How do I install an old (90's) PC game onto a modern laptop that is 64 bits??

[Snowy Wolf]

Ok so I know the headlining question sounds dumb, but what I'm having trouble with is trying to install the PC game "Catz: Your Computer Petz" (a very old game from when I was 6 years old) onto my (latest model) HP laptop.
The message that keeps popping up on the screen is "This version of this file is not compatible with the Windows-version you're using. Check your computers system information if you need an x86 or x64 version (32 bit and 64 bit) of the program."
Can someone please explain this to me in simple terms, and give me options on how best to get my game working? Thank you!

 

[getochkn]

Some older games just don't work. You can try compatibility mode that is windows 7/8 though. Right click on the "setup.exe" or whatever the program is used to start installing and tell it to pretend it's an older version of Windows.

 

[Supernova1138]

What you have there is a 16 bit application, those won't work on 64 bit versions of Windows period. If the game is from the early 90s, you might be able to get it to run in DOSBox, but if it needs Windows 95/98 support, then you might be out of luck. Some late 90s titles had 16 bit installers, but the games themselves were 32 bit applications, in that case you might be able to get the game installed if someone wrote a 32 bit installer for that game, but that only really happens with more popular titles from back in the day that haven't yet appeared on GoG, you don't see that happen often with more obscure titles.

 

[getochkn]

You could also download virtualbox and run a VM like XP or earlier if need be. Microsoft even gives away a XP VM for free.

 

[Supernova1138]

A Virtual XP installation could work, provided the game doesn't need any 3D acceleration and can work in software rendering mode. Outside of a few specific enterprise grade virtualization solutions, VMs do not get sufficient access to GPU resources to be able to run games that require 3D acceleration.