Ulead VS 10 and VS 6 with Windows 8.1

[ooremay]

I found my old, original program discs for Ulead VS 10 and VS 6. I tried loading them using Win 8.1 as I had heard that Win 8 was much more legacy software "friendly" than Win 7 or Win Vista.
I can get both programs to load successfully and the editing workspace opens as it should but if I import a video file and attempt to play it I see what looks like proper audio level movement on the VU "meters" but I can get any sound to plan THEN after about 10 seconds the playback of the file just stops and freezes.
I'm getting similar issues trying to load my old favorite - Ulead VS 6.
Has anyone had any success loading these old versions onto a Win 8? Are there any patches available that would help?
Thanks

[BrianCee]

Ulead VS 6 is over 10 years old - are you really expecting it to work with Win 8.1 - and even if it does it is lacking in so many functions which are more or less essential these days it will be a waste of time.

Similarly Ulead VS 10 must be over 6 years old - there comes a time when you need to bite the bullet and buy a new version - 18 (X8) is ggoing to be available within the next month - so why not come right up to date.

[ooremay]

I often prefer some features in older applications that the newer and "better" versions do not include. I use Corel VS6 now but I want to be able to open the older versions. I can often run a "shell" of an older OS that will allow me to do this.
Hence and back to my question.
Can someone tell me if they have been successful loading and running older versions of Video Studio before Corel came along and "improved" them.
Thanks Very Much

[skier-hughes]

I haven't. I run a dual boot XP and win 8.1 pc for this reason.

[Davidk]

There are several tricks to apply that will improve things, for both 'old' versions, and any vsp's built under them, and also running in the latest VS version.

1. Set the compatibility level for each version to the OS that it originally installed with. For VS 6 - probably windows XP, for VS 10 XP should also work, but you might try Vista and compare the result. I bought VS11 in 2007 and it installed fine under XP, but that time was right on the transition from XP to Vista. What does this do? there are command lists and functions for each OS. setting the compatibility for each app slides a conversion list from the old to the new between the app and the current OS, so the app "thinks" it is working with it's old platform.

Some very old programs might require windows 95 compatibility to be set.

2. Save all the filters transitions colours frames etc from each of the old versions. They should work with project files in the latest VS, even if the latest version does not have/include them by default. How to save these? Copy the samples folder from the the particular installed version (eg VS6) and re-name it for clarity (eg samples VS6) and paste it somewhere NOT in that old program tree, so when you do delete it these old items are still available. The simply insert the filters, frames etc you want from the old into the current version and use as needed.

So far, I have done this for X5 X6 and X7, because there changes in each version that are noticeable. For example, in X7 the frames are set on a black background, whereas in X6 they are on white. For rendered projects, no difference noted, but just playing an X6 vsp under X7, the frames look all wrong because of that change. Corel made absolutely no comments when asked for the reason for that change. And after a bit of experimenting, I found the method I outlined works well.

Davidk

[asik1]

David, these are all png's so the "cutout" is part of the image.
The white vs black you see is just the way they display in the library, as the transparency needs to be seen

[Davidk]

asik,
They are not all .png items - the filetype suits the file - video clip, photo, clipart etc.

It's the way they show in the vsp too - in the timeline and when playing. Which is how I found it. The experimenting I mentioned was looking to isolate a bug I thought was there - but it turned to be intentional. That is, a frame in X6 looked different in X7, and obviously intended to be so, but because it was the 'same frame' in the later version, there were no errors when the earlier vsp loaded and played. It just looked wrong. If you check the properties of the thumbnails in the gallery - they will all be in that samples folder - sub-folders for the various items like objects, photos etc. What is good for one version is good for them all - so far anyway - you just have to realise where they are and save them for later use.

Davidk