I tried to install a number of older games (Win 95, but mostly Win 98) running 2k w/sp3 and many of them came up with a error that the uninstaller didn't register (or something like that).
I know that 2k isn't the best choice fro games, but is this (pardon the expression) 'normal for games written around '95 through '98 to behave like this?

I did most of these in the user screen with resticted rights, not the administator screen if that matters.

Hi Video Bruce,
I'm sorry you're having problems playing your games. Please be more specific as to what games you are having problems with and we will all be able to be more help. Also listing the specific error messages verbatim is also helpful. Did you start by using NT Compatible to see if the game you are trying to play is known to be compatible or incompatible with WIn2K?

Also listing your Video Card and driver revision problably wouldn't hurt matters either.
Good Luck,
Christian

There were 10 or 15 of these games from about 5 years ago. Most were written for Win95, some being for Win98 which I tried to just use those. That's why I didn't list any names. It was the uninstallers that didn't get installed most of the time. This happened with at least 4 or 5 of them. This isn't my box and I wasn't home doing this either (which makes it worse).

It's not a video card issue, this is just a install issue with a user screen in 2k that I thought wouldn't allow installs in the first place.
When I set this box up I did try to install D/L'ed programs (not store bought CD games) from the restricted user screen and it wouldn't let me. I didn't try anything else since I assumed all was fine. Everything else got installed from the administrators screen.

BTW, the HDD was formatted FAT32 if that matters and I did discover that game list page after the fact.

Hi VideoBruce,
If the games you are reffering to are Win16/32 based I can almost guarantee that the file system is not the issue. However related to the file system could be security restrictions or a virus that write protects a whole drive. In general you are invariably better off if you try installing as administrator. Games written between 1995 and 1998 may and or may not display informative errors about security issues. Just make sure you have administrative rights and then you'll have a legitimate reason to complain when things brake. Users by definition are not supposed to be able to install things, they are simply supposed to "use" the software that's installed. I for one was pissed when MS made their Windows Installer allow users to install software. The first and most famous example of the Windows Installer would be Office 2000 (which by the way has a horrible installer and patching system). That should never have been allowed, because it essentially broke the previous standing definition of user and also made it harder for administrators to keep a tight leash on installed software.
Adios Bruce,
Christian

So you are saying a restricted user CAN install?
Can that be changed?

Hi Video Bruce,
I'm not sure which settings are involved. One reason most installations fail is that they try to write to the global portion of the registry HKLM. If the installation just uses HKCU things typically work better. However to my knowledge the reason that office 2000 can be installed by a user is that the Windows Installer gets around this. So no you can't make it work without modifying security settings, but if the program uses the windows installer then yes it should work anyways.
Cheers,
Christian