i am trying to run PBA bowling 2 and PBA 2001 for Windows. At first I thought it was an operating system issue so I partitioned my hard drive and installed XP on it. I was still encountering the same graphical glitches that I did running Windows 7. I even tried a different video card but there is no change. I know about DOS box and since this is an early XP game I even tried virtual XP first but that did not help either.

Are these games just incompatible the newer architecture and not just the operating system?

Try booting Linux (via a Live CD, for example) and running the game under WINE. This has been known to work for games that won't run under modern Windows, particularly older games.

Probably. Some late 90's and early 2000's games had 3D graphics that quickly became incompatible with new developments on the hardware-software front.

If there are problems on the OS end, then using emulation software usually fixes that easily, but emulation old graphic rendering technologies is still sketchy at best, so that's usually where the experiment ends.

Better would be to install Linux on the XP partition, and then use wine. As installing Linux you do get a performance boost, especially once you install the GPU Driver

If you can't figure it out, just repost the same question in the forum once an hour or so and someone will eventually be able to help.

What are the system requirements for the game? As I recall 3DFX was still around at that point, so if it required a specific driver/hardware then there might be a way to mod it with a replacement driver.

CD checks were also heavier at that point, games refusing to load unless the CD was in the tray. Quite annoying. Might need a no-CD crack.

Operating System Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows
System Requirements Pentium-266, Windows 95/98, 64MB RAM, 3D card, DirectX Drivers

Doesn't specify a specific one? Some games especially in the 95/98 timeframe were programmed to talk directly to the hardware to get more speed rather than slower API's. As such some were compiled for specific cards (as I mentioned); Although the mention of DirectX sorta makes that moot. Hmmm...

When I was running Windows XP SP1, and I believe SP2, this game worked. The only problem I had with SP2, was that you couldn't turn on shadows, otherwise the game worked. I've got Oracle's VM VirtualBox, and I have installed, Linux Mint 16, Codename Sarah, and while the game loaded, it wasn't functional past the main menu. Granted I have it installed in a VM. I can't even install my GPU drivers, it won't let me. A friend of mine says, because it's a VM, so the VM provides those drivers by default. There is a small list of Linux games, like small games, and one I installed, tried to run it. It ran fine, but it was very laggy. And this leads me to believe that I have to install Linux, to a USB stick or external hard drive, install my graphics drivers, and see if it works then. Only thing I have tying me over is Wii Bowling and actual bowling lol.