Thinkpads Forum

I've been running a 32 bit version of the Oxford English Dictionary CD (2nd edition ver 3.1) on a 32 bit version of Windows 7 for years by making it compatible with Windows Vista.

However, I just installed a 64 bit version of Windows 7 on a different pc, and the OED crashes regardless of which compatibility mode I try, and whether I install the data on my pc or run it off the data disk. In addition, when I try to install my 32 bit version of the American Heritage Dictionary on that pc, I get a message telling me that I can't run that program on that pc.

I'd therefore appreciate it if anyone could tell me whether they knew how to solve this problem.

Thanks very much.

Steve

The second problem is probably a 16-bit installer (was not an uncommon thing for 32-bit applications back in the day). 32-bit Windows contains a compatibility layer for 16-bit programs, but 64-bit Windows does not.

The first one - there could be a whole number of reasons. Some programs just used Win32 API in strange ways which are not supported by the compatibility layer...

Might be better to get an updated dictionary. A lot has changed in the language world since Vista.

I was wondering about the same thing myself. We've got a project here that requires an old 32-bit Win XP utility. I haven't run this utility yet, but I've been told that it will only run on a 32-bit system. Something to do with how Microsoft changed the way that XML files were handled when 64-bit processing was still being developed?

There is the option to run an older version of Windows inside a virtual environment application, and then install the dictionary on that. Not sure what other options there might be for this problem.