Migrating Turbo Pascal 7 to Windows XP and Later Versions

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Turbo Pascal 7 was a popular integrated development environment (IDE) for developing cross-platform applications in the early days of personal computing, particularly under MS-DOS and later versions of Microsoft's operating systems. However, with advancements in technology and changes in software compatibility, users may encounter difficulties running this legacy application on newer operating systems like Windows XP and its successors.

Fortunately, there are several workarounds available to overcome these challenges. In this article, we'll explore a step-by-step guide on how to migrate Turbo Pascal 7 from an older system with ISA bus GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus) card connectivity to a more modern setup, such as a laptop or desktop running Windows XP, Vista, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten.

Preparation

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Before starting the migration process, ensure that you have:

1. A working copy of Turbo Pascal 7.0 installed on your old system.

2. An RS232-to-serial adapter to connect your ISA bus GPIB card's serial port (if applicable).

3. Windows XP or a later version of Microsoft Windows installed on your target machine.

Step-by-Step Migration Process

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### Step 1: Install DOSBox and Turbo Pascal 7

1. Download the latest stable release of Dosbox from its official website.

2. Extract the contents to an empty directory, for example, `C:\Dosbox`.

3. Create a new folder within it called `TurboPascal70` (or any other descriptive name).

4. Inside this newly created directory, download and extract the Turbo Pascal 7.0 executable from Borland's official website.

5. Run the extracted file to begin the installation process.

### Step Key Mapping

1. Once Dosbox has launched successfully, navigate to `Start > All Programs` followed by clicking on `Dosbox`.

2. In the Dosbox window that opens, type `keymapper` and press Enter.

3. The KeyMapper application will now be displayed with a list of keys mapped between your host operating system (Windows XP or later) and DOS.

### Step 4: Configure Keyboard Mapping

1. Identify any special keys on your keyboard not present in the default mapping configuration, such as Function (F10-F12), Shift + F11/Shift + F12, etc.

2. Click on `Options` > `Configure`.

3. Within this new window, locate and select each of these missing keys one at a time.

### Step 5: Configure Serial Port Mapping

1. Ensure that your serial port settings are correctly configured within Dosbox by navigating to `Dosbox > Options > Emulation>Serial Port`. Map the desired serial ports between Windows XP/7/Vista/8/9 and DOS.

2. Save these changes for future use.

### Step 6: Launch Turbo Pascal 7

1. Double-click on the newly created shortcut icon for TurboPascal70.exe in your Start menu or Desktop to launch it within Dosbox.

2. You should now see a fully functional interface identical to running an actual copy of Turbo Pascal 7 under MS-DOS.

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By following these simple steps, you can successfully migrate and run Turbo Pascal 7 on Windows XP/Seven/Ten without any compatibility issues. Remember that this process assumes basic knowledge of both DOS-based operating systems (MS-DOS) as well as some familiarity with Dosbox's configuration options. With practice, however, using older software like Turbo Pascal will become second nature once again!

Turbo pascal 7 for windows xp