Vista; xp mode and a PCI parallel port

Hello:
I'm running into a problem with an old PCB routing software that my company uses a lot. HiWire II by Wintek Corp, a dos window program (I think I'm characterizing it correctly) that works with XP and a motherboard native parallel port. Port is for a Dongle to let the software work.
We have a new(er) machine that is Vista Ultimate 64bit and a PCI card adding a Parallel port. 1. Is there a XP mode available for Vista? From what I've read, getting the parallel port to work directly with a program especially over a PCI bus is not possible, even with Windows 7 XP mode. 2. Is there a work around to get the program to recognize the Dongle? As I understand, hardware doesn't connect directly to programs anymore, 3. will I have a problem even with a motherboard native parallel port in the future?

Hi, I had a simular problem with my Windows 2000 installation of Hiwire. Found this link on Wintek's website under their FAQ's.

http://www.direct-io.com/

Installed the software and programmed the LPT port address and IRQ number along with the executable and my Hiwire now works. Your situation is a bit different but it's worth a try.