When installing ESRI’s ArcView GIS 3.3 on the 32-bit version of Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate, the following dialog box instantly appears:
It looks pretty bad. Even the title says it’s a severe error! You have to remember, this product was developed back in the Windows 95 days. 
There is an easy workaround. Open Windows Explorer and browse the contents of your ArcView CD-ROM and right-click on setup.exe. Click on the Compatibility tab, and click the checkbox next to “Run the program in compatibility mode for:” and leave the Windows XP (Service Pack 2) as is. Now click OK at the bottom of the dialog box to apply the changes and close the box. Double-click on setup.exe and your installation will begin.
