Well, I'm almost embarrassed to ask this question as Poser 4 is such a relic. However, I am very comfortable with it and like the simplicity as my use is to aid my graphic art projects.

My question is; can I upgrade Poser 4 with a new Poser 7 package I recently bought. (i.e. make the operating system of Poser 4 more current so it will use higher Poser programs). 

These are my concerns:

1. Will doing this bring Poser 4 up to a higher level like Poser 5 status?

2. Will this risk wiping out my library of poses, props, and figures with morphs?

3. Should I put everying on a memory storage device before attempting this?

There are probably other things but I'm such a neophyte and need things dumbed down. I apologize if this is just too moronic to address. Regardless, I would appreciate the advice. 

Just install Poser 7 into its own directory , and add you Poser 4 runtime as an external runtime, and they should happily coexist and you can use your existing content in Poser 7...

To do this, open Poser 7, and hop to step 4 in this tutorial...

http://www.posermocap.com/2008/09/16/tutorial-setting-up-multiple-external-runtimes/

out of curiosity, what OS are you using where poser 4 still works?  cuz mine croaked :/

I have installed it on Win 7, all of the versions work from 4 and up.  I have not had any issues.  If you have Poser 4 Pro, all should work fine, but if it is Poser 4, you will have to convert your .rsr thumbnails to .png or all you are going to see is shugging men.  Sharen

Quote - out of curiosity, what OS are you using where poser 4 still works?  cuz mine croaked :/

I'm using Windows XP. Poser 4 runs fine, it's just too much of an antique to run higher level files. I should have upgraded it years ago, or just made the switch to newer versions of Poser. I have to say that I find Poser 7 to be cumbersome, and needlessly complex. I guess that's why I feel so comfortable with 4 and hate to say goodbye to it. Thanks to all of you for the help. I'll try to digest the insightful information you have given me. Again, thank you very much.

I remember my Poser4 needing a memory fix because it wasn't forseen than PCs would ever have more than 1 gig of ram, LOL. Those were the days! It ran fine on 128 mb of ram though.

Be prepared for a wee learning curve: give yourself a bit of time, and you will be rewarded with a significantly improved Poser experience. Poser 7 is my favourite non-Pro (as in: Poser Pro, Poser Pro 2010, Poser Pro 2012) version. It is rock stable and ran really well on most systems.

You won't be upgrading Poser 4. You will be running Poser 7 as a uniquely different piece of software to Poser 4, but you should be able to use all of your content as before, with a few caveats mentioned Sharen and WandW.

Quote - out of curiosity, what OS are you using where poser 4 still works?  cuz mine croaked :/

With Windows XP Poser 4.01 runs fine, with XP64 I had to upgrade it to 4.03 and works without any problem. I don't have Windows 7 and don't want to have it, so I don't know.

thanks, guys.

  i have XP, sp3.  i will look at my P4 again....  um, where does it say what point version it is?

   though i must say, i am liking pp12.  (except the pieces that tear off accidentally and i can never get them back in the right place...!!)