FM3 upgrade to FM Pro 5.5 - Windows 8 installation possible?

[MrEddByrnes]

I'm hoping my question can have a happy ending. In the mid-90's, I purchased Filemaker 3. When Filemaker 5.5 Pro was released, I bought the update CD, which requires the user to either have FM 3 installed or to have the installation CD for FM 3. I've used it all these years, most recently with Windows XP Pro, and it has worked just fine. The databases I began with were long ago converted to FM Pro 5.5 databases.

 

I'm still using FM Pro 5.5 on a laptop with WinXP Pro, but in 2013, I purchased a PC with Windows 8. I haven't been able to install FM 3 on it, therefore can't install FM Pro 5.5. I am retired and rarely use Filemaker, but I have a few Filemaker databases I'd like to add to my Win 8 machine. I don't feel it's worth upgrading FM for the sake of using a couple of databases.

 

Has anyone else run into this situation and/or have a (possible) solution? Is there perhaps any other software that can read FM 5.5 databases? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[OlgerDiekstra]

Have you tried to install FM3 in compatibility mode? Ie, right click on the setup file (might have to copy it to a local drive), then select properties, and the compatibility tab.

On the compatibility tab you can set "run this program in compatibility mode for:" and then select WinXP or something.