It has been 11 years since AutoCAD R14 was released and it was long before Microsoft even considered a Windows Vista Operating System. Being one that likes to run the older versions of products for comparing features as well as pure geek’ish fun I was getting smartheap errors on Windows Vista when trying to run AutoCAD R14 until I found NinjaWaynes post with a solution posted in the Autodesk discussion forums that works. The solution is in the lengthy thread and includes the Vista version of the SH31W32.DLL that solves the issue of R14 compatibility with Windows Vista
http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?threadID=543852
Of course this solution is not official or supported and you are on your own for any side effects it may have but you end up being able to get AutoCAD R14 running on Vista without the errors. You should also be aware that since AutoCAD R14 was not designed with Vista in mind there are some features or drivers that may not work with today’s Operating System.
R14 sure seems fast but it is also lacking many of the essential productivity enhancements over the past 11 years some as simple but vital as the double wheel click zoom extents, multiple documents, or the match Hatch properties that did not appear until AutoCAD 2000.
<AutoCAD Historical Nugget> I joined Autodesk during the AutoCAD R14.01 Update codename Pinetop and was an Autodesk customer and product user prior. I was even a customer that was featured on the AutoCAD R14 demo CD and the live launch broadcast beamed around the world to many in movie theaters. </AutoCAD Historical Nugget>
Have fun!
-Shaan