Windows Paintbrush and NT incompatibilities

[Andrew T.]

When running the 3.x-era Windows Paintbrush accessory on Windows 95 or 98, it works perfectly. But when running Paintbrush on newer NT-based OSes (such as 2000 or 7), the cursor doesn't render correctly and the colour-eraser tool does not work. This is true regardless of whether I run the 16-bit version from 3.1 or the 32-bit version from NT 3.51.

Naturally, several questions came to me out of this...

* Did Paintbrush also misbehave like this on Windows NT 3.1-3.51, which shipped with the accessory?
* What specifically causes this incompatibility?
* Lastly: Was there ever a newer version of Paintbrush (not Paint) that may have been coded with NT compatibility in mind? Granted, this is a bit of a reach...but I know that Zsoft existed into the '90s, and continued to release new versions of Paintbrush independently of Microsoft for some time.

 

[Agent Orange]

When running the 3.x-era Windows Paintbrush accessory on Windows 95 or 98, it works perfectly. But when running Paintbrush on newer NT-based OSes (such as 2000 or 7), the cursor doesn't render correctly and the colour-eraser tool does not work. This is true regardless of whether I run the 16-bit version from 3.1 or the 32-bit version from NT 3.51.

Naturally, several questions came to me out of this...

* Did Paintbrush also misbehave like this on Windows NT 3.1-3.51, which shipped with the accessory?
* What specifically causes this incompatibility?
* Lastly: Was there ever a newer version of Paintbrush (not Paint) that may have been coded with NT compatibility in mind? Granted, this is a bit of a reach...but I know that Zsoft existed into the '90s, and continued to release new versions of Paintbrush independently of Microsoft for some time.

Just a longshot, but try reinstalling the program in the 'Compatibility Mode'. Also, you may have to do some research as to the proper version for your system.

Late edit:

To reinstall in the 'Compatibility Mode' right click on the installer.

 

[SomeGuy]

The Windows 3.1 subsystem in 32-bit 2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10 has had its API functionality cut back a little bit. Probably for "security" reasons and maintainability. For example, one 3.1 program that comes to mind copies an image of the desktop and incorporates that as part of an animation - but on Windows 10 all it gets is a sold black screen, so the border around the animation appears black.

ZSoft did continue to develop PC Paintbrush as a commercial product. It was eventually bought up by Wordstar International/Softkey. The later versions do not much resemble the Windows versions. I think the last Windows version was 16-bit, but there could have been other releases I'm not aware of.

There is a bit of history about it here: https://forum.winworldpc.com/discussion/9666/software-spotlight-zsoft-pc-paintbrush

 

[krebizfan]

As far as I can find out, the last version of the classic Z-Soft code for Windows was Publisher's Paintbrush version 3 from either 1993 or 1994. The budget version of the code was published as PhotoFinish. Both have problems running on modern Windows.

I think Paintbrush ran fine on NT 3.5.

You may need a more recent paint program.

 

[Andrew T.]

Just a longshot, but try reinstalling the program in the 'Compatibility Mode'. Also, you may have to do some research as to the proper version for your system.

Late edit:

To reinstall in the 'Compatibility Mode' right click on the installer.

To use a Windows accessory with a Windows version other than the one it shipped with, you don't "install" anything. You manually extract the executable from the CD-ROM, or copy it from another installation. And if "Compatibility Mode" worked as advertised, I wouldn't have started this thread!

ZSoft did continue to develop PC Paintbrush as a commercial product. It was eventually bought up by Wordstar International/Softkey. The later versions do not much resemble the Windows versions. I think the last Windows version was 16-bit, but there could have been other releases I'm not aware of.

There is a bit of history about it here: https://forum.winworldpc.com/discussion/9666/software-spotlight-zsoft-pc-paintbrush

As far as I can find out, the last version of the classic Z-Soft code for Windows was Publisher's Paintbrush version 3 from either 1993 or 1994. The budget version of the code was published as PhotoFinish. Both have problems running on modern Windows.

Interesting! A small pity that none of these releases lasted into the 32-bit era, though. I always thought there should have been more of a market for this type of software, focused on composition rather than Photoshop-style editing.

I think Paintbrush ran fine on NT 3.5.

The Windows 3.1 subsystem in 32-bit 2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10 has had its API functionality cut back a little bit. Probably for "security" reasons and maintainability. For example, one 3.1 program that comes to mind copies an image of the desktop and incorporates that as part of an animation - but on Windows 10 all it gets is a sold black screen, so the border around the animation appears black.

I had always assumed that Win16 API incompatibilities like these were a general NT issue, and not an NT5+ specific issue...but I've had very little experience running older apps on NT3/NT4, so I don't know how they compared. It would be great to be able to confirm whether or not Paintbrush was fully functional on NT3.x, if only to let my mind rest!

You may need a more recent paint program.

Maybe. There is one feature of Windows Paintbrush that I haven't seen replicated in any newer program, though: The ability to make precise, pixel-perfect movements in the editing pane by moving the cursor with the arrow keys. Until this changes, I'll be keeping a vintage Win95 system on hand for years to come.

 

[krebizfan]

I don't know if it matches what you want but PAINT.NET does move the cursor around one pixel per arrow key press when highly zoomed. I can't tell what the movement will be without the grid and I needed to zoom a bunch to get the grid.

 

[Agent Orange]

To use a Windows accessory with a Windows version other than the one it shipped with, you don't "install" anything. You manually extract the executable from the CD-ROM, or copy it from another installation. And if "Compatibility Mode" worked as advertised, I wouldn't have started this thread!

Thanks for the straightening me out for trying to help. 'Copying' is pretty close to 'installing', and after reviewing your op, I didn't see were your mentioned that you previously tried the 'Compatibility Mode'. You seem to have it all figured out so good luck.

 

[SomeGuy]

BTW, you might try PBRUSH.EXE from NT 3.1. That is a 32-bit executable, and at a glance it seems to run under later NT (Windows XP at least).

I think that the issue with the color erase tool is that sometimes Windows will dither the colors that it draws with, yet that tool expects to find a solid color. The video resolution will affect this, as will access via remote desktop.