Windows 7 struggling with old games and patches

I have windows 7 Home Premium and i am having trouble installing patches to old pc games.
My guess is that it is trying to install the patch to a game which is saved in Program Files (as it was for xp) however the game is actually saved in Program Files(x86)
This is only my guess but seeing as 90% of my current pc games were for xp
It says 'Star Wars Empire At War not found. Please Re-install the game from the original Cd-ROM and try again'.
Obviously it is there because i have been playing it.

I get the feeling all games before 64 bit was introduced will struggle with manual patches and installing expansions etc.
I need some help please.

 

although I am not positive i believe you are correct, this can be fixed by either moving the game program file into the 32 bit folder or manually installing the update.

 

I have tried moving the game program into what i would imagine the correct place however it still cannot see it.
How do you mean manual? I downloaded the patch and it gave me a .exe file, all i can do is run it.

 

windows 7 old .exe looking in wrong place

I made a thread earlier but i think i accidentally clicked the solved. But this is more specific.

I am trying to install a patch for an old game. The game works fine in the Program Files(x86) directory.
I then downloaded the patch which gave me the setup .exe for it.
Every time i run it, it says Star Wars Empire at War not found, please reinstall.
I said on the other thread that my guess as to why is because it is an old patch, the .exe is programmed to install its self to the actual game in Program Files (which it would be with xp). However the game is stored in Program Files x86 due to it being the 32 bit equivalent in win7. I imagine it is looking in the wrong place and therefore it can't find it.

I have tried putting the .exe file in various places, i have tried moving the game into the normal Progam Files, i cannot briefly rename the directories.
I am out of ideas.
I know it is an old game but it means a lot to me, and because i cannot patch it to the latest version i cannot install the expansion either.