Aspect Ratio and Old Program

[AbidingDude]

So I was able to install a very old program (circa '97/'98) onto a Windows 7 machine. The only problem is that this program was intended to be used with an old 4:3 monitor, so the graphics are stretched. This is a problem because it's design software, so I need my circles to look like circles.
None of the compatibility options fixes this. I tried the 640x480 option... That's not what I was looking for. It made the rest of the desktop almost indecipherable.
The machine I installed it on has an NVIDIA adapter, but I couldn't find any options with its driver software to fix it.
Is there a way to change the aspect ratio for just one program?

 

[strongm]

You are sayng that no matter how much you resize the application's window,the aspect ratio remains unchanged (and , for you, wrong)?

 

[Nelviticus]

I can think of a few options:
[ol 1]
[li]Run the software windowed instead of full screen.[/li]
[li]Your monitor might have a setting for how it handles 4:3 resolutions. It's probably stretching them at the moment but might have an option to to disable this.[/li]
[li]You could install the software in an emulator and run that in a window. If you have Windows 7 Pro then you can use XP Mode, otherwise you could use VirtualBox. For VirtualBox you'd need a licensed copy of Windows to install on it though unless you're happy to run your virtual OS in trial mode.[/li]
[/ol]

Nelviticus

 

[Beilstwh]

If the application is an old DOS application, then you can run it in DOS BOX which automatically maintains the correct aspect ratio. If it is windows 3.1 (for example) then again there are emulators to run them inside.

Bill
Lead Application Developer
New York State, USA

 

[AbidingDude]

You are sayng that no matter how much you resize the application's window,the aspect ratio remains unchanged (and , for you, wrong)?

Correct.

I can think of a few options:

Run the software windowed instead of full screen.
Your monitor might have a setting for how it handles 4:3 resolutions. It's probably stretching them at the moment but might have an option to to disable this.
You could install the software in an emulator and run that in a window. If you have Windows 7 Pro then you can use XP Mode, otherwise you could use VirtualBox. For VirtualBox you'd need a licensed copy of Windows to install on it though unless you're happy to run your virtual OS in trial mode.

Nelviticus

I've never tried VirtualBox. Looks interesting.

If the application is an old DOS application, then you can run it in DOS BOX which automatically maintains the correct aspect ratio. If it is windows 3.1 (for example) then again there are emulators to run them inside.

'fraid it's not. I have DOSBox and I like it, but this is a Windows program.