[jih3]

I am trying to run an old DOS program on Windows XP. It's a database program that requires two engines to be loaded before the program. When I try to load the first engine, which is a 16-bit DOS application, I get an error message saying "program must be built -AUTO for DPMI." I assume that means I have to set DPMI memory to "auto" in the PIF file. I did that and also set compatibility for Windows 98, which used to run this program. I click ok to accept the changes, try to load the engine, and I keep getting the same error message.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. All of the old databases that I now have a need for are unique to this program. Once I get it running again, I will be able to convert to DBF and migrate everything to the XP platform.

Thanks.

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Most old DOS programs won't run on XP even in Windows 98 compatibility mode simply because there's no DOS installed (only a 'pseudo' DOS which isn't the same thing as pure DOS). The compatibility option is for old Windows 95/98 applications that were designed to run in Windows, not those designed for pure DOS.

The exceptions are those small DOS utilities like the previous version of Norton Ghost which boots from a floppy on which there is a version of DOS which runs in RAM, as well as the Ghost utility itself.

That's the way you need to go. Boot into DOS with a Windows 98SE startup floppy disk, then see if your DOS program will run. You can get a utility to create a Windows 98SE boot floppy from here:
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

[pip22]

Most old DOS programs won't run on XP even in Windows 98 compatibility mode simply because there's no DOS installed (only a 'pseudo' DOS which isn't the same thing as pure DOS). The compatibility option is for old Windows 95/98 applications that were designed to run in Windows, not those designed for pure DOS.

The exceptions are those small DOS utilities like the previous version of Norton Ghost which boots from a floppy on which there is a version of DOS which runs in RAM, as well as the Ghost utility itself.

That's the way you need to go. Boot into DOS with a Windows 98SE startup floppy disk, then see if your DOS program will run. You can get a utility to create a Windows 98SE boot floppy from here:
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm