 

Intel Pentium 4 3.2 ghz

Intel P45 Chipset

4 GB RAM

GeForce 9800 GT

 

 

Edit:  Come to think of it, I seem to recall reading that that particular chip set has problems with Windows 7 even though it should work.   Other people have had the same problem.  It's more, I think, a quirk of that particular chip with the OS rather than it being too dated.  After all, it came out in 2008 and Windows 7 followed just one year after.

Edited March 25, 2015 by TCJ

[Flow]

For those who were asking about some system specs:

 

Intel Pentium 4 3.2 ghz

Intel P45 Chipset

4 GB RAM

GeForce 9800 GT

 

 

Edit:  Come to think of it, I seem to recall reading that that particular chip set has problems with Windows 7 even though it should work.   Other people have had the same problem.  It's more, I think, a quirk of that particular chip with the OS rather than it being too dated.  After all, it came out in 2008 and Windows 7 followed just one year after.

 

Anything's possible, but P45 was an incredibly common chipset in its day. I think it's pretty unlikely it flat out doesn't work with Win 7.

 

Is it possible you were trying to install using a 64-bit disc? That would probably explain it complaining about the CPU. You have a 32-bit chip that needs 32-bit Windows 7.

[Vardia]

For those who were asking about some system specs:

 

Intel Pentium 4 3.2 ghz

Intel P45 Chipset

4 GB RAM

GeForce 9800 GT

 

 

Edit:  Come to think of it, I seem to recall reading that that particular chip set has problems with Windows 7 even though it should work.   Other people have had the same problem.  It's more, I think, a quirk of that particular chip with the OS rather than it being too dated.  After all, it came out in 2008 and Windows 7 followed just one year after.

Maybe you tried installing the 64 Bit Version of Windows 7, which actually cannot run on that processor, however the x86 version should run (the x64 key will work for the x86 version too however its a diffrent DVD)

[TCJ]

It's entirely possible it was 64-bit, but I couldn't say for sure.    I do remember someone telling me that if I was going to get Windows 7 that I should get 64-bit, but, again, I can't remember if I actually did.

[JeanGordini]

There's a site known as ark.intel.com which will tell you everything about your CPU, especially if it supports 64-bit and such stuff. That said, I'd also perfectly possible that Windows 7 requires some obscure and little known instruction not present or activated on your CPU. Intel I'd very strong when it comes to segment their offerings. Meanwhile, Microsoft has dramatically improved its OS security and I wouldn't be surprised to see it had a few hardware requirements with it.

[Darren Monahan]

It "should" work on Windows XP, but we didn't extensively test it because Microsoft doesn't officially support the OS anymore (and I would highly encourage you to upgrade away from it if you use the internet on that machine ) Windows XP 64-bit would be better if you have it.

 

We list Windows Vista just because Microsoft still supports it (which means then that the graphics drivers guys generally will too.)

[AstralWanderer]

It "should" work on Windows XP, but we didn't extensively test it because Microsoft doesn't officially support the OS anymore...

Thanks for the update - I run WinXP on my gaming system (Core i7 920, 24GB RAM, 2 x 580GTX graphics) and was concerned at its omission from the system requirements.

 

As for those wondering why I and others are sticking with WinXP:

• Lower memory/CPU usage (typically 200-500MB less than Win7);
• More configurable thanks to XPLite and nLite - Win7 has 7Lite, 8 has nowt;
• Windows Product Activation can be more easily "managed";
• Easier to secure (using software like Process Guard and System Safety Monitor - neither available now but no equivalent exists for Win 7+, nor likely to due to MS' restrictions on kernel modification on 64-bit systems);
• No GUI disasters like TIFKAM - XP's UI changes are generally a downside compared to Win2K but are almost all optional;
• Supports old hardware (the Microsoft Force Feedback 2 joystick and Microsoft Strategic Commander gamepad won't work on 64-bit systems);
• No 64-bit stupidity like requiring separate Program Files folders for 32 and 64 bit applications or storing 64-bit code in Windows\System32 while having 32-bit code in Windows\SysWOW64

Some issues are due to (Microsoft's kludgy implementation of) a 64-bit OS, but running (and paying for) a 32-bit version of Win8 seems to be asking for insult on top of injury. A switch to Linux would make more sense but there's very little in the way of application-aware firewall software which I would consider essential for online security (the closest would be TuxGuardian which has not been updated since 2006 and doesn't really offer the security options available from Windows products like Outpost or Look'n'Stop). Edited March 26, 2015 by AstralWanderer

[TCJ]

It "should" work on Windows XP, but we didn't extensively test it because Microsoft doesn't officially support the OS anymore (and I would highly encourage you to upgrade away from it if you use the internet on that machine ) Windows XP 64-bit would be better if you have it.

 

We list Windows Vista just because Microsoft still supports it (which means then that the graphics drivers guys generally will too.)

 

Thank you for the reply!

 

I've been meaning to upgrade my machine for aover a year now but life keeps getting in the way in the form of monetary expenses, including major repair on my car, a new house, and a number of other expenses.  Plus I just had to send the IRS a huge sum.    Sometimes it's hard to do the things you want to do when alll the things that you have to do keep popping up.

[AstralWanderer]

A quick update - seems to run pretty well on XP (gotten up to Gilded Vale). Virtual memory usage seems to top out at 1.45GB and GPU memory usage (as measured by MSI Afterburner) tops out at 600MB (running on a 1536MB 580GTX) with a near constant 60fps (even with SweetFX added for post-processing). Whoever put down 8GB in the system requirements must have been completely off their head.

 

Only problem I've encountered is that the savegame system didn't seem too robust. I use Aphar Backup to make copies of savegame files whenever they're updated and PoE seemed to have trouble with it (the Save button not doing anything, autosaves disappearing when the game was restarted - quicksaves always worked OK though) - possibly due to the temporary DotNetZip files being locked as they were backed up. However pausing and restarting Aphar seems to have (at least temporarily) fixed that glitch.

Edited March 27, 2015 by AstralWanderer

[shibby191]

For those who were asking about some system specs:

 

Intel Pentium 4 3.2 ghz

Intel P45 Chipset

4 GB RAM

GeForce 9800 GT

 

 

 

 

Well, your problem isn't really XP vs 7, it's everything else.  Your CPU isn't even in the same generation as the minimum required which is a Core i3.  I think your graphics card is actually a bit better then the minimum though.

[TCJ]

For those who were asking about some system specs:

 

Intel Pentium 4 3.2 ghz

Intel P45 Chipset

4 GB RAM

GeForce 9800 GT

 

 

 

 

Well, your problem isn't really XP vs 7, it's everything else.  Your CPU isn't even in the same generation as the minimum required which is a Core i3.  I think your graphics card is actually a bit better then the minimum though.

 

 

True.   Hard to believe my computer was once modern.  

Edited March 28, 2015 by TCJ