Need Help With Vista, Please

[Vista Visitor]

Hello, all. I'm posting here to see if you might be able to help me with a problem. I'm not computer-savvy; this is my second one. I have Vista Premium, I believe the 32-bit version.

My problem is related to running some instructional courses I installed to the computer. Every time I attempt to run it, it locks up the computer. I get the message "NTVDM.exe has stopped running". I can't click the options to either shut it down or go online to look for a solution. I know someone else has a computer with XP Professional that runs these courses seemingly OK. There's also something called "Asymetrix Tool Box II" that installed along with the discs, if that matters. I have to shut it down by pressing the Start button since nothing responds.

I've sent error reports to Microsoft, but no solutions were found. I've looked online for possible fixes, but either don't understand enough to know what I'm needing to do or not finding anything helpful. About all I found was some various posts stating Vista is incompatible with this "NTVDM" process, and some stating just Vista 64 is.

Is there anything I might can do to get this fixed on my end, or should I go to a professional? I can't afford to get Microsoft involved for a price just to be told "Sorry, this is a third-party issue". Thanks for any help/advice-and if you need to know more particular stuff, please ask.

[cluberti]

NTVDM.exe = NT Virtual DOS Machine

Also, since you are trying to launch ntvdm.exe, you do have 32bit Vista (64bit vista does not contain 16bit components, and ntvdm.exe is used to launch 16bit or 8bit apps inside a 32bit process - backwards compatibility from Win9x days, brought forward even to Vista 32bit).

These instructional applications - if they're launching ntvdm.exe, that means they're trying to run inside a command prompt, meaning they are probably quite old. I did some research on "Asymetrix ToolBox II", and found it to be "courseware authoring software" that was likely used to make the training you are using, and was released in retail in December 1996. Since the training was made with a tool for Windows 95, but still tries to run in a DOS box, I'd say the training probably dates from sometime in 1997 or (very) early 1998 - making it 10 - 11 years and (depending on whether or not you count WinME) at least 4 Windows versions ago. Those are (extremely) likely to NOT run properly on Vista, as they were designed either for Windows 95 or actual DOS 6.x (probably Win95, but they still try to run in a DOS box).

You can _try_ to run these in Windows 95 compatibility mode by right-clicking on the icon that launches these and selecting "properties", then clicking the "compatibility" tab. Click the "run this program in compaitibility mode for" box, and select "Windows 95" from the drop-down list.

If that doesn't work, you are either going to have to contact the vendor and see if the product has an update (at least for Windows 2000, if not XP), or go back to running these under XP. Honestly, you're probably better off upgrading the package to something newer (preferably to something that was written for Windows 2000 or Windows XP, if not something that is certified to run on Vista).

[Vista Visitor]

Thanks for the help. I tried your suggestion, but that didn't seem to work. The Compatibility Mode isn't highlighted, thereby preventing one from selecting a previous OS. You confirmed (in a much more informative manner) what I'd been gleaning from various FAQs and forum posts.

I'll just uninstall the programs and refer it back to the teacher. I'd already sent him an e-mail saying that this syllabus is functionally obsolete. I'll be able to use a computer with XP to take the course.

Thanks Again!

[cluberti]

Thanks for the help. I tried your suggestion, but that didn't seem to work. The Compatibility Mode isn't highlighted, thereby preventing one from selecting a previous OS. You confirmed (in a much more informative manner) what I'd been gleaning from various FAQs and forum posts.

That's what I thought may happen, but I wanted you to check. You cannot put a 16bit app in compatibility mode, so the fact that it's unavailable means it is indeed a 16bit app and as such obsolete at this point in history.

I'll just uninstall the programs and refer it back to the teacher. I'd already sent him an e-mail saying that this syllabus is functionally obsolete. I'll be able to use a computer with XP to take the course.

Thanks Again!

Not a problem, and good luck.

[phxwings]

hi buddy ,

you needn't to use another XP machine .

what you need is just to install a virtual machine under vista , for instance VMware.

then install xp system under virtual machine.

at last install your software under this virtual xp environment .