Nowhere Girl (8680) on 7/18/2019 11:13 AM · edited · Permalink · Report

I have had problems with the game before, three years ago: I could start it, but not play it, because ball release didn't work. In the meantime I got a new computer. It has Windows 7 as well (I took care to have it installed because of my "technological conservatism"), but in 64-bit version, so now I can't even run the game.
My cousin, who is a specialist in mechatronics and helps me with a lot of computer-related stuff, helped me to setup Oracle VM Virtual Box (which I didn't know how to do alone). Now I can run the game on virtual Windows XP. ...And the game still doesn't work! Exactly the same problem as before: I can't release the ball, neither by using the down arrow or by directly cliking the mechanism. A damaged version, perhaps, but finding other ones (let's not get into details in the public) is not so easy. The paddles work OK - I can move them even though the ball isn't released. But the plunger doesn't. We tried several methods, including virtual keyboard, so we're fairly sure that it must be a problem on the side of game files.
The game is possible to play on the website Classic Reload. There it works fine, I can actually play it, both methods for releasing the ball work. However, the game field is larger than the original game size (640x480). Trying to take screenshots from that version is not a workable solution, they are larger and distorted and trying to re-shrink them doesn't work. I only know how to use some simple free graphic programs such as Paint XP for Windows 7 (I just can't use new Paint, it leaves me clueless) and Irfan View. Image resizing options are suited to photographs, not to pixel graphics, and so re-shrunk images are still distorted. I even tried to contact the website Classic Reload, to ask them if this game could somehow be played in original size, but they don't respond.
Does anyone have a) any advice, b) the game in a version confirmed as possible to play (with all play keys working)?