Mechcommander Gold can be run on Windows 7 but you’ll likely have to follow a few steps to ensure it works on your machine. The first issue is installation, as the game uses a 16bit installer which is unsupported on 64 bit operating systems.
Freeware installation – Before you start, know that Mechcommander Gold has been released as freeware, so you can freely download ISOs for the game from the web. You can find freeware download links in the Mechcommander Gold freeware download post.
Installation from disc/ISO – Note you’ll still have to have the disc inserted or have the ISO mounted to run the game, unless you find a no-cd executable for the game:
- Windows 7/Vista 32 bit – If simply running setup from the disc/ISO doesn’t work right away, right click on your cd/iso and select explore. Then set the following files to run in Windows 95 compatibility mode and attempt the installation again:
_ISDL.exe
CPUID.exe
SETUP.exe - Windows 7/Vista 64 bit – 64 bit Windows does not support 16 bit installers such as the one for Mechcommander gold. There is a workaround though – create a directory named MCG (name is unimportant) and then manually copy the entire contents of your MCG disc/iso into this folder and start the game using MCX.EXE in your new directory.
Compatibility – To ensure that you don’t run into some common crashes and bugs associated with the game on Windows 7 you’ll want to follow these additional steps:
- Create a shortcut to MCX.exe (if you don’t have one already).
- Add the following compatibility tab settings to your MCX.exe shortcut:
- Run this program in compatibility mode Windows 95
- Run in 256 colors.
- Disable desktop composition (to get around the corrupted textures glitch)
- Run this program as an administrator
- Run the game from the shortcut
If you’ve followed the above steps and are still having issues running Mechcommander Gold on Windows 7, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!
Sources: link 1