setup.exe - 16 bit problems

I'm trying to run a setup.exe program for a game, Uplink, from 2001. (Old CD version, not the Steam version). I wasn't sure if I should be posting this in Games or here but as I belive it's a problem with InstallShield, I think here is right.

I double click SETUP.EXE and the cursor switches to an application loading cursor and then goes back to normal but nothing else is noticeable at first until I open Task Manager. wowexec.exe and setup.exe are there with no CPU or Mem usage info. 10 seconds or so after ending them I get a System Error: "The request to end the selected 16 bit task has timed out. The Win 16 Subsystem may be unstable. Press OK to terminate the Win 16 Subsystem or Cancel to leave it running. I click OK and they disappear from the Task Manager again.

The game files are from September 2001, the InstallShield programs are from November 1997 (5.10.130.0). I have tried the compatibility options in the preferences dialog for SETUP.EXE but this didn't help.

I looked through various pages that google threw up... It seems like quite a common problem but people seem to fix it in slightly different ways and I can't seem to get it to work for me.

I'm running Windows XP Professional SP2. I belive this game worked fine on XP Home SP2.

I'm a little confused on how to get this to work, can anyone help? Thanks.

 

What you describe can most likely be resolved using this InstallShield KB article:

http://support.installshield.com/kb/view.asp?articleid=Q101254

I've used it and had it work, but not in atleast 10 years.

 

you could also try running it in compatability mode for windows2000.

 

I would try ME or 98 actually. since the program is mentioning a 16 bit error, i would try compatability with a system that has the best 16 bit support possible (98/ME would be the best support).

 

Actually, if you do the way I suggest, you bypass completly the 16-bit bootstrapper that starts up the install and you never have to use the 16-Bit MSDOS subsystem in the first place. Any other suggestions are just `try this` hacks without understanding the underlying technology. In fact, go to a 64bit system with no support for 16bit apps and this is the only way it'll work. And that's assuming that the install actually installs a program that is 32 bit.

Chris
http://blog.deploymentengineering.com