So when the installer is launched, _INST32I.EX_ translates the 16-bit commands to 32-bit, WoW64 translates the 32-bit commands to 64-bit, and because of this constant translation, the installer stalls while Windows figures out what to do with it. On 64-bit Windows, 32-bit commands are handled by WoW64. _INST32I.EX_ is a helper file, which takes 16-bit commands and translate them to 32-bit commands for 32-bit Windows. What does this mean, and how does the relate to the installation failures? Simple. As you can see from this screenshot, it is present on the 2001 re-release of LEGO Racers. On most LEGO Media video game discs, that file is present.
* If the file _inst32i.ex_ is among the install files listed, then it is an InstallShield based setup. If that fails, you may need to run the self extractor in an environment that can run it and copy the files from the TEMP folder or location it extracted to.
Usually opening the EXE with an archive tool such as 7-Zip will enable you to extract the files. This can be the most troublesome step as setup packaging varies greatly.įirst, if the setup program is inside a self extracting archive then you will need to extract it. At the time it was a reasonable thing to do since all of these platforms could execute 16-Bit Windows 3.1 applications. This gave installers the ability to package multiple binaries for Win16, Win32s, Win32, and Windows NT for Alpha CPUs. I came across this forum topic, which explained it perfectly.įrom about 1995 to 1998 it was common practice for setup programs to launch using a Windows 3.1 16-bit loader stub. I've had installations fail on Vista and work on 7, and I agree that the age of the games and modern computers play a key role in this. I will venture to say that everyone is correct. And still others say it's because of modern computers. This strange behavior made me very curious, and, being the analytical thinker I am, decided to find out why these installations failed on such a massive scale. When I got LOCO, it was the other way around: it came right up on Vista, but took a while on 7, as it still does to this day. When I put it in the main computer, which runs Windows 7 圆4, the installer loaded right up. I put it in every Windows compatibility version I could, including running as Admin, and it only ran after I left it alone for 5 minutes. When I got my 2001 version of LEGO Racers, I first installed it on Windows Vista x86, and the install would not load.
But it doesn't matter how many times people ask for help, and how many times you tell them what to do, the installation will fail and people will ask how to fix it. If they are a member here, they make a topic asking for help, and it becomes so common place that FAQ topics must be created to help people. They try it again, and again, and with different compatibility settings, and nothing works. Someone digs out their old copy of Rock Raiders, Racers, or some other video game, and they stick it in the computer.