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[Cestmoila]

. I started out buying Photoshop 4 and updating it to version 5, over a decade ago. It was an expensive program to buy, and upgrade, especially for someone who is disabled, as I am, and was buying it to use on a personal level. I wish I could have further continued to upgrade Photoshop, but I just couldn't afford to. I just bought a new Dell Inspiron laptop, running Windows 7 which I plan to upgrade to version 8 in a few days, that runs on 64 bits, instead of the older 32 bits. With the many different software programs I have, installing them to this new 64 bit computer, presented no troubles at all. But trying to install Photoshop 4, to then install the upgrade of 5, was not allowed. The error message stated I should contact the developer, or company, that Photoshop is made by, for assistance. I mentioned this to a friend online, and he said that version of Photoshop, is not recognized, loading on a 64 bit computer. Said I just had to make do with other graphic programs available on line, but I felt instead of just accepting I could not use what I had invested over $1,000 in years ago, I'd ask Adobe, if they could assist me with it. Are my versions of Photoshop, indeed not recognized, on a Windows 7, 64 bit pc? And if so, is there any way I can solve that, with a work around? If that is not the trouble with not being able to install Photoshop, can you explain what it may be, so I can correct things? Photoshop, indeed is the leader in the field for what it enables you to do, and although I am disabled, and use it only on a personal level, I hope there is a solution to his for me. Thank you.

Paul

[Mylenium]

Nope, unfortunately there is no magic button or secret spell to make this work. They truly are no longer compatible, which is in part owed to the fact that they use 16bit code which Microsoft long has removed from Windows, so it's not entirely Adobe's fault. Windows 8 won't make things easier, though. Pretty much your only chance would be installing a virtual machine with Windows XP. Other than that I guess you'll have to make do with free tools like GIMP, ArtRage, PD Paint and others if you can't afford a new PS license, which can do some things pretty well, too. You might also consider Creative Cloud, of course...

Mylenium

[Cestmoila]

  Thank you so very much, even if it wasn't an answer of a way to make it work. For something that costs like Photoshop does, it does leave a bad taste in your mouth, anyhow. I'll look more into the options you gave, and need to learn what 'Çreative Cloud' is about. You gave me an idea, that I hope works. The Dell I bought, has ONE TB OF HARD DRIVE, as well as 8 GBs of RAM. The Windows 7, I'm just learning about, from using XP so long, so I decided to partition my hard drive, and set it up dual boot, with Windows 8 on one side, and keep Windows 7 on the other. But that brings up the possibility, of partitioning it into 3 sections, and adding XP on the third section. I still have all my Windows XP discs, along with my last pc, that I saved away; I just don't know, if actually partitioning the hard drive in 3 parts, so I can add XP to one, is indeed possible to do? I've heard the term, 'Virtual Machine' before, but I'm not sure of it's meaning. But if it is possible, my hard drive is certainly big enough, to accomodate all three versions of Window. So, if it can be done, I can use Photoshop on the XP side, and not retire it after all. I need to learn a bit more about this, but thank you very much, for giving me a reply to what I was trying to find out. I hope the plan you gave me, is possible, and I can accomplish it. Thanks again.

Paul

[pwillener]

You can certainly make 3 primary partitions, and have XP as a multi-boot option.  Or use a virtual machine (like Microsoft Virtual PC) and run XP under Windows 7 or 8.  This is usually a little bit slower than running the operating system natively.

[Cestmoila]

After your last reply yesterday, I checked on Creative Cloud, and saw it has some benefits for those who use it, but  $50.00 a month, is too much for me to consider it. I also googled Virtual Machine, and found the link to Microsofts Windows Virtual PC download, and after reading a little, it felt okay, so I then tried to download Windows XP Mode with Virtual PC, but that raised an issue, I need to know about. When I selected the version of Windows 7 I have, which is the HOME PREMIUM 64-BIT version, I got an error message, that I at least needed a windows 7 Professional version, to download it, but I found I actually qualified for the Virtual PC download, but with no XP MODE, inside it. That creates the problem I don't know the answer to: Can I actually use it, without XP MODE inside it, or do I indeed have to add XP MODE, to work? At the present, it's only Photoshop I'd have on it running, so upgrading to a higher version of Windows 7, makes no sense, since I'll be getting Windows 8 PRO, I believe, very soon. But that brings up the question, would I be able to have XP MODE, on the Windows 8 PRO version, or have to settle for a Virtual PC, without XP MODE, also? It would help me with that decision if I knew..., do I actually need XP MODE included, to make it a Virtual PC, that I can run Photoshop on?

I ran out of time to try and research it more yesterday, so unless you know and  share it with me, then I'll have more to learn about this. I don't want to mess up my new Windows 7 OS, but choosing wrong, but at least you created this possibility for me, I knew nothing about. And as for making it a pc that I can also install XP in a seperate HD partition, and run it from there, as you say is possible, it's almost too confusing, to know what is the right way to do it. I guess the more we grow in progress, the more we need to know, in using it. A computer that I can boot from using Win 7, Win 8, or XP, sounds nice.  Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it a lot.

Paul