I hated Vista and actually downgraded two computers from Vista to XP. Windows 7 is a huge improvement, and I am in the process of migrating all my computers to this new operating system.
As I reinstall old programs, especially those I use for astronomy and astrophotography, I find that some of them do not install correctly under Windows 7. I learned a simple fix that sometimes works. It was from discussion with the folks at Starry Night Education, who create a really wonderful planetarium software tool that I use to control my telescope.
Here’s the trick that sometimes works. If a software tool does not install correctly in Windows 7, then:
- find the .exe of the program and right mouse click on it. You will see the dialog box below.
- select properties
- under the compatibility tab at the top, highlight the two boxes that say “Run this program in compatibility mode for: windows XP (service Pack 3)” and “Run this program as an administrator”.
- then close the box and double click on the program’s .exe file and try the install again.
This trick does not always work, but sometimes it does and it is worth a try.
