Vista - Older games on Vista64

I've been happy with my dual pIII-800 for a while now, but it's showing signs that it will die soon. I figure it's getting close to the time to buy a new computer. Now I'd like to get Vista64, since the biggest computer sellers these days have good deals on 6GB and 8GB systems, but I'm not sure how my old games will run on Vista, let alone Vista64. I'd probably be using a pre-built machine from Dell or HP, because I don't feel like building my own, and the prices aren't very different.

What have people's experiences been with games from 10-15 years ago? How about these games in particular?

- Simcity 4
- Wizardry 8
- Morrowind
- Baldur's Gate II
- Starcraft
- Diablo
- Diablo II
- Various Space Quest and King's Quest games

If the games won't work on Vista64, will they work on a Win95 emulator in Vista, or will I have to dual-boot?

The games *might* work if you can install them. However, the trick is to try and get them installed as 16bit installers definitely wont work on a 64 bit platform.

You never know someone might have patched them.

I was able to install and get working Baldurs Gate 2 and it's expansion Throne of Bhal.

I've heard Diable II will run, but you have to set Diablo II to run in WindowsXP SP2 mode, after right clicking the Diablo II icon selecting properties, followed by the Compatibility tab, and setting the game to WindowsXP with SP2 mode.

As for the other games on your list, I don't know if they will install and run or not.

I've got simcity 4 working without any problems that I can remember. I've managed to get a few older games working. Seems to be a bit hit and miss though. I know some people have remade installers for old games so that they will install. Worth just trying them and if they don't work have a google for any solutions anybody else has found that works.