Newer PC that support legacy software

[kin003]

Has anybody bought a PC recently that could roll back to win7/8 with graphics drivers working?

Tried using DXWND on Windows 10 to run my old games but its not working. Win10 also refused safedisc/securom/starforce protected games,  tried the workaround but its less than 50/50 chance of it working.

Does anyone have a solution? Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2024 by kin003

[Dixel]

11 hours ago, kin003 said:

Win10 also refused safedisc/securom/starforc protected games, 

Securom was removed even in Vista with updates since it's officially considered to be an exploit and unsafe. So, I'd suggest to run your old games on un-patched Vista, not 7/8.

For that purpose buy a PC made in up to the year 2012. And a GTX Titan 6GB card (or GTX780).

If you are you going to run a 32bit Vista, then all 2013 Haswell/Skylake/Kabylake* systems would do just fine, too.

*Skylake/Kabylake would need a PS/2 port for an easy install.

[kin003]

Thank you for the detailed info. I much appreciate it.

Vista pcs are all but extinct here, the humid climate here killed off most desktop within the 2006 period. 

On windows 8, i found alot of old win98 games to be working fine, and there are drm fixes that works there as well.

Anywho, someone got the server version of windows 8 (win2012) installed on lattepanda v1 here:   https://www.lattepanda.com/forum/topic/312990

But no idea if anyone here made any modded intel hd graphics drivers, for the atom x5-z8350 cpu that it has, although the lattepanda v1 is still being manufactured.

 

[Dixel]

16 hours ago, kin003 said:

On windows 8, i found alot of old win98 games to be working fine, and there are drm fixes that works there as well.

You asked about Securom, specifically, Windows 8 has known troubles with Securom drivers, it treats them as exploits, hence the fact I suggested Vista.

[D.Draker]

19 hours ago, kin003 said:

Win10 also refused safedisc/securom/starforce protected games, 

Windows 7 and above had Securom drivers removed, disabled SafeDisc-protected classic PC games and the such. Replaced with newer DRM tech.

https://www.pcgamer.com/security-update-disables-safedisc-games-in-windows-vista-7-and-8/

[D.Draker]

From my personal experience, they can be brought back in Vista, even after updates applied.

[Dixel]

20 hours ago, kin003 said:

windows 8

is doomed to be a troublemaker due to the heightened "security" measures against modded drivers and older games copy protections,

[173a]

21 hours ago, kin003 said:

Has anybody bought a PC recently that could roll back to win7/8 with graphics drivers working?

Tried using DXWND on Windows 10 to run my old games but its not working. Win10 also refused safedisc/securom/starforce protected games,  tried the workaround but its less than 50/50 chance of it working.

Does anyone have a solution? Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that your best bet is to settle for a compromise config of some sorts, like an X79 motherboard with a higher-end Ivy Bridge Xeon (12-core is the fastest one that's available, I think) and a Geforce 900 series or 700 series gpu, or even a regular Haswell (B85 chipset) or Sandy/Ivy bridge (any chipset) quadcore if cpu perofrmance is not that desired, these configs will let you run XP. Otherwise most AM4 configs will support Windows 7 (Can't vouch for all of them since I haven't been keeping up with things that much the last several years, but I had an MSI 320-chipset board for a few years as my main computer running Windows 7 with a Ryzen 1600X and all seemed well). AM4 configs go up to something as good as Ryzen 5800X3D, which is still enough for anything.

[Dixel]

13 hours ago, 173a said:

Geforce 900 series

Overall agree, but 900 series lack CSAA, which is a must have for old games.

[173a]

8 hours ago, Dixel said:

Overall agree, but 900 series lack CSAA, which is a must have for old games.

Not really, MSAA 8x and SGSSAA look better and more vram available on most series 900 gpus is more useful for dual-booting Windows 7 and playing newer titles.

Edited July 31, 2024 by 173a

[D.Draker]

12 hours ago, 173a said:

Not really, MSAA 8x and SGSSAA look better and more vram available on most series 900 gpus is more useful for dual-booting Windows 7 and playing newer titles.

I own a GTX Titan X (Top Maxwell card), the iconic Spellforce series doesn't support MSAA, and with CSAA it would've looked fantastic, I know this because I also own a 780Ti.

Old games don't need VRAM economy.

The OP wanted to run vry old games (securom protected), so we can safely assume his games are approx. up to 2006-2007.

[D.Draker]

12 hours ago, 173a said:

MSAA 8x and SGSSAA look better

MSAA and SGSSAA look blurry, and there are a lot of posts all over the internet regarding this. Which is your screen resolution?
If you don't notice, 1080p most likely, but then again, for me it's noticeable even on a 1200p monitor.

[D.Draker]

To prevent any possible interventions insinuating something about my alleged bad sight, just a couple of links from most popular games with these new techniques.

"Why does MSAA in Assassin's Creed IV blur the image? - Reddit"

https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/5efoaj/why_does_msaa_in_assassins_creed_iv_blur_the_image/

"New Anti-Aliasing options are blurry. - CD PROJEKT RED"

https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/new-anti-aliasing-options-are-blurry.11111398/

[D.Draker]

Funny to see how people who read the propaganda from developers encounter MSAA in real life, but still can't understand what's wrong.

"anti aliasing Looks like blurry garbage :: Red Dead Redemption 2"

"TAA and FXAA just blurs the game and MSAA is just broken"

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1174180/discussions/0/1750142311549097531/

 

[D.Draker]

Blur, blur, blur, even in VR.

"r/assettocorsa on Reddit: VR quality looks grainy/blurry"

"The headset works fine. But this game looks grainy and blurry in the distance. I have MSAA on 4x sometimes 8x" 

https://www.reddit.com/r/assettocorsa/comments/njdz13/vr_quality_looks_grainyblurry/