Welcome back all.

I have an old scanner that will operate on windows X.P. but not on Win7.
I also have some factory service manuals from Holden that also only operate on windows X.P. 32 bit.
My X.P. machine is out of operation, (most likely a bad video card).

Trying compatibility mode did not help. In desperation to fix an old V.R. Commodore, I dragged out my old laptop, Win X.P. 32 bit,
service pack 2. After re-activating the operating system I got the manual to run.

Does compatibility mode work, or is it about as effective as X.P.'s search function?
What am I doing wrong?

Wayne.

Your other Win7 machine probably has 64 bit Windows.
The program you are trying to run is probably 16 bit.
Windows uses a Virtual Machine (called WOW, or Windows on Windows) to run older software.
But you can't run Windows on Windows on Windows.

There is an application called Virtual Box that will allow you to run old stuff on new machines.

A problem with legacy hardware is often native drivers which won't install on later operating systems and for which there are no updates.

I have an XP machine that I keep alive solely for legacy stuff. I used to have it networked, but nowadays I use a USB stick for the rare times that I need to transfer data to my 64 bit Win 7 machine. You can usually find parts such as video cards to keep XP vintage and earlier hardware alive. Heck there are young guys who resurrect old PCs back to the earliest ones just for the sport of it.

In my "museum" I have PCs loaded wih Windows 3.1, 95, 98 and XP. I have never been an OS updater in place. When and if I want to upgrade, I always buy a new PC with the latest OS on it.

And damned if Microsoft, having declared Win 10 to be the end of the line, recently began to roll out Windows 11.

Windows 11 will require most current pcs to be thrown in the bin, only the very latest ones can be used. Millions of perfectly good computers going to landfill. So much for recycling and preserving the environment. Some Americans still need to learn about that.

Ian is definitely spot on about the 64-bit issue.
With old software, sometimes you just need to use period correct hardware.
such as with programming older radios. I've fixed a couple of "beige boxes" for my dad to use on a regular basis.
both run Windows 98 and he uses them for Motorola and Codan NGT AR's especially. Neither of them are connected to any sort of network and are used specifically for their purpose of programming radios.
A few months ago he called me up to ask where the old Amstrad PPC512 was. (this is a monster of a "laptop" from the mid-eighties with a state-of-the-art NEC variant of the 8088 cpu!) this was so he could reconfigure a GME Electrophone TX4000 wide band 40ch CB for a customer. the software is on floppy disk and the computer has no hard drive whatsoever.

Heck there are young guys who resurrect old PCs back to the earliest ones just for the sport of it.

I suppose I can include myself in that list then! I don't know how many PC's ive got running various OS's now.
a while ago I found one of the Australian microsoft lines was still up for XP activation so I installed XP on five different computers just so I knew I'd never not have one!