How to Run PowerCalc (Power Calculator) on Windows 8?

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A while ago Microsoft released an upgrade to their Calc application for Win XP called PowerCalc. It was a great little calculator application with few bells and whistles but easy to use. Unfortunately, it was tied to Windows XP and would not work on any other windows machine. Several enterprising individuals hacked the executable to get the program working on Windows 7 and Vista. However I recently upgraded to Windows 8.

Has anyone figured out how to get PowerCalc to work on Windows 8?

speedplane

Posted 2014-03-12T04:32:29.950

Reputation: 1 421

have you tried running the version from your 2nd link (the one on http://blog.red-stars.net/) - I don't see why that approach wouldn't work on Win8 if it's just a version checking issue as opposed to not being compatible.

– bkr – 2014-03-12T04:55:27.980

I have tried running the executable, it does not work. I have not tried opening a hex editor and messing with it. – speedplane – 2014-03-12T11:38:04.033

Hmmm... this is odd, it started working all of a sudden. I don't really know what I did differently. – speedplane – 2014-03-13T04:27:18.597

Answers

6

I'm sure there's an easier way, but this is what worked for me...

  1. Download the Windows 8 SDK

  2. Install the SDK, then install Orca from

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\bin\x86\Orca-x86_en-us.msi

  3. Run the PowerCalc installer -- it will fail, but will extract the msi installer to

    C:\Windows\Downloaded Installations\Calculator Powertoy for Windows XP.msi

  4. Copy the msi to your Desktop
  5. Right click the copied msi and select "Edit with Orca"
  6. In Orca under the "LaunchCondition" table, delete the "VersionNT = 501" condition, then save and exit Orca
  7. Install PowerCalc from the modified msi

  8. Open PowerCalc.exe with a HEX editor such as PSPad

    C:\Windows\SysWOW64\PowerCalc.exe

  9. In PSPad, select Search > Go to line $13E1, then replace 0F 84 B9 00 00 00 with 90 90 90 90 90 90
  10. Launch the powertoy calculator and enjoy!

ksariash

Posted 2014-03-12T04:32:29.950

Reputation: 61

2Works like a charm and thanks. BTW, I tried on Windows 7 and Orca was not required but the installer runs directly with Windows XP compatibility mode enabled – Mingliang – 2016-01-06T12:22:27.963

I successfully did this on Windows 10. Skip the first couple of steps. Run the PowerCalc installer with Windows XP compatibility mode to install (step 7), then follow step 8 onward. – Peet Brits – 2019-05-07T06:37:30.107

Asked: 2014-03-12T04:32:29.950

Viewed: 2 762 times

Active: 2018-09-11T02:32:03.503