Installations problems

Ok, my second system has just got that bit more interesting. Installed a prog off a cd when I first got win 2k. worked fine. now trying to reinstall it and guess what? it wont. if I look in task manager it starts three processes, two below the other and slightly indented:

ntvdm.exe
setup.exe
wowexec.exe

Tried several other installs from cds, and exactly the same thing happened, with excatly the same process names.
no matter how long I leave it, nothing happens. there is no system activity or anything.
if the system config is important, it is as follows:
p333, 128mb ram, 6.4gb hd, etc.

The program or its installation was written in 16 bit code. W2k is pure 32 bit coding so it 'thunks' the program so it can work with it. Ive had similar problems, we all have! Try leaving the installation program running for a really long time and see what happens. If that doesnt work, make it above normal priority using task manager. Hope this works.