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basic win10/11 question about virtual machine

Rien102
By Rien102
in Windows
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Disclamer at start: running a 12 years old machine at the moment and I'm not a seasoned vet in computers.

 

Just got a decent deal on RTX2070 XC3 and it pushed me to start seriously thinking about building my very first PC around it.  Starting to look around and for now, I have a little question about my OS.  I know I'll need to end up with Win 11 but what I want is to be able to run a win 10 virtual machine because I have some old games and I know they won't run at all on Win 11.  For now, I plan to buy a Windows 10 pro  thumb-drive and then, in about a year, when I have no choice, I'll upgrade to Winn 11.  Afterward, I would re-install my Win 10 pro as a virtual machine.

So, basically, one question:  is it the way to do it???

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8 minutes ago, Rien102 said:

Disclamer at start: running a 12 years old machine at the moment and I'm not a seasoned vet in computers.

 

Just got a decent deal on RTX2070 XC3 and it pushed me to start seriously thinking about building my very first PC around it.  Starting to look around and for now, I have a little question about my OS.  I know I'll need to end up with Win 11 but what I want is to be able to run a win 10 virtual machine because I have some old games and I know they won't run at all on Win 11.  For now, I plan to buy a Windows 10 pro  thumb-drive and then, in about a year, when I have no choice, I'll upgrade to Winn 11.  Afterward, I would re-install my Win 10 pro as a virtual machine.

So, basically, one question:  is it the way to do it???

What are those old games? If it runs under Windows 10, it will run under WIndows 11.

If you are buying 12th Intel system (or wait for a few months for the 13th gen), you'll need WIndows 11 to get the most out of your system.

As for AMD, we will see. And that is assuming AMD and Intel make Windows 10 drivers, probably they won't.

 

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2 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

What are those old games? If it runs under Windows 10, it will run under WIndows 11.

If you are buying 12th Intel system (or wait for a few months for the 13th gen), you'll need WIndows 11 to get the most out of your system.

As for AMD, we will see. And that is assuming AMD and Intel make Windows 10 drivers, probably they won't.

 

I have 4 games in particular in mind:

  • Fallout New Vegas (2010)
    • a friend of mine never was able to play it on his Win 11 computer
  • Rome II Total War Emperor Edition (2013) [not the remastered, the original one]
    • I play that game almost daily and I want to be absolutely certain it will work
  • Silent Hunter 4 (2007) and Silent Hunter 5 (2010)
    • I still play both of them
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18 minutes ago, Rien102 said:

I have 4 games in particular in mind:

  • Fallout New Vegas (2010)
    • a friend of mine never was able to play it on his Win 11 computer

Looking online, people have no problem running it. They are complaints (for both Win 10 and 11), but it seems to be related to mods that they have done. Some say using Win7 compatibility mode fixes it.

 

18 minutes ago, Rien102 said:
  • Rome II Total War Emperor Edition (2013) [not the remastered, the original one]
    • I play that game almost daily and I want to be absolutely certain it will work

I am not seeing anyone complain about not running.

 

18 minutes ago, Rien102 said:
  • Silent Hunter 4 (2007) and Silent Hunter 5 (2010)
    • I still play both of them

Hard to find anything on them, probably due to their age.

 

 

Typically, old games issues can be fixed by:

  • Running the game under WIndows 7 compatibility mode.
  • Setting the game folder permission to 'Everyone' and with full access (game or its engine was designed for XP in mind and assumes that the user has full admin rights and can write temp files on where the game/program is installed).
  • The compatibility option: 'Disable full screen compatibility' needs to be enabled for the game. (Executable properties panel > Compatibility tab)
  • Playing with executable display scaling option (typically an issue if your monitor is using Display Scaling of > 100%. Old games assumed that the Display Scaling of Windows was set to 100%, and no test was done for higher scaling. This is because, at the time, such a display was rare). 
  • Some games need to modify their config file by hand.
  • DRM issue (needs to be patched in some ways)
  • Use a DOS emulator like DOSBox, as WIndows dropped 16-bit support (this applies to DOS games, of course)

Some old games are available for cheap under GOG.com, which they work with the original developers with publisher/studio permissions to patch old games to make them run on new games, or if they need to use an emulation box like DOSBox, they offer a 1-click solution, everything configured properly and tested, with approval of the experience from the original makers/studio/publisher. 

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2 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Looking online, people have no problem running it. They are complaints (for both Win 10 and 11), but it seems to be related to mods that they have done. Some say using Win7 compatibility mode fixes it.

 

I am not seeing anyone complain about not running.

 

Hard to find anything on them, probably due to their age.

 

 

Typically, old games issues can be fixed by:

  • Running the game under WIndows 7 compatibility mode.
  • Setting the game folder permission to 'Everyone' and with full access (game or its engine was designed for XP in mind and assumes that the user has full admin rights and can write temp files on where the game/program is installed).
  • The compatibility option: 'Disable full screen compatibility' needs to be enabled for the game. (Executable properties panel > Compatibility tab)
  • Playing with executable display scaling option (typically an issue if your monitor is using Display Scaling of > 100%. Old games assumed that the Display Scaling of Windows was set to 100%, and no test was done for higher scaling. This is because, at the time, such a display was rare). 
  • Some games need to modify their config file by hand.
  • DRM issue (needs to be patched in some ways)

Thank you very much for taking the time to enlighten me.  Much appreciated!  

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5 minutes ago, Rien102 said:

Thank you very much for taking the time to enlighten me.  Much appreciated!  

If you want, when you get a new system, don't buy WIndows 11 just yet. Just install it without a product key. It will go in unlimited trial mode. You'll just have a water mark that will appear in the future saying to Activate WIndows and some personalization options disabled. This will give you as much time as you need to test things out. When you are ready to buy it, if all works out, you can just... well... purchase it... and enter the product key (Start > Settings > System > Activate Windows). No re-install needed.

 

Just make sure that the edition you'll install will be the one you are interested in purchasing. Else you'll need to clean and install Windows.

 

You can do the same with Windows 10, if you want.

 

Windows 11 download (official): https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows11

Windows 10 download (official): https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

 

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