Windows Vista

[Nephlite]

I bought a new computer with 64-bit Windows Vista, and my GK games won't run on it due to incompatibility. Is there a way around this?

[Collector]

For GK1 try my Gabriel Knight 1 DOSBox installer.

GK2 can be run in DOSBox as well, but I don't have an installer for it. Hendroz, the creator of the XP installer is going to look into a DOSBox solution for his installer. If you can't wait you can set it up manually yourself. Just mount your CD drive and a folder for you C: drive. Change to the CD drive in DOSBox and run "INSTALL" to install the game in DOSBox and run SIERRA to play. Press "Ctrl+F4" after changing discs to get DOSBox to recognize the new CD. If you need more explicit directions on how to use DOSBox, just let me know. You can also check out the official guides on the DOSBox forums. You can also try a frontend, like DOSBox Game Launcher.

GK3 runs fine on my Vista64. Have you tried to run it, yet? If you are having issues with it, take a look at the Gabriel Knight 3 help page. If you still have issues, just ask here again and let us know what problems you are having and what you have tried.

[Nephlite]

Please forgive my ignorance, Collector, but what is DOSBox? I've never heard of it. Also, I have tried running GK3. I get the incompatiblity error message after I attepmt to install the game.

[AndreaDraco]

Here you can find useful information about DOSBox, how to download it and run it. Mainly and most importantly, DOSBox is a powerful tool that allow us to emulate a DOS environment on newer machines, thus allowing us to play the vast majority of old games.

[Collector]

DOSBox is a classic gamer's best friend. It is always the first thing to try to get an old DOS game to run on a new PC. It emulates an entire DOS machine, hardware and OS. Because of this, DOSBox provides the environment that DOS games expect, down to the speed of the CPU that the game was written for. In other words it solves incompatibility problems, both OS and hardware wise.

Many of the Sierra titles tended to be even more buggy under Windows, so unless there is a compelling to want the Windows version over the DOS, you should always try the DOS version, first. Many of the Sierra SCI games had timer bugs (both Windows and DOS version) that didn't show up until PCs got faster. DOSBox is the ideal solution for this issue. Slow down utilities are of questionable value with modern CPUs.

Once you have grasped the fundamentals of mounting drives in DOSBox it is very easy to use. Mounting a drive is just telling DOSBox what folder to use as its harddrive. If you type:

• mount c C:\Sierra

it will tell DOSBox to use the Sierra folder on your C: drive as its C: drive.

Use my GK1 DOSBox installer first and it will install DOSBox for you to get you started. There is lots of help available both here and on the official DOSBox forums.

[Nephlite]

GK3 runs fine on my Vista64. Have you tried to run it, yet? If you are having issues with it, take a look at the Gabriel Knight 3 help page. If you still have issues, just ask here again and let us know what problems you are having and what you have tried.

I get an error message saying: "GK3.exe is not a valid win32 application. How do I fix this?

[Collector]

The file must be corrupt. Reinstall it from the CD.

[Nephlite]

Collector: I uninstalled it, put the CD in the ROM and installed it thru autorun. I'm getting the same message. Is there any other way around this?

[Collector]

Perhaps the problem is the Autorun. Open the CD with Windows Explorer and run the setup file.

[Nephlite]

Didn't work. I guess...I guess playing this game anymore is over and done with. It has to be a compatibility issue with Vista 64. The only way I'll ever play it again is to get an older PC with an older version on Windows. Thanx, Collector, for your help, nonetheless.

[Collector]

It is not a Vista 64 problem. As I said, it installs and runs on my Vista 64. There has to be some other reason. Check your CD for scratches, abrasions, etc.

[Nephlite]

It does have scratches on it. Is there a way to repair it?

[DeadPoolX]

It does have scratches on it. Is there a way to repair it?

There are all sorts of "disc doctor" repair kits and devices available, but I have no idea how well any of them work. They look gimmicky to me, but maybe I'm wrong.

[dotkel50]

I have Vista 64 and had no problem installing GK3 from the CD. Is there more than one version perhaps?

[Collector]

Mine is version 1.0.

You can try copying the contents of the CD to your harddrive. If you are unable to, then that is the problem. You can try one of the CD repair kits that DPX mentioned, but if the damage is more than superficial, you may need to replace the Discs.